This book includes a plain text version that is designed for high accessibility. To use this version please follow this link.
tomer interaction, and an operating style that felt sim- ilar to how the majority of UK and Irish yards operate. Again, a full tour allowed for lots of questions asked and answered, with plenty of information to digest at a later time.


Lacy Auto Parts, Inc. provided yet another perspective on the best that the U.S. has to offer – a three-genera- tion family business that started in 1940, and is now run by Matt, Graham, and Andrew Lacy, the grandsons of the founder. Most recently, the business moved to a large site near Charles City, Va. We were all amazed by the expanse of the site, the landscaping out front, and that the appearance from the road did not reflect an auto recy- cling facility at all. This state-of-the-art facility continues the legacy, and we were impressed how the team at Lacy Auto Parts was developing new strategies, raising quality, and utilizing new electronic methods to con- tinue their development to provide the highest quality service for all types of used vehicle parts. A quick switch of states found the group at an overnight stop in Goldsboro, North Carolina and a visit to Wayne Auto Salvage, Inc. Founded in August 1970, Wayne Auto Salvage is now located on a 25-acre site and they combine a full- service and self-service yard into one operation with a dismantling and crushing facility separating the two sides of the yard. The facility is operated by Dale Bevell, and founded by his father Gary Bevell. A full tour revealed vehicles entering, going through and exiting their process. Like the other yards we visited, Wayne Auto is a very efficient, clean, well-run facility. Each evening of the trip the whole group could be found in a restaurant going over each days’ events, the yards visited and what had been learnt.


Differences Defined Two of the major “take aways” that our group had


were regarding Cores and Warranties. All of the businesses visited in the U.S. were much more advanced in how they dealt with vehicle cores, especially adding core charges to the sale of used parts, and the up-sell of extended warranties. Neither of these are a strong focus for UK recyclers currently. We were also very impressed by the facilities available in the full-service yards for packaging and despatching of the parts. This reflects the very high standards that all yards have for customer experience, making certain that the parts arrive on-time, with no additional dam- age, and in a manner that gives customers confidence to return to that recycler for future purchases. The U.S. has a lot to teach the UK here. We did realize that our yard management software is


more advanced on the inte- gration with eBay when sell- ing parts, so I am sure that we can return a favor or two. One visiting auto recycler who brought along two of his staff said, “Over the course of the trip we are re-defining how the busi- ness should be run and updating all the processes we currently follow.” Another touring recycler said, “My staff will be hiding when I get back to work on Monday because they know what I have learned this week will mean changes.” However, this was just the beginning of the inspiration as we reached the 72nd Annual ARA Convention & Expo in Charlotte, North Carolina, to join the rest of the global auto recycling community gathered for the annual trek.


We Will Be Back We would like to thank our


hosts at M&M Auto Parts, Chesterfield Auto Parts, Lacy Auto Parts and Wayne Auto Salvage for their hos- pitality, kindness and openness to share during our visit. We offer an invitation to them all to come and visit our businesses the next time they are in the UK. One final quote from another member of the tour, “Visiting the yards along the way to Charlotte and the conference itself has given me a wealth of knowledge and ideas on how to take my business and yard forward, both in sell- ing quality recycled parts and offering a


better customer experience along with improving my workplace environmentally and for the good of my employees and customers.” Now, I call that Job Done! 


Andy Latham is Managing Director of Salvage Wire, an auto recycling con- sultancy for safety, ethics, and profitability. He arranged this U.S. yard tour.


November-December 2015 | Automotive Recycling 53


Chesterfield Auto Parts


Wayne Auto Salvage


M&MStafford


Lacy Auto Parts


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76