Following the official opening of the recently upgraded Agrovista Dundee depot earlier this year, customers have been able to take advantage of a new sprayer parts counter. In this blog, Paul Soppit who looks after the facility, discusses its importance and how the customer journey has improved as a result.
Paul Soppit, Machinery Parts for Agrovista Dundee depot
“By their nature, sprayers are quite a niche area when it comes to agricultural machinery. Therefore, having the correct replacement parts and the expertise to go with it all, is really important for the customer.
Before I joined Agrovista in November 2019, although a few select parts were kept in stock, customer orders were mainly fulfilled on a per-job basis by the engineers. Because machinery is a pivotal part of Agrovista’s history in Scotland, finding a way to formalise the system and implement stock control protocol became a priority when the depot was refurbished.
Since the depot re-opening in March, we’ve made some considerable changes that have had a big impact for our customers.
Stock management
For one, stock management is now much easier because everything is logged digitally, using the same resource planning software that the rest of the Agrovista business uses. This means we can stock and track a much wider range of products including nozzles, valves, filters, pumps, fittings and hoses.
We despatch parts to all corners of the UK, because this centralised system not only supports my colleagues in Scotland, but agronomists in other areas of the country too where required.
New parts counter
Dundee also now has a physical parts counter which is manned daily. Customers can come into the depot and speak to me, or a colleague, about the problem and the parts that they need. Keeping a greater range of parts in stock means this is possible, all backed up by specialist expertise to give customers peace of mind.
This ‘hub’ is a real asset because now we have the facility to solve customer problems in a variety of ways – through a visiting engineer, via a telephone call to the parts counter, or in person by visiting the depot. Everything is streamlined for an improved customer journey.
Paul Soppit manning the parts counter at the Dundee open day in March (pre COVD-19)
Agrovista Dundee Depot