Genuine value adds for your business

Adding value (or ‘value-adding’) to your business, whether it's increasing sales, growing your customer base or providing better quality products or services, is always a beneficial exercise.

For Aussie operators who rely on a heavy vehicle such as a truck, adding value doesn’t equate to cutting corners or costs. Rather, it’s about having a watertight approach to delivering a quality service that customers will rave about.

Whether you run a single truck or a fleet of vehicles, ensuring that you’re able to deliver service reliably and within the expected timeframe means being prepared for scheduled maintenance and essential parts replacement. Here, there are a range of factors to consider: quality over price, experience over convenience, and having the right people on the tools to look after your vehicle.

Isuzu Australia National Parts Manager, Joel Gledhill, takes us through how using genuine OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) parts in your truck maintenance routine can add value to your business operations.

Even if you don’t you use an Isuzu-branded truck model, it might be worth your time to read on.

Hi Joel, how does truck maintenance and parts replacement tie into adding value for a business?

Isuzu knows of 95,913 of its trucks in operation on Aussie roads over a 10-year period; this is by far the biggest truck parc of any manufacturer in the country.

This indicates people are buying trucks for a wide range of activities: it could be for travelling thousands of kilometres on the highway or for heavy-duty on-site work with a lower travel rate, but that puts enormous stress on the vehicle. Or anything in between.

What we understand is that ensuring the vehicle remains on the road—and out of the workshop—is a priority for these truck owners. Having regular maintenance carried out by skilled technicians will keep trucks in premium condition, leading to maximising uptime and long-term operational benefits.

Using genuine OEM parts on your truck ties into this on several fronts. In terms of quality assurance, parts that are designed and manufactured specifically for your truck model can’t be matched by aftermarket products. Professional fitment to your vehicle and vehicle safety and compliance obligations are also important points to consider as a business.

What is the difference between a genuine OEM part versus an aftermarket product?

If we take genuine Isuzu parts as an example, these parts are designed, engineered and tested to a standard set by Isuzu. As the country’s number one truck OEM and a leading heavy vehicle manufacturer globally, Isuzu is going to ensure this standard is very, very high.

Isuzu is always looking for constant improvement of its products with an eye to being on the leading edge of technology. This all flows through to the development of truck parts; everything from improved strength, durability for application to greater operational efficiencies.

However, aftermarket or non-genuine parts are manufactured without the benefit of the OEM’s engineering expertise or testing requirements. If they are fitted through a repair shop that hasn’t been authorised by the OEM, this can expound any potential issues.

Although the price point of aftermarket parts can certainly be attractive, there’s simply no guarantee they’re going to perform to the same standard as genuine parts. Short-term cost versus long-term benefits to the business is an equation that every truck owner will need to balance at some point.

How does Isuzu back up truck owners who choose to use genuine parts?

For genuine parts, Isuzu offers a three-year warranty when fitted to Isuzu trucks through our network of dealerships and Authorised Service and Parts Outlets. This also covers workmanship on the vehicle.

A 12-month (unlimited kilometres) warranty is offered if you decide to purchase over the counter and have it fitted to your Isuzu truck away from our dealer network. The 12-month warranty also applies to other brands of vehicles fitted with genuine Isuzu parts.

If you’re using a non-Isuzu branded truck, are there any benefits to using genuine Isuzu parts?

Last year over $12 million of our genuine parts were fitted to other truck brands. This shows that workshops across the country are choosing the best parts for their customers’ trucks, regardless of brand, to keep them on the road.

I think this speaks to the quality Isuzu offers, plus the availability and access to parts when they’re needed through our dealer network. We also have incredible backing coming from our huge National Parts Distribution Centre in Melbourne that holds over three million parts in stock. We record a 94 per cent fill rate on parts requested from the centre, which is phenomenal.

Going beyond the operation of the truck or replacement parts, how does Isuzu offer added value for businesses?

We are always keen to provide value for our customers and have it flow through to their business.

Isuzu Trucks customers can sign up to our ‘Trade Mate’ program which we run in conjunction with Qantas Business Rewards. For every dollar you spend on eligible Isuzu parts and accessories through participating Isuzu dealers, you can earn one Qantas point.

You can use the points in many ways. For example, you could buy gifts for staff in your business or allocate flight points to them or to yourself and your family. You can use it to pay down on a huge selection of items on the Qantas Marketplace and even use them to lower other business costs such as electricity bills or fuel.

That’s pretty good value if you look at what a truck part is worth. Along with Qantas Points, Trade Mate members can also get a trade discount on their parts! So, there's multiple wins for the customer and a genuine value proposition for them.

If you’ve got your eye on operational savings, check out this blog on Service Agreements: this or that? Choosing the best for you.