From Jeeps to Hummers and so much more, OEMs and military procurement officers have long been allies in marshalling the very best in vehicle innovations to keep our armed forces safely on the move.
As war clouds rumbled in the 1940s automakers stopped in their tracks, putting the brakes on civilian vehicle production to rapidly retool assembly lines in support of the mechanized armadas heading overseas. When hostilities ceased these technological advancements were brought home to an eager motoring public.
Americans took to the highways and byways on an epic scale, especially as Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower ascended to the Presidency and initiated the Interstate highway system – modeled after the travel efficiencies he had witnessed on Germany’s Autobahn – as a means of national defense and quick evacuation routes during the Cold War.
Returning veterans were buying new homes in burgeoning suburbs, staffing the bustling factories, automotive design houses and aftermarket businesses that geared up to supply a rapidly expanding motorized landscape.
All of us at Aftermarket Business World welcome this opportunity to proudly salute the troops for all that they have given to this great nation – and all that they continue to give.
Men and woman with military experience bring special skill sets and a profound sense of personal responsibility when hired to work within the aftermarket, according to industry educator Mike Huff, a senior admissions advisor at Ohio Technical College, which offers 72-week programs targeting a host of aftermarket-related fields, including overall automotive, manufacturing processes, tooling/welding/fabrication, diesel cars and trucks, collision repair and refinishing, classic car restoration, high performance, racing and powersports.
“Vets are some of our best students; they know how to get up early and come to class – they’re disciplined,” says Huff, a veteran who describes himself as “a proud father of two captains in the Army, and they both have been awarded Bronze Stars in Afghanistan.”
Army veteran Denny Welvaert, chairman of the May 20-21 Global Automotive Aftermarket Symposium (GAAS) being held at in Rosemont, Ill., is a big believer in applying lessons learned in the service to the civilian business world.
“The military is a big believer in organization and organizational structure. Every unit has a role in the overall scheme and every MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) has a role in the unit. We were taught our jobs well and taught in a way that no matter what unit you were assigned to, that MOS functioned the same way. The chain of command is a big deal, and following the chain of command is the way the needed information gets down to the operational level,” he says.
“I also learned that the people that implemented the ‘mission’ were the sergeants and not the generals. That’s an important lesson that I learned in the Army that I took with me to the private sector in that the company’s top management (generals) can develop strategies all day long, but if the mission is not implemented by the line supervisors or first line management (sergeants) nothing will ever get done,” says Welvaert.
“The military was a great experience for me also in that it gave me the confidence to do things that I never thought I could do on my own. The drill sergeants didn’t listen to any bellyaching, so ‘let’s just get in shape and get it done.’”
He further observes that “nothing is more important than being connected in the military. The ability to see through the ‘fog of war’ and understand what is really going on and act on that intelligence separates a fast-moving unit from a unit under attack.
It’s no different in business. There is a ‘fog of business’ also. It manifests itself more into things like, what do my customers really want? How are we doing in meeting the needs of our customers? Is our competition doing a better job in meeting customer needs than we are? Are we really implementing the actions we need to improve our company, or are our sergeants not implementing the mission?”
While working as a sales representative at Sherwin-Williams Automotive in 1990, Marine Weapons Systems Specialist Lee V. Rush was activated and deployed to the Persian Gulf for Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. His AH-1J & W Cobra Attack Helicopter squadron flew numerous combat missions and received Navy Unit Commendation honors.
Rush returned stateside armed with new knowledge and “thankful for the opportunities our industry has to offer and the promising future in store for us,” rising to become manager of business consulting services for Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes Corp. “As a veteran, my best traits have been forged by fire, and I would not change that for the world,” Rush says.
Conquering the process
Obtaining the correct access and approvals to directly supply vehicles, components or replacement parts to the military can be a complex process depending on which product lines you wish to market and whether the goods or services are viewed as tactical or standardized. Providing a radiator for a fighting vehicle in the desert differs from switching out the leaky radiator on a general’s staff car.
Whatever the application you wish to pursue, acronyms abound within the military.
The General Services Administration (GSA) provides much of the supplies for agencies throughout the U.S. government, including non-tactical military materiel relating to standardized vehicles.
SOCOM is the unified command for the worldwide use of Special Operations elements of the Army, Navy, Air Forces and Marine Corps.
“It’s kind of complicated,” says Don Jarosz, deputy public affairs officer at the Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) Life Cycle Management Command (LCMC) in Warren, Mich., which is responsible for procuring parts for Army tactical vehicles. “There are three different sections,” he explains, covering logistics, contracting and small-business liaisons.
“For an automotive aftermarket provider who wants to do business with TACOM, they should visit our Contracting Office Procurement Network website, PROCNET,” Jarosz advises. The pages at https://contracting.tacom.army.mil/ have links to five key supply depots. “Another good site for doing business with us,” says Jarosz, is FebBizOpps.Gov at www.fbo.gov/?s=main&mode=list&tab=list.
“It’s quite a process,” says Jim Olson, co-owner and general manager at Pronto Group member Full Service Auto Parts, headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. To be a large-scale vendor “they want someone to cover most of all the bases,” he points out, noting that this volume level can be difficult to fulfill for many aftermarket operations.
Olson suggests that you either consider supplying suppliers that are already connected to military procurement or enlist the services of an experienced expert to assist with the maneuvering.
“The trick is to find someone who knows the ins and outs of bidding and who is willing to do the paperwork,” he says. “If someone can do the paperwork he doesn’t even need to have the parts – once he does the process he can source the parts.”
During the buildup to the second Gulf War, Olson was approached by such a provider on the hunt for special radiators suitable for action on HMMWVs, the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle commonly called the Humvee.
“We sold a ton of those radiators,” says Olson. Nowadays Full Service, with 14 locations stocking more than 68,000 SKUs, mostly focuses on supplying standardized auto parts to the Army and Air Force bases throughout the San Antonio region. “This is a military town,” he says. “Every time the military does some downsizing, the bases here grow.”
Much of the business involves supplying base-based “hobby shops,” which are facilities stocked with equipment and professional advisors that are made available for the troops and their families to maintain and customize their personal vehicles. And while Full Service is not first-call, the company also sells to the network of on-base Firestone Complete Auto Care Centers.
Having a pass to get past the sentries is an ongoing negotiating challenge. “Because of the idiosyncrasies with each base based on the commander in charge, we have one salesmen that calls on all of them because it all depends on the base commander deciding whether you can come on the base, and it’s not consistent,” according to Olson. This can lead to situations where a top officer gets a new assignment with another one transferring in, “and the delivery guy can’t get on the base.”
Numerous do-it-yourself and do-it-for-me businesses dot the area, catering to a large population of vehicle owners – particularly budget-minded enlisted personnel.
Local DIFM providers and their vendors are also benefitting from a relatively new policy being implemented by the military. “They’re now farming out the maintenance of their light duty vehicles; they’re subbing those out to the repair shops in the locality, and we service them,” Olson reports.
Accomplishing the mission
Flying the Auto Pride program group flag, the family owned Baltimore Auto Supply Co. (BAS) in Maryland has long concentrated on marketing parts and services to the military, numerous other government agencies and corporate fleets along with area repairers and retailers.
Established by Alvin and Rose Berlin in 1948 when Alvin returned from active duty with his war bride Rose, BAS has grown to encompass a state-of-the-art 60,000-square-foot distribution center with 300,000 SKUs from more than 150 manufacturers.
“We have suppliers from all over the United States,” says office manager Irvin Levin, citing BAS’ compliance with military shipping protocols and all manner of government-vendor certifications.
Specialized staff members serve an impressive array of autos, light duty trucks, vans, heavy-duty trucks, buses, law enforcement vehicles, fire engines and marine applications. Janitorial supplies and related paper goods, plus niche items such as environmentally friendly hazardous waste absorbents, are also in the product mix. It is the largest supplier of tire chains and cable traction systems on the East Coast, and BAS offers e-commerce and complete fleet monitoring capabilities.
“We’ve been in the business for 60 years, so the owners know what they are doing,” Levin says. Requirements for the company’s suppliers include top quality dependable parts and the ability to get them delivered on time.
“We pretty much cover the range,” reports administrator Danny Daniels at Newbegin Enterprises, Inc. (NEI) in Johnson City, Tenn. Prior to moving its base of operations to the Volunteer State, in 1993 Terry L. Newbegin founded the business in the basement of his Pennsylvania home.
NEI is a full-service logistics provider that delivers both procurement services and distribution of OEM and aftermarket components for commercial and military vehicle fleets. Along with contracting with the Air Force as one-stop parts source to help keep the flyers aloft, it globally serves all the branches of the U.S. armed forces, shipping to Europe, Asia, Southwest Asia, Central America and domestically.
“You diagnose and install – we do everything in between,” according to Daniels, referring to the company’s wide variety of offerings. “We make buying parts as easy as possible so you can place more emphasis on your mission.”
It provides components for cars and for light-, medium- and heavy-duty trucks; buses; flight line support; specialized military vehicles; emergency vehicles; construction and agricultural equipment; material handling equipment; and complete MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) supplies.
“The relationship with our suppliers is critical to our success,” Daniels explains, echoing Newbegin’s philosophy: “NEI prides itself in serving our customers with a strong sense of duty and responsibility to provide the best service possible. Only by providing a high standard of service does NEI expect to earn and gain repeat business from our customers, and thus continue to procure from our supplier base. From accuracy of parts research to final fulfillment of a spare parts order, it takes everything in between and cooperation with suppliers and industry partners to achieve this objective.”
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