AICO rep opens parts warehouse in Florida
Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, February 15, 2004
MIAMI — AICO's South Florida representative, Frank Lorenzo, has taken it upon himself to open a dedicated warehouse for speedy delivery of spare and replacement parts to retailers.
He is leasing 2,600 square feet of racked warehouse space in Miami to stock parts, helping his customers avoid waits for pieces to be sent from China.
Lorenzo said he had been using space in the distribution centers of two of his retailer customers, City Furniture and El Dorado Furniture — as well as his own home — but was eager to establish something more permanent to handle growth in business and to free up space for the retailers.
"My vision for growth in the next 24 months is humongous," he said.
While the warehouse is designed largely to cater to the needs of big customers in South Florida — including City, El Dorado, Havertys and Skeffington's Furniture — by the end of the year, Lorenzo expects his four employees to be delivering parts the next day to most customers in his territory. He can now get parts to most areas within two days and within a week to his northernmost customers, in the Port St. Lucie area.
As a result of Lorenzo's initiative, California-based AICO has developed a parts matrix that has "thrust it forward in the area of parts management and supply," said Martin Ploy, vice president of sales and marketing. Now all AICO parts can be identified by number in a computerized catalog. AICO also has better data to forecast needs for parts so it can back up supplies in California and China.
"Frank helped us realize something as inexpensive as a $2 piece of hardware can ruin a $10,000 sale," Ploy said.
He added that AICO will be watching Lorenzo's warehouse performance and may recommend that other key reps consider similar investments.
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