A New Era for Spare Parts

McIntosh & Son group parts manager Ashton Nehme operates the new computerised small parts system. The screen above his head alerts him and his staff to new orders from parts interpreters at the front counter. Two computerised 12 metre-high units each contain 73 shelves and 150 square metres of storage space. Each shelf can hold 500 kilograms of weight. Different parts items total 10,000 with a “rolling stock take” to alert staff to the quantity status of each part.

Part of the spacious administration area which includes 12 large offices, a parts counter, training rooms, a board room and customer amenities.

Published in Farm Weekly April 25, 2019

Ken Wilson

The new 46 metres by 36m parts warehouse at the Katanning branch will be a central depot for the company’s southern branch network.

It has space for 1000 pallets and includes two Hanel Lean-Lift computerised units for automatic storing and dispensing of smaller spare parts.

Each unit is 12m high and contains 73 shelves and 150 at the front counter and be available to customers, either physically or on the phone.

Torque knows a few local farmers already have been blown away watching how the system works.

It’s an old axiom.

If staff are happy they are more productive.

And a major step to achieving that is providing a productive working environment, such as the new 46m x 36m administration area – the same size as the parts warehouse – at McIntosh & Son’s Katanning branch.

Sweeping space greets visitors on entry to a reception counter with a suite of six big offices built around the internal perimeter of the front of the building, interrupted only by a five-cubicle parts counter.

On the left of the entry is a board room and a customer waiting area on the right is a spacious showroom housing 4WD tractors and a combine harvester.

On the way out to the parts storage area, spacious rest rooms add to staff and customer amenities.

“We knew it was important to provide staff with good working facilities and it was important for them to have adequate space in each of their offices to accommodate customers,” Devon said.

“The biggest problem in the industry at the moment is retaining staff and so one of our first steps was to plan a professional environment for staff and customers for the long-term.

“We want to promote a professional image because the industry is a professional business just like any other, including the mining sector.

The other aspect of the new building is centralising management.

Group parts manager Ashton Nehme, group sales manager Ben Daniel and group service manager Daniel O’Neill are based at Katanning overseeing the company’s southern operations.

According to Devon, the new premises is a considerable confidence boost for agriculture in the region by McIntosh & Son.

“The locally-owned family company continues to prove its commitment to the industry and sending a message it is here for the long term,” he said.

“When we built our existing workshop premises in 2010, the workshop was considered excessively large at 120m long and 35m wide, however, given the subsequent use it underlines the importance of planning for the future.”

An official opening will be held on Friday, June 14.