It’s important that you always have the spare parts of an automobile at hand as a best practice. Sometimes you get caught in situations where there’s an unexpected breakdown that requires an immediate supply of spare parts.
In such situations, two things come to your mind. The number one scenario is going back to the manufacturer for OEM (original equipment manufacturer) parts, and the second option is to source parts from a local vendor.
If we look at what most businesses do is that they prefer sourcing parts from a local supplier – without bringing into consideration that doing so will incur more long-term costs.
In this blog article, we will look at the benefits showing why you should prefer OEM spare parts over the ones sourced from a local supplier.
OEM Parts Come with a Warranty
Some manufacturers have strict barriers to the use of auto spare parts that remodified or are generic.
This gives the result that the use of such spare parts can null and void the warranty for a piece of equipment.
And in case anything goes wrong, then as an aftermath, all the costs incurred on repairing the issue are to be paid by you and not the manufacturer.
This is something that must be considered by any business before it purchases any parts other than the OEM.
The Quality (in terms of functionality)
Although you may find the OEM and generic spare parts to offer the same kind of functionality and appearance.
However, it’s not necessarily true that generic parts are of the same composition as the OEM. Here are some aspects that shed light on the lower quality of generic parts:
- Generic parts are not usually manufactured as per the equivalent standards set for that in OEM manufacturing
- The drilling holes are not properly aligned which causes a loose fit during the installation of parts
- The pitch threads are often not identical to one another
- Low standard welding techniques used – resulting in potential cracks and poor quality of the whole assembly setup
More so, it’s factual that OEM spare parts are always compatible with the upcoming models. Whereas on the other hand, we have generic parts that often run the risk of being outdated.
The makers of generic parts will get no updates about any essential changes to be made to the equipment in case a spare part has been changed in terms of design. And if the generic parts makers are not notified, then how come you know what to do?
The
The Value of an OEM Manual
With high-quality OEM manuals such as the Toyota Service Manual, you have the proper instructions on the installation and functionality parameters of the equipment.
What the spare part is intended to do, its perfect placement and the do and don’ts – everything is explained clearly for a technical person working at an OEM parts seller’s workshop.
The OEM manual is intended to be read when OEM parts are being used or installed. It’s an important aspect that the generic spare parts lack.
The Overall Value
Value for your business can be derived in the form of those things or aspects that matter to your business the most.
Now this same value in terms of OEM parts can be derived from things like:
- In-house specialized engineering
- Technological upgrades
- Custom modifications
These aspects are the top things that any other supplier of generic parts can’t offer. The value for your business is not just in the cost of the parts. But, the services that you supply to your automotive customers also count towards value when we look at things from a broader perspective. And with OEM, your business clearly stands out.
The level of information and product knowledge that the personnel of an OEM supplier has to share is something you cannot find with the sellers of generic important. It’s because the generic parts supplier simply doesn’t own the manufacturing of genuine OEM parts.
Another way of looking at and obtaining value is through the entire cost of ownership. You will many times hear this term being used quite often. To learn about the value to your business, the true cost must be compared to the risks involved with installation and the performance impact that non-OEM spare parts will have on the entire machine and its flow and smooth functionality.
The Factor of Availability
When it comes to availability, OEM sure does supersedes generic parts. One obvious reason for the low availability of generic parts is that the suppliers of such parts need to keep many different brands on hand at one time.
OEM suppliers are always diligent and pay attention to the demand and supply status of their stock components – an aspect that’s critical to the operation of their machines.
OEM parts vendors will always ascertain the availability of components critical to the operation of their machines.
Keeping hold of the stocks on consignment is another method the OEM suppliers make sure that critical components are made readily available during any unplanned shutdown or any other event of a failure.
