Location, location, location. The old business adage is invaluable in its wisdom, but very difficult in practice.

This was what Tom Lang, Cleveland Brothers vice president of product support found in working through the plans for the company’s new Central Parts Distribution Facility (CPDF.)

“Finding the ideal strategic location to serve our 28 Cleveland Brothers facilities required an extensive evaluation process of 45 potential sites and 18 months time,” said Lang.

The 85,000-sq.-ft. facility will serve as the hub to deliver parts daily to all 28 locations, with capacity for future growth designed from the start.

“Even though Cleveland Brothers has grown over the years, customers still expect off-the-shelf availability for most of their needs,” said Lang.

Delivering on this expectation more than 87 percent of the time, Cleveland Brothers also meets ’next day’ needs more than 98 percent of the time. Maintaining these statistics and striving to better serve its customers was at the heart the site selection process, added Land

Another important objective in serving the various facilities and ultimately the customers’ needs was meeting DOT driver time regulations.

“With the new facility, Cleveland Brothers can meet these requirements and still get parts to customers within 24 hours,” said Lang

“Our goal is to keep customers’ equipment up and running. Parts availability is such a critical part of making that happen,” said Jay Cleveland Jr., president and CEO of Cleveland Brothers Equipment Company Inc.

The new CPDF also paves the way for a more active headquarters site in Murrysville, Pa., where a new parts department, technical communications/training department and field service dispatch operation will be located.

The growth is no surprise to Cleveland, who said “That since the 2005 purchase of Beckwith Machinery, we have noticed that the East Coast as a whole has been down, but in our territory we have not been affected by things slowing down. We have added over 100 employees since we became one company and all is running well.”

The new CPDF is a strategic part of keeping the momentum going. The facility is being constructed on the former site of the Rockview State Correctional Facility, which was transferred to the Centre County Chamber of Business and Industry for development in late 2005. Cleveland Brothers is the first to move into Rockview Industrial Park.

Giving still more power to Cleveland Brothers’ customer service goal is a new computer system. The new system takes the place of two separate systems that made inventory utilization problematic. The new systems were converted this spring, and coupled with the CPDF, will allow for more of the parts customers need when they need them.

The new facility is expected to generate approximately 50 jobs and Cleveland Brothers is adding approximately 400 jobs statewide. This was a point of pride for Gov. Edward G. Rendell, who broke ground for the facility. He said Cleveland Brothers was an example of how economic development projects are generating, “good, family-sustaining jobs for our hardworking men and women.”

For more information, call 888/232-5948, or visit www.clevelandbrothers.com. CEG

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