Inventory. Inventory. Inventory.
For brothers Doug and Dave Wayne, keeping their company D&W Diesel fully stocked with inventory is a vital part of their business.
“In this business, if the customer needs something, the supplier who has it in stock usually wins the sale,” said the brothers.
With that in mind, D&W Diesel’s current inventory of parts and finished product exceeds $13 million.
That’s also a key factor behind D&W’s expansion of its Auburn, N.Y., headquarters. A 55,000 sq. ft. addition is in the process of being enclosed and will be fully functional by late spring 2012. The majority of the new facility will be for expanded warehousing with 15,000 sq. ft. being dedicated to additional production space.
The new warehouse facility, which is designed for additional growth in the future, will include a highly automated pick and pull inventory system. This will further aid D&W Diesel in being able to expand the amount of on hand inventory, to easily identify the parts customers need and to get them ready for immediate shipping to customers or distribution to one of the eight branch locations.
Having a dedicated, talented staff also plays a key role in making this all happen.
“Our philosophy is that ’it’s all about people’,” said Doug Wayne. “We go to great lengths to find the right people to fit into our organization that have the right areas of expertise. Our employees are trained to be experts in the areas that they work in and they understand that we are problem solvers.”
D&W currently has more than 250 employees among its eight facilities, which are located across New York (Auburn, Buffalo, Binghamton, Rochester and Albany), Ohio (Cleveland), Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) and Massachusetts (Worcester).
No Second Chances
Another D&W philosophy relates to providing customers with quality products, regardless if the product is new or remanufactured.
“You don’t get a second chance,” said Doug. “Our customers expect that the remanufactured parts coming out of our facility are every bit as good as new parts; and people are only going to purchase remanufactured parts if they represent substantial savings. So everything we offer needs to be affordable and cost competitive.” Doug goes on to say, “None of that matters, though if you don’t have the inventory. Availability is the key. If the customer is looking for it, we need to have it in stock.”
Keeping It Clean
The company has added a new, $100,000, clean room for working on the new diesel fuel injection systems used on Tier III and Tier IV engines. These injection systems are so sensitive that there can be absolutely no foreign particulates in the atmosphere when they are being worked on. Eight technicians work in this area, which is meticulously cleaned and the air is filtered through an extensive HEPA air filtration system. This substantial investment further supports D&W’s mantra of offering the highest quality products to its customers.
In the Beginning
Originally named D.W. Auto Electrical, D&W Diesel was founded in 1976 by Doug Wayne and was located in a rented one-bay garage. Doug, and one other employee, rebuilt starters, generators and alternators, and offered drive-in electrical services.
As the business grew, Doug’s brother, Dave, became a partner in the business. Diesel fuel injection remanufacturing was added to the product offering and the business was renamed D&W Diesel and Electric.
In the 1980s, D&W expanded its product lines to include the sales and service of turbochargers. It also purchased Ontario Electric and began offering sales and service of DC motors. Positive displacement blowers for tank trucks were soon added to the mix, and the sales territory for tank truck equipment was subsequently expanded to cover all of New England and the Mid-Atlantic states.
In 1998, D&W expanded its tank truck equipment product line by adding the sales and manufacturing of hoses and couplings. In 1999, the company signed on as the distributor for Gardner Denver truck and industrial blowers, marking the launch of D&W’s Industrial Products Division, which was responsible for the sales and service of bulk transfer equipment to the industrial markets.
More Than a
Sum of Its Parts
Diesel engine components (starters, alternators, turbochargers, fuel injectors, fuel pumps, charge air coolers, fan clutches, etc.) are to this day, the largest share of the company’s business. However, the company has experienced tremendous growth into other areas. Over the past decade and a half, the company has explored and expanded into other niche markets to grow and diversify the corporation.
The Tank Truck Equipment and Industrial Products & Services Divisions are the result of the Wayne brothers’ diversification efforts.
“The Tank Truck Division services any equipment used to load or unload materials from a tanker truck,” Doug explained. “Typically these would be trucks that are hauling liquids, gases, concrete and sand, just to name a few. For instance, blowers are air pumps, which we offer for the use of loading and unloading of dry bulk materials from tank trucks. Vacuum pumps are used on vacuum trucks to collect and discharge a variety of liquids such as septic, waste oil, industrial, and hazardous waste, just to name a few.”
D&W Diesel’s positive displacement blowers and vacuum pumps are used in applications requiring blending, conveying, aeration, fluidization and much more. This division also offers pneumatic conveying components and processing equipment for a wide range of applications. These products include bulk bag stations, hoppers, flexible augers, liquid pump stations and much more.
“A large variety of liquid pumps are used for loading and unloading liquid tankers. Liquid bulk haulers often use compressors to unload their cargo. We represent Gardner Denver and American Eagle to support those markets. We offer hydraulic drive systems, which offer several benefits over mechanical drive lines for powering tank trailer unloading procedures. Finally, D&W Diesel has an extensive custom hose supply department, which addresses the varied hose and coupling needs for tanker trucks.”
D&W Diesel also has heavily invested in the Industrial Products and Services. They are affiliated with top manufacturers of industrial pneumatic equipment and industrial air compressors, such as Gardner Denver and Kobelco. These products, combined with their 15 years of experience, a skilled staff of application engineers, and hands-on technicians, allows D&W to provide solutions for almost any blower/vacuum application, or industrial air compressor system according to the company.
New units and parts are not all the Industrial group offers. They provide 24/7 service and parts support for industrial air compressors. In addition, their skilled technicians perform energy audits, assist customers with maximizing their energy efficiencies and applying for energy savings with utility companies.
For more information, visit www.dwdiesel.com.
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