Automotive Parts - Case Study: Patterson Cheney
Overview
Established in 1915, Patterson Cheney are experts in the car and truck business, which encompasses both vehicle and parts sales. Boasting 10 of Victoria’s most successful dealerships, they are a business founded on relationships and they pride themselves on repeat business and referrals from customers. Their state-of-the-art service facilities are staffed by specialist factory trained technicians who specialise in express maintenance and scheduled servicing, and they expect similarly elite standards from their partners.
The challenge
Prior to teaming up with Ontime the Patterson Cheney team had their hands full running their own fleet of drivers and vehicles. They had no systems and processes in place for controlling their human resourcing, the entire process was manual, which made managing absenteeism, vacations and other HR-related admin, creating significant and time-consuming issues for the team. “Running a delivery fleet isn’t our core skill and it’s not something we want to be putting time and energy into,” said Patterson Cheney Logistics Manager Daniel Turner. Ten years ago, the business turned to Ontime Delivery Solutions to help them source good drivers, and manage them using Ontime’s proprietary training, induction and management methodology.
Our Approach
At Ontime we take the headaches out fleet management, whether that’s vehicle management and maintenance or, as in Patterson Cheney’s case, driver management. Part of our commitment to our partners is that we provide replacement drivers to cover sick leave and holidays, a service appreciated by the Patterson Cheney team. “Everyone in this business is drawing from the same pool of drivers and we don’t expect Ontime to perform miracles and provide us with perfect drivers every time,” says Daniel. “It’s how a transport and logistics partner manages those drivers that matters. Ontime is unfailingly receptive to feedback, responsive to our requests and transparent about their processes.” Communication is highly valued by the Patterson Cheney team so a member of our Ontime team visits them regularly at their dealerships, we conduct frequent analysis of their delivery runs to identify efficiencies and savings, and our control centre is a phone call away when there are urgent issues we need to address. “I’d invite anyone thinking about working with Ontime to come down to our facility and watch them in action,” says Daniel. “They are a partner who walks the talk when it comes to customer care.”
“The genuine personal relationships the Ontime team builds are how they beat every competitor.”
Outcomes
Ontime has alleviated the personnel management headaches slowing down the Patterson Cheney team, with an evolving suite of delivery solutions that has freed them up to grow their successful automotive business over the course of the 10-year relationship. “When I joined the business seven years ago, I gave the Ontime team a list of requests I wanted them to achieve, including significantly expanding their reporting capability and evolving their systems to meet our needs,” says Daniel. Together we have worked through that list and ticked everything off.” This authentic partnership founded in close personal relationships, has enabled both businesses to improve, evolve and grow in parallel. “I’ve had approaches from other transport and logistics suppliers looking to secure our business, but the genuine personal relationships the Ontime team builds are how they beat every competitor. Their commitment to their customers is unique in the industry.”
