Wade Hilburn has pushed his entire 22+ year career to expand the reconditioned and remanufactured aftermarket parts market. As President, CEO and Co-founder of Original One Parts, he talks with ABRN about the company’s new direction, its place in the aftermarket and what’s to come in 2021.
How has Original One Parts adjusted its business practices in light of COVID?
We have been very fortunate. Our business remained open, we implemented all the precautionary practices recommended by the state and local government, such as sanitization, masks and social distancing, and we adhere to a protocol that was provided by our insurance company. To my knowledge we have not had any cases of Covid 19 among any of our team members, so the precautions we are taking seem to be working well for us.
Original One Parts recently had a change in leadership. Has this impacted the direction and focus of the company?
Original One Parts was purchased by Kinderhook Industries earlier this year. Having the opportunity to be in business with Kinderhook gives us the resources that we have always wanted to be able to continue to deliver on the customer promises of bringing an OE part to them at a better price, conveniently, with consistent, guaranteed quality.
The Kinderhook partnership will enhance our speed to market and the ability to expand our parts offering. Growth and acquisition will be a part of that, but it all comes back to our promise of bringing the highest quality parts to the marketplace.
We have also assembled a very talented, experienced leadership team here with one consistent focus and that is putting the customer first. We have been successful building our reputation by putting the customer first and that is not going to change. We understand that it takes years to build a good reputation and five minutes to lose it, so we take that very seriously.
Where is Original One Parts' place in the industry and how would you describe your product lines?
We strive to be a reliable, destination supplier and we want customers to think of Original One Parts first when they think of quality OE parts that were built specifically for that car they are working on. We want them to call us because they know what they are going to get the right part, with consistently high quality, fast and at a great price.
We fill a need in the market for a reliable, quality OE part, at a reasonable cost. We feel we have found a sweet spot where we can satisfy the needs of all the constituents in the equation-- The repairer who wants to install an OE part, the insurer who wants a lower cost, and the car owner who wants both. And we do that all with reliable 24-hour delivery. There is an old saying—Quality, Price, Speed—pick any two, but you can’t have all three. We believe that we give our customers all three.
As far as our product lines, right now we focus on suspension, absorption, mechanical, electrical, and appearance parts. We are constantly looking to expand our offering, and that will include sensors and ADAS related parts.
What are some of the key benefits to working with your company?
We receive a lot of great feedback from our customers, and the word they most use to describe us in “reliable”. They tell us that the quality of the product they receive is unquestionable, the attention to detail by our customer service team is outstanding, the right part arrives fast and in excellent condition. Our team takes order accuracy very seriously, and the VIN-to-VIN matching process ensures that we are sending the right part for that vehicle. That avoids returns, delays and ultimately helps our customers maintain good cycle-time metrics.
Our people strive to create a relationship that our customers can rely on. We want to provide the customer service that we would want to receive ourselves and expect.
Any new initiatives or product launches Original One Parts is excited about going into 2021?
As vehicle technology continues to evolve, we will be providing more electronics, more sensors and ADAS related parts. As cars get more sophisticated, we will begin to branch out and provide those more sophisticated parts in addition to the suspension, underbody, and mechanical parts that we supply now.
How do you see the industry changing over the next decade, and how is the company preparing?
As fleets become more EV, that changes the dynamics of the parts business, and we see that as an opportunity for Original One Parts to work directly with fleets to be their full-line parts supplier. EV components are very expensive, and in the future, a vehicle could conceivably be determined a total loss without ever having an accident, due to the high cost of the battery or the EV system. Having a partner who can salvage and recycle the undamaged parts will be very important to keeping parts supply flowing and keeping vehicles repaired and on the road. We are already working with the major manufacturers to be part of their long-term sustainability strategy. We are well positioned to be the solution to a very dynamic change in the automotive industry.
