This fireside chat recap is from Day 4 of FreightWaves Global Supply Chain Week. Day 4 focuses on automotive.
FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: Keeping parts moving online, in stores and through dealerships
DETAILS: Daimler Trucks North America relies on e-commerce, its dealerships, parts distribution centers and analytics to get truck parts to the right place as quickly as possible. Richard Simons oversees all of it.
SPEAKER: Richard Simons, general manager of parts sales and marketing for Daimler Trucks
BIO: Richard Simons is the general manager of parts sales and marketing for Daimler Trucks North America, covering the U.S., Canada and other global markets. He is the former president of Daimler Trucks Remarketing and was general manager of service. He has more than 25 years of heavy-duty commercial trucking experience. Simons is also a board member of North American Fuel Systems Remanufacturing, a joint venture between Daimler and Robert Bosch.
KEY QUOTES FROM SIMONS
“We had to establish some new processes, things for example with our field [staff]. They started looking daily at trucks that were down, reporting that and escalating that back up through the heart of COVID.”
“A branding strategy plays a role. And we’ll have to focus on that more as we go on. We want to be the one-stop solution for our customers in which we have a genuine offering, a premier parts offering and a good value line.”
“Looking forward in 2021, we expect a 40% increase in digital orders through our platform. I think the reason for the growth and the reason why it’s here to stay is [that] a good digital experience is equal to a good customer experience. And customers, especially in trucking, are looking for ease of doing business.”
