As part of its overall automotive parts procurement strategy for 2002, Goodyear has renewed its primary supply agreement with Parts Plus and has added NAPA as a secondary source for auto parts.
The Akron tire maker said it is including two suppliers for its retail operations to ensure timely delivery of needed parts. Under the agreement, Goodyear-owned outlets will take advantage of national contract pricing and electronic centralized billing-benefits that were not available previously.
Up to 40 percent of needed parts have been purchased on a local-order basis by its more than 700 retail outlets, Goodyear said. Prior to this new agreement with NAPA, most of those purchases were made at significantly higher prices than what is available through national contract pricing and a well-planned parts inventory strategy, Goodyear said.
``For consumers, our agreements with Parts Plus and NAPA represent our efforts to secure stable pricing and fast delivery of auto parts, which translates into the kind of reliable service that we can offer at our locations coast-to-coast,'' said John Peer, Goodyear's director of retail operations. ``The advantage for our retail stores is that we're providing good parts pricing, easier administration in terms of ordering and paying, and an extension of our online catalog access.''
Goodyear said its officials from retail operations continue to work with other parts suppliers to provide other potential options for the secondary supply of parts.
Parts Plus is one of the largest aftermarket program groups in North America with more than 2,000 auto-parts stores and Car Care Centers throughout North America. It has been Goodyear retail operations' primary parts supplier since 1983. NAPA operates more than 5,900 locations nationwide.