NOORD, Aruba — Dunn Tire L.L.C.'s Exxpress Tire Delivery unit is using analytics and a recently conducted survey of its wholesale tire customers as a guide to help it grow and enhance service and efficiency.
The goal of the research is to provide a better understanding of the tire marketplace and of customers' needs, improve operational efficiency and aid in the development of a plan for sustainable growth, company officials told tire and car dealer customers attending the Exxpress Tire Delivery Dealer Trip, March 7-11, in Aruba.
This effort comes at a time of rapid evolution in the retail tire market, increased use of technology to sell and market tires, ongoing tire dealership consolidation and growing competition from franchise car dealerships and other large tire chains, Steve Clave, managing director, wholesale operations, for Dunn Tire, said during a presentation at the trip's business meeting.
"The game has changed," he said. "We are going to have to embrace these changes moving forward."
To better understand how Exxpress Tire is performing, the company surveyed its 4,000 customers, getting a response rate of 5 percent, Mr. Clave said.
Questions focused on the performance of Exxpress Tire delivery drivers and customer representatives, handling of delivery issues, whether customers would recommend Exxpress Tire to others and the company's overall service.
"I was tickled pink," Mr. Clave said of the mostly positive results. "I'll be honest, I was scared. ... But the only way we're going to find out, the only way we are going to make improvements, we went directly to the market and asked the question."
Exxpress Tire began using analytics last year to better understand its business, such as its cost per mile, route/truck return on investment, handling frequency, units per person, load times and inventory management for optimal velocity, Mr. Clave said.
Armed with this information, Exxpress Tire aims to reduce the frequency of times it touches a tire, increase pull accuracy, improve driver effectiveness, do a better job of sharing best practices, streamline processes and make better use of technology to improve decision making, Mr. Clave said.