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JDParts gets it right every time
North Yorkshire based AWSM Farms provides agricultural contracting, farm waste collection and disposal (including waste and plastics recycling as a member of the Solway Recycling Group) and a comprehensive range of other services from machinery hire to gritting and snow ploughing.
Based at Dalton Fields, Newsham near Richmond, the business was started over 11 years ago by Adam Metcalfe while he was still at agricultural college. From holiday contract work as a student with a second-hand self-propelled sprayer, he has grown the company so successfully that he now employs 12 full-time staff, and was a finalist in the 2007 Young Rural Entrepreneur Awards, run by Lycetts and The Field magazine.
Adam runs a fleet of around 50 machines of all makes and types, including a range of John Deere combines and tractors, and his current annual budget for all machinery spares and repairs is £95,000. As a result he maintains thorough and comprehensive financial records on a computer programme he designed himself, so that he can keep a very close eye on his overall machinery running costs.
Supplied by local dealer E A Clayton of Carlton, Stockton-on-Tees, John Deere tractors are used for all the key jobs in the business, and include new 30 Series models, several 6020 Series machines and an older 8100T tracked model. These are normally kept for three years or 5000 hours, and then traded in.
“We’ve bought John Deere since our first second hand 6800 in 1996,” says Adam. “I’d always heard good reports about their machines and the dealer service, and the fact that they maintain a high residual value has always been a key factor.
“Knowing the running cost per hour of each machine is very important in this business. Every invoice on every machine we own is allocated to that machine, so I can tell exactly what’s spent on it – the computer programme can then tell me the individual and average running cost per hour for all the tractors we run. Using the programme, I can compare the relative costs of different transmission models, for example AutoPowr and AutoQuad, and identify specific unit costs, depreciation etc at the touch of a button.
“Before the advent of the JDParts computerised ordering system, I used to ring or fax the dealer’s parts department and try to describe what I wanted. With the best will in the world, you don’t necessarily get it right every time. The computerised service ensures that I can identify the correct part exactly.
“I can also check the price before confirming the order, and see what’s in stock at the dealership. One order can often be for several different machines, but we can easily allocate the invoices from the order to the office records for each individual machine.
“In addition, with the JDParts system, you know you’re ordering the right part, so there can be no arguments over carriage costs if you order the wrong one. Another advantage is that you can use the system at any time of day or night – the e-mail confirmation goes straight through to the parts manager’s computer at the dealership, and is dealt with straight away, or first thing in the morning if it’s sent overnight.
“For convenience, speed and ease of ordering the right part every time, there’s no doubt JDParts makes both my life and the dealer’s life much easier.”
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