Setco invests in Lipe Clutch operation
Setco Automotive, the owner of the Lipe Clutch brand, has outlined improvements it has rolled out over the last 12 months designed to boost customer convenience – including fresh investment in warehouse technology and a new e-commerce website.
Lipe Clutch manufactures over 50,000 medium duty and heavy duty commercial vehicle clutches each month, which Setco says places it amongst the top three manufacturers in the world by volume.
The company has recently invested in mobile computer terminals and barcode scanners for its warehouse, thus eliminating the paper trail between the sales office and the shop floor to help reduce dispatch time.
“Often when we receive orders for aftermarket parts in the UK, the truck is already in the workshop awaiting the parts at the soonest opportunity,” explained Matthew Kershaw, chief operating officer for Setco Automotive (UK) Ltd.
“Our focus is therefore on ensuring that the customer receives the correct parts for the vehicle in the shortest time frame…
“When orders were previously printed onto paper and carried out the shop floor, an order may have been received at the start of a shift but not processed ready for dispatch until the shift ended. Now orders are visible electronically to the warehouse staff as soon as they are received, and are typically processed within a few minutes.
“We normally dispatch orders by courier for next day delivery, but it’s not unusual for customers to come to collect the parts directly from our factory as soon as the orders are placed.
“Further to this, by introducing barcode scanning as part of the picking process, the chances of incorrect parts being accidently picked are practically eliminated.”
In November 2019, Setco received an award for ‘Logistics Excellence’ from the Northern Automotive Alliance in recognition of the improvements achieved through the project. The company also received the ‘People & Skills Excellence’ Award for investment in both the training and development of its workforce.
As a further service to support its customers, Setco has recently launched a new Lipe Clutch e-commerce website at www.lipeclutch.co.uk, designed to make the process of ordering the clutches and flywheels as convenient as possible for customers.
Matthew Kershaw continued: “The first challenge for aftermarket customers is ensuring that the they are ordering the correct product for their vehicle.
“To help with this, the new website allows customers to search by numerous options including vehicle type, OE part numbers or cross reference numbers. Our customers are particularly keen on the live chat function, allowing them to forward a vehicle registration or chassis number to us from which we can respond with a direct link to the product that they need.”
The Lipe Clutch brand has a rich heritage, says Setco, dating back to the start of the 20th century when Henry Ford visited the engineering works of the brand’s namesake, Charles Lipe, to supervise the production of transmission components for his famed Model A Ford.
The commercial vehicle clutch division was formally established in 1932 and steadily grew to become the major global clutch manufacturer that it is today.
Lipe Clutch was successfully introduced to the European market in the early 1970s via the establishment of a factory and engineering facility in Haslingden, England.
Within a short time, all UK truck manufacturers were customers for both OEM equipment and service replacements.
Manufacturing continues today at the Haslingden factory, with a particular focus on the supply of aftermarket truck clutches for European applications, as well as manufacturing heavy duty clutch systems for either niche or high volume OEM applications.
The plant is configured with the ability to supply clutches for any major truck on the road, typically for dispatch on the same day that the order is placed.
Matthew concluded: “We are proud of the new initiatives that we’ve successfully implemented over the last 12 months, further improving the services that we provide to our customers.
“We are keen to continue to build on these technologies and always welcome any feedback from our customers, particularly regarding the new e-commerce website. Over the next 12 months we will be focusing on diversifying the range of products that we supply, and encourage our customers to keep an eye on the website for any exciting new developments.”
