Norris Sales Company Inc., Plymouth Meeting, Pa., sits at the busy intersection of Ridge Pike and Conshohocken Road, an area that hums with traffic, a great deal more traffic than it did when the company was founded 56 years ago.
So recently, and with more plans in the works for the future, Norris Sales has been making changes to make itself more visible and accessible, in keeping with the level of service customers have come to expect from the purveyor of all things construction — equipment sales and rentals, service on all makes and models in its fleet, parts and training classes.
The most recent piece of Norris’s plan comes in the form of a state-of-the-art parts facility. According to Brian Noll, marketing and technology associate, parts “just exploded” over the past few years.
“We simply ran out of room,” Noll explained. “Parts were kept everywhere. It’s due partially, I think, to the economy and the fact that people are choosing to fix machines that they might otherwise have replaced. As we got more requests for more types of parts, we needed to find the space to keep the increased inventory so that we could have what our customers needed picked up or delivered as fast as possible.”
The space Norris found is just across the side street, Conshohocken Road, from the company’s main building. In what was empty warehouse space, Vice President Karen Zajick explained, Norris put together an impressive new parts area in only two months.
“This was just a big space, with only a few old shelves on the side wall,” Zajick said. “We started from scratch, cleaning and repainting and then bringing all the storage components in — all the shelving and bins, everything. We created a careful plan of how to lay the area out and what we need to store things in. We stock parts for everything we rent and sell, and we represent 30 major vendors and quite a number of smaller ones too. So we stock everything from engines and tracks right down to the smallest gears and bolts. These guys did an amazing job getting themselves set up and although there is still some finishing work to do, they know where everything is and how to get it to the customer quickly.”
“Moving across the road gave us space to streamline everything,” Noll added. “For a while there, it was a steady stream of the parts guys going back and forth in golf carts bringing over load after load of parts.”
The new parts department has been in operation for roughly a month and Norris Sales plans to further fill up the new building with expanded parts inventory, including some items that can be difficult for customers to get hold of when dealing with older machines.
President Don Zajick, stated that, “Our company is like no other company as far as our dedication to parts sourcing. We’ve gone out of our way to sell parts for all construction equipment, especially items that are difficult for our customers to find. We want to work with our customers to help them get as much life out of their iron as they can. We have the ability to not only find hard-to-obtain parts, but also to help customers when a particular part is outdated.
“People are making an effort to keep their machines longer these days, whereas not too long ago, many of these older machines would have been discarded. Now that we have an increased focus on these older parts and have a new space to stock them as needed, we can get those parts in the customers’ hands quickly and efficiently, the way we have always dealt with parts. And, as we’ve worked with these older parts and learned what is and isn’t out there, we can tell people if their machines have finally become outdated and not worth holding on to anymore.”
In addition, Norris Sales’ President said, “We also are working to get the word out through the use of e-mail blasts and easy-to-find information on our Web site. We want people to know that there’s a lot going on at Norris Sales.”
Currently, the portion of the main building that used to be dedicated to parts is being renovated to provide new offices for both inside sales representatives as well as a space for traveling representatives coming in to work with Norris Sales to make use of.
Also, Karen Zajick explained, “Norris Sales is taking possession of another building also just across Conshohocken Road, but which fronts onto Ridge Pike. There, we’ll have a great deal more space in which to display our equipment outside, right along a highly traveled road at a signaled intersection. The increased visibility is something we are looking forward to having.
“We take possession on June 1, so we have some time to decide how best to use the new space. Of course,” she continued with a laugh, “everyone has ideas about what should go into the building, including the guys in our parts department, who like their new space so much they want more. Regardless of what we do with the space, however, all of our buildings are being planned to bring the Norris Sales ’look’ to the forefront so our customers can easily recognize our facilities and find the departments they need quickly. Our customers are our priority, and all of our changes are working toward our goal of being an even better one-stop-shop for them than we are today.”
Norris Sales also has a facility in Sicklerville, N.J.
For more information, visit www.norrissales.com.
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