Centric Named Vendor of the Year by NPW

Centric Parts sales rep, Joe Evora, and Centric VP of Sales Mike Musso (below right), were recently in Florida, where they attended the National Performance Warehouse (NPW) Million Dollar Dinner, the black tie awards banquet that coincided with the fourth annual FAST Expo.

All involved praised the event, held at the Tower Club on Friday evening.  John Washbish (President of The Alliance Buying Group) helped hand out the awards with Larry Pacey (President and CEO of NPW) and also spoke about Alliance and the great addition of NPW to the Alliance family.  Both John and Larry thanked all the recipients, which included Centric Parts for being a million dollar vendor.

As if that wasn’t enough, on Saturday evening, roughly 200 guests attended the "Vendor Appreciation Dinner" at the Broward County Convention Center, where Centric received the "VENDOR OF THE YEAR AWARD." It was an unexpected honor that Centric is truly grateful for.

In accepting the award, Musso said, "On behalf of Centric Parts, Dino Crescentini, Dan Lelchuk and myself I want to thank you for this award.  It is an honor to be recognized through this award.  If not for the efforts of NPW and their customers this would not be possible.  All I can say now is look out 2013.”

The Expo itself was well attended by both NPW Jobbers and installers (over 3,000 people), and we heard a lot of praise for Centric products.  Many installers told us that Centric is all they use. That’s always nice to hear and we are truly grateful for all of the kind words we heard regarding our products and our company, as well as the honor of being named Vendor of the Year.

The next CARS Expo will be held on April 14, in San Jose, Calif.

Now That's Dedication

Here's a great illustration of true dedication from a member of the extended Centric Parts family. Robert Geist, a member of the sales force at Parts Authority in Phoenix just got in touch to share the news that he had recently received his new personalized license plates. The new Arizona plate proudly reads, "Centric."

How cool is it to work for a company that makes distributors want to advertise your name on their personalized license plate? We see this kind of dedication from our employees and sales force in many different ways, but this being a distributor, we were truly humbled and we had to share.

Apparently Robert has been a longtime believer in Centric and its products, being known to wear a Centric cap wherever he goes. The new license plate really shows how deep-seated his dedication is. It's flattering, but not really surprising, to see this level of enthusiasm for Centric Parts products. Once they've tried Centric, it's hard to get people to switch to anything else!

Centric Helps San Jose Fire Department Find Better Solutions

Recently, we participated in a Public Fleet Supervisors (PFSA) meeting in Northern California.  We met City of San Jose, CA Fleet Manager Dan Sunseri. The very next day, Dan reached out to us and our distributor, asking if we would visit the shop to help locate front brakes for a “brush truck.”

Dan’s fleet had six 1988 F150 2wd pickups that were having some braking issues. Closer inspection of the vehicles revealed that the trucks had been fitted with Marmon Harrington front axles. Prior repairs had never been an issue for Dan because Marmon had plenty of spares, but now they could no longer get replacement brake parts for this obsolete front axle. It looked like the only solution was to change the entire axle on each vehicle at a cost of about $6,000 apiece!

Photos were provided to Centric’s Tech Line to see if there was possibly a better solution. The rotors and calipers were then shipped down to Centric for a closer look. Rotors were quickly located so the only issue was going to be the calipers. After a lot of research it was determined that these units could not be rebuilt as they were a non North American application. That’s when Tech got to work finding a suitable alternative.

After further exhaustive research, it was determined that the calipers in question were identical to ones being used on a German SUV.  Replacements were shipped back up and installed on one of the trucks for testing. Rocco Capossele (San Jose Equipment Maintenance Supervisor) says they are very happy with the solution.

Now the remaining fire trucks will be able to be kept in service, saving the city thousands of dollars.

Centric Parts Technical Support Director Helps Meals On Wheels Keep On Rolling

Reggie Bush with members of the Prestone and St. Vincent’s teams

Recently, football star Reggie Bush joined Centric Parts Technical Support Director, Pat McCleish, and dozens of other volunteers to help support a very worthy cause. The volunteers came together to lend their knowledge and skills to inspect vehicles used by the St. Vincent’s Meals on Wheels program. The organization provides meals to homebound elderly and otherwise less fortunate individuals around the Los Angeles area.

Sponsored by Prestone, the event focused on inspecting and servicing delivery vehicles used by the program as well as other vehicles belonging to the organization’s numerous volunteers. Experienced technicians like Pat spent the day performing basic vehicle inspections that included checking and topping off fluids, and checking belts and hoses, tire pressures, tread depth, lights and wipers, as well as giving the vehicles an otherwise quick glance over for other major concerns.

Fluid levels were adjusted and recommendations for further services were made where necessary. Over 50 cars and trucks were inspected and although several needed minor attention, it was discovered that a few actually had serious issues. In fact, they needed major repairs to make them safe enough to once again drive on public streets – some potentially serious accidents successfully averted!

“Vehicle maintenance is about more than making sure your vehicle will be reliable,” explained McCleish, “it’s about making sure your vehicle is not a hazard to those sharing the road with you.  I was happy for the opportunity to help assure that the staff and volunteers of the St. Vincent’s Meals on Wheels had safe vehicles in which to make their deliveries.”

Centric Parts is proud of Pat and all of our other employees who volunteer their time and resources to help such worthy causes. Way to go, Pat!

Centric Parts Releases First Catalog Developed Exclusively For Mexico

Centric Parts, a leading manufacturer and supplier of aftermarket brake components and systems for import and domestic cars as well as light and medium duty trucks, has just released its first catalog - Sistemas de Frenos Mexico  (Brake Systems Mexico) - developed exclusively for Mexico, an increasingly important automotive market.

“As an industry leader in cataloging, Centric prides itself on having the most up-to-date information available for customers in any market,” explained Centric Parts President, Dan Lelchuk. “The 2011 Brake Systems Mexico catalog builds on that reputation, while recognizing the importance of continually incorporating growing automotive markets.”

The award-winning catalog department has worked with Mexican customers and manufacturers to develop a Spanish-language catalog that covers makes and models exclusive to the Mexican market. This catalog serves as a supplement to Centric’s existing 2011 parts catalog, adding additional “National Model” vehicles to the application range. Makes and models not currently sold in the United States are included in the catalog, which covers models from Alfa Romeo, Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Dodge, FAW, Fiat, Ford, Honda, Isuzu, Land Rover, Mercedes Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Peugeot, Pontiac, Renault, Rover, Seat, Smart, Suzuki, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo.

Approximately 90 percent of the national models available in Mexico are covered in the 2011 Sistemas de Frenos Mexico catalog, with more being added as additional data becomes available. Gaining access to the national models can present unique challenges for Centric engineers who insist on meticulous measuring and analysis of every OEM part before a replacement can be developed. While many of the national models use existing part numbers from the immense Centric Parts catalog, nearly 100 new parts were added to the FMSI index as a result of this new project.

The market-leading 2011 Centric Parts Mexico catalog includes pads, shoes, discs, drums and hydraulic components for approximately 180 new applications. The catalog not only lists all part numbers, but also includes handy illustrations of nearly every part. Those familiar with the Centric Parts catalog will note that a “99” prefix identifies these new offerings in the catalog.

All of the parts offered in the 2011 Centric Parts Sistemas de Frenos Mexico catalog are available to order today.

For more information on the whole family of Centric Parts brake and clutch components, visit www.centricparts.com.