Furness Cars & Commercials has saved more than £5,000 a year and transformed its workshop efficiency since using a Josam Cam Aligner wheel alignment system supplied by Automotive Equipment Solutions (AES UK).
Furness Cars Cut Costs and Increase Efficiency With Cam Aligner System From AES UK
The Furness Cars family business was founded by current director Kevin Grieve’s parents in 1983, and he and his brother took the helm in 2003. It specialises in light and heavy vehicle recovery but also conducts servicing, repairs and MOTs on anything from motorbikes to articulated HGVs. The garage previously used an external specialist for wheel alignment but purchased the Cam Aligner System three years ago, both for use on customers’ vehicles and on its own fleet, which includes four-wheel drive vehicles, vans, rigids, and articulated HGVs.
“We were using a wheel alignment company a couple of times a year,” said Kevin Grieve, Furness Cars Managing Director and Owner, “we’d get them to do half the fleet one time, then come back in six months and do the other half. We’d just end up tying up the workshop doing our own alignments.”
“We were spending £4-5,000 a year just getting someone in to do the alignment,” said Grieve, “and then there was the cost of changing tyres prematurely.”
Fast, Accurate Wheel Alignment
The Josam Cam Aligner compact wheel alignment system enables commercial vehicle workshops and tyre service centres to offer fast, accurate wheel alignment services, emphasising ease of use. Since Furness acquired the system, Kevin estimates the business has saved £5-6,000 a year by bringing wheel alignment in-house and checking tyres more frequently and accurately.
Grieve continues, “If we change a set of tyres – or bring a vehicle in for a safety inspection and the tyres are starting to look like they’re rubbing on the edges – then we can immediately see what’s going on and make the adjustment in less than half an hour. Adjusting it doesn’t take long. You just take the laptop with you into the pit, save the correct settings, and by the time you’ve got out of the pit and put your equipment away, the printout’s already done in the office.”
Safety and Steering Improvement
AES advises that correct tyre set-up reduces operator costs by improving fuel economy and extending tyre life. Safety is improved, and steering is enhanced, which increases driver comfort. In this regard, Furness Cars’ drivers have noted improvements in vehicle handling since the garage adopted the Josam Cam Aligner and tyre wear has significantly reduced.
“We’re not changing tyres because they’re wearing prematurely,” Grieve adds, “we’re changing them now because they’ve run their life.”
Grieve also speaks highly of the aftersales service he receives from AES UK, including regular visits and contact from Russ Coad, AES UK director.
“Russ comes round to do the servicing and the calibration, and if we have any problems – which are very minimal – we just ring him up and say, ‘we’ve got this or that issue’, and he sorts it. There’s no faff at all, so it’s up there with one of the best bits of kit we’ve bought for our workshop.”
