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Hamburg Technic is a global manufacturer of auto parts, which offers a complete range of automobile parts for all late-model European vehicles, as well as selected Asian and domestic marques. For more details, visit the website hamburgtechnic.com today.
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With the addition of a new facility, equipment, and staff, Eurostar Industries continues to keep parts quality and customer satisfaction high. “You need to have boots on the ground in order to ensure that you get the consistency you’re looking for,” he added. “Self policing only works for the first or second container, but you’re not going to get into a 10-year relationship with a factory and have the consistency that you want without hav- ing somebody there to hold their feet to the fire.” BY STEVE RELYEA T are produced and then they are inspected again when they arrive at Eurostar’s facilities in the U.S. Those inspections are just one part of Eurostar’s Quality Assurance Program, which is newly improved and has been facilitated by the addition of a new facility, equipment, and staff. Eurostar Industries, Inc., a warehouse distributor based in Norwalk, Conn., is the exclusive North American importer and distributor for Hamburg-Technic (HT). HT is a global manufacturer of auto parts that offers a complete range of parts for all late-model European vehicles, as well as select Asian and domestic marques. The parts include steering and suspension; heating and cooling; ignition and engine management; driveline; sensors and switches; brake pad wear sensors, and custom parts. “Quality is our number one focus, and it is something we are not willing to compromise on,” said Zino Carr, Director of Sales at Eurostar Industries. “We want any customer using HT parts to be asking for HT parts by name because they know the quality is going to be there.” o keep parts quality and customer satisfaction high, Hamburg-Technic parts distributed by Eurostar Industries are inspected at the factory at which they QUALITY CONTROL The Quality Control team in Connecticut inspects the parts when they arrive at the U.S. facilities. Before the parts are even checked into inventory, they are taken into the lab for inspection. (All parts are checked at the factory, and then they are checked again when they arrive in the U.S.) The parts are checked for quality, for materials, and for function. “Once it has been confirmed that all the tolerances are within spec, the products are marked as approved, pro- cessed, put into our inventory system, and slotted in the warehouse for sale — but not until then,” Carr said. “So, those products are not going to end up on someone’s car until they have been checked and approved to ensure that they meet our standards.” The Quality Control division has recently been beefed up with the addition of the new facility, equipment, and staff. Eurostar recently moved into a second facility in Norwalk, Connecticut. With this new 60,000 sq. ft. facility added to its existing 40,000 sq. ft. facility, Eurostar now has about 100,000 square feet of warehouse and distribution space available for use. “The new Director of our Quality Control Department is an engineer with nearly two decades of aerospace and auto- motive tier 1 supply chain experience” Carr said. “We have seen almost immediate results from when he joined us,” Carr added. “For the last five years in a row, we have hit new lows in terms of return rate on our products every year, so we are really happy and it has only gotten that much better with him running our QC team.” QUALITY ASSURANCE The inspections that bring this quality to the aftermarket are performed by two different divisions. One is the Quality Assurance division, which includes people based at the fac- tories in Europe and Asia. The second component is the Quality Control division, based at Eurostar’s facilities in Connecticut. The Quality Assurance teams at the factories in Europe and Asia watch the manufacturing take place, work with the factories on materials selection, work with them to make sure their machinery and equipment is properly calibrated, and inspect the goods prior to shipment. “Those teams are ensuring that the quality assurance programs at the factories are in place and that they are fol- lowing the standards that we demand from them,” Carr explained. GENUINE VALUE “We believe the pendulum has swung back toward quali- ty; people with European cars are no longer chasing the lowest price,” Carr said. “In our opinion, you can’t compro- mise on quality in order to be the lowest price. “For people who care about keeping their car on the road long term, you need to provide value, and that value involves providing the same kind of quality that someone can get at the dealership,” he said. “So, we are not willing, and Hamburg-Technic is not will- ing, to compromise the quality just to chase a particular price point or be the lowest price option out there. It’s more important to provide the end user with genuine value,” Carr concluded. For more information about Eurostar Industries and the Hamburg-Technic parts it imports and distributes, visit www.eurostarinc.com. IAPA 57 56 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2015 IMPORT AUTOMOTIVE PARTS & ACCESSORIES For a quick reply, go to www.meyerspublishing.com and click on RAPID RESPONSE