Taking a first step in a plan to expand parts service by the end of 2000, Brenner Tank has opened a new parts distribution center in Memphis, Tennessee. Although Brenner operates three service/parts centers, this is the first parts-only facility in the company's network.
"We think the wave of the future lies with providing many locations," says Bill Stone, president of Brenner Tank Services. "Memphis puts us in a central spot. We have customers scattered north, east, and west of there, and we wanted to serve their needs."
In keeping with its dedication to stay at the customer service cutting edge, the company has equipped the 7,500- square-foot Memphis facility with a state-of-the-art computer program linked into a new system Brenner has installed companywide. The system includes e-mail and a web site (www.brennertank.com), and accounting, estimating, and inventory programs. In addition, about $350,000 in start-up inventory is in stock. A dock at the front of the building and a two-door bay at the back expedite loading and unloading.
"We have grown our business considerably in the past three years," says Bryan Watson, national parts manager based in Houston. "The addition of the Memphis center will help our position in dealing with current national accounts and the development of new national accounts."
Overseeing the Memphis facility is Steve Beyatte, parts manager. Additional local employees will be hired soon and include a warehouse supervisor and a delivery driver.
Brenner supplies carriers with a variety of parts for tank trailers including chemical, sanitary, dry bulk, petroleum, intermodal tank containers, and liquid petroleum gas. In-house parts include fenders, light boxes, and upper couplers.
The Memphis center, located at 3139 Fleetbrook Drive, is in the Bellbrook Industrial Park. Brenner, based in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, leases the space from the industrial park authority. The company operates additional service/parts centers in Mauston, Wisconsin; North Salt Lake, Utah; and Houston, Texas.