How Green Parts can Transform your Fleet Repair Strategy

The strength of your fleet repair strategy can have a huge impact on your wider operational performance.

For fleet managers, the focus should be facilitating quick, cost effective, and sustainable repairs when their vehicles need it, ultimately reducing the length of time for which they’re off the road.

Here we explore how using green parts can transform your fleet repair strategy - leading to quicker, cheaper, and more environmentally-conscious repairs.

What are ‘Green Parts’?

‘Green parts’ are second-hand OE (original equipment) parts which have been reclaimed from vehicles at the end of their useful lives. They are often used by repairers as a more sustainable alternative to brand-new parts.

In most cases, these vehicles have been subject to a ‘total loss’ decision rather than being repaired.

Many vehicles that are deemed a ‘total loss’ by fleets and insurers will actually have many undamaged parts and components, which can be safely salvaged and reused.

Green parts can be used in place of new OE or aftermarket components, providing the same repair quality at a reduced cost.

Are green parts safe to use in vehicle repair?

Green parts go through comprehensive checks to ensure they’re safe to use in repairs. Most green parts are compliant with industry best-practice such as BSI, and even come with quality guarantees similar to brand-new components.

They also aren’t used to replace safety-critical components on your vehicle – they’re mainly utilised for cosmetic parts like bumpers, doors, and wing mirrors.

This means green parts can deliver the same high-quality end results as off-the-shelf components, without posing any risk to the roadworthiness of your vehicle.

How green parts can benefit your fleet repair strategy

Here are some of the benefits that green parts could bring to your fleet repair strategy:

1 - Your own internal parts supply chain

Commercial fleets often use many of the same, or similar vehicles within their business. This enables companies/operators to recycle the parts made available within their own vehicle stock, such as when vehicles are damaged beyond repair or at the end of operational use.

Suppliers, such as our group business Activate Parts, can store high-demand parts from fleets’ dismantled vehicles, and deploy these as/when needed for repairs. This reduces expenditure on replacement parts, and reduces supply waiting times - further speeding up the repair process.

Since these parts are recovered from vehicles with the same or similar colour schemes/livery, there’s often no need to repaint them before they’re reused. This further reduces workload and costs at repair stage, delivering a more economical, sustainable repair.

2 - Promoting quicker repair turnaround

Green parts are often quicker to get hold of than brand-new components, meaning they can be effective in speeding up repair turnaround - getting your vehicles back on the road sooner.

The global vehicle manufacturing industry is currently facing severe delays, meaning it can take longer for repairers to source brand-new car parts. Utilising green parts helps to mitigate these challenges, as you won’t be relying on OE or aftermarket supply chains.

3 - Reducing repair costs without impacting quality

Green parts are a cost-effective alternative to using brand-new OE parts in vehicle repair. They can help to bring repair costs down on average, promoting a more efficient fleet strategy.

They go through comprehensive quality and safety checks in-line with industry guidance, and can be refurbished/resprayed to your requirements. This means green parts are indistinguishable in quality from their off-the-shelf counterparts, providing the same standard of repair for a reduced price.

4 - Supporting your company’s sustainability pledges

Manufacturing new parts produces a lot of carbon - from the energy required to make them, to the fuel used to transport them worldwide.

Green parts, on the other hand, are an approved sustainable resource, making them effective in reducing the carbon footprint of individual repairs.

This is particularly useful for companies conducting repairs on fleet vehicles - helping them to remain in-line with their corporate sustainability pledges.

Green parts at sopp+sopp 

Our customers are seeing first-hand the benefits of using green parts in their fleet repair strategies. From reducing repair costs and vehicle downtime periods, to decreasing their fleet’s carbon footprint, sustainable supply chains are promoting fundamental improvements in their operational performance.

Through group company, Activate Parts - an end-to-end parts aggregator - sopp+sopp customers gain access to a range of green OE parts, which are dispatched to and fitted by repairers in our network.

Using green parts in our customers’ repairs provides us with an at-purchase discount of around 40-45%, providing cost effective repairs.

Additionally, we partner with our customers to store green parts derived from their own vehicles - providing them with cost-free access to replacement parts whenever they need them. Many of these parts already have the same colour scheme/liveries as the vehicle they’re fitted to – further reducing the workload for repairers, and repair costs for customers.

Our team also works with third-parties to educate them on the safety, quality, and benefits of green parts - reducing the cost, and quickening the turnaround of third-party repairs.

We’re committed to ensuring our customers maximise the benefits of green parts, and helping them to transform their fleet repair strategies for a more sustainable, cost effective future.

Learn more about sopp+sopp, and our range of fleet management services…