With more companies concerned about sustainability, and keeping devices in the field for longer, it means demand for replacement parts is growing, and PSA Parts is well placed to help resellers to capitalise on these opportunities.
With sustainability on the mind of many companies today, there is a drive among some to extend the life of their devices in the field to save on waste and the amount sent to landfill.
While resellers may be wary of this trend as it could impact sales of new devices, it does also present opportunities to sell spare parts or upgrade existing devices –and this is something that PSA Parts can help resellers with.
“Life cycles on hardware are generally increasing,” says Nik Hilliard, commercial director of PSA Parts. “As PSA Parts is a spares-focused niche and value add distributor, the extending of life cycles creates opportunities because those products need more parts, whether that be break-fix, planned maintenance or upgrades.”
Nik adds that one of PSA Parts’ current focuses is on educating resellers about this opportunity. “Spares has been something that historically quite a lot of resellers have shied away from because it can be complicated, and they don’t necessarily see it as a big margin opportunity,” he says.
“But we take that pain away and can guide resellers through the process. We’re on site with our resellers every week, rather than just chasing them up for an order. It’s about us educating them on the opportunities in the spares, maintenance and upgrades market and how to help their customers on that.”
With the increasing focus on sustainability, this is a market that Nik expects to grow quickly in the coming years. “It’s driven by the desire to increase the lifecycle of devices, which has been driven by sustainability and also the current economic situation – everybody’s looking to sweat those assets for longer and are looking to repair and reuse rather than get rid of a device.”
Different approach
Nik adds that PSA Parts takes a different approach to some other distributors, whose first question will be about the part number. “That’s not our approach,” he says. “We don’t expect the reseller to know the part number. They come to us with a with a model and a need for a solution. We have the experience to know exactly what ]solution is required. And, crucially, we also know how to turn that into a margin opportunity for the reseller. For instance, somebody might come in for a particular memory upgrade, but are they aware that they could double that memory upgrade?”
Nik conceded that selling spare parts can be more complex that other products because there are more considerations, such as compatibility and understanding models, especially as more computers are built to bespoke requirements today.
“It’s no longer quite as simple as looking up a part number and a guide and off you go,” he says. “The specification of a laptop is almost now unique to the user, so resellers need that knowledge and understanding to help people to select the best upgrade path for that particular device.”
Constant changing
This is indicative of how the market is constantly changing, and this is something that PSA Parts has done ever since the company was founded in 1988. Back then, PSA Parts supplied semiconductors and real-time clock batteries. In the ’90s, the company grew into supplying a range of mobile device spares. “We were one of the first companies in the UK to offer a range of replacement laptop batteries,” adds Nik.
“The business has grown continually from there. Its core focus has always been around the spare parts business. We have additional divisions now that focus on supporting retailers. Those are the two pillars of the company because their demands and needs are so different. Obviously, we’re very focused on the IT reseller market, and supporting the needs of those resellers as its the core of our business.”
PSA Parts had some notable milestones in 2023, as the company became an official distributor for HPE and ASA, and Nik indicated there are more announcements regarding new partnerships due later this month.
More than just parts
But PSA Parts is about more than just supplying components, it is about providing training and marketing to resellers to help them to maximise their sales. “Our team will go into a reseller and train their entire team on the spares and upgrade market,” says Nik.
“We also provide ongoing support. Our guys become virtual members of their team, as a go-to contact to be able to quote instantly on spare parts, cross-reference and provide guidance when required.”
Of course, spare parts are often required quickly, and PSA Parts has this covered too. “We have a logistics facility in the UK, and one in the EU, and we ship anything up to 5,000 orders a day at our peak times,” says Nik. “Anything ordered before 6pm can be delivered on site next day. We also offer a same day delivery service as well for break- fix and maintenance spares. Speed and efficiency are critical. We hold more than half a million spare parts in stock at any one time, and ship around about two million spares a year.
“With the advent of Amazon, people expect everything instantly. And the change now in terms of where people are working, businesses are often splintered in terms of people working off-site. Where we might have delivered 500 units of something to one site previously pre-COVID, we may now be required to send out 500 separate orders to residential addresses. We’ve invested a lot into our logistics and infrastructure in the last couple of years to enable us to deliver that level service to support resellers and the channel.
“For instance, when we deliver on behalf of our customers, an express delivery service uses the reseller’s branding. We have various courier options, those specialising in business or residential addresses, and select it accordingly to get the best service for that final delivery.”
Improving conditions
With the focus on sustainability, as well as uptick in the economy, Nik is positive about the future, but realistic about how fast growth will be. “Conditions are improving, but there’s still a long way to go,” he says.
“We were all hopeful that 2024 was going to see that real recovery. But the consensus now is that we’re seeing the grassroots recovery in 2024, but it will be 2025 before we really see that change.
“Part of the challenge is everybody had a boom through COVID in 2020, ’21 and into 2022 as everybody was reequipping or double-equipping staff everywhere. But we were really borrowing from the future. People used to have purchase cycles that were out of sync, and because everybody bought in that period from 2020-22, we’ve got a bit of a void where nobody’s product is coming out of its lifecycle. But many people expect 2025 to be when we’ll see a lot of that kit replacement start.”