The Story of ratioparts
Granted, the story of ratioparts does sound a little made up and somewhat like Steve Jobs in his garage, yet sometimes good ideas just need an unusual start. The idea was nothing groundbreaking, and yet it was exciting in its uniqueness. In the end, the circumstances of the birth of an idea does not always matter. We knew we wanted to bring a quality product to the customer without charging them the quality price. We wanted to reduce the high purchase follow-up costs in order to make repair work an affordable and profitable part of the business model.
There From the Start: Satisfied Customers
To begin with, we built up a portfolio of the most common and important everyday spare parts and offered them to a selection of specialized shops and retailers. We started in 1986 with a manageable assortment of 25 products displayed in a four-page leaflet. We hired only one employee who helped in packaging and shipping. Today, that employee has 150 colleagues and our product lineup now exceeds 100,000 parts. ratioparts is now the EU’s market leader in the field of spare-, wear- and accessory parts for equipment and machinery for garden, forest and lawn maintenance. As proud as this development makes us, at the same time we feel the great responsibility it entails. A responsibility towards the customers, suppliers and employees who made this success possible in the first place.
Europe’s Number One
For us, our site in Euskirchen is a very important location. Euskirchen serves not only as the founding city of ratioparts, but also gives us our hometown principles and values. Euskirchen is the location of our headquarters and warehouse. This is where we take responsibility for the region, our employees and their families. It is where we feel at home. From here, we deliver to all corners of Germany, in addition to every other country in Europe. Maybe this is why Euskirchen and Europe have the same abbreviation: EU.
Paris, the Lawn Is Mowed – London, the Hedge Is Cut
Certainly, there are bigger cities than Euskirchen, maybe also more interesting and probably more famous. But better? We owe the lion’s share of our success to the tight, and ongoing cooperative work with our qualified specialist retailers. Today, we are able to reach many different target groups in every corner of Europe. Our customers include golf courses in Portugal, municipalities in Spain, farms in Italy, gardens in England, park facilities in France and forestry companies here in Germany. They all use lawnmowers, hedge clippers, chainsaws and string trimmers. And as with countless others, they all have great trust in the spare parts from ratioparts. We not only stand out because of our product range and low prices, but most of all because we maintain quality. Municipal landscaping customers find the latter particularly important.
Assortment and Variety
Primarily, one has to know one’s customer’s needs in order to offer the perfect assortment. Where do they work and what do they work with? What equipment is needed, and what kind of tasks have to be dealt with? What specifications are needed in their work gear, and which priorities are set in their daily work?
Our product managers and purchasing agents work hand in hand in order to consistently balance supply and demand. They are familiar with the complete range of over 90,000 products and know which products are in great demand and which are no longer needed. To serve our clients’ needs best, our specialists are constantly striving to cull and adapt our product range. Our product assortment is constantly being checked and accordingly updated.
Our most important customers are specialty retailers
Specialty retailers support us considerably in helping us arrange our assortment. Their expert knowledge of their customers’ needs is passed on directly to us. The point of sale is where the end costumer leaves information and where the assortment is therefore co-determined. Again, here we can apply the adage: the better the products, the better the outcome for the retailers as well as for ratioparts. From day one, it is exactly this professional and fair team play that we are thankful for.
Service and Customer Proximity
In today’s business world, service seems to be taking a back seat to cost cutting. ratioparts takes this transition seriously and is working to reverse this unfortunate trend. We know that our customers depend on us and feel comfortable ordering when they urgently need something. This is why our 150 employees consistently fulfill the wishes and requirements of our customers and advise them with professionalism and competence. This especially applies to our field personnel and service department – the business card of our company.
Analogue, Dialogue and Catalogue – We Are Always There for You
There are countless possibilities to contact us. In the past, most of our orders came by fax. Today, many orders are made through our service department or via our web shop. Along with our latest multi-lingual assortment catalogue, customers can also retrieve all important order and service documents through the web shop. Using customer-ID numbers, product availability and prices can be checked. If the order is made by six pm, the delivery will be shipped out the same day. This applies if the order is sent by fax as well. And yes, we amazingly still have a working fax number. We love to meet our customers personally. That is why we represent ourselves at numerous major exhibitions all over the world.
Quality and Demand
It would be an exaggeration to say that all items are ordered by the same quantities. Some items are sold twice a year, while others are sold by the hundreds daily.One thing they all have in common: high quality. It does not matter which spare or accessory part you purchase, you always receive the same first class product. All parts are made from high quality material and accurately finished.
There Is No Substitute for Quality
If one works with complex technical equipment, one wants to and has to be able to rely on high functionality. Be it a ride-on mower, a high pressure cleaner, a string trimmer or a lawn thatcher, safety boots, lubricant or v-belts, we need you to be happy with every single product. This is why a greater part of our assortment is manufactured in Germany and why we set such high requirements upon our suppliers. This is why our customers can always be certain to receive the best spare parts for the best prices. We believe you can find a substitute for everything except for quality.
Logistics and Sales
Ratioparts always has over 90,000 items dependably in stock which are quickly deliverable. Our state-of-the-art warehouse storage system and the experience of our employees help make this possible.
All incoming products are booked, packaged, processed and labeled within our highly modern warehouse in Euskirchen. A special EDP-aided pick system enables us to find the products immediately in order to ship them as quickly as possible. Orders are professionally packed so as to guarantee full operation up receipt. The speed of delivery depends on what kind of shipping option the customer selects.
Packaging: As Much As Necessary, As Little As Possible
Even if most of our products are not breakable, they must still be well packaged. This is why we make sure, as do our suppliers, that we progressively produce as little waste as possible. In doing so, we have been able to drastically reduce the use of plastics for incoming deliveries as well as outgoing distributions. With these measures we have been doing our part in relieving our environmental footprint while at the same time saving valuable raw materials. According to us, this way of thinking belongs to every responsible and modern company.
ratioparts, Your Partner for Quality Spare Parts.