Fleet Strategy Insights: How to Boost Buying Power & Forecast Build Cycles with Elizabeth LaRiviere

Welcome to National Fleet Services: Ask an Expert

I’m your host, Larry Wyatt. In this episode, we’ll be discussing how to optimize your buying power and properly forecast your build cycle. Joining me is our expert, Elizabeth LaRiviere.

Larry: Elizabeth LaRiviere joined National Fleet Services as Executive Vice President of Finance in 2022 and brings a wide range of financial services expertise to the company. Prior to joining National Fleet Services, she spent over six years in the wealth management industry while working at Ford Estates. Elizabeth, thank you so much for joining us today.

Elizabeth: Thank you, Larry, I appreciate it.

Larry: Well, let me start by asking you this. Can you share some best practices on how to leverage relationships to increase your buying power?

Elizabeth: Yes, one of the most beneficial practices is to have constant communication with suppliers and manufacturers to build a strong partnership and sense of loyalty in working together. In building these relationships, we’re able to negotiate better pricing, obtain high volume discounts, and leverage buying power to secure product timing to help meet customer production needs, and to provide the best possible pricing to our customers.

We also participate in industry events to not only stay in touch with existing suppliers, but to connect with new suppliers and explore innovative products, fostering new relationships that can lead to better deals, and allow us the opportunity to have several options to offer our customers.

Larry: Elizabeth, what would you say is one of the most overlooked aspects of the acquisition process?

Elizabeth: We feel a key strategy needed to be an effective upfit partner that is sometimes overlooked is strong communication and coordination by all internal departments to review a customer’s production needs. Inventory and lead time management is critical to meet customer timing and delivery of its fleet vehicles. Effective inventory control, including just-in-time practices, and accurate forecasting, prevents overstock and stock outs and optimizes production efficiency on the floor. We know that properly forecasting a build cycle can be challenging for fleet managers due to the often numerous vendors involved. NFS prides itself on managing lead times so the customer does not have to. Whether it be 50 vendors or more for a build, we know how important and time-consuming this process is, and we take great pride in managing that from start to finish.

Larry: I think we all agree that missing the mark on timing and delivery of fleet vehicles is a significant issue. So Elizabeth, what are some tips to better understand OEM vehicle supply and production timing?

Elizabeth: As an upfitter, effectively forecasting OEM vehicle supply and production timing is crucial for optimizing operations. At NFS, we focus on cultivating strong relationships with OEM representatives and utilizing their software systems to gain insights into production schedules, and supply chain challenges. We monitor industry trends to stay informed about industry news, including economic indicators, regulatory changes, and technological advancements that may impact production timelines. We utilize data analytics to analyze current historical production data and identify patterns that may influence future supply. We understand that things don’t always go as planned. National Fleet Services adopts agile methodologies to quickly adapt to changes in supply and production schedules, allowing us to be more responsive in all of our planning.

Larry: What data is needed to fill in the vehicle movement gaps and upfit status to dealers or partners?

Elizabeth: NFS prides itself on putting together a comprehensive list of vehicle status updates to not only support NFS internally, but to communicate those valuable updates to the customers and dealers. Our data reporting provides accurate insights and tracking between the OEM, upfitter, dealer and customer, which can be essential for addressing any vehicle movement gaps. This data enables the customer to track vehicle availability from the plant to the upfitter, monitor upfit progress, and review estimated completion dates.

Larry: Let’s finish up with this. Does National Fleet Services offer any customization of data reporting?

Elizabeth: Yes, we do Larry, and that’s something we seem to be asked of more and more. We understand that some of our customer partners have preferred formats for reviewing information and vehicle data. In this situation, we work with the customer to develop custom user-friendly dashboards, for them to access up to date information on vehicle status in a way that provides consistent reporting between the OEM, upfitter, and dealer to provide complete transparency and vehicle progress to the customer.

Larry: Elizabeth, thank you so much for your time and for your expertise.

Elizabeth: Thank you so much Larry, appreciate everything.

Larry: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for watching and be sure to join us for another episode of National Fleet Services: Ask an Expert.

Be sure to check out our other Ask An Expert videos!