Episode #12
Episode 12: The 30-Hour Purchasing Problem in Automotive Aftermarket (w/ Jonathan Guerrero, Urban Import)
What does it take to keep more than 1,000 fitment-specific automotive aftermarket products moving across five in-house brands and two US locations? More than the customer ever sees. In this episode of Leveraged Supply Chains, Andrew Stroup sits down with Jonathan Guerrero of Urban Import to unpack the operating model behind the catalog. Jonathan explains why some air-suspension management products contain up to 30 components, why inventory may need to be ordered 90 days in advance, and how one missing component can cascade from purchasing to the warehouse to a customer backorder. Before automation, supplier details arrived through email threads and Excel files, purchase orders were entered manually, and specialized team members had to reconcile invoices, packing lists, and physical inventory. Jonathan estimates that the purchasing work consumed at least 30 hours per week, sometimes involving supplier conversations at 2-3 a.m. The conversation covers why Urban Import chose automation rather than spreading the work across more people, how supplier-entered data can improve ERP visibility, what implementation exposed about existing workflows and supplier relationships, and why acknowledgement response rate is now a critical operating metric. You’ll hear about: The inventory-planning challenge created by fitment-specific demand and multi-component kits Why inaccurate quantities create work across the warehouse, customer service, and purchasing The decision logic behind supplier-driven PO automation How implementation can become a useful inspection of existing SOPs and relationships Why better information beats more safety stock when the underlying data is unreliable Jonathan’s advice to follow your gut, make clear declarations, and stay willing to change your mind If your team is still relying on email and spreadsheets to manage supplier acknowledgements, quantities, pricing, or ETAs, this episode offers an operator-level view of what that manual model is really costing the business. Subscribe to Leveraged Supply Chains for more real-world conversations on AI, procurement, supplier performance, and operational excellence in manufacturing and distribution.
