Garage Buzz | Auto Service Shop, Collision Repair and Fleet Maintenance Resources

As the new preferred national provider for Vendor Managed Inventory Programs for fasteners and hardware for Cintas Corporation, Würth USA is now offering an exclusive program that includes special pricing, a discounted flat freight rate, obsolescence credits towards future Würth purchases and a 100% product guarantee.

“We are very excited to announce this new strategic partnership with Cintas, a respected industry leader who shares our goal of exceeding customer’s expectations,” said Len Raleigh, National Accounts Manager at Würth USA, “We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial partnership.”

For more information about the Würth-Cintas Partnership Program, contact Würth USA at 800-987-8487 or Email info@wurthusa.com.

About Cintas Corporation
Headquartered in Cincinnati, Cintas Corporation provides highly specialized services to businesses of all types primarily throughout North America. Cintas designs, manufactures and implements corporate identity uniform programs, and provides entrance mats, restroom supplies, tile and carpet cleaning, promotional products, first aid, safety, fire protection products and services and document management services for approximately 900,000 businesses. Cintas is a publicly held company traded over the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol CTAS, and is a component of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

Cintas operates approximately 430 facilities in the U.S. and Canada, including six manufacturing plants and nine distribution centers that employ approximately 30,000 people.

Company revenues were a record $4.1 billion in fiscal year 2012. Net income for the year was $297.6 million, and earnings per diluted share were $2.27.

Cintas was founded by Richard T. Farmer, Chairman Emeritus. Robert J. Kohlhepp serves as Chairman of the Board, Scott D. Farmer is Chief Executive Officer and J. Phillip Holloman serves as President and Chief Operating Officer.

Let the madness begin.

Once again, WURTH USA is proud to host the 2013 Bracket Challenge! This is a FREE online March College Basketball Tournament pool. To win, simply try and pick the winners for all 63 games of the NCAA Tournament. Points will be awarded for each winning pick and point values increase as the tournament progresses.

You can keep track of the standings round by round and also view tournament leaders. The winner will be the member with the most points at the end of the NCAA Tournament and will receive a WURTH Tool Cart valued at $799!!! We hope you’ll join us in the excitement of College Basketball and good-hearted competition. Visit our Facebook page for a more detailed explanation of the rules, grand prize, and how to quickly sign up.

Good luck!

Enter for a chance to win the WURTH Tool Set of Your Choice valued at up to $100!

From January 1st through January 31st, WURTH USA will be running an exciting contest that rewards our loyal customers for improving their shop’s functionality and productivity through the use of ORganizational SYstems (ORSY).

The rules for the contest are simple:

1) Take a “before” photograph of your current inventory storage system (WURTH ORSY® and non-WURTH organizational systems qualify)
2) Re-furbish and organize your current ORSY® or convert to an ORSY® inventory storage system
3) Take an “after” photograph of the ORSY® System
4) Submit “before” and “after” photographs before 2/1/13 to your WURTH Sales Representative or send them via Email to info@wurthusa.com.

Prizes: Three lucky winners will receive the WURTH tool set of their choice valued at up to $100!

Winners will be announced on or around 2/1/13 on WURTH USA’s Facebook and Twitter pages. We look forward to witnessing your shop’s transformation. Good luck!

On Sunday, November 18th in Homestead Florida, NASCAR crowned a new Champion. Brad Keselowski in just his third year in the Sprint Cup Series, beat out 5 time champion, Jimmie Johnson to take home the Series Championship Title in the #2 Miller Lite Dodge with Würth as an associate sponsor.

The young, energetic, twitter-loving, Keselowski celebrated the victory with his unique brand of fun-loving humility. From the championship stage, Keselowski said, “Always, throughout my whole life I’ve been told I’m not big enough, not fast enough, not strong enough and I don’t have what it takes. I’ve used that as a chip on my shoulder to carry me through my whole career. It took until this year for me to realize that that was right; man, they were right. I’m not big enough, fast enough or strong enough. No person is. Only a team can do that.”

This marks the first NASCAR championship for Roger Penske and capped off a hugely successful year for the first year of the Würth sponsorship. Over the course of the entire season, Würth hosted some 2000+ employees and customers at race tracks all around the country at the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Races. But more importantly the partnership with Penske Racing reflected the shared values of both organizations that were stated so well by Mr. Keselowski: “Only a team can do that.”

Congratulations to Brad Keselowski, Roger Penske, the #2 Miller Lite Dodge team, and the Würth Group on a Winning Season and Penske Racing’s first ever Cup Series Title.

At WURTH USA, we recognize that the success of our business relies on the success of our customers. Promoting customer profitability and strengthening our partnerships means making a commitment to continuously improving service – which is why we’re excited to announce the opening of our fourth distribution center located in Dallas, Texas. This will be the primary distribution center for our customers in Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico and Oklahoma.

With the launch of this new facility, WURTH USA will now be able to ship to nearly any customer in the continental United States within 2 business days, and offer a same day delivery option to customers in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

“At WURTH USA, our mission is to develop long-standing and mutually beneficial relationships with our customers, suppliers and employees”, stated Michael, Krause, CEO of WURTH USA, Inc., “In order to properly serve our customers in Texas and the South-Central US, we needed a solution for getting supplies to customers faster. As part of our growth strategy in this region, it was important for us to invest in a Dallas distribution center.”

The opening of this center will not only enable us to provide exceptional service for those states, but the speed and efficiency of our three pre-existing distribution centers will advance as well.

You can find our new Dallas distribution center at 1201 Big Town Blvd, Dallas, TX 75227.

For more information, call us at 800-987-8487 or visit www.wurthusa.com.

Attention WURTH Racing Fans: This little #WURTHIT Twitter tag could win you some BIG prizes, like two tickets to a Nationwide Race with Pit Passes!

At WURTH, we provide superior-quality products and services that exceed our customers’ expectations.  To celebrate our first year in Racing, the WURTH Racing Team wants to do the same for our loyal fans – for us, that’s #WURTHIT.

We’re inviting you to submit your favorite race day photos to be entered to win great prizes, including Penske Racing T-shirts and hats, hero cards, authentic merchandise autographed by Sam Hornish, Jr., WURTH tool sets, and our Grand Prize Winner will win 2 Tickets and Pit Passes to a Nationwide race!

Here’s How It Works:

Tweet the photos from your race day with a small caption and be sure to include the hashtag #WURTHIT in your Tweet.  Please limit your caption to 140 characters.  A winner will be announced each week on our Twitter Page at http://twitter.com/wurthracing.

Be sure to look for your photos in our #WURTHIT photo album at the Wurth Racing Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/WurthRacing, as well as on our website at http://www.wurthracing.com.

Good luck!

*Contest ends 10/30/12. Only photos promoting fans, drivers, apparel and/or featuring the WURTH No. 12 Car, the Alliance Truck Parts No. 12 Car or the Miller Lite No. 2 Car will be considered for the weekly drawings.

WURTH USA’s Car & Truck Wheel Weights have gone LEAD-FREE!

We’re proud to be the first major aftermarket distributor to help our customers make strides towards a healthier environment by selling ONLY lead-free wheel weights for cars and trucks!

Since the end of 2009, all North American vehicle manufacturers have been using lead-free wheel weights. Several states have already taken steps to ban the use of lead weights completely. In 2009, the U.S. EPA accepted a petition to begin rulemaking to ban lead wheel weights across the country, a process which is currently pending. This change is coming and it is inevitable.

In an effort to support this initiative, we have eliminated lead wheel weights from our automotive and truck product lines effective July 1st. Our full offering of steel and zinc wheel weights provide the same fit, form and function as their lead counterparts and are engineered with the high level of quality that you’d expect from the WURTH brand.

“At WURTH, we’re committed to offering solutions that promote a healthier environment for everyone”, stated Michael Krause, our President and CEO, “We’ll continue to provide superior products that encourage positive environmental changes.”

In a past blog article, Ditching the Lead Wheel Weights, we mentioned that some of the most dangerous things to our environment are the “little things” we may not always think about, like lead wheel weights. Your customers may never think about them, or may not even know they have lead wheel weights. But the reality is that they represent one of the largest unregulated uses of lead in consumer products today.

So why make the switch? Here are some of the perks:

• You’re using high-quality weights that provide OEM fit, form and function
• You can promote this eco-friendly development to your customers
• Using lead-free wheel weights improves the health and safety of your workplace

For more information, call 800-987-8487 or visit www.wurthusa.com.

We’re happy to announce a new way for our customers to view and securely pay their invoices online! If you have an internet connection you’re now able to view your invoices and pay them by credit card, debit card, or electronic check (ACH).

Designed to save time and provide flexibility, this free service offers the convenience of managing your account anywhere, anytime without waiting 5 -7 days for bank confirmation. Invoices and statement details can be easily downloaded into almost any file format (CSV, MS Excel, QuickBooks etc.).

Now, you can perform a wide range of billing tasks right from your computer. These include:

• Viewing your bill – an exact replica of the paper version
• Sorting bills by key criteria such as date, amount, location, and purchase order number
• Searching for bills based on invoice or purchase order number
• Downloading the invoice data into your accounting package (e.g., QuickBooks™).
• Printing bills
• Paying bills

Customers responsible for paying their accounts can sign in at https://wurthusa.billtrust.com.

“In our continuing effort to serve our customers’ needs, we are excited to offer this safe and secure payment solution provided by Billtrust, a recognized and trusted leader in billing services,” stated Martha Confessore, Director of Information Technology at WURTH USA.

For more information, visit our website or call 800-987-8487 for more information.

We’re happy to announce our new partnership with GM Dealer Equipment (GMDE), which will provide GM Dealers with greater purchasing and billing convenience.

The Authorized Consumable Aftermarket Program through GMDE will allow GM Dealers to purchase consumable shop supplies, fasteners, connectors and cleaners from Würth, with the convenience of paying for these items directly through their GMDE statements. This should reduce the number of statements they need to manage. Dealers will need to enroll in the program, but once they do, the accounting process will become more streamlined for them.

WURTH ORSY at the GM Booth at NADA

Würth puts a premium on customer satisfaction and maintaining a positive customer experience. This partnership with GMDE is just another example of putting that philosophy into practice. “We’re excited about our new business relationship with GMDE,” said Marc Weber, Vice President at WURTH USA. “We’re working together to enhance the full customer experience. Exceptional quality and personalized service via qualified and trained Territory Managers is the basis of this successful partnership and our belief.”

Mark Palmer, GMDE Account Manager, also sees this as a great opportunity for GM Dealers. “GMDE has an opportunity to partner with another top leader in the automotive parts and service industry,” said Palmer. “We’re looking forward to employing world-class efficiencies to our operations throughout the United States and Canada.”

For more information about this program or other Würth Value Added Services, call 800-987-8287 or Email info@wurthusa.com.

We’d like to thank everyone who participated in the WURTH Gridiron Challenge contest. This year’s winner is Donn Fotta, Parts Manager at Jaguar Allentown in Eastern PA.

Donn is a 15-year veteran at Jaguar, managing a successful shop with a full range of car parts and accessories, as well as an accomplished baseball coach in Macungie, PA where he and his wife Tracy live with their four children. His son Zachary helped him pick the majority of the football teams that took home the grand prize. “I picked a few with him,” he said, “It was all teamwork. I had a lot of fun doing this with him.”

In 2011, Donn was presented with the prestigious Journey to Excellence Award, Jaguar Land Rover North America’s performance recognition award that honors employees for outstanding achievements, hard work and dedication.

Congratulations to Donn and Zachary Fotta! Looking forward to kickoff next season…hope to see you on the Gridiron.