MRO & THE INTERNET: Integration boosts product availability

For Motion Canada MBS, the past year has been about focusing on the integration of the companies and employees after the merger of MBS Bearing Service Inc. of Lachine, Que., with Motion Canada of Mississauga, Ont., a subsidiary of Birmingham, Alabama-based Motion Industries.

“MBS has integrated into Motion Canada from a systems perspective and all the Motion Canada companies are working on a software common to the other Motion Industries branches,” explains Vivian Doyle-Kelly, Motion Canada’s vice-president for the Atlantic Division. He manages the Canadian operations in conjunction with Ward Westgate, based in Waterloo, Ont., who is the vice-president for Ontario and Western Canada.

Being on a common computer platform, says Doyle-Kelly, “gives us access to the most substantial inventory in North America and standardized reporting for customers, and allows us to introduce our Internet ordering software MotionMRO.com.”

This Internet website is one of Motion Canada’s e-business tools, which has been available to all of the Motion Canada MBS customers since September 2001. The company website, www.motion-industries.com, boasts 24×7 access to over two million parts. Subscribing customers can, for example, view product information, place and track orders and get updates on shipment status.

The large inventory base means that Motion Canada MBS can fill customer orders more quickly. “We have customers who are looking for an integrated, recognized standard of service, and for suppliers with standardized reporting — for example, in areas such as product costs, decreased usage and standardized usage,” says Doyle-Kelly.

Motion Canada MBS employees and clients also have access now to the curriculum offered by the Motion Institute of Industrial Education. It offers courses in a broad range of industrial applications, such as branch and operations management, leadership training, counsellor sales training and industry specific training. Certification programs are offered in the areas of fluid power, mechanical power and electrical power.

Curriculum for Motion Industry customers includes bearing and mechanical maintenance training, basic supervisory skills, pneumatic systems technology and a course titled “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.”