John Lawson is no stranger to dismantling cars. The ACM Parts National Account Manager got stuck into the industry at an early age when he became a trained panel beater.
A lack of Mazda parts in his neck of the woods led John to starting his own parts yard.
“Every time we needed parts, we had to go to the other side of town,” he said.
“So I started my own yard, with the help of my family, and built that up and sold it.”
Around we go
A few years down the road, and John came across ACM Parts. The company – currently about 10 years old – had just entered the market.
“I heard of ACM Parts back when it first started – I wanted to see how it rolled out for about 12 months,” John said.
“I liked the challenge of a new company doing something completely different – something that’s never been done in Australia.
“There’s no one else in Australia you can really use as an example because we’re the only ones that are processing this many vehicles and operate on a national basis.”
ACM Parts meticulously dismantles hundreds of deregistered vehicles per month, cataloguing a vast array of different parts and pieces. The company serves as the top choice for recycled parts nationwide, and also offer OEM-equivalent, aftermarket and consumables products.
A lot of John’s work involves venturing out to meet with mechanics and customers who rely heavily on ACM Parts and its wares.
He said there’s still a lot of people in the automotive industry that don’t realise how much goes into recycling car parts, and the inherent advantages utilising it has.
“It’s my job to go out and educate people,” John added.
“Some people have been hesitant when they’ve first jumped on board, but after a few times using our services they go ‘this is really easy’.
“They see the opportunity; we help mechanics lower their costs to repair by using recycled parts.
“If we can cut their repair costs, they’ll get more business and the whole system goes around.”
Part of the puzzle
John’s been with ACM Parts now for about eight years. He said he thrived in a challenging environment that brings great opportunity.
“I love a good challenge, from where we’ve come to where we are, it’s fantastic,” he said.
“As I mentioned, there’s really no comparisons we can lean on, so seeing how the people here have evolved has been amazing.
“It’s an exciting place to be.”