Stay stocked

Mike DePriest, owner of Longs Peak Landscape, a $3-million company in Longmont, Colo., keeps stocked for various divisions of the company.

Here is the essential stock he keeps:

• Maintenance: DePriest says must-haves include extra blades, tires, trailer lights and consumables, including fluids. He also stocks hydraulic lines for snowplows and extra plow lights. “It is pretty much mandatory to have another crew’s worth of equipment on standby in case of weather or mechanical issues,” he says.
• Irrigation: Longs Peak Landscape keeps a vendor-managed inventory of irrigation parts on hand. “We order early and pre-order heads, valve boxes, pipe and fittings that we know we will use,” DePriest says. “We take those out of inventory using a sign-out sheet.”
• Construction/design-build: Frequently used materials include mulch, soil, compost, rock and some plant material. All this is stocked at the shop, DePriest says. In the future, he hopes to acquire a larger yard to increase storage capabilities and make that a bigger part of the business model.
• Vehicles: The standards include filters and spark plugs, “so basic service can be done any day without a trip to the parts store,” DePriest says. Extra tires for trucks and trailers are also on hand. “Our auto parts supplier delivers materials to our shop with a phone call,” he says.
• Repair equipment: Stocking the shop with parts is one thing, but the area also must have equipment to do repairs. At Longs Peak, the shop has several floor jacks used for trailers and equipment. The company also has engine lifts, engine stands, tranny jacks and a custom workbench.