AS-PL is a European company which operates in the field of supplying parts and electrical components for vehicles. The company was established in 1992 in Gdańsk under the name Auto-Starter. Currently, the company employs over 300 qualified professionals and cooperates with aftermarket distributors and wholesalers of spare parts and accessories for vehicles all over the world.
Interview with Tomasz Kaszubowski, Chief Executive Officer at AS-PL.
Easy Engineering: How was 2021 for your business, a short summary?
Tomasz Kaszubowski: Previous year was a time of significant investments focused on reaching even more customers, as well as respond to their growing needs. In 2021, we started working on the opening of another foreign branch in Spain – we carried out the reconstruction of the warehouse in our Italian branch and a modern transport system with a length of 550 meters was built in the central warehouse in Gdańsk. The above-mentioned examples show that the previous year was busy for AS-PL, but at the same time very satisfying. Despite of the difficulties currently faced by manufacturing companies around the world, we are not slowing down. We are constantly looking for opportunities to develop and raise our – already very high – standards.
E.E: What new products/services will be launched this year?
T.K: In 2021, we added to our offer 155 alternators, 105 starters and 439 parts. It can be said that every day we added 2 new indices to the offer. Currently, the offer of the AS brand includes over 22,000 assortment items, corresponding to nearly 550,000 reference numbers. This year, we plan to not only maintain this level, but also significantly increase it. In addition, as every year, we are increasing our possibilities related to remanufacturing. Currently, the employees of the production plant are able to undergo this process about 12,000 alternators and starters per month. Further investments will help us strengthen our position as the market leader in the segment of alternators and starters. We will also fit in with the current trends in the ecological approach to business.
Tomasz Kaszubowski – Chief Executive Officer
E.E: How did the market change in the last year?
T.K: The market of automotive parts manufacturers has changed extremely dynamically in recent years. Unfortunately, the situation related to the epidemic slowed down many successful businesses, which resulted in a shortage of warehouses and a small number of introduced innovations. In 2021, the first signs of the return to normality could be noticed – store shelves began to fill up and more companies confirmed their presence at fairs or industry events. Regrettably, the war in Ukraine thwarted many business plans that were postponed. However, I hope that, despite the obstacles, the industry will develop in the right direction and the introduced products and services will mobilize the market to work harder.
E.E: What were the best-selling products of 2021?
T.K: Among the top selling products last year was the A2003 alternator, which can be used in the 1.7 CTDi engines of some Honda, Opel and Vauxhall vehicles. In turn, the starter that achieved the highest result is S0123, and it can be used in Citroen Jumper, Fiat Ducato, Ford Transit and many others. Another top-selling alternators are the A4058, A0200, A6025 and A0059, while the starters are S3003, S3016, S0005 and S0025.
E.E: What sector of business do you think is expected to grow this year?
T.K: Over the last few years, we have seen a lot of interest in products that go through regeneration. This complicated process has many advantages that are appreciated by mechanics. First of all, a remanufactured product that has correctly passed through all stages of this process does not differ in quality from the original product (OEM). Another benefit is the lower price – an alternator or a remanufactured starter can cost even several times less than the original one. This economic aspect is a common reason for choosing these types of products. The most important reason is the ecological aspect and the saving of raw materials. Depending on the parts, their remanufacturing requires 50-90% less raw materials (water, iron, copper, magnesium, aluminum) than in the case of manufacturing an identical element from scratch. In the scale of the entire market, these are huge savings in raw materials. According to this information, I believe that the most successful sector this year will be remanufactured products. At the AS-PL Production Plant, we carry out remanufacturing products at a very high level. Presently, the offer includes 2,000 remanufactured models of alternators and starters – our employees are able to recover almost every functional element.
E.E: What estimations do you have for 2022?
T.K: During planning our activities for 2022, we had in mind that once again something unexpected could happen. Sadly, we did not suspect how close we would be to the truth. The war in Ukraine meant that some ideas had to be abandoned or postponed. Nevertheless, we are still determined on the company’s development. We are paying attention to our new branch in Spain, but we do not forget about the others: in Italy, Great Britain and Poland. This year, we are also focusing on remanufacturing – we would like to convince our customers to use this type of product, because apart from the obvious saving of money, they can do something good for the environment. This year we are also returning to the most important industry events. We have already been at Autotechnica fairs in Brussels and Motortec in Madrid. What is more you will still be able to meet us at events in Bologna, Kenya, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Paris. This is the first such busy year since the outbreak of the pandemic and we are incredibly happy that we can meet with customers and business partners. We still plan many operations to develop our company and we hope that we will be able to surprise you more than once this year. I encourage you to follow our activities so that you do not miss any important information.
E.E: A short message for collaborators for the beginning of the year.
T.K: Recent years have been a time of many sacrifices and unrealized plans for everyone. The war in Ukraine only confirmed that you cannot be sure of your plans until they are implemented. I would like to thank all those who have been involved, directly or indirectly, in helping the needy inhabitants of Ukraine. I am proud to see volunteers devoting their free time to helping millions of Ukrainian families. At the same time, I would like to encourage everyone to continue supporting – material or financial – foundations and other organizations that bring help for the victims of the war. Let us be in solidarity with each other at this difficult time for many people.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/asplcom
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asplcom/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/10556375
Alternator A2003 – https://as-pl.com/en/p/A2003
Starter S0123 – https://as-pl.com/en/p/S0123