A blueprint for a better operation (part 2)

June 5, 2023
By the Blue Print Editorial Team

Built over the past decade, Fastenal and RFK Racing have a partnership that works. To see how it all runs, we talked with Chris Lewis, the purchasing manager for RFK. He shed some light on how inventory works for a NASCAR team.

Q: How have your purchasing habits shifted with the move to NextGen cars? 

A:  ​The biggest change is going from raw material purchasing to single-source vendor parts. The parts come in already finished and ready to go on the car, instead of us manufacturing the part. Car parts are now coming to us from other vendors. Whereas in the past, we were able to get the raw materials in here and produce them on our timeline and through our processes. It changed how fast we can get them [parts] and how we can control the flow of production.

​Q: What new skills or knowledge have you had to learn to compete in this new sourcing system?

A: Honestly, the biggest thing has been patience. Just waiting to hear back from vendors as to when parts are going to come in, being patient with the management on the production side, and trying to communicate back and forth to both sides to make sure everybody understands where we’re at, what’s going on, and when the next round of parts is coming.​
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​Q: Could you walk us through your inventory management process?

A: The new single-source inventory management system with NASCAR and the vendors has all the serial numbers that have been shipped to the teams. So, each part that the vendors make has been serialized and recorded by the manufacturer, and that information is shared with NASCAR. When it comes to a chassis or a similar item, NASCAR has to approve you taking it out of your inventory account.

​Q: Can you talk about the dynamic you have with your vendors?

A: The relationship with the vendors for the NextGen program is a little bit different than with the raw material vendors. We’re still keeping contact via email and phone, but there’s constant contact because we don’t necessarily know when the next round of parts is coming. For us, that makes it hard on the production side to know when parts will be in so that we can finish building a car. So, that contact stream is touching base constantly via email and phone to try to understand when the next round [of parts] is coming.

​Q: You're the purchasing manager for a NASCAR team. What is something you're buying that might surprise people?

A: We order all kinds of different things here from NextGen car parts to more unique things like custom rugs for around the shop and toilet paper/hygiene items for the bathrooms throughout all the buildings.
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Q: What's one way Fastenal adds value to your supply chain?

A: Fastenal has been able to really help us focus on the single-source vendors and have that communication be more repeatable and consistent with NextGen suppliers. They’ve offered us their FASTBin solution, which is a great resource for us. They take over some of the mundane or easier items that we purchase – towels, razor blades, and things of that nature. They come in here and stock our shelves for us, which lets us make sure the parts for the car stay our main focus.

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Fast Fact: 

"Being a NASCAR purchasing manager, we make thousands of
purchases every year, from race car parts to all kinds of different needs. Something interesting that Fastenal helps provide us with is that every year we go through almost 180,000 WypAll wipers. Fastenal is there to help provide those for us with their FASTBin solution."

- Chris Lewis, Purchasing Manager for RFK Racing
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