Last Updated 6/13/2004
If there's one thing Alba's known for, it's their competitive nature; especially when it comes to quad racing. And as our industry grows, Alba is growing to keep ahead of the game. Part of that growth includes moving to bigger and better digs for giving customers and racers alike excellent, efficient service whether they're buying a new ATV or upgrading their race machines with high performance parts. How much bigger and better, you ask? So did we, and Alba was gracious enough to give us the grand tour of their Poway, California facilities.
Alba's new facility is bigger than Starr Jones in a funhouse mirror. And that's a good thing since the old home was a 1940s-era car dealership building that wasn't meant to hold the dozen service bays, big parts warehouse, lounge, race department, sales area, and E-commerce business that makes up the entity that is Alba. But the new location also allowed them to start from scratch in a business area away where noise from dyno testing wouldn't be a problem with the neighbors (at the old place, even the kennel next door complained).
You could spend a lot of time checking out all the cool new toys and a ton of P and A to go with them...
...while leaving the kids watch TV, read magazines, or play ATV Offroad Fury 2 on the PlayStation 2 in Alba's lounge area (after three hours here, I think I can FINALLY take Editor Bartels' 4 year old son at this game).
With 10 bays in the service area (and a second floor under construction while we were there) Alba can keep the work flowing very smoothly. This area is also home to two race performance bays specifically for race team support and high performance motor work. We talked with Alan, the service manager, about the new operation. He was really proud of the team he's put together and cited its diversity as one of its strong points. Not just in the ethnic sense, but also in terms of expertise. Each of Alba's technical crew was hired for their professional reputation and technical experience in a particular area. Alan hunted all over the San Diego area for the best techs he could hire and has assembled them into a great team that gets along very well.
Such a service area needs a large, well-stocked parts warehouse to keep running smoothly and between that and Alba's online arm, www.albaaction.com, the company needs to keep 4 to 5 times the normal inventory than they would without these two divisions. They make their own race parts and have a fulltime parts guy just for the service department to keep this busy area organized. They warehouse their stuff onsite and purchase it in volume so that they can fulfill customer orders quickly, and to keep prices low.
This is the place where Alba receives orders and questions from online customers. All the folks in this department are riding enthusiasts that are experts on different riding subjects in order to give great customer service. The online biz is taking off so much that Alba's parts bins are almost automated but they haven't moved to total automation because they pride themselves on human interaction with their customers.
Our next stop was the racing performance division. Even though Alba is already very involved in racing quads, they're expanding big time, by prepping race machines and doing the motorwork. Kory Ellis, Tracy Cecco, and Wayne Matlock are three of the more noted racers Alba works with but the shop supports racing on a variety of levels including sponsorships, discounts, and motorwork. They look for folks who absolutely enjoy the sport and dig helping them out. In addition to ATV racing, Alba also supports an amateur motocross team of 36 riders ranging in experience from first year kids to top tier amateurs. Phil (right) is the head of racing and Rob (left) is the chief tech. The area was undergoing construction for greater storage while we were here. Rob's not only the race/R&D tech but he also runs GNC races with Kory Ellis. Rob tests Alba's racing parts on his and Cory's quads; if it works for racing, it'll work for the consumer. The shop may back some parts down a notch just to make certain they're absolutely turnkey reliable for customers. They'll mount a pipe, dyno it, and go back and forth over its design to perfect it. Phil also runs Alba's onsite full machine shop, which not only allows them to do their own machine work, but also lets them market motorwork to other dealerships nationwide. The advantage? Customers at various dealers can have their motorwork done in a fraction of the time it takes to send the parts out to an outside machine shop (48 hours versus 3-4 weeks, in many cases). Add to that Alba's factory trained techs who do the work, and you have a recipe for high quality work.
By this time we'd seen a great deal of Alba's very impressive operation. And even though it's in a new building, Alba still has the same great people who love the sport of riding. You can see more at www.albaaction.com or give them a call at (800) 487-3236.