Paradigm Solutions is celebrating 23 years in business along with the company’s web application, RVpartfinder.com. The application helps customers locate RV parts from distributors’ warehouses.
The company was formed in July 1999. Owner Tom Utterback worked at a parts counter and experienced RV business’ struggles to find parts. He wrote the original RV Partfinder version in seven months.
“Armed with a very basic mid-’90s computer and some books, I learned how to program computers,” Utterback said.
With Y2K compatibility concerns at the forefront later in 1999, the company took a little time to get on its feet. In 2000, the company’s first distributors started using the original program. RV Partfinder was distributed first on a CD, with quarterly updates sent out by mail.
The company transitioned to the web in 2005. The online program improved due to feedback, ideas and inspiration from dealers, Utterback said. RV Partfinder now has 1,100 subscribers.
“We are still unique in the RV industry,” Utterback said. “No other company cross-references and sources parts from numerous distributors. Some systems claim to do it… but it’s usually based on past mistakes rather than what is current in real-time.”
The employees who staff parts counters are the only people in the industry who do not have a real label for their positions, Utterback said.
“So, I coined the term ‘partfinder,’” he said. “We have hats and pins that say, ‘I’m a partfinder.’”
The company is headquartered in California but RV Partfinder employees work virtually all over the country. Having a virtual staff benefitted the company because Utterback found experienced employees without geographic limitations.
“I have been able to acquire knowledgeable people with appliance and parts experience,” he said. “They go back 30 years or more in RV appliance business experience.”
RV professionals can test drive RV Partfinder for a demo period before subscribing. Access more information here.
