The terms of our contracts with third party vendors provide that they are in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. Pursuant to agreements with third party vendors, lead-acid batteries, used oil and other recyclable items are collected by our Team Members, deposited onto pallets or into vendor supplied containers and stored by us until collected by the third party vendors for recycling or proper disposal. We currently provide collection and recycling programs for used lead-acid batteries, used oil and other recyclable items at substantially all of our stores as a service to our customers. In addition, our customers may bring automotive lead-acid batteries, used automotive oil or other recyclable items onto our properties. We sell consumer products containing hazardous materials as part of our business.
We are subject to various federal, state and local laws and governmental regulations relating to the operation of our business, including those governing collection, transportation and recycling of automotive lead-acid batteries, used automotive oil and other recyclable items, and ownership and operation of real property. The principal methods of competition in our business include customer service, product offerings, availability, quality, price and store location. We believe that chains of automotive parts stores that, like us, have multiple locations in one or more markets, have competitive advantages in customer service, marketing, inventory selection, purchasing and distribution as compared to independent retailers and jobbers that are not part of a chain or associated with other retailers or jobbers. and The Pep Boys-Manny, Moe & Jack, (ii) discount stores and mass merchandisers that carry automotive products, (iii) wholesalers or jobber stores, including those associated with national parts distributors or associations, such as NAPA, (iv) independent operators, (v) automobile dealers that supply parts and (vi) internet-based parts providers. Our primary competitors are (i) both national and regional retail chains of automotive parts stores, including AutoZone, Inc., O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. We operate in both the DIY and Commercial markets of the automotive aftermarket industry.
We have ongoing supply chain initiatives to further increase the efficient utilization of our distribution capacity including planning for the roll-out of the advanced technology used at the Remington facility to other facilities in our supply chain network. It incorporates our more advanced warehouse management system which has enabled us to roll out daily replenishment to many of the stores serviced by Remington. We opened our newest distribution center in Remington, Indiana in late 2012. This equipment includes carousels, “pick-to-light” systems, radio frequency technology, voice technology and automated sorting systems. The WMS, integrated with material handling equipment, reduces warehouse and distribution costs, while improving efficiency. All of these distribution centers are equipped with a warehouse management system, or WMS, which provides real-time inventory tracking through the processes of receiving, picking, shipping and replenishing inventory at our distribution centers. If a hard-to-find part or accessory is not available at one of our stores, the store system can determine whether the part is carried and in-stock through our HUB or PDQĪAP distribution centers. Our store system provides real-time inventory tracking at the store level allowing store Team Members to check the quantity of on-hand inventory for any SKU, adjust stock levels for select items for store specific events, automatically process returns and defective merchandise, designate SKUs for cycle counts and track merchandise transfers. Our fully integrated system enables our store Team Members to assist our customers in their parts selection and ordering based on the year, make, model and engine type of their vehicles.
Information maintained by our store system is used to formulate pricing, marketing and merchandising strategies and to replenish inventory accurately and rapidly. Our store-based information systems are comprised of a proprietary and integrated Point of Sale, electronic parts catalog, or EPC, and store-level inventory management system (collectively “store system”).
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