ANAHEIM, Calif. – Coverking, a provider of "cut-and-sew" custom automotive accessories, has signed a subscription agreement with Illumaware to use Evokat 2.5, Illumaware’s Web-based data authoring tool to manage its own aftermarket data. This do-it-yourself approach marks a departure from Coverking's previous practice of having a third party manage the data.

According to Geoff Thompson, a consultant to Coverking's CEO, amongst the reasons the company chose Illumaware were increased speed to market, better identification of application holes, increased sales and fewer non-damaged returns. “We control our data. We can send ACES- and PIES-compliant files to any of our trading partners, in any file format they require at no charge. We no longer have to wait for a third party to process and send out our data,” said Thompson.

Evokat’s Analyze My Catalog feature enables customers such as Coverking to identify and repair any application coverage holes in their data immediately after the latest VCDB (Vehicle Configuration Database) is released each month by the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association. These changes are automatically reflected in MyCarParts -- their year, make and model Web site lookup. “This feature has the potential to significantly increase our sales over time. Our trading partners can’t sell what they can’t see,” said Thompson.