Tanvir Arfi is currently the global president of SPX Service Solutions, a division of SPX Corp., with 3,500 employees, operations in 19 countries and revenues of $950 million. Previously, Arfi was vice president and chief supply chain officer for SPX Corp., where he had responsibility for global supply management, logistics/distribution management and strategic materials management. Prior to joining SPX, he had senior leadership roles at Cessna Aircraft and Textron and was an adjunct faculty of mechanical engineering at Wichita State University.

Arfi has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Bangalore University and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Wichita State University. He is a certified Lean Enterprise and Six Sigma Expert; an American Society of Quality (ASQ) Certified Reliability Engineer; a Certified Malcolm Baldrige Examiner and, a licensed private pilot. In addition, Arfi sits on the board of governors for the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association, is a member of the CEO council for the Original Equipment Suppliers Association and is a sustaining member of the Detroit Economic Club. He speaks four languages and has previously lived in India and the Middle East and now lives with his family in the greater Detroit area.

Today, Arfi shares with aftermarketNews his thoughts on the speed of technology in the automotive industry and some updates on the role SPX Service Solutions plays in the aftermarket.


SPX is at a very unique vantage point within the automotive industry as a provider of diagnostic products. In order to stay competitive, I would imagine you need to be three steps ahead of current technology as you develop new products. What, in your opinion, are some of the most significant technological changes coming around the bend when it comes to vehicles?

Service bay diagnostics are mission critical for our customers as they play a key role in enabling technicians to “fix it right the first time,” and therefore, in ensuring customer satisfaction. We certainly foresee the continued increase in complex networks, control modules and intelligent sensors in vehicles of the future. This will continue to drive the need for our diagnostic products to be able to handle more complex data and have greater processing power.

One of the continuing technology changes we see is the integration of vehicle systems with wireless technologies and products. For example, these include utilizing smart phones as the gateway to the Internet, driving Bluetooth connectivity and in-vehicle WiFi technologies that enable data reception and transmission. We were the first in the industry to introduce a wireless connection to the vehicle in the aftermarket – offering technicians the freedom to move around their facility, all the while connected with the vehicle during the diagnostic and repair process.

As vehicles become more and more complex, and today’s vehicle diagnostics routines demand more processing power, we are leveraging the decline in the cost of both processing power and electronic memory to put unprecedented productivity capability in the hands of technicians around the world at affordable prices. From product updates provided real time via the Internet, to the on-tool databases so critical to quickly diagnosing today’s increasingly complex electronic systems, we are putting technology to work for our customers.

Being a partner with OEM customers on OEM diagnostics allows us to foresee diagnostics and technology trends to have products ready, as advanced technology arrives in the aftermarket.


What impact will the anticipated growth in electric vehicles have on the independent repair sector? What will change for technicians when it comes to diagnosing and repairing these cars?

We are excited about the launch of electric vehicles and the impact they can potentially have on our environment and market landscape. Several interesting new considerations are emerging with the advent of EVs and their service, and many of these will be totally new to the independent aftermarket.

Our first focus is on safety, as technicians will be working in an environment with voltages they’ve never seen on the job before. This requires the use of different testing and measurement instruments, special tools, lifting devices (due to the weight of the batteries) and safety tools for working in this environment. The shops that adapt to this new environment, we believe, have a large growth opportunity available to them.

While SPX is very active in the OEM service bay in providing a full suite of safe tools, equipment and supporting training activities, we see a challenge for the independent repair shop trying to obtain similar support to ensure not just efficient and effective servicing, but safe servicing.

SPX is uniquely placed to support the independent repair shop as electric vehicles start to be serviced in the independent repair market.

In April, the EPA approved the use of HFO-1234yf in new cars in the U.S. As a maker of refrigerant recovery products, what are your thoughts on this changeover?

The new R1234yf refrigerant has a global warming potential that is 350 times lower than current R134 refrigerant. This is a welcome change for our planet and as an environmentally responsible company, we support this change. However, we do anticipate an impact on (first) the dealer and subsequently the independent aftermarket requiring new tools and equipment to properly service vehicles equipped with 1234yf. We currently have a full line of equipment being designed to handle this refrigerant’s requirements in close consultation with vehicle OEMs to achieve the environmental goal, while minimizing the cost impact.


Are you prepared as a company to address this change? If yes, how so?

We have spent a significant amount of time and effort to understand the impact on our OEM customers, their service networks and the vehicle owners on a global basis. As I said, we have been able to develop a number of products targeted at these needs. Under our Robinair brand, SPX is the first manufacturer to develop a fully certified and OEM-approved repair, recharge and recycling machine for 1234yf. We expect to have this machine and an accompanying line of accessories available for the market, ahead of the launch of these vehicles later this year.

We also expect this to be a rolling change with vehicles in Europe adopting the new refrigerant in late 2012 and 2013, followed by vehicles in North America in 2013 and 2014 with most of the new platforms adopting the new refrigerant by 2015. Close coordination with each vehicle OEM and certification and regulatory agencies to ensure service readiness and reduce the possibility of refrigerant contamination in service is crucial to a successful rollout.

SPX has the unique position of playing a role in this transition, and all new technology introductions, from the laboratories of the world’s OEMs, to the production line, to the OEM dealer, and finally to the automotive aftermarket service environment.


In March, it was announced that SPX acquired Teradyne Diagnostics Solutions. Tell us about this purchase and what it means for your company.

SPX Service Solutions continues to expand its product and service offerings in mission critical areas of vehicle service in both the OEM and independent repair market.

As we have previously discussed, we believe that vehicle complexity and increased technology in future vehicles will continue to drive the need for improved diagnostics, more data processing and integration of service information. Today, SPX is recognized as the largest diagnostics provider to the vehicle service industry worldwide. More importantly, our customers recognize us as the provider of new and innovative solutions to growing complex problems. This acquisition fits very well within our core strategy by bringing an experienced and talent global workforce, products, services, intellectual property and skill sets that enhance those of SPX Service Solutions today.