HDDA: Heavy Duty, the heavy-duty aftermarket-focused community of the Auto Care Association, has announced the next steps in its industry-shifting project to develop standardized product data information for Class 4 to 8 vehicles. The next phase of the project involves defining the attributes for the top 20 categories of parts.
The first five categories for the project, beginning this week are:
- Brakes
- Front Steer Axle Wheel End Components
- Axles – Front Steering
- Axles – Non-Driven, Rear
- Axles – Driven, Rear
Subject matter experts from the manufacturer, distributor and data service provider sectors for the heavy-duty aftermarket will be involved with defining the attributes for the 20 product categories. The manufacturing experts will provide the product attribute definitions, which will be combined into a working document by contractor Pricedex Software Inc., where commonalities will be determined. The final stage for each category will have distributor and data provider experts reviewing the findings to confirm best practices for defining and describing each part.
Those best practices will ultimately form the expansion of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles for the existing Product Information Exchange Standard (PIES). All participants in the project enter under non-disclosure agreements to protect the organizations that are generously providing or reviewing any data.
“The overwhelming support from the heavy-duty aftermarket to volunteer and create this product information standard is what has been making this project a success,” said Sheila Andrews, director, heavy-duty markets and liaison for HDDA. “Companies along all aspects of the supply chain are increasingly touting the benefits for the marketplace in having these standards. We are proud to be the organization bringing that business efficiency to them, as we promised we would.”
The additional product categories, covering more than 85 percent of the heavy-duty parts sold in the market, will launch as each category is completed. Organizations interested in participating in the standards development are still encouraged to volunteer through the online volunteer portal. Additional information on the product data standards project is available through the comprehensive standards resource or by contacting Sheila Andrews at [email protected].
