OptiCat LLC, a leader in software data solutions for transportation markets, has announced the availability of its new Parts to Vehicle Cross (P2VC) Data Translation Aid. For catalog developers wishing to link their North American parts catalog data using the Auto Care Association’s ACES standards to their data in other parts of the world using the global TecDoc standards, the company says its new translation aid can substantially improve the speed and quality of their mapping efforts.
The translation of ACES to TecDoc, and visa versa, can be a large task owing to the different ways in which the two data standards handle vehicle identification, according to the company. In simplest terms, ACES is a year, make and model lookup, represented by a “Base Vehicle ID” number, while TecDoc uses model year ranges and other vehicle attributes, represented by “K-type” numbers, to identify specific vehicles. These differences between the standards mean that the primary guide nomenclature of the two standards (that is, the Base Vehicle ID in ACES and KTypes in TecDoc) do not necessarily cross from one vehicle in one standard to one vehicle in the other standard. In fact, there can be a range of values that could match, requiring added information to be available for reaching the proper conclusion regarding parts application to vehicles, or implying a wider range of applications available.
The new P2VC Data Translation Aid addresses this problem by providing cross-reference information suggestions to the cataloging specialist for each part number that dramatically shortcuts the manual process for a given application. Using this information, the company says the tool can:
- Reduce time to market on new offerings by speeding product line development;
- Reduce inventory and manufacturing costs by allowing more effective global parts application and look-up;
- Provide information that helps improve quality of parts cross information;
- Help suppliers find more global parts applications;
- Since P2VC works in both directions (ACES to Tec Doc and TecDoc to ACES), it provides flexibility to catalog professionals as they consider their global needs.
Bryan Thueson, OptiCat chief operating officer, said, “For years, suppliers and distributors have wished for new tools to help them perform that laborious task of translating their data from one major data standard to the other. The new P2VC product provides a significant step forward in this regard by giving catalog specialists an easy-to-use interface that provides application suggestions otherwise requiring many days of research.”
This new web-based P2VC product allows the user to enter either a part number linked to a TecDoc Vehicle or Base Vehicle ID and find the possible or suggested vehicle fitment in the other standard. The company says that P2VC users must be both TecDoc and OptiCat participating suppliers in order to access the appropriate supporting databases and utilize this new capability.
According to the company, P2VC is designed to help suppliers sell more parts and sell them more efficiently. While this new aid can provide significant time savings with its helpful parts application suggestions between the standards, it is not a substitute for the supplier’s own knowledge base that, in many cases, has been built over many years of specific product category experience.
Tim Oldiges, product manager at KYB Americas, said, “We had reached a brick wall during a product research project. Using the P2VC app allowed us to quickly overcome the data obstacles we faced and let us focus on our project goals. Having the right tools is essential to our product development staff. This app is simply awesome!”
