AASA Know Your Parts Introduces 'Supplier Evaluation Standards,' Announces International Efforts to Promote Quality Parts

LAS VEGAS – Know Your Parts, the industry awareness and education campaign launched by the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA) in 2009, introduced its latest tool to combat the spread of low-quality aftermarket parts, “Supplier Evaluation Standards.” The new standards were introduced at a news conference held in Las Vegas yesterday prior to the opening of AAPEX 2010.

“AASA developed the ‘Supplier Evaluation Standards’ in an effort to provide all channel partners with standardized criteria for supplier selection,” said Steve Handschuh, president and COO of AASA. “By using this form to query suppliers before making a final buying decision, aftermarket channel partners and resellers can ‘know their parts,’ and protect their business’s good name as well as the good reputation of the entire aftermarket,” he added.

Handschuh also discussed the expansion of Know Your Parts internationally through AASA’s cooperation with European organizations.

“We are very pleased to work with our counterparts, CLEPA and the German Automobile Industry Association (VDA), to promote the campaign globally and to demonstrate to European parts suppliers, repair shops and drivers alike the importance of quality name brand parts,” he added.

Sample copies of the Know Your Parts “Supplier Evaluation Standards,” developed by a task force of the AASA Marketing Executives Council (MEC), are available at the AASA Know Your Parts exhibit, Sands No. 3800. The standards focus on these specific question categories:

Product specifications and quality
Line content and completeness
Application research and catalogs
Product availability and distribution
Sales representation and manpower
Marketing programs and support
Technical support and training
Product liability and warranty
Intellectual property protection
Terms and conditions

“Determining a part’s quality can be difficult. Generic, low-quality parts may appear identical to quality parts – but it’s impossible to see the poor quality inside,” Handschuh continued. “These parts pose a potential threat to the safety of the motoring public and repair professionals.

“We address these safety concerns, as well as the irreparable damage low-quality components can cause to the entire aftermarket industry’s image, in our latest Special Report, ‘Aftermarket Industry Image: Why Premium Aftermarket Products Deliver the Best Value.’ We are releasing this report at AAPEX 2010 to help spread the word about the importance of quality parts backed by Full Service Aftermarket Suppliers,” Handschuh said.

Free copies of the report are available at the Know Your Parts exhibit, Sands No. 3800, and at the AASA Member Center, Sands Room 104. It also can be downloaded for free at the AASA Know Your Parts Web site.

Despite a tough commercial tire market in 2023 due to overstock and the effects of a rubber-banding supply chain, some tire manufacturers are expressing a cautious optimism for stabilization and gradual recovery through the rest of 2024 and into 2025.

"The economy is not showing signs that it’s going to slow down, but I don’t think the situation’s going to improve dramatically by the end of this year. It’s more likely next year," said Pierluigi Cumo, Vice President of B2B products, at Michelin North America. "We can see the light because the beginning of 2023 was very bad. I think now we’ve found the bottom, and I don’t think we’re going to get much further from the bottom in 2024."