The Manufacturers Advisory Council (MAC) of the Automotive Warehouse Distributors Association (AWDA) has announced the release of “Industry Best Practices for Processing Labor Claims.” The best practices are the result of a combined effort of the Car Care Professionals Network (CCPN), AWDA and the MAC to address an issue that affects the entire industry. The program has been under development for a year.

MAC Chairman Frank Frederick, Walker Products, said, “Processing claims related to the service of damaged or defective parts constitutes a huge drain on the traditional aftermarket supply chain. Estimates of industry-wide costs due to inefficiency, delays and miscommunication run into the hundreds of millions of dollars. The MAC saw this as an opportunity to help bring more efficiency into the market.”

Interviews with manufacturers, shop owners and parts distributors revealed several major deficiencies in the current system for dealing with claims:

Shop owners were concerned about inefficiencies that could delay payment of labor claims related to the repair or replacement of defective or damaged parts. Distributors were also concerned about timely responses to their shop customers, as well as the confusion caused by the numerous and disparate claim forms used by parts manufacturers.

Manufacturers wanted well-defined roles for each party and most importantly, clear and factual information on why and under what circumstances the part failed to ­perform. All supply chain partners believe that they can benefit from a smoother, more timely flow of technical information related to the claim, with the goal being to reduce or ­eliminate the likelihood of the part failure occurring again.

Central to the AWDA/MAC Best Practices is a standard claim form that includes data and information deemed most critical by manufacturers, shops and distributors. Said Frederick, “We surveyed a number of manufacturers, shops and distributors to ensure that we included the data fields that were of greatest importance to all participants. What emerged was a form that can be used as-is by most parts manufacturers and with slight modification by many others. The form and Best Practices are both works-in-process. They will be continually refined and improved upon in order to bring more and more companies on board.”

AWDA Chairman David Segal, Automotive Supply Associates, noted that, “This project was truly a collaborative effort between all business partners in the traditional supply chain. It clearly demonstrates AWDA’s commitment to unite distributors, manufacturers and shops to address industry challenges.”
The involvement of the CCPN Advisory Committee was critical to the success of this project and, added Vic Tarasik, CCPN chairman, “We will continue to work with AWDA and its MAC to refine and improve these Best Practices over the coming months. We view this as just the start of a very productive and profitable relationship that will be directed at solving other industry challenges.”

For more information on AWDA’s Best Practices for Processing Labor Claims, visit www.aftermarket.org or contact AWDA at 301-654-6664.