LIVERMORE, Calif. – The aftermarket “Electronic Catalog,” an innovative business solution that has helped revolutionize the way automotive and medium-duty replacement parts are specified and sold, is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

Activant Solutions, which invented the aftermarket “eCat” in 1984, has continued to expand this vital research tool’s features and benefits ever since. The company is marking the anniversary through an employee celebration and a series of industry initiatives that will be announced over the remainder of 2009.

The company’s first-generation Triad catalog, comprising approximately 30,000 part numbers for a few hundred thousand applications, was launched Aug. 15, 1984. The catalog quickly proved its value within a fragmented parts distribution market facing a rapidly increasing number of vehicle platforms and part numbers. Distributors and jobbers quickly learned that their counterpeople were faster, more efficient and accurate when they used the Triad catalog rather than conventional paper-based resources. This new technology also helped eliminate common pricing mistakes and improve inventory control and buying practices.
 
By the late 1980s, thousands of distributors and jobbers subscribed to the monthly Triad Electronic Catalog. This user base continued to expand throughout the 1990s as service dealers embraced the value of the Activant replacement parts data integrated into their shop management solutions.

Activant has continued to develop innovative new eCatalog functionality to drive additional efficiency improvements for all users, who now include not only “traditional” distributors, jobbers, retailers, service chains, and independent service dealers, but also Web-based businesses such as Internet Auto Parts. Moreover, virtually each new monthly release of the Activant eCatalog expands the company’s industry-leading set of aftermarket parts data, which now comprises more than 7.9 million parts covering approximately 148.5 million applications.

“Activant’s catalog has always been the best in the aftermarket,” said Scott Sallstrom, co-owner and finance director for B & J Parts and Machine, a Vancouver, B.C.-based jobber that used the first Triad catalog and has been an Activant customer ever since. “The industry has changed quite a bit over the years but the rationale for using Activant has remained the same – it has superior coverage and is faster and easier to use.

“If I took the Activant eCatalog away from my counterpeople, it would destroy them. Their catalog plays a significant role in our continued success.”

Rather than a single monthly version, the Activant catalog is published in 15 separate formats to address the requirements of virtually every popular aftermarket computer platform. In addition to the company’s extensive parts database – covering some 2,600 product lines from more than 800 manufacturers – the Activant PartExpert eCatalog suite includes the Activant Cover-to-Cover graphical eCatalog module, BuyerAssist electronic buyer’s guide, InterChange OE and competitive interchange module, and All Lines reference feature. Activant combines these value-added tools with a variety of third-party databases such as the Activant LaborExpert labor estimating tool and Activant TireExpert tire fitment and replacement guide to help users increase sales and customer loyalty.

The PartExpert suite also incorporates a variety of features that enable parts businesses to save time and increase profitability. These include VIN Lookup, a comprehensive VIN decoding tool; the MCL-by-Make feature, which enables businesses to prioritize lookup results by brand, product design and price point; and Activant OE Carry-Forward, which automatically updates coverage to the next model year when OE product design remains the same.

The company’s latest eCatalog innovation, the Activant LaserCat 3 catalog interface, offers a highly intuitive, configurable user environment that helps significantly reduce the number of “clicks” needed to find the right part for any covered application.

“We’ve come a long way from the comparatively simple application catalog of the 1980s, but we’re not resting on our laurels,” said Tom Aliotti, senior vice president of the Activant automotive business group. “Activant continues to aggressively invest not only in innovative eCatalog technologies, but also in a wide range of new resources that will continue to reduce the time needed to bring the latest product data to the counterperson and service writer.”