Under the direction of Chris Gardner, MAAP, vice president, programs and member services, Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA), and Scott Luckett, MAAP, chief information officer, Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA), a new website called www.aftermarketmatch.com was launched to help suppliers and resellers align their electronic commerce and data standards. In today’s interview, Gardner and Luckett discuss what this new site can offer aftermarket suppliers and resellers.
What exactly is AftermarketMatch.com and what does it do for the members of your associations?
The use of data standards and e-commerce in business today has become commonplace. In trading partner relationships, besides knowing your partner’s phone number and mailing address, you also have to know what industry standards they support and what version of the standards they operate.
AftermarketMatch.com is an online directory that buyers and sellers can use to quickly identify those trading relationships that can be automated. It helps make the decision about what standards and versions to adopt. And, once deployed, it helps to quickly realize return on investment (ROI) by identifying compatible trading partners.
Scott, what does AAIA see in AftermarketMatch.com for your members?
AftermarketMatch.com is like an electronic dating service for trading partners. Whether you are a warehouse distributor, parts retailer or manufacturer, you want to know that if you invest in the Aftermarket Catalog Enhanced Standard (ACES), Product Information Exchange Standard (PIES) or electronic data interchange (EDI), a large number of your key trading partners will be compatible with your technology.
It helps decision-makers choose where to invest in information technology (IT) and get the biggest bang for the buck. A supplier may see that more of his customers are shifting to Web services for special orders and cutting back on EDI. AftermarketMatch.com is how executives can spot IT trends and have all the needed facts about the standards practiced by their partners.
Chris, this was originally a project of the AASA Technology Council. Explain how this became a joint effort with AAIA, and the current role of AASA.
The website was originally conceived by AASA to give our automotive aftermarket supplier members visibility into the technical requirements of their customers to enable suppliers to narrow their focus of standards and versions to only the elements customers require. In conversations with AAIA, we came to realize that customers crave the same information about their suppliers – questions such as: what standards do you support; what version are you on; and what specific elements do you support?
Companies can only view others’ data if approved by trading partners, which means this is match-making in the digital age. So, it only made sense for the associations to collaborate on building out the capabilities of the site and promoting its use to all members.
What is the commitment to using AftermarketMatch.com and how is industry response?
There is no cost or obligation to the users of the website. All that is required is about an hour of time to register and complete a company profile with information about the standards you support. It may be helpful to look at the site first and then gather the information needed to complete the forms.
In the case of PIES, the site asks for the specific fields that are supported. For all other standards, it’s simply “yes” we do or “no” we don’t. Every few months the site will remind users to visit and update their information – because we know things don’t stay the same.
Since the site was re-launched last fall, we have been pleased with the adoption and support – it’s grown quite a bit. But, just like a phone directory, the true value increases as the listings become more complete and current. We think if every aftermarket supplier and reseller were to visit www.aftermarketmatch.com, they would quickly see how it can save them time and help them make informed IT decisions.
