The Auto Care Association hosted a technology standards conference in Bogota, Colombia, on July 13, the first in a series of technical missions to key Latin American capitals. The conference is part of the export promotion award from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The conference, which was attended by 60 local auto care industry executives and government officials, focused on the processes around standards development and maintenance. Topics detailed adoption methodologies for existing standards, the Aftermarket Catalog Enhanced Standard (ACES) and the Product Information Exchange Standard (PIES). The conference was co-organized by the U.S. Commercial Service Office of the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, and Asopartes, a Colombia trade association representing auto parts importers and distributors.
A delegation comprised of Auto Care Association staff attended and presented at the conference alongside Evaristo Garcia of Integrate Data Facts, a strategic partner to the association on various standards initiatives. The delegation also spent two days meeting with key industry stakeholders to identify strategic partners for the development and implementation of standards for the Colombia market.
“We are thrilled with the success of the first technical mission and the great momentum we have built around our international trade promotion activities following our two recent trade missions to Peru and Guatemala,” said Bill Hanvey, president and CEO, Auto Care Association. “With a strong history of success in the U.S., the Auto Care Association is well-positioned to help our members reap the benefits of their current investments by taking our standards and best practices to other regions. This series of technical seminars will supplement our trade mission program by helping to address a barrier to trade in key Latin American markets.”
ACES makes compiling an electronic catalog with quality, consistent content about thousands of product lines possible and efficient. Using ACES, suppliers can describe vehicle configuration with valid database values. Suppliers can define product terminology with a database of product names, all in a computer-readable format for the exchange of this information from supplier to receiver.
PIES defines the rules of managing elements of product information, product images and product attributes. PIES defines the format of the information and the valid values. With PIES, customers and those in the distribution chain will know what a product looks like, what it weighs, the size of the box and how many are packed inside, the length of the warranty, the country of origin, the performance attributes and more.
To learn more about the Auto Care Association technology standards, click here.
