Tom Tecklenburg is director of the automotive and heavy-duty aftermarket business for The Timken Company. Named to this role when he joined Timken in 2007, Tecklenburg is responsible for the oversight and strategic direction of the company’s automotive and heavy-duty aftermarket business globally. He has direct responsibility for sales, marketing, account management and supply chain development activities in North America and Europe, with matrix responsibilities for the rest of world. Tecklenburg has an extensive and broad background in the automotive original equipment and aftermarket industries, with most of his career spent with Honeywell International, one of the top suppliers to the industry. He has worked in finance and manufacturing as well as sales and marketing, and also has international experience. His last role was vice president of sales and marketing in the Americas for Bendix Brakes. 
In today’s Executive Interview, Tecklenburg brings us up to speed on activities and initiatives for Timken’s global aftermarket business.
In our previous interview in November of 2008, you noted that the company was coming off three successful quarters. It appears that, overall, that momentum has continued for the company the past two years. How’s business?
Timken’s business in 2010 for both our bearings & power transmission and steel business has been better than anticipated. While it has not returned to the level we experienced in 2008, we are pleased with our results to date. Through three quarters, Timken sales are $3 billion. Our Mobile Industries unit, which includes our aftermarket sales, has had year-to-date sales of $1.2 billion. The total aftermarket remained steady in a challenging 2009 with a slight up-tick in our commercial vehicle aftermarket. And, 2010 has been a strong year in all channels and regions of the auto and truck aftermarket.
These results have really been driven by some key decisions and strategic initiatives put into place based on the economic climate over the past 18 months. The company’s focus on better manufacturing utilization, Six Sigma continuous improvements and pricing initiatives in certain areas has driven much of the improved performance, along with higher demand in the marketplace.
In that same interview you mentioned that going forward, Timken would focus on new products, alliances and acquisitions. Can you bring us up to speed on what Timken’s Aftermarket division has been up to since then, in terms of new products and programs?
When we last talked in November 2008, the Timken aftermarket, like most industries, was enjoying a pretty prosperous time. Beginning in December 2009, Timken like so many others, began to feel the effects of what would become “the great recession.”
Throughout 2009 and much of 2010, we were focused on managing our all of our businesses for profitability and cash. Sacrificing where we had to so that we could stay true to our core values: Quality, Independence, Innovation, Ethics and Integrity while preparing ourselves for the eventual upturn. Our aftermarket team — and Timken as a whole — was very successful executing this strategy. During this time, we were able to restructure our global team by adding resources in the USA to create a focused Commercial Vehicle Aftermarket team along with strengthening our Light Vehicle Aftermarket team. Additionally, we were able to enhance the number and quality of our value-added services.
We formed new alliances in the distribution and retail channels, but some of the acquisition and product expansion work was delayed. We continued our alignment with our original equipment peer group, focusing on delivering the highest-quality products to our channel partners. As the economy has started its recovery in 2010, we have reactivated some of these activities with an eye toward sustained, profitable growth into 2011.
Why are services just as important as the products that Timken offers, when it comes to serving your aftermarket customers?
With intense competition from other suppliers as well as the economy line products, we view services as a major differentiator in the aftermarket. As the distribution channel has evolved over the years, automotive parts distributors have come to expect more from their suppliers than simply providing local availability and delivery of their products. To support their channel partners, full service aftermarket suppliers have continually expanded their services to include items like industry standard cataloging, marketing support, product specifications, quality control, technical support and training.
We take great pride in providing our channel partners with these value-added services. To that point, Timken has been a key participant in the AASA “Know Your Parts” initiative that highlights the value provided by manufacturers and full service suppliers.
The cost consciousness of consumers, especially during the recession, and the proliferation of economy and counterfeit products has upped the ante for suppliers. Simply offering a world class product isn’t enough.
It is our continued strategy to play in the premium end of the category and to support them with premium value-added programs and processes. Last time we spoke, enhancements to our e-business offering were at the forefront of the discussion. This time around, we’re introducing another new customer-focused service – category management.
Our category management tool is driven by a powerful marketing system that utilizes Department of Transportation registration data to help customers determine their market size and proprietary inventory planning data for replacement parts based on year, make and model data for vehicles registered.
Category management is a win-win situation. It provides valuable information to our customers and helps us serve them effectively based on sound forecasting and inventory data. This enables us to deliver the right part at the right time, in the right place, which is a huge differentiator in the marketplace.
The tool currently consists of two main components – the Product Lifecycle and the Custom Market Demand Analysis. With these tools, one can get granular information at an appropriate geographic level for pertinent light-vehicle applications via a searchable online database.
From a technology and social media perspective, a lot has changed in two years. Has Timken embraced social media and the Internet in general as an effective way to reach out to and offer more to customers. If so, how?
I think Timken has really been one of the leaders in the aftermarket when it comes to keeping up with the pace of change. We have our corporate web site, online catalogs, engineering tools and e-commerce offerings for distributors as well as some great training tools for technicians. Timken TechTips and our Tech Series interactive training modules have been well received for years by technicians, DIYers and vocational schools alike. They’ve been a real asset in helping us earn our leadership position in those markets.
In terms of social media, Timken has had a Facebook page and Twitter profile for a little over a year and compared with our competition and peers, we’re in the top percentile in terms of followers. We continue to invest in these technologies to make it a more prevalent part of our aftermarket marketing strategy.
To that end, we are launching new aftermarket-focused Facebook and Twitter accounts plus taking an active role in creating some new technician-focused videos for the Timken YouTube channel. We want to build upon the excellent relationship we have with our distributor partners, and expanding our Internet initiatives should serve to grow that connection with those who buy directly from us. We also want to further the dialogue with the people who throw away the box.
Timken has a wealth of technical knowledge and great support infrastructure to provide this audience with information that may help improve their know-how. It is our goal that by becoming more active in social media, we can move into a more reciprocal conversation with our stakeholders.
