By Brian Cruickshank, AAP
Innovations, case studies and standards show that embracing technology is a critical part of the aftermarket’s success story.
The aftermarket is a technology business, and as the Aftermarket eForum proved, the application of technology can make it a more efficient and profitable business as well.
During the two-day event, held at the newly remodeled Chicago O’Hare Hyatt, speakers addressed the audience on technology topics such as technology outsourcing, data management, e-marketing, training and inventory efficiency. Each presentation proved from real-world examples that the embracing of technology is good for every level of the aftermarket, from manufacturers to distributors to customers.
This was most acutely obvious during the many industry case studies presented by speakers. Parts Depot’s Willi Alexander, for example, showed in detail how his company’s data management processes have allowed Parts Depot to fine-tune its inventory. Parts Depot’s inventory management efforts, along with the Affinia Group, were each awarded the Polk Aftermarket Inventory Efficiency Award at the Global Automotive Aftermarket Symposium, held in May. The Affinia Group’s Jerry McCabe followed Alexander, demonstrating how his company uses technology and industry standards to tackle the always-vexing inventory question.
Alexander’s and McCabe’s presentations stressed a unifying theme of the eForum: that data standardization is a key component to the success of technology usage throughout the industry. During Babcox Publisher Jon Owens’ presentation, he further showed why the industry is ripe for the across-the-board embracing of technology standards. Internet usage, for example, is up at all levels of the aftermarket and shops and distributors are more willing than ever to use technology to increase the efficiency and accuracy of their businesses.
Photo: Jerry McCabe from the Affinia Group addresses the eForum, held last week in Chicago.
Other case studies included an interesting look at how technology is used in other markets, as demonstrated by Germany-based TecDoc’s CEO Uli Zehnpfennig. Different national markets — and languages — have posed unique challenges to TecDoc. Zehnpfennig explained that many of these challenges were tamed through the use of standards.
Other presentations, panel discussions and breakout sessions touched on other important industry initiatives such as e-marketing, training and on-line retailing.
While all this technology use might sound expensive, that isn’t necessarily true. Beck/Arnley’s Anne Coffin showed how thinking like a small company allowed a large manufacturer like Beck/Arnley to apply technology and standards initiatives in a relatively fast and inexpensive way.
“It is often the smallest companies — and those that operate like one — that can best use and leverage the benefits of technology,” Coffin told the audience. She detailed how Beck/Arnley uses technology to better partner with customers and to improve important things like cataloging.
Photo: CARQUEST’s Joe Zucchero explains to eForum attendees how the distributor retooled its IT initiatives.
Other interesting real-world uses of technology were presented by opposite ends of the supply chain. CARQUEST CIO Joe Zucchero discussed how the distributor heavily invested in open, standards-based technology as part of its overall customer support strategy, while Federal-Mogul’s CIO Mario Leone talked about how the Southfield, MI-based manufacturer addressed some of its greatest IT challenges.
Technology, as the event showed, is often able to address many of the industry’s many challenges. And since many of these challenges are shared, the best solution for the aftermarket is to find, embrace and actually use the technology standards and solutions that are either available or are under development. As the Affinia Group’s Jerry McCabe told the audience during his presentation, the industry “must work together or fail together.”
