MDM for Automotive | Stibo Systems

Expanding model inventories, technological advancements and consumers’ evolving expectations are changing the way the automotive industry thinks about mobility. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), distributors, retailers, and aftermarket part suppliers and installers must be able to efficiently manage the growing volumes of operational and product information and increasing data complexity.

For instance, for each new vehicle produced, aftermarket parts manufacturers must first determine whether an existing part can be utilized in the new vehicle or if they need to create, source, and produce a new part that will have a better fitment to the vehicle. They must also maintain the year, make, and model information (also known as application data) according to multiple industry standards.

Likewise, aftermarket parts distributors and retailers are responsible for maintaining the millions of application data records that they receive each month. They must also maintain the interchange information — like records that cross-reference the part number for an auto part with other part numbers that could serve as a viable replacement — which is not always in the same format.

For aftermarket parts retailers and distributors, the process of identifying the right replacement part for a car involves sorting through countless data combinations to find a replacement part that fits a car’s year, make, and model information. The companies will likely have many options to choose from, as most aftermarket parts manufacturers strive to manufacture, or source, an entire catalog.

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Key business drivers

Adherence to industry standards
Reduction in operational waste and inefficiency
Engagement with customers using clean, accurate and up-to-date information
Steady shift of consumers to omnichannel experiences/ecommerce

Key benefits

Optimize data management and quality
Comply with and maintain industry standards in one place
Streamline workflows
Identify new products and increase speed to market
Reduce costs and inefficiencies
Link to external systems

Key features

Single, trusted view of parts with unique identifiers
Prescriptive installation for data syndication
Validation of data formats
Preconfigured user roles and workflows
File import and export capabilities
Reference data management

With STEP, you can perform mass updates to data to ensure adherence to each industry standard — in one place — and and review the actions you’ve taken.

The need for correct information — from both the OEM and aftermarket parts manufacturers, as well as the retailers and distributors locating the replacement part — is critical because most parts are not resalable once they have tried to be installed and are thereby deemed unusable. Without consistent access to clean, up-to-date data, the likelihood of product returns, eroding margins and dissatisfied customers increase.

Industry standards

To help ease the complexities that the industry faces worldwide, the Auto Care Association has facilitated the creation and adoption of automotive aftermarket data standards. These standards help eliminate duplicate work and reduce costs by eliminating the maintenance of multiple data formats for various trading partners. However, since there are multiple industry standards, the aftermarket must ensure that their data meets these requirements.

STEP, our trusted intelligence platform creates a central repository for data to be consolidated, cleansed and subsequently applied across all data models to quickly and efficiently satisfy the needs of Auto Care. With the solution’s mapper, you can manage your company’s vehicle car “Parc” in one place, maintaining linkages to all standards and optimizing job processes for the many employees that it takes to maintain this information today. Business rules to govern data can also be applied within our master data management (MDM) solutions to ensure quality and accuracy when linking to organizational data to create one trusted source of information that can be governed, monitored, and managed in one place.

Benefits of STEP for automotive industry standards:

Prescriptive installation to solve for Auto Care (ACES/PIES) data syndication needs
Standard routines/scripts to configure and install an automotive-specific MDM system
Scalable to internal teams, third-party partners or multiple divisions
Automated delivery of data to third-party receivers
Distribute ACES/PIES data in valid XML format
Integrations with internal business systems such as an ERP or ecommerce
Validation of Auto Care data formats
Digital asset management supporting multiple image formats for ecommerce
Preconfigured user roles and workflows
Rule-based suggestions for applications
Built-in, fact-based application coverage search and opportunity reporting
Cloud-based or on-premises installation

Create a single source of truth

Many of the industry’s most successful companies are using STEP to develop and maintain a single, consistent view of product data for hundreds of thousands of products/SKUs and vehicle configurations, as well as millions of part-to-vehicle relations and interchange records.

STEP allows companies to continuously update product attribute data and digital assets, so they can systematically validate, process and deliver that data into the information supply chain in near real time. The comprehensive solution includes product hierarchy, data modeling, business rule support, workflow automation, data quality tools, and import/export capabilities, along with support for industry- and company-specific standards for vehicle, equipment and part type definitions, product line structures, application record data, and interchanges.

With STEP, OEMs and automotive aftermarket manufacturers can efficiently manage all product, vehicle and equipment information in a single source, integrating with internal business systems to keep all systems up to date with the latest product content. Not only does this make it possible to ensure the delivery of high-quality, complete data — such as product data, part type attributes, applications, interchanges, digital assets — but it also reduces the data inaccuracies that cause high product return rates.

Plus, these capabilities allow manufacturers to improve their brand value and strengthen relationships with their retailers and distributors by consistently providing high-quality, complete content to all receivers in requested data formats. With a single source of truth, aftermarket companies can analyze VIO data to improve inventory forecasting, as well as identify vehicle/part gaps that need to be prioritized for product development.

Reduce costs

By taking a more proactive approach to managing operational information, several cost savings emerge. First, the ability to have a more efficient view of procurement information and respond more quickly to changes in demand contributes to cost reduction. Centralized data management also decreases costs related to IT and data administration.

What's more, linking operational information through an integrated process allows for improved collaboration with suppliers, retailers, distributors and trading partners. It also helps buying teams enhance procurement efficiencies, sourcing capabilities and purchasing power, which can lead to faster time to market. Streamlining and automating the processes of creating, versioning, and searching for product information will mean less time correcting errors, freeing up resources for more value-added, revenue-generating activities.

Act on trusted information

Automotive suppliers can tell, with great precision, where goods are in the supply chain and detail any given customer’s order history over the last five years. However, that level of information is useless if it can’t be used or acted upon.

No matter the promotional platform, the best supply chain intelligence still requires accurate and consistent product information to be useful. Manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and consumers must be able to access information whenever they need it.

An MDM solution provides the agility and single version of the truth needed to act on customer, product, and supply chain information. The solution delivers a line of sight for the organization on highest priority part gaps and potential revenue opportunities for product development. It also provides a systematic approach to share that information consistently across all traditional, retail and emerging ecommerce or sales channels.

Proven track record

Over the last decade, Stibo Systems has developed a proven track record in the automotive aftermarket industry around the world. This accomplishment includes deployments in some of the industry’s leading companies and represents a commitment to providing the most comprehensive information management solution in the industry. This has been demonstrated by our investment in dedicated automotive resources and our growing set of technologies and services to support this industry.

Learn more about how Stibo Systems helps the automotive industry.

Drive automotive success with a single, trusted source of operational and product information

With STEP, you can perform mass updates to data to ensure adherence to each industry standard — in one place — and and review the actions you’ve taken.

Industry standards