When news broke a couple months ago that Amazon, the online retailer behemoth, named the US auto parts industry as its newest target market, brick-and-mortar retailers like Auto Zone, O’Reilly Auto Parts, and Advance Auto Parts started scrambling like a last-minute March Madness bracketeer. Just a few short weeks later, and the online retailer has […]
Month: March 2017
After-Sales Service: Where Customer is King
Most manufacturers understand that skillful management of service parts operations is critical to reducing costs and optimizing stock levels throughout a supply chain network. But very few are actively leveraging the after-sales side of business as a source of greater profits. This is a significant lost opportunity; according to IDC, manufacturers could use service delivered […]
Are Field Service Parts Getting Smarter? Wearables, 3D Printing and the Internet of Things
Booming technology advances like drones and driverless cars are already starting to impact businesses today. But when it comes to field service, manufacturers seriously need to consider adopting these new trends if they want to meet the needs of today’s hyper-demanding customers, while simultaneously driving their own revenue. The dawn of emerging tech — like wearable […]
Automotive Aftermarket: A Car Isn’t Just a Car Anymore
The global automotive aftermarket grew 4.7 percent in 2016 – which comes as no surprise given the emerging technology and e-commerce developments of the past year. With e-commerce opening direct avenues to consumers, manufacturers can now sell directly to end users through sites like Amazon and Alibaba. And with a shrinking number of physical parts shops […]
Digitization Myths of After-Sales Service
In 2011, a study conducted by Oxford Economics showed that only 25% of industry executives believed that the manufacturing industry would be impacted by the digital transition during the coming five years. But after the close of 2016, it’s become increasingly clear that digitization is having a huge impact on performance across multiple industries, namely, […]
Look, No Hands! Drones, Driverless Cars and the Field Service Impact
Emerging tech advances like driverless cars, drones, wearable devices, 3D printing and the Internet of Things (IoT) are about to have a huge impact on how after-sales service, the service delivered after the initial sale of a product, is performed. And in a significant (and positive!) way. The main people affected by this tech boom […]
Want to Grow Dealership Profits? Focus on Automotive Spare Parts Inventory Management
From the recession to the present, dealerships have depended heavily on service and parts departments to drive profitability. In 2014 alone, total parts sales amounted to $50.6B, with service and parts accounting for a whopping 11.4% of those total dealership sales dollars. But while many dealerships focus on new and used vehicle inventory optimization, aftermarket parts […]
What Does a Trump Presidency Mean for Manufacturers?
The political climate in the U.S. is shifting. With a Donald Trump presidency, this evolving climate brings both challenges and opportunities for manufacturers. With a proposed $1 trillion makeover of the national infrastructure—consisting of new or repaired roads, seaports, airports, sewer systems, schools, electric grids and more—manufacturers must be equipped to meet these new demands. […]
The Perfect Storm for Field Service Manufacturers
In the first few weeks of the new year, major news stories all over the world have centered around the current changes within the manufacturing economic landscape. With durable goods manufacturers at the forefront of these stories, it’s impossible not to consider the impact these changes will have on the field service industry as a […]