A wide majority of players in the aftermarket face the problem of part misidentification and wrong ordering. When this happens, the OEMs bear the cost and pay for shipping and logistics from their own pockets. Furthermore, ordering the wrong parts means extended equipment down times, open job cards, high customer frustration levels, and friction in dealer relationships.
While OEMs acknowledge the issue and have adopted countless measures to avoid part misordering, their dealers still end up ordering the wrong parts, resulting in financial losses. There can be several reasons behind this, ranging from manual errors to an incompetent parts catalog system that OEMs use.
To save themselves from facing embarrassment in the aftermarket, can OEMs rely on AI? There are a few AI-powered electronic parts catalog software in the market that are working on resolving this issue. We have discussed more on this topic below.
Key Takeaways
- Part misidentification leads to financial losses and service disruptions for OEMs and dealers.
- Common causes of ordering wrong parts include manual errors, complex catalogs, and limited search options.
- AI-powered solutions like Intelli Catalog can significantly reduce the frequency of wrong parts orders.
- Intelli Catalog features an AI Parts Advisor, visual search, and image enhancement tools to streamline the ordering process.
- Adopting smart technologies helps OEMs improve customer satisfaction by ensuring timely repairs and accurate part ordering.
Table of contents
Key Reasons Why Dealers Order Wrong Parts
Before jumping into how AI-based technology can help, let’s take a brief overview of the reasons and damages caused by wrong order placement.
1. Manual Errors
Manual errors are quite common in the aftermarket. They mostly happen because of untrained professionals and a rotational workforce (where service agents change departments and on-site locations frequently). Even misspelling a single digit in the VIN can lead to a wrong part showing up on the EPC and dealership placing an order.
2. Complex Catalogs
Many times, spare part catalogs are quite complex. They include thousands of parts for different makes, models, and regions. Many parts are also quite similar but may not be applicable across all variants of the equipment. In such complex catalogs, it gets difficult to identify the correct part even with a digital parts catalog system.
3. Limited Search Options
Software incompetencies can lead to part misordering. Most OEMs have PDF-based cataloging systems that lack adequate search options. They also aren’t interactive, leaving dealers and technicians with nothing but guesswork. Either the part lookup becomes excessively time-consuming, or dealers end up ordering the wrong parts.
4. Tedious Job Queue
Long job queues mean packed schedules for all service agents, technicians, and managers. Even if the dealership is able to identify the correct part with manual lookup, they may mix it with a different job card and place the order for a different equipment, sabotaging both jobs.
5. Limited Information
For older makes and models, the spare part information may be limited. The dealers may not have any VIN, or the part information may be superseded from the catalog. In such situations, dealerships are left with no other option but to find a part with wider applicability. In case a part matches the dimensions and other required specifications, it can be installed in the equipment. However, because of software limitations, finding such a part with wider applicability in the catalog may be difficult.
6. Limited Knowledge & Expertise
Lastly, at most dealerships, the skill and expertise levels of all technicians are different. This creates an expertise gap. The dealerships stay heavily reliant on one expert. In his absence, it may get difficult for the dealership to identify and order the correct part.
7. Onboarding Problems
The OEM may have deployed an EPC software, but because of a complex interface, limited training, or documentation, the dealership may not be properly equipped to use the solution to its full potential.
Damage Caused by Part Misordering
In the introduction, we gave an overview of the damages OEMs and dealers have to incur because of wrong part ordering. Let’s discuss the damages in a little more depth.
1. Logistics Costs
Wrong part ordering means increased logistics and shipping costs. The entire shipping process may be repeated as well, depending on how long the dealership takes to place an order for the correct part. The reverse logistics cost keeps adding up, and OEMs have to pay the bill.
2. Labor Costs
Labour costs cannot be overlooked. In aftermarket operations, be it repair or servicing, multiple technicians and personnel are involved. In many countries, they are also paid on an hourly basis. Part misordering keeps labour occupied, and the dealership and OEMs have to pay added labour costs.
3. Increased Equipment Downtimes
Wrong part ordering also means increased equipment downtimes. A dealer has to pay for warehousing, keep job cards open, and even keep technicians occupied for longer durations. This affects other operations and overall work efficiency as well.
4. Customer Frustrations
Wrong part ordering, increased equipment downtimes, and longer communications mean increased customer frustrations. Customers may even take their frustration out on social channels, negatively impacting the brand reputation of the OEM and decreasing trust value. Dealerships can also face the same.
How Can AI Fix the Part Misordering Problem?
AI is revolutionizing how OEMs operate. There are also a few AI-powered electronic parts catalog software solutions that OEMs can use, but after evaluating the functionalities of Intelli Catalog, particularly its AI parts advisor, it is the solution that we would recommend to all OEMs for resolving the part misordering problem.
What is Intelli Catalog?
Intelli Catalog is an AI-powered electronic parts catalog software dedicatedly developed for streamlining spare parts catalog management and distribution for OEMs. It is an off-the-shelf solution with which OEMs can help dealers remove guesswork from operations and access the right parts in the catalog without any hassle.
The solution is also backed by the trust of Intellinet Systems, one of the most trustworthy solutions providers in the OEM aftermarket for the past two decades.
Resolving Wrong Part Ordering Problem in the Aftermarket
Intelli Catalog can help dealers find and place the correct order every time with its multiple features.
- AI Parts Advisor
AI Parts Advisor is one of the salient features of Intelli Catalog that helps technicians and dealers interact and extract relevant information from the EPCs without the hassle of manual lookups or lengthy navigation. It uses natural language processing (NLP) to find the best results for queries and can be used by any dealership personnel. Service technicians can use both voice search and chat to extract information from the AI parts advisor.
The search queries can be simple in nature, for example:
- “Which fuel injector do I install in X car…”
- “Find me a replacement part for the VIN…”
- “Show me all available spare parts for the model…”
- AI Visual Search
Apart from the AI part search, Intelli Catalog also has an AI visual search feature. It helps simplify part search in on-field operations. Technicians can simply point their smartphone cameras at the equipment, and AI will search for the correct replacement parts in the catalog. With visual search, dealers can also find the VIN and other applicable parts in the equipment.
- MagicPic Image Cleaner
Poor-quality spare part images may confuse dealers and lead to wrong part ordering. Intelli Catalog solves this problem with the help of its MagicPic image cleaner. It is an AI-based tool that helps clean and convert warehouse clicked spare parts images into professional studio-level images with transparent backgrounds, eliminating all scope of confusion because of poor quality spare part images.
- Easy to Onboard
Because of its AI-enabled search, via voice, chat, and search, it is easy to browse spare part catalogs with Intelli Catalog. Although the solution provider does provide complete documentation and training with the software, because of its intuitive interface and AI features, your dealers do not require any long hours of specialized training to onboard the software.
Apart from its AI-based features, Intelli Catalog supports multiple search options (such as via VIN/serial number, model, and part search), 2D/3D figure part highlighting & hotspotting, and a built-in part ordering and tracking system to streamline the entire part identifying and ordering process. Supporting all popular ERPs, DMS, and business tools, Intelli Catalog makes it easier to import your data without any interruptions in the existing workflows.
Final Thoughts
With the help of AI, OEMs can reduce the frequency of wrong part orders and ensure higher customer satisfaction levels with timely repairs. However, ensuring 100% accuracy in part ordering may take time and usually depends on how fast your organization adopts the new tech. The dealerships also need to stay attentive and ensure their technicians use the upgraded tech to identify parts and place orders. For a quick and smooth transition, opt for an AI-powered electronic parts catalog software that can be integrated into your existing systems and workflows.
FAQs
1. Why do aftermarket dealers often order the wrong parts?
Answer: Wrong part ordering happens because of multiple reasons, including but not limited to part information, limited search options, manual errors, complex spare part catalogs, and many more.
2. How to reduce the number of wrong orders?
Answer: OEMs need to be agile and adopt AI to streamline part ordering. With AI features like voice search in natural language, visual search with smartphone camera, and smart chat that can easily help interact with the spare parts catalog, OEMs can reduce the number of wrong orders.
3. Which is the best electronic parts catalog software for accurate part ordering?
Answer: Every EPC software has its own pros and cons, making it difficult to select the best one. However, after evaluating the AI features and capabilities of Intelli Catalog, we will highly recommend it to OEMs who are looking for a solution to resolve part misidentification and misordering issues.
