HDDA: Heavy Duty announces “We have launch”

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Updated Feb 12, 2020

Bill Hanvey, president and CEO, Auto Care AssociationFor the last four years, it has become customary for HDDA: Heavy Duty, a community of the Auto Care Association, to give an update on the progress of its product data standards initiative during Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week (HDAW).

At this year’s event, held in Grapevine, Texas, HDDA’s announcement on Monday was different.

“I am thrilled to announce that today, we have launch,” said Bill Hanvey, president and CEO, Auto Care Association. Hanvey added the standards are not at 100 percent, but never will be because the industry is constantly changing.

“We have to integrate business technology with vehicle technology in order to stay in the game and that’s what the standards do. They allow you, whether you’re a supplier or a distributor or third-party influencer in the marketplace, to be part of the digital age. We have to understand we’re part of the digital age and we have to marry business with vehicle technology,” Hanvey said.

Hanvey said independent distributors and manufacturers in the heavy duty space have had challenges, such as consolidation, vehicle technology and threats from OEMs. He also stressed the standards are a heavy duty initiative, not an automotive standard translated to heavy duty.

“Finding the right part is not new. How you find that part has evolved and it will continue to evolve. Can you find the right part more efficiently? Now you can because of PIES, the product information exchange standard. It’s available,” Hanvey said.

“Standards strengthen your staff’s knowledge and it gives accessibility to your teams to products and descriptions that they may never have had before and it creates levels of efficiencies in the supply chain all the way from the manufacturer to the person on the counter to the fleet maintenance manager,” he said. “Data standards are the best practices for communicating product information between our entire supply chain.”

Trucks, Parts, Service will be bringing you more about the product data standards next month.

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