Interchange Committee on Door-Shell Interchange
By Jason Howell, All Import Auto Parts, ARA Interchange Committee Member
As we begin a new year, we are excited about the opportunities and changes ahead for us as auto recyclers. Change is inevitable and happens in every industry, and is happening at a faster rate now more than ever. As electronic sourcing of parts continues to grow, so does how we sell our parts. With the ease of electronic sourcing comes many questions and changes that need to be made.
Over the past several months, ARA’s Interchange Committee has worked on door-shell interchange. Since we sell to body and repair shops, most repair shops are swapping out as many of the internals as they can. The committee has been working with Hollander to create an interchange for door shells only, with those parts displayed on electronic platforms such as Car-Part.com, PartsTrader, and OPSTrax. This will allow us to show more inventory to our customers, as interchange written at the door shell level will allow greater fluctuation in what fits.
The ARA Interchange Committee discussed the possibility that our interchange could be too detailed for our customers’ needs. If the repair shops are only interested in the door shell alone, then that is what we should be selling them. What we changed is the alphanumeric interchange on doors, where the regulator, glass, and handles affect the interchange number. The main difference is the alphanumeric number at the end of the interchange. For example, if you have a door with an A-D interchange at the end and you have one of each in stock, when the shop sources that door, they only see one door in inventory rather than all four. Or worse, if you have them all under B interchange and the shop only ever looks up a D interchange, your parts never make it to the estimate. This situation is exactly what the Interchange Committee is trying to change for us this year and moving forward. If the shops only want a shell, we are going to show them all the door shells in their area so we can sell more within the collision industry.
We have been working diligently with URG and Hollander to get the interchange written so it can be displayed on platforms like Car-Part.com, PartsTrader, and OPS-Trax. Instead of the shops narrowing down their options, they are selecting the door shell and seeing more inventory available from the yards in their area. There is an abundance of doors available that will work for them. We want to make sure they can see all available inventory.
Body shops and insurance companies are some of our biggest customers. These relationships are a big part of what we do, yet our market share is ever-shrinking. As electronic sourcing of parts continues to grow, so must our interchange and our ability to adapt to what our customers need. The ability of our experienced sales staff to sell the correct parts the first time is shrinking. We must improve our inventory and how it is displayed to our customers.
Since we were on the path of creating a new interchange for doors, we have also worked on fenders, bed boxes, trunk lid, and hatches. As we continue down the path of electronic sourcing of parts, it will become even more important to understand how customers search for parts and which ones they are most likely to find. If we can stay ahead of the curve, we can continue to grow strong in the markets we are already selling in.
If you would like to start displaying non-exact interchange through URG, contact URG and request that they update your data feeds settings to display it through PartsTrader and OPSTrax.
Updates to Parts Prep & Shipping Guidelines
The industry’s uniform set of standards guiding part preparation and shipping were recently updated and are currently available. First published in April of 2024, the standards are the result of a collaborative effort between ARA, URG and Team PRP and have been promoted throughout industry conferences, training, and organizational resources.
Updates include adding the use of nylon banding of proper width and strength for engines and transmissions, as well as requiring that engines must be in a cradle, banded to an appropriate size pallet. For suspensions/crossmember and carrier/transfer cases, language was added about the use of a pallet if over 50lbs.
To review the Part Preparation and Shipping Guidelines, please visit https://www.youtube.com/@AutomotiveRecyclersAssociation/playlists to view 12-part series of two-to six minute videos.
“The collaboration between ARA/URG/Team PRP on these guidelines and other initiatives continues to move our industry forward in a way that benefits all auto recyclers,” said Vince Edivan, ARA Executive Director.
ARA’s Earth Day Social Media a Success!
The Earth Day campaign was materials put together by the Awareness Committee. The goal was to provide a coordinated set of ready-to-use social media graphics that ARA members could utilize.
The Committee and ARA are working to create more plug-and-play marketing materials that will be made available as a member benefit. The graphics were designed by the Awareness Committee and future similar resources will be posted in the Member Portal – soon to be released.
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