Understanding the unique needs of Aftermarket teams is at the core of our business. In our engagements with numerous customers, we’ve observed a common realization among their teams: the absence of readily accessible data and insights leads to missed sales opportunities and decreased productivity. However, one costly and often overlooked consequence is the impact on effective parts management.
Effectively managing parts is crucial for ensuring a smooth aftermarket operation, minimizing costs, and meeting customer demands. Maintaining a large inventory comes with holding costs, including storage, insurance, and the opportunity cost of tying up capital. Overestimate demand and you end up with unsold or obsolete parts inventory. Run out of required parts and you risk service SLAs and parts revenues while also forcing more downtime for the customer. Striking the right balance between having enough stock to meet demand and minimizing holding costs is a constant challenge for an Aftermarket leader.
What’s installed base data got to do with effective parts management, you ask? Because most industrial equipment requires customized or specialized parts, managing the variability in parts specifications and configurations can pose challenges. Especially if the production process is not flexible enough to accommodate these variations. The lack of a holistic view into the installed base – of equipment assets, not customers – hinders Aftermarket teams in several ways:
Poor sales forecasting
Sales teams need help to provide reliable estimates of future demand. The lack of visibility into the specific installed equipment configurations across customer locations means they are unable to have a pulse on usage patterns, track equipment lifecycles, or identify trends in demand.
Complex, slow sales processes
When a salesperson receives a request for a replacement part, the process of identifying the exact part needed for the customer’s unique configuration is often too lengthy. Why? She has to go through cumbersome query/search operations on multiple systems to get the purchase history, detailed specs, maintenance records, and service history so she can put together the right proposal. By that time the customer had gone with a 3rd party OEM who responded faster.
Missed predictive maintenance opportunities
Without easily accessible, historical data on equipment performance and maintenance, aftermarket sales teams can’t identify patterns or anticipate when certain parts or components are likely to fail. It prevents them from proactively offering replacement parts, which then stay on the shelves. Worse, this is a missed opportunity to increase revenue and improve customer satisfaction!
Inability to optimize inventory
Analyzing historical sales data, demand patterns, and seasonality can aid in optimizing inventory levels. Without the right installed base data, aftermarket teams can’t identify slow-moving parts or anticipate demand fluctuations. Not having a granular, up-to-date, and accurate view on a per-asset basis across their territory or region, makes it impossible for the sales or services team to communicate useful guidance to manufacturing.
By enhancing visibility into the installed base intelligence, Aftermarket teams can forecast with greater accuracy, identify trends sooner, and make smarter decisions regarding stock levels, thereby minimizing the risk of overstock or obsolete inventory. A purpose-built Installed Base Intelligence solution such as Entytle gives Aftermarket teams, and Manufacturing, a holistic view into your entire Installed Base, including locations, assets, parts, contacts, warranties, and service contracts. All just a click, or a tap, away. Learn more at Entytle for Industrials – Become your Customer’s Trusted Advisors.
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