Navigating the Complex World of Elevator Spare Parts for OEMs
The elevator and vertical lift industry is built on reliability, and a crucial component of that reliability is the ready availability of spare parts to keep downtime minimal. For Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in the industry, the spare parts business is more than just an afterthought; it’s a vital revenue stream and a key factor in customer satisfaction. However, this sector presents unique challenges because of the complexity of elevators and vertical lift systems and the industry’s receptiveness to non-genuine parts.
Elevator components range from the intricate electronic controllers managing the elevator’s movement to replacement parts to address unusual noises, shaky rides, slowed start, frequent breakdowns, or doors not opening and closing properly. The complexity translates to a vast and varied inventory for OEMs to manage efficiently from customer-configured systems that are often a mix of aging technology and newer models.
Managing this inventory efficiently to ensure parts are available when needed and dealing with obsolescence are constant hurdles for OEMs. As technology advances, older parts become harder to source, forcing OEMs to balance supporting legacy systems with the push for innovation. The rise of third-party aftermarket parts creates a competitive landscape that OEMs must navigate if they want to maintain and grow their parts business. While third-party aftermarket options may offer lower prices and still maintain high quality, they may not always meet the exact specifications of the original OEM system and parts.
OEMs typically emphasize the quality, reliability, and safety of genuine parts over aftermarket or third-party refurbished variety. If you do not improve the part search and buying experience, you are at risk of losing your aftermarket business to third-party, non-genuine vendors. Building strong relationships with service providers and end-users and providing clear and easy access to parts information is paramount to the success of your parts business and customer satisfaction. Technological advancements have helped many OEMs grow their aftermarket business across channels by creating a single source of truth for spare parts data that gives anyone the ability to identify and find spare parts.
Why Elevator Manufacturers Should Prioritize Parts Identification and Sales Across Channels
The spare part and aftermarket service industry for elevator OEMs is extremely competitive. Prioritizing efficient parts identification and seamless sales across all channels using a digital thread is a necessity if you want to maintain and grow your parts business. Elevator manufacturers must recognize that a robust spare parts strategy directly impacts customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, and improving the top and bottom line. Whether you’re primarily selling genuine OEM parts directly through an internal parts service team, authorized distributors, or online with a digital parts catalog, you should prioritize a solution that enables anyone to identify, find, and buy the parts they need as quickly as possible.
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Overcoming Inefficiency and Human Error for Direct Sales of Spare Parts
Direct Sales Challenges: When customers contact OEMs directly, they expect swift and accurate part identification from your team of experts. Direct sales provide control but still can suffer from inefficiencies based on the quality of your parts data, catalogs, or even the personal knowledge of your teams. The risk of human error can result in lengthy processes with incorrect orders, delayed repairs, and frustrated customers who are more willing to go to another aftermarket option. Direct interaction offers the opportunity to build strong customer relationships and reinforce the value of your genuine OEM parts. However, the experience needs to be frictionless and fast to keep the customer loyal.
Direct Sales Solution: Implementing a centralized parts identification and sales system creates a “single source of truth” for all bills of materials (BOMs) that provides sales teams with real-time access to accurate, up-to-date part information, including specifications, compatibility, and availability. Using a single solution for parts data eliminates reliance on disparate sources, streamlines the search process, and minimizes errors. A unified system ensures that every salesperson provides consistent, reliable information, enhancing customer trust and reducing order fulfillment times. By choosing the leading part search solution, you will enable your reps to quickly identify the correct replacement part through a number of search options and get it to your customer quickly.
Bridging the Information Gap for Part Sales through Authorized Distributors
Authorized Distributor Challenges: Many elevator and vertical lift OEMs rely heavily on their authorized distribution partners to service the aftermarket by selling genuine parts. They are trusted partners that guarantee the authenticity of components, provide technical expertise, and help safeguard the high quality of your products that are in the market. While a great resource, they often struggle with limited access to accurate and timely part information or inventory systems, which can lead to discrepancies in availability and compatibility. The lack of visibility can result in delays, incorrect orders, and customer dissatisfaction. It can also damage your distributor’s relationship with the end customer, potentially leading them to seek out non-genuine OEM parts. Manufacturers need to take steps to protect their brand and ensure the authenticity of their parts by extending search and sales solutions to help them identify and sell genuine parts.
Authorized Distributor Solution: A centralized parts identification and sales platform provides distributors with real-time access to the manufacturer’s master database for spare parts. Whether you choose to give a part search solution as a partner portal or directly through their ecommerce platform, distributors will have accurate and up-to-date information on part specifications, availability, and compatibility for the units. A “single source of truth” eliminates discrepancies, improves order accuracy, and enables distributors to provide faster and more reliable service to your end customers, helping you sell more genuine spare parts.
Building a Future Proof Solution for Self-Service Ecommerce Sales
Self-Service Online Sales Challenges: While direct and authorized channels are vital to your aftermarket business model, the future demands robust self-service options that enable end customers to identify and buy spare parts online like they are accustomed to in their personal lives. Asking your end customers to use outdated or limited online catalogs can cause frustration that leads them to look for alternatives. While your current spare part sales model may rely heavily on direct and/or authorized channels, we encourage our customers to future-proof their business by ensuring they choose a search solution that is ready for ecommerce.
Self-Service Online Sales Solution: A comprehensive online spare parts database that enables users, regardless of technical expertise, to identify and buy spare parts online will be essential. A smart visual search and ecommerce platform will provide customers with intuitive visual search functionality and detailed part information with seamless ordering capabilities. It would also allow for 24/7 access. Even with current direct and authorized channels in place, a system can be built to act as a central portal for all customers, regardless of channel, to have access to the same accurate and up-to-date information. An ecommerce and digital portal approach enhances the customer experience while reducing the burden on sales and support teams.
Give Everyone the Ability to Identify, Find, and Buy Elevator Spare Parts Across Channels with CDS Partable
As we always say to our customers, it starts with search. If your goal is to provide a spare parts search solution for direct sales and authorized distributors, deliver a B2C-like self-service e-commerce solution, or a combination, you must start with implementing a search solution that helps everyone identify and buy genuine elevator spare parts across channels.
CDS Partable offers elevator and vertical lift manufacturers an AI-powered visual search solution that transforms spare parts identification and ordering. By enabling customers and authorized partners to identify components, Partable streamlines the ordering process and reduces errors across all sales channels. If you’re looking to sell more spare parts across channels, get in touch with us to learn more and see a demo!
