Why a Digital Thread is Essential for Aftermarket Success
A digital thread connects all the systems and processes involved in aftermarket operations and spare parts management. It includes everything from customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), product data management (PDM), product lifecycle management (PLM), and other service management systems to inventory management and supply chain systems utilized by sales, engineering, and service teams. By connecting these systems, the digital thread provides a single source of truth for all spare parts data. The interconnected data can then be used to optimize operations, improve customer experience, reduce costs, and increase profitable revenue.
Here’s why a digital thread is vital for OEMs looking to enhance their aftermarket business:
Improved Customer Satisfaction: A digital thread enables a more seamless and personalized spare part search and buying experience for end users. With the right solution, customers can easily find the exact parts they need, when they need them, through intuitive online parts catalogs and visual search tools. Offering a B2C-like self-service solution reduces frustration, accelerates the buying process, and fosters a positive customer experience that leads to increased satisfaction and brand loyalty.
Reduced Costs: Streamlined processes across teams translate to lower operational costs. By improving inventory management, order processing, and customer support, a digital thread eliminates manual efforts from end users or service reps and reduces the risk of errors. The efficiency improvements translate to cost savings in labor, inventory holding, part order errors, and logistics.
Increased Revenue: A frictionless spare part buying experience drives aftermarket spare part sales and boosts revenue. For OEMs, spare part sales often have at least 2x the profitability of original equipment sales, but poor processes can slowly erode those margins. By providing customers with easy access to find and buy the right parts, clear pricing, and a streamlined checkout process, OEMs can increase sales conversions and encourage repeat business through their website. A digital thread also enables targeted marketing and promotions based on customer data, further driving revenue growth.
Optimized Operations: A digital thread provides real-time visibility into inventory levels, demand patterns, and supply chain performance. The optimization allows OEMs to improve inventory management, reduce stockouts, and enhance the order fulfillment process. By streamlining operations and improving efficiency, OEMs can reduce lead times, minimize downtime, and enhance overall productivity and customer experience.
Invest in Solutions that Drive No-Touch Aftermarket Sales
Optimizing spare parts management to drive aftermarket sales requires investment in modern solutions that eliminate data silos and foster collaboration among internal teams, partners, and customers. Leading OEMs are adopting cloud-based SaaS solutions with AI-powered data cleanup and optimization and analytics tools to streamline spare part management and enhance the customer experience.
Technology is crucial, but it’s equally important to break down silos between departments like engineering, aftermarket services, partners, and sales. True collaboration requires a top-down approach, with leadership actively promoting teamwork and aligning reward and performance systems to support a collaborative culture. Change management can be one of the biggest barriers to a successful business transformation for both your internal teams and customers. Changing behaviors can often be a challenge, but implementing goals and incentives will help ensure the successful transformation of your aftermarket business into a profitable piece of your business.
How a Digital Thread Transforms Aftermarket Operations for OEMs
Implementing a digital thread strategy is a game-changer for OEMs looking to optimize their aftermarket business. It’s more than just a technology upgrade; it’s a fundamental shift in how you manage spare parts, interact with customers, and drive revenue. By weaving together data, processes, and customer experiences, a digital thread empowers OEMs to achieve significant improvements across their aftermarket operations.
Here’s how a digital thread revolutionizes the aftermarket:
- Improved Spare Parts Management
A digital thread enhances data management by providing a centralized, accessible repository for all spare parts data. That helps streamline inventory control, allowing OEMs to accurately track stock levels, predict demand, and optimize their supply chain through real-time visibility into parts data. By analyzing historical data, usage patterns, and market trends, a digital thread enables more accurate demand forecasting. Automated workflows and integrated systems accelerate order processing, picking, packing, and shipping, which helps reduce lead times, improve delivery accuracy, and enhance the overall efficiency of your spare parts fulfillment.
- Boosted Aftermarket Sales
A digital thread seamlessly integrates with e-commerce platforms, providing a frictionless online buying experience. Interactive spare parts catalogs and visual search solutions make it easier than ever for customers to find the exact parts they need. Self-service visual search solutions empower customers to identify, find, and buy spare parts confidently, which reduces reliance on service reps, accelerates the buying process, and improves customer satisfaction.
- Enhanced Customer Satisfaction
OEMs can improve communication with a digital thread throughout the customer journey. Customers receive timely updates on order status, shipping information, and tracking details, fostering transparency and trust. By capturing and analyzing customer data, you can personalize interactions and provide tailored support with proactive maintenance reminders, customized recommendations, and other relevant information.
Service reps and end users gain instant access to buying history, product information, and technical documentation, enabling faster and more effective resolution of customer issues.
- Better Data Outputs for Stronger Relationships:
A digital thread generates valuable data outputs on customer and partner behaviors, product performance, and market insights that enable OEMs to make informed decisions to optimize their aftermarket strategies. Whether your aftermarket business model is primarily executed through partners or directly, you can access relevant information that can help improve communication, streamline processes, and work together to serve customers better.
CDS Partable helps OEMs create a Digital Thread for Spare Part Management and Increasing Ecommerce Sales
By utilizing CDS Partable to implement a digital thread strategy and leverage its capabilities, OEMs can transform their aftermarket operations into a significant source of revenue and gain a competitive advantage. The result is a more efficient, customer-centric, and profitable aftermarket business.
CDS Partable empowers manufacturers to sell more spare parts by providing an AI-powered platform that seamlessly connects data, automates processes, and enhances the customer experience. With Partable, OEMs can optimize their spare parts operations, drive aftermarket sales, and build stronger relationships with customers and partners.
Want to learn more or see a demo of CDS partable? Get in touch with us!
