Borg-Warner and Niehoff First to Provide SmartPages Parts Catalog
29 February 2000
Borg-Warner Brand and Niehoff brand First to Provide SmartPages For Profit Pro Electronic Parts Catalog
SmartPage Technology Expected to Reduce Industry Returns
And Facilitate Business-to-Business E-Commerce
Borg-Warner Brand and Niehoff Brand Customers View Detailed Parts Information,
Schematics, Images, Specifications and Charts, and More During Catalog Look-Up
DRAPER, Utah, Feb. 28 -- Borg-Warner brand and Niehoff brand
are the first to provide detailed information to their customers using
SmartPage(TM) technology. SmartPages link to specific part numbers in the
Profit Pro Electronic Parts Catalog to display images and buyer's guide
information, allowing the counterman or service writer to see all the
information about a part right on his computer screen. This exciting new
technology will launch with Profit Pro's Proficy products, expected for
release by mid-April under the Wrenchead Pro name. SmartPage(TM) technology
should help reduce returns and facilitate business-to-business e-commerce in
the aftermarket.
Says Bryan Thueson, VP, Profit Pro, "With SmartPages integrated with the
Profit Pro Electronic Parts Catalog, it is easy for the counterman to validate
his choice without going to a book or separate software application. The
counterperson can do the part look up and get buyers guide information all in
one place, at his computer." Buyer's guide information varies depending upon
the type of item, but generally includes information like part name and
description, comments, footnotes, popularity codes, supercedes, etc. "Another
advantage SmartPages have over traditional buyers guides is that users can
link right to a manufacturer's web site for related information, like
schematics, tech hotlines, and more," continues Thueson.
"Dana Engine Controls has a commitment to pushing technology," says Will
South, Director of Marketing Technology for Dana Engine Control's business
unit. "Our goal is to help our customers sell our brands by providing key
part attributes and information about our products. Having our data available
in a robust manner utilizing E-Commerce solutions is an advantage, and is the
next step in strengthening business-to-business relationships with our
customers. This new technology will improve finding valuable parts
information faster, cheaper, better the first time. Partnering with Profit
Pro helps us achieve this next step technology toward delighting our
customers."
After the concept of the SmartPage(TM) was introduced at the ProfitShare
Technology Conference last summer, Dana Engine Controls began working closely
with Profit Pro to develop a solution that worked in the real world. Says
South, "It was a cooperative effort to create a de facto standard so other
Dana companies, as well as non-Dana companies, could essentially provide
non-application data as close to 'plug and play' as possible. Though the data
itself is proprietary, we want the format (and way we send data) available to
anyone. This ultimately benefits our mutual customers and, in the long run,
the entire industry."
Technically, Profit Pro builds SmartPages from images and buyers guide
data, and links each part number in the electronic parts catalog database to
its SmartPage(TM). After selecting a part number, the user can view the
buyers guide information and image of the part. The software acts as a
limited Internet browser, so the counterman or service writer can link to
specific documents on a manufacturer's web site without getting sidetracked on
the web. Says Bryan Thueson, "Different manufacturers require different types
of information to be available, and we accommodate that with SmartPages. We
can give each manufacturer its own look and feel. Counterpersons that have
tested it say that it makes critical data available in a fraction of the time.
In some cases it makes data available that in the past could not be found by a
novice or experienced parts person."
The exposure to pertinent information through SmartPages is expected to
positively affect return rates, which are notoriously high in the automotive
aftermarket.
Profit Pro Inc., a privately-held company founded in 1990, is a leading
supplier of point-of-sale and business management software, electronic parts
cataloging, e-commerce technology, and Internet solutions to the automotive
aftermarket. In addition, Profit Pro offers the industry's only true
AIAA-compatible Electronic Parts, Catalog with more than 10,000 installations
nationwide.
Dana Corporation is one of the world's largest independent suppliers to
vehicular manufacturers and their related aftermarkets. Founded in 1904, and
based in Toledo, Ohio, the company operates some 330 major facilities in
35 countries and employs more than 84,000 people.
For more information about Profit Pro or SmartPage(TM) technology, contact
Bryan Thueson at 800-879-9996 ext. 1303.