Fit, Form, And Fact

Aftermarket emissions parts have come a long way since the oxygen sensor first reared its ugly ceramic head more than 20 years ago. Unfortunately, technician confidence in them hasn’t come quite as far.

The old perceptions of aftermarket parts being inferior to those parts available from the new car dealer, some undeniably rooted in fact, persist to this day. Beating those back may just be the jobber’s biggest battle in the emissions and tune-up parts market. Significant advances in terms of fit, form, and function have changed aftermarket parts greatly, leaving remaining doubts among your customers without much supporting data.

“There is an antiquated notion about the aftermarket and perceptions that aftermarket quality is somehow compromised, inferior to OE,” says Chris Harrison, product manager, NGK Spark Plugs of Canada Limited. And, he adds, even when quality is acknowledged, aftermarket parts are can still be viewed as somehow different from OE. It is a perception that the aftermarket has fought a long time to overcome.

In the aftermarket’s defence, Harrison offers the point that original equipment (OE) and what is offered through the original equipment service (OES) sector are not necessarily the same.

“The OES channel can quite often be from a different supplier, not that that is necessarily bad. It is often not actually original equipment. There are supercessions and changes and consolidation within the OES channel just as there are in the traditional aftermarket. “

Harrison’s point is an important one. One area where the aftermarket took a lot of heat a few years ago was in over-consolidating those early part numbers. Operating ranges of some parts were expanded to accommodate applications, and electrical connections were left up to the technician to restore with the ubiquitous pigtail.

It didn’t leave many with the impression that the aftermarket was really in the game on a par with the OE players. But early discomfort with emissions repairs wasn’t all about the parts.

David Saxton, manager product program development at ACDelco Canada, traces the roots of some of those persistent impressions back to the early days of emissions control technology, where everyone, technicians included, was still learning the ropes.

“It started with the complexity of some of the repairs. Emissions-related repairs are in many cases intermittent and can be difficult to diagnose; there are so many other related potential problems that can pop up. As this whole field evolved, there was certainly a lack of knowledge and expertise within the traditional aftermarket community, and they weren’t able to properly diagnose the problems and, hence, fix them. They also had difficulty finding the correct components, and there may have been concerns over quality.”

He says that there were also issues surrounding cataloguing in the early days. Together, all these factors combined to cause technicians to seek comfort and confidence in going the OES route, all to keep comebacks to a minimum.

Today, he says, technicians are more informed and better trained.

“Certainly now the components have been around for a number of years so the traditional aftermarket has caught up. But this is a field that is constantly innovating.”

Continuing on the point, Harrison suggests that the situation with the OES channel is much like that of the aftermarket, where parts continually evolve and improve, and are then incorporated into the line-up.

“I can really speak about ignition wires. You would be amazed at the changes and evolution in ignition wire. Ford is a big one, where something works, but then they have a problem in the field, so there are changes. There can be three or four evolutions, and the OES product at that point becomes superior to the OE part.

“In reality, especially with the consolidation of suppliers, and only the strong surviving, many aftermarket programs are from the same suppliers as those supplying the OE. Very often it is the identical product.”

And as he mentions, it’s sometimes better than OE.

That need to improve a part can mean that even small things like connectors, wire gauges, or the basic appearance of a sensor can change. In any case, if these don’t match up exactly to what came out of the car, a technician might question the part on any one of the fit, form, or function areas. And yet, often technicians are more reluctant to indict the OES channel for a change in appearance than the aftermarket itself. And, of course, the aftermarket does have challenges that the OES does not always share: often, this has to do with acquiring the necessary information on the applications, as a separate issue from the parts themselves.

Chuck Ruth, of Robert Bosch, draws attention to the fact that his company and others have worked hard to provide enough cataloguing detail to ensure that the right parts are recommended.

“Bosch has taken an active role in supporting AAIA standards and participates in industry committees intended to help the development and promotion of universal parts classification standards, that help ensure that replacement parts are correct for the application intended,” says Ruth.

“We and some other suppliers are also updating internal systems to support the aftermarket electronic cataloguing standard of ACES (Aftermarket Catalogue Enhanced Standard), which offers nearly 50 available unique vehicle attributes to choose from in order to correctly catalogue a part to a vehicle. This enables us to bring more accurate catalogue data to market more quickly. “

And yet he too understands that the ongoing improvement in parts may throw some technicians a curve.

“For instance, we now offer new-technology parts for older cars that give the technician the opportunity to upgrade performance and reliability. Two examples are our turbine-style in-tank fuel pumps and EV-6 fuel injectors, for older cars that originally used older technology. We explain that these parts may look a bit different from the original, but they will fit properly and function better and longer than the original part, while offering the performance and reliability of the latest model vehicle technology. This way service technicians can make an informed choice and offer the motorist upgraded technology.”

Which gets us right back to fit, form, and function.

“Using the terminology of fit, form, and function for the last dozen years is a cry from the installer to the aftermarket,” says Malcolm Sissmore, general manager and country director, Delphi Product and Service Solutions.

“In a lot of cases, the aftermarket has done a very good job of fit and form, but when it comes to certain products, function is the defining characteristic.”

In a number of cases, he points out, the algorithms that drive the performance of sensors and control systems are not open to the independent aftermarket supplier, putting the onus on those with original equipment connections to bring to the aftermarket.

“It’s a function issue, and that is what is driving the service provider to the dealer. They need to have the same functionality to provide customer satisfaction going down the road.

“It’s amazing how many O2 sensors are bought from the dealer because the installer does not want to upset the engine management systems.” He says that sometimes jobbers forget how all-consuming that imperative is–and that it can trump all other factors.

While nobody wants a comeback for any repair, where technology is concerned, there is no stomach for doubt. “Jobbers miss the boat if they didn’t make the leap to where vehicles are more technological and require their customer to be more savvy in troubleshooting,” says Sissmore. “When it comes to exhaust components, as long as it fits and the exhaust comes out the end, that’s totally acceptable. There is no doubt factor.

“But when you get into something that is more [concerned with] emissions, fuel, driveability, or creature comforts, where there are going to
be customer satisfaction issues, they drift to the dealer.”

When taken together, the need to supply parts that meet the fit, form, and function imperatives demanded by your customers is really about confidence in you and the brands you are supplying. In large part, you don’t always get to decide how the math of that confidence equation works out.

And it can work out differently for different customers.

Doug Coates, vice-president sales, Lordco Auto Parts, says that his company has found success addressing those diverse needs with a multi-brand approach.

Coates, speaking in the midst of a changeover from the Niehoff to the BWD brand, both supplied by Blue Streak-Hygrade Motor Products, emphasizes the importance of this approach.

“BWD will be our number-one, and ACDelco is there, most of it GM-specific, and there is Beck/ Arnley for the import applications.” And, he adds, Bosch is also part of the line-up.

“There are still probably a lot of people going back to the dealer, but I think that we are getting our share.

“We still have a heck of a lot of people with cabinets in the field,” he says. “What we are discovering with the changeover is that there are still a lot of shops who think it is a good line to inventory. The mix of product has certainly changed over time, but there is still a strong stocking line [for] a lot of our customers. So the cabinets are key.”

Coates says that the multi-brand approach isn’t just driven by inventory coverage, but by brand preference. Yes, there is the preponderance of main, high-coverage aftermarket product on customers’ shelves, but it doesn’t stop there.

“It is not uncommon to walk into a general repair customer and see a whole assortment of our brands.

“Our best coverage is definitely BWD, and that works for a large percentage of our customer base, but there a lot of customers who bring in a German car or another foreign car, and they are going to want to put on more of an OE equivalent.

“There is a lot to be said for being an import car specialist. It’s that European influence, probably more than Japanese.

“They know what the OE manufacturer is, in a lot of cases. One of the reasons we are happy with Beck/Arnley is that they do an extremely good job of having the identical part to OE. Our foreign nameplate sales are up huge.

“When it comes to emission control, we have choice for the customer. The lines complement each other. It helps us against the OEs and the import specialist warehouses.”

Beyond parts, an effective strategy in this category has to include information on the parts, and on the repairs.

ACDelco offers the aftermarket the same training as it offers the dealers, for example, and companies like NGK have made it a central part of their strategy.

“We offer a ton of tools and training, not only to differentiate ourselves,” says Harrison. “We have driven home the quality idea, but more importantly, how to combat the old perceptions too.

“We hold tech clinics and lunch-and- learn sessions and come directly to the shop, where they learn a lot more than just not to go back to the dealer.”

However, he admits that overcoming old ideas is tough.

“That’s what we need to fight through, and we think the only way of doing that is training. Some guys won’t change, but a lot will embrace it when you can show them. You really need to get these guys in the room.

“You have to take the approach that you are really just trying to make the tech understand, hand-in-hand with the fact that it is, 95% of the time, the exact OE part.”

Jobbers have become accustomed to focusing on the value equation they can bring customers—an approach often dominated by price discussions. When putting a strategy together for this segment, you should never forget that the buying decisions of the service provider are driven by the need to execute an effective repair. If your customers are buying certain parts from dealers, even for specific makes of vehicles, that will be their overriding motivation. If you believe you can offer them an effective alternative, you should be telling them that. If you’re not sure, find out.

And if what you have to offer doesn’t make the cut, it’s time to talk to your suppliers.

Because, in the end, if you try to sell products that don’t contribute to a good customer experience, you’ll just be adding credence to old negative perceptions that the aftermarket has spent so much time laying to rest.