Customers
LEADING WAREHOUSE DISTRIBUTOR OPTIMIZES EFFICIENCY & GROW SALES WITH TALKING PICTURES
IMC adopts Solenium's Content Management System to deliver industry-compliant data, maximize coverage & open new sales channels
Interamerican Motor Corporation (IMC) is a leading distributor of import OEM and aftermarket auto parts. IMC has relationships with suppliers in more than 40 countries and carries over 60,000 parts for European, Asian and domestic vehicles.
IMC implemented Talking Pictures to replace its custom-built catalog management system and convert its proprietary data into industry-standard formats. This empowered the company to open new sales channels, optimize efficiency, maximize coverage and speed time to market.
4 Reasons IMC Needed a New Content Management System
- Outdated Catalog System Created Operational Inefficiencies
IMC used a customized catalog management system, which locked the company's Product Line Managers (PLMs) into inflexible workflows with little adherence to current industry standards and best practices. This made the process of importing, managing and publishing catalog data inefficient, unproductive and costly. - Proprietary Data Format Limited New Sales
IMC's product and application information was in a unique, proprietary format. The company had no way of converting this data into industry-compliant formats for electronic distribution to retailers, etailers and electronic catalog providers. This was limiting the company's ability to enter new sales channels and grow its business. - Missed Application Coverage Led to Lost Sales
IMC did not have an efficient way of identifying holes in application coverage and was therefore publishing incomplete catalog data. Brian Griffin, Head of Catalog Management at IMC said: "Application coverage research was completed manually, which was time-consuming and inevitably resulted in missed coverage - meaning lost sales opportunities." - Inability to Regularly Update Catalog Data Slowed Time to Market
IMC lacked efficient systems for sending updated catalog data to its website (which accounted for 50% of the company's sales) or its customer network. As Bart Noyes, VP of Corporate Development and Planning & CTO, noted: "The faster we publish data, the more sales we generate – it's that simple. In the Automotive Aftermarket, speed matters!"
Talking Pictures for Industry-standard Content Management
After researching several possible solutions, IMC chose to adopt Talking Pictures, Solenium Group's aftermarket-focused Content Management System (CMS). Talking Pictures was primarily chosen for the following reasons:
- Customizability: Although Talking Pictures already offered IMC 80% of the functionality required, Solenium was also able to build custom functionality into the system in order to address all of IMC's data management needs.
- On-premise deployment: Because Solenium's Talking Pictures is an on-premise solution, the system satisfied IMC's desire to maintain complete control over all of its product information and application data.
- Scalability: Talking Pictures addressed IMC's need for a robust data management system accessible across departments and locations. Talking Pictures also represented a scalable system capable of growing with IMC's business.
- Industry-standards compliance: Perhaps most significantly, Talking Pictures offered IMC an efficient way to frequently publish complete, accurate electronic catalog data to its website and customer network, in industry-standard formats.
IMC's Talking Pictures deployment went live in November 2006. Although the system fundamentally changed how IMC managed its data, PLMs and other staff across the company adopted it quickly and easily.
Maximizing the Value of Catalog Data
The benefits of Talking Pictures soon became apparent throughout IMC's entire organization, empowering the company to tackle all the challenges it was facing with its data. Perry Friedman, Product Manager, IMC confirmed: "Talking pictures has represented a huge change for us, and it has definitely been a very positive one."
Managing Data in an Industry-specific System to Optimize Efficiency
Talking Pictures has provided IMC with a single, aftermarket-focused system for managing all its data, leading to a significant increase in efficiency. Brian Griffin said: "Talking Pictures has had a big impact on the productivity of our team. The PLMs now spend more time adding value to data and far less time managing it."
Supplying Industry-standard Data to Open New Sales Channels
Talking Pictures has allowed IMC to reach new customers, by empowering the company to efficiently deliver industry-compliant electronic data. Bart Noyes explained: "Before adopting Talking Pictures, there were many sales channels we simply could not reach. Now, we can efficiently distribute catalog data in the formats new customers demand."
Maximizing Application Coverage to Grow Sales
Talking Pictures has made it considerably easier for IMC to identify holes in application coverage. Brian Griffin added: "With Talking Pictures, we can efficiently fill gaps in our application coverage and quickly supply our customers with data representing this expanded coverage."
Updating Catalog Data in Real Time to Maximize Competitiveness
Talking Pictures has helped IMC deliver catalog data to trading partners far faster than ever before. Brian Griffin said: "With Talking Pictures, all our data is updated and published to our website daily. This means we can be first to market with new data, which is a real competitive advantage."
At a Glance
Customer Profile
Company:
Interamerican Motor Corporation
Industry:
Auto Parts Distribution
Website:
www.imcparts.net
The Challenge
Outdated Catalog Management System
IMC's existing systems were highly inflexible and created inefficient workflows that negatively impacted the effectiveness of Product Line Managers (PLMs).
Inability to Publish Industry-Compliant Data
IMC used its own proprietary data format and had no way to output data in industry-standard formats, which made acquiring new business difficult.
Limited Application Coverage
IMC relied on labor-intensive, imprecise processes for identifying holes in application coverage, leading to incomplete catalog data and lost sales opportunities.
Slow Time to Market
IMC was locked into cumbersome processes for updating catalog data, hindering the company's ability to be first to market with new product and application information.
The Solution
IMC adopted Talking Pictures, an aftermarket-specific Content Management System (CMS), because the system could be customized, gave IMC control over its data, provided the ability to publish industry-compliant catalog data, and was fully scalable.
The company’s PLMs quickly adopted Talking Pictures, which now acts as the central source for all catalog data throughout the entire organization.
The Benefits
Managing Data in an Aftermarket-specific System
Talking Pictures has empowered IMC to improve efficiency by providing its product management staff with a central CMS designed for the unique data importing, management and publishing needs of aftermarket companies.
Publishing Industry-standard Data
Since adopting Talking Pictures, IMC has been able to deliver the data trading partner's need, in the formats they want, quickly, regularly and accurately. This has created many opportunities for the company to open new sales channels.
Maximizing Application Coverage
With Talking Pictures, IMC can efficiently identify and fill holes in application coverage. Catalog data, including information on expanded coverage, can then be quickly distributed to trading partners, maximizing sales opportunities.
Updating Catalog Data Quickly
Talking Pictures allows IMC to efficiently and frequently publish new product and application information to its customers, significantly improving the company's time to market.