A number of parts suppliers continue to advance their product line options by offering different levels of product, from OE replacement parts for newer vehicles, to more cost-effective solutions for vehicles that have been on the road for a number of years. Abe Aon, Wabco’s regional sales leader, aftermarket North America, discusses this evolution of parts and vehicle technology, particularly as it relates to the different stages of a vehicle’s life cycle, and how suppliers like Wabco are helping provide more options for fleets.
Transcription of interview:
Erica Schueller, Fleet Maintenance: Hello, and welcome to another episode of VSP News: Uptime Update. I am your host Erica Schueller, Editor-in-Chief of Fleet Maintenance magazine, covering all maintenance, all vehicle classes, all management, all the time.
As vehicle technology continues to evolve, so do the parts and service requirements of vehicles. This evolution also requires a close working relationship between OEs and aftermarket companies, to ensure fleets are able to quickly and efficiently service these vehicles.
Parts suppliers continue to advance their product offerings by providing different levels of product lines to address the specific needs of fleets. For instance, this can range from a line of OE replacement parts for newer vehicles, to more cost-effective aftermarket product lines for vehicles that have been on the road for a number of years.
I recently had the chance to talk about aftermarket parts and products with Abe Aon, regional sales leader, aftermarket North America for Wabco.
We discussed this evolution of parts and vehicle technology, particularly as it relates to the different stages of a vehicle’s lifecycle, and how suppliers like Wabco are helping provide more options for fleets.
Abe Aon, Wabco: Wabco and the aftermarket, has really taken a lifecycle approach to the product portfolio. We have the original equipment or part that came on the vehicle, but then we also follow it up with the remanufactured product for some particular items, especially high-value items that are labor- or energy-intensive, like air compressors, air dryers and also steering gears.
Finally, later on in the lifecycle, there’s sometimes a requirement for a little bit lower cost but still maintaining a level of quality, and also a specification for performance. In this case, we have something called ProVia. The ProVia brand offers certain products like air dryers and brake pads, to be able to provide the customer with a way to reduce their cost, and still get the life that they need out of the product.
Schueller, Fleet Maintenance: Remanufactured parts are also a cost-effective solution, dependent on application and part type. Aon discusses where remanufactured parts fit into these lifecycle stages.
Aon, Wabco: Remanufacturing is a really important part within the lifecycle. When you look at it, you have a lot of products – like air compressors, air dryers – they’re very energy intensive. Some of the components in those systems still have a lot of life left, where they can be remanufactured to increase that life.
Wabco is the original equipment manufacturer and developer of these products. We really understand what the thresholds are, what we need to remanufacture, what we can replace, and what we can keep in the system.
These [remanufactured] products will come in and will offer a low cost. We remanufacture to the latest specification – not to the original specification, but the latest specification. It gives the fleet the lower cost.
And then, the by-product of that is it reduces the impact on the environment because a lot of the product components, like castings, are very energy-intensive. Those are the things that we reuse. Not the small items, but the really big items, that would take a lot of energy and effort. That lowers the environmental impact, and also lowers the cost to our customer.
Schueller, Fleet Maintenance: As it relates to retrofit parts, the availability of aftermarket safety technologies such as blind spot warning and collision mitigation technologies have not been widely available. Wabco has looked to address this need in the aftermarket. Aon shares more.
Aon, Wabco: I think it’s really interesting, we start talking about crash mitigation systems, because this is something that people are spec'ing on their vehicles today. They’re talking about it because they see a value in it, they see a reduction in accidents and a reduction in severity [of accidents].
Wabco has seen a need to go back into these fleets, not just with brand new trucks, but look at what they already have in their existing fleets, and offer solutions to bring that same level of performance and same level of safety technology.
Wabco offers the OnGuard Active the OnSide and the OnLane to provide that suite of safety features. That ADAS improves the safety of the vehicles on the road today, and the fleets have been very happy with that and have been taking notice.
Schueller, Fleet Maintenance: Follow-up questions and service from the supplier after a purchase are important. Aon talks about what fleets should consider when evaluating customer service and response from a supplier.
Aon, Wabco: We start talking about how does any supplier provide a level of support to their customers? Aftersales service and support – I’m careful to say that, because it’s not just parts, it’s more than parts. Our customers expect that we’re going to supply them with parts, but we’re also going to supply them with knowledge, with training, with the ability to get their product serviced.
We’re going to go out there and talk with the fleets. We’re going to show them the key features and benefits. Some that do self-service, we’ll teach them about diagnostics and maintenance. But, they’re also, at some point, going to need service from the greater market. Wabco will be out there supporting the greater market, training technicians and teaching them about our products.
It is critical to evaluate the supplier. For Wabco, it’s how we bring that comprehensive support to the fleet – how we look at them from when they buy that truck, to when it eventually its retired or traded in, because they’re going to need support with more than just the components and more than just the initial purchase. We’re there every step of the way with the products, with the know-how and with the technology and the tools to help diagnose and maintain the vehicle.
Schueller, Fleet Maintenance: What continuing trends can we expect as it relates to parts development from the aftermarket? Aon shares his insights.
Aon, Wabco: I think you’ll see that the parts availability and parts trends are following the OEMs and what’s out in the market. As service providers to our customers, we need to maintain pace with the technology that’s out there. ADAS – that’s going to be a continuing trend. Technology will be a continue to march on.
As a result of that, we have to be smarter and we have to be more in-line with our partners, whether it's on the distribution side, or it's on the service side, to give them that knowledge to be able to service that product.
Gone are the days where a technician just turns a wrench. Now you need to be able to know the electronics, the diagnostics, the troubleshooting. That’s something where WABCO, as a developer of these systems, can really provide the insight and really train the market and be able to deliver on our promise to maximize the uptime and return for our customers.
Schueller, Fleet Maintenance: If you’d like to read more about how OEs and the aftermarket are working together to plan for future vehicle technologies, check out the link below.
That’s it for this week’s episode. Thank you for tuning in to VSP News Uptime Update, I’m your host Erica Schueller.
Until our next broadcast, keep up with this, and other industry topics, by visiting us online at VehicleServicePros.com.
Read more about how OEs and the aftermarket are working together to plan for future vehicle technologies.
