Last-Mile Edge: How Elite Extra is Transforming Automotive Parts Delivery

Jon Ward joined Elite Extra shortly after his brother founded the company and has spent 15 years building it from the inside out. When Epicor acquired Elite Extra just over two years ago, Ward shifted from chief sales officer to senior director and general manager, a role in which he now oversees 45 to 50 employees focused solely on the last-mile logistics platform.

He discusses how Elite Extra's integrated suite of routing, dispatch, returns automation, and delivery network technologies is helping aftermarket distributors solve critical operational challenges.

What challenges are Elite Extra addressing across the aftermarket distribution industry?

Jon Ward: We're addressing any challenge anybody faces in the process of moving product from warehouse to store to customer—whether that's B2B or B2C. We have a suite of technology that helps manage different pain points within that process. Our routing and dispatch product is the flagship—it really helps people manage their fleet, whether it's their own drivers or third-party contractors.

Then there's returns automation, which solves a pain point we've been watching for 15 years. About three years ago, we had enough data to build a solid solution for returns management in automotive parts distribution. Being able to validate that we actually sold them the part solves one of the biggest pain points. Distributors say, "When the product gets back to the store, and I start to inspect it, only to realize we never sold it to them,"—and that creates a domino effect of problems down the line.

Returns automation also helps distributors enforce their policies to whatever degree they choose. How strict do I want to be? Or do I want to authorize exceptions outside the standard window? Automating those tasks eliminates a lot of the busyness managers run into daily.

When you talk about driver shortages, that's where the delivery network comes in. It's an aggregator of all the third-party fleets. We've provided an advantage to aftermarket distributors by not limiting ourselves to small product distribution. We integrate with providers that offer big and bulky delivery, so they can solve specific pain points. It goes beyond nuts and bolts—they've got body orders, liquids, oils, drums. Being able to streamline that process gives them visibility from order entry all the way through delivery and beyond.

What specific visibility advantage does this provide to distributors when third-party fleets are involved?

Ward: The biggest thing customers told us during development was they just needed visibility. Once the product leaves the dock, they still need to know where it is. They're not primarily concerned with the driver—they're concerned with the product. They need answers to the questions they're going to get asked. "I've got a truck on the lift. When is that product going to get here so I can get my technician ready to install it and move on to the next one?" That was always the black hole—the product left the dock, they knew where it should go, but didn't necessarily know if it would get there or when. Having that visibility throughout the delivery process is foundational to everything we built.

How does the integration of these products create your biggest competitive advantage?

Ward: Having them all integrated together tells a complete life cycle story for the product. Instead of saying, "Our focus is getting product to the customer," we can say, "We're going to help you solve all three different pain points we know happen every day." One integrated suite of technology is the biggest competitive advantage because it's one product that handles the different experiences you run into.

But because of how they're architected, everybody can use what fits their operation. If returns aren't a big problem right now, you just want routing and dispatch. You have one integrated suite, but you can break them apart and use them individually. The real competitive advantage is the configurability of how they fit into operations. We flipped the script—we fit the technology into the operation instead of making the operation change what it's doing to fit the technology.

Are you seeing similar adoption patterns from OE distributors, or is the aftermarket driving growth?

Ward: The workflows are very similar, but the big difference is who's using the technology. On the aftermarket side, owners, presidents, and CEOs are using the technology directly. On the OE side, we're primarily dealing with parts managers. They both understand parts, but it's about what problem we're solving. The requirement to get parts faster and more efficiently is exponentially more critical on the aftermarket side.

What portion of your customer base comes from the aftermarket?

Ward: Approximately 40% of our customer base are aftermarket distributors. When we launched Elite, the automotive parts distribution space was waiting for this type of technology. We developed it as a tool to move product from point A to point B, but we grew up in the aftermarket world. They were waiting for technology that provided the visibility they needed—and it had to be cost-effective and configurable. That's really where our sweet spot was, which is why we grew so rapidly within that space.

Are there use cases beyond parts distribution where Elite Extra adds value?

Ward: You can use it to manage service technicians if you have mobile service capabilities. There are other use cases beyond parts distribution—HVAC, field service operations—but that's where we've seen the most growth and adoption, particularly in the aftermarket.

Can you share a customer story that shows how Elite Extra created unexpected value?

Ward: Delivery network automation is a great example because it created benefits we didn't initially foresee. One of the features we built was the ability to control automation by day, by time of day, and by specific hours. Customers came back and said, "If I can control it by day, I could offer delivery beyond when my drivers are here." They might have the shop open 8 a.m. to noon, or 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. They don't want to staff a driver hoping someone orders something, but they noticed do-it-yourselfers ordering parts on Saturday. So they said, "You know what? I can get that delivered to you on Saturday using the delivery network."

The order comes in, and we completely automate the process to call in the best driver based on the business rules the customer set up. It allows them to offer delivery during times they couldn't before. That idea came directly from customer conversations and whiteboarding sessions—we learn something every time we go on site because customers find uses we weren't even anticipating.

What innovations should the industry expect from Elite Extra moving forward?

Ward: We're staying on the cutting edge of automation. AI is a big buzzword right now, and I really see it impacting our data and helping with decision-making and machine learning. It's going to complement our automation because machine learning has to be tailored to each operation—everybody does things a little differently, and you have to handle different use cases.

AI and machine learning will help drive the automation and how much it gets utilized. Data is what's going to drive the decision-making process. But it's also going to make people more comfortable with automation because they still want that human touch at the end. Imagine if they started taking their hand off it completely—the time savings, the efficiency gains, the workforce optimization that brings. You can operate so much more efficiently. That's what we're focused on right now—helping distributors see what's possible when they lean into the data and the automation we've built.