Simplifying Support of Complex Equipment with Parts and Service Information Solutions

Driving Profits in Service Parts and Product Support for Heavy Equipment Manufacturers

Leading heavy equipment manufacturers (OEMs) strive to provide the best aftermarket tools to dealers (distributors) because they recognize that dealer networks are the key to parts revenue, customer satisfaction and brand reputation.

To properly support customers, dealers need accurate parts and service information. Agriculture, construction and mining equipment dealerships have reported that service technicians spend hours looking for part numbers and service procedures to complete their work. For anything but the most basic issues, dealers must often send OEMs detailed information about faulty equipment including, configuration and accessories, working conditions, serial numbers and problem descriptions, and then wait for support to call-back. (This may require manually recording part numbers and problems in forms, then faxing, emailing or phoning the request into the OEM.) OEM customer support representatives then spend additional time researching the problem, verifying part numbers, consulting with the dealer and finally processing the order. This is a slow, expensive and error-prone process.

There are a number of challenges to improving aftermarket processes:

  • Most OEMs outsource the creation/publication of parts catalogs and service manuals to a third-party, which carries annual outsourcing fees, content update fees, and additional time managing the vendor and overseeing, testing and distributing content to dealers.
  • Changes to service and parts information—whether new part numbers, service bulletins, part supercessions or manuals—are often delayed by the catalog update process and take too long to get to the field. It can take several months before dealers see revisions, forcing them to rely on outdated service and parts information for too long.
  • Multiple deployment methods are needed to support various dealer environments: paper, web, DVD and mobile devices.


The solution to these problems is Enigma InService EPC, which assembles, integrates, and delivers a comprehensive parts catalog containing all relevant service information. Parts catalogs, maintenance manuals, service bulletins, troubleshooting, training videos, product collateral, accessories, diagrams, schematics, etc. can be automatically packaged and distributed by the OEM to their dealers, for both online and offline (stand-alone) usage. Information from different databases and format sources is intelligently combined and delivered to dealer networks through the Web and/or DVD.

The result is a “one-stop-shop” that allows dealers, service technicians, parts managers and customer support representatives to identify the right part, price and procedure without needing to use multiple systems. With its powerful searching and filtering mechanisms and automated updates, InService EPC greatly reduces the amount of time it takes a mechanic or customer support representative to locate relevant information.

Enigma InService EPC

  • Provides all product content—parts, service, specs, bulletins, collateral, etc.—and filters it according to serial number, VIN and/or configuration
  • Distributes parts and service information via the Web, paper, DVD and wireless; incrementally updates DVDs
  • Synchronizes OEM part web sites with offline dealer catalogs (allowing DVDs to be eliminated)

Enigma’s EPC software can be extended to integrate with key applications such as dealer management systems, enterprise resource planning (ERP), maintenance planning, order processing, diagnostic, warranty and parts inventory systems, menu pricing, software downloads, fault tracing and onboard diagnostics. For more information, contact us.
 

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