Online OE Parts Ordering
Collision shops across the country are constantly challenged with managing the balance between doing what is right for their customer – the vehicle owner – and managing repair costs effectively. When asked in BodyShop Business's 2009 Industry Profile survey why shops purchase aftermarket crash parts, 79% of the shops cited feeling pressure by the insurer as the reason. In a perfect world, shops would have one only one thing to worry about when repairing a vehicle: performing the best repair possible for the customer. This includes utilizing Original Equipment parts when replacing irreparable crash parts.
The debate over whether a shop – let alone the vehicle owner – would choose an aftermarket part over an OE part has long been settled. All things equal, whether you ask the vehicle owner or a body shop technician what part they would rather put on their vehicle, the answer is overwhelmingly an OE part. When asked about parts that provide an acceptable fit, shops surveyed in the same BodyShop Business survey reported that 91% of OEM collision parts provided an acceptable fit, while only 54% of certified A/M collision parts and 35% of non-certified A/M parts fit. The bottom line is that quality OE parts provide a better fit, consequently improving cycle-time.
The ideal scenario occurs when body shop owners are able to use OE parts to provide the best possible repair for their customers (the vehicle owners), while at the same time manage their repair costs effectively. Fortunately, automaker programs are making this possible every day.
Thanks to the recent introduction of several automaker programs, many shops are now challenging this relationship between OE parts content on repairs and managing repair costs. These automaker programs, currently offered by most major OEMs, offer many OE parts at prices comparable to aftermarket prices through CollisionLink. Shops no longer need to choose between an OE part and an aftermarket part based solely on cost. They can have the best of both worlds now, and shops are taking note.
West Broad Collision Center in Richmond, VA is one such shop. Their Honda dealership – West Broad Honda – approached them about how easy it would be to competitively price OE parts prices on aftermarket part equivalents through CollisionLink and Honda's Collision Select program. After using CollisionLink for six months, Body Shop Manager Stuart Hendrick can't imagine going back to the old way. "We're not using that many aftermarket parts anymore since we're able to get OE parts at competitive prices, and our technicians and customers love it," commented Hendrick.
Most technicians prefer OE parts to aftermarket because cycle-time improves when working on a vehicle with properly fitting parts. CollisionLink is enabling shops and dealers to make this possible in an efficient manner. "Our technicians like using CollisionLink to complete these OE program parts orders because they get to use OE parts and don't have to use junk parts," added Hendrick. "It holds everything up and makes us less efficient. We can now keep our repair costs low and get OE parts – all through using CollisionLink."
Ford also has a program available to help dealers offer OE parts at prices comparable to aftermarket, and dealers are taking advantage of Ford's Collision Conquest program. "Using CollisionLink to order parts, we see the whole estimate including non-OE parts. We almost always try to sell OE against the competition, and we're successful more than two-thirds of the time. That helps our dealership satisfy our shop customers and sell more parts," commented Parts Manager Greg Mitchener at Southworth Ford in Marion, Indiana.
Chrysler has long been an advocate of facilitating parts programs for their dealerships, as Chrysler's Conquest program is now entering its fifth year in existence. Jordan Miller, Sales and Marketing Manager of MOPAR's Collision Parts, indicates "Our Conquest program creates a more competitive collision repair parts market. By focusing directly on the mutual customer – the vehicle owner – we feel we're giving body shop customers and vehicle owners more choice and greater participation in the parts selection process for the repair of the vehicle."
Berger Chevrolet has been impressed with how these programs, including GM's Bump the Competition program, are helping both dealers and shops. Gerry Rozeboom, Berger's Parts Manager, elaborates, "These automaker programs have many names, but they all do the same thing: help shops get OE parts at competitive pricing so they can improve their cycle time, speed repairs, and get drivers' vehicles repaired with good, quality parts. Many of our shops even put their non-OE parts ordering on hold until they see what we can do for them."
Nissan North America will launch its program in November of this year, joining the other automakers leveraging the effectiveness of CollisionLink to help shops and dealers in the parts procurement process. Nissan dealers will be able to offer shops genuine OE parts at more competitive prices, and shops will have the opportunity to get higher quality parts to get vehicles repaired and back on the road faster.
These automaker programs also have a positive impact on CSI scores. Because West Broad Collision can save time in the parts ordering process, Hendrick and his team are able to get vehicles through the shop much faster, and then move on to other things. "Getting cars in and out faster helps with our CSI score. If a car stays here too long because we're arguing back and forth with the insurance company about what parts to put on the vehicle, the customers have a bad experience, and we get a bad CSI rating. Getting OE parts through these automaker programs and CollisionLink allows us to repair vehicles faster so our customers have a positive experience and rate us accordingly."
Thanks to the various automaker programs, body shops throughout the country are able to get OE parts at competitive prices in order to keep repair costs at a minimum. Technicians get to work with more OE parts and reduce vehicle repair time, and customers' vehicles are repaired properly and more expediently, which leads to increased CSI scores. Hendrick sums it up with one thought: "By getting OE parts from our dealers through these automaker programs, we can spend less time repairing the vehicle, less time dealing with insurance companies, and more time running our business more effectively."
