SEMA News—December 2014

INTERNATIONAL
By Linda Spencer

SEMA’s International Vehicle Measuring Program

Offering Access to Hard-to-Obtain Vehicles

SEMA members measuring a ’14 Mitsubishi L200 in the SEMA Garage—1.1 million of these compact trucks have been sold around the world but they are not for sale in the United States and Canada.

What do a Toyota HiLux, a Ford Ranger T6, an UAZ Hunter and a Mitsubishi L200 have in common? For one thing these vehicles are known for being aftermarket-accessory friendly, are extremely popular with enthusiasts and are typically upgraded by owners who seek to take them off-roading. Another thing they have in common is that none of these vehicles are sold in the United States, but being very popular throughout the much of the rest of the world, they offer export marketing potential for U.S. companies.

Through a special partnership with the U.S. Department of Commerce, SEMA imports globally popular vehicles which are not sold in the United States in order to help SEMA-member manufacturers create export-ready products. The vehicles were selected based on feedback from overseas buyers, input from SEMA members and data tracking of the number of vehicles sold worldwide, and they were brought to the United States on temporary importation waivers.

The vehicles are now available to member manufacturers at the new SEMA Garage (for more information visit the fully equipped SEMA Garage. The vehicles can even be delivered to a SEMA member’s facility for those who need that sort of access.

The vehicle-import program has resonated with members since the first vehicle was brought into the country in July 2012. To date, nearly 250 member manufacturers have measured one or more of the trucks. The latest two vehicles—Mitsubishi L200 and UAZ Hunter—arrived in the United States in September with the first mega international measuring session featuring the four vehicles recently held at the SEMA Garage.

What Members Think

Below are comments from some of the companies that have measured the trucks:

“We [created] an in-dash navigation DVD/CD Bluetooth unit and a vehicle-specific dual-DVD headrest system for the Toyota HiLux. We are currently supplying these products to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Nicaragua, Colombia and Mexico, with other opportunities in Costa Rica and Honduras.” —Matt Bradley, applications manager/technical support, Rosen Electronics

---

“SEMA, by bringing vehicles to the membership that we would normally not have access to unless we went overseas, has allowed us the opportunity to develop aftermarket tunes for [a larger number of] international markets.” —Rick Trudo, president/CEO, SCT Performance/Bully Dog—Powered by Derive

---

“I took advantage of the SEMA Garage measuring session in Diamond Bar, California, in April, where we collected extensive 3D surface data on the Toyota HiLux. We used this data to design Ventvisor and Bugflector products for the HiLux. Collecting this data on our own would have been far more costly and much more difficult without the aid of SEMA. We will be making a return visit with prototypes of these parts to verify their fit as well as to collect data from SEMA’s other foreign vehicles that are currently available. After fit-up, these parts are slated to ship to Puerto Rico and Central and South American countries. We feel that SEMA’s data services and vehicle access programs are integral to being first to market in the United States as well as expanding into new markets.” —Jonathan Shroyer, program manager, Lund International

---

“We were able to grow our export market through this export vehicle program. Because of this program, we are going to see a nice increase in export sales for fender flares, bedrails and tailgate caps.” —Kenneth Merritt, vice president of export markets, Bushwacker

---

“I measured the Ford Ranger T6 and Toyota HiLux at a measuring session at the SEMA Garage in February of 2013. The program has been very helpful. I have referred to the measurements and photos taken there as recently as yesterday. I have been able to create prototypes for both models. We shipped one to South Africa and another to Ecuador. I am currently working on shipping covers to Thailand.” —Brandon Weltikol, engineer, Retra

---

“The [international vehicle measuring] program has come in handy. Our distributor in the United Kingdom has a Ranger T6 that it uses for a demo vehicle, and we were able to supply a TruckVault that fit perfectly. Having the measurements available definitely saved us time and money.” —Patricia Pienta, director of finance and international business, TruckVault Inc.

---

“This program allowed us to bring the vehicle into our facility and go through our normal R&D protocol to really fine-tune our design, just like we would on domestic vehicles. The Ranger was really beneficial in that it allowed us to go above and beyond the basic stock replacement products. We were able to take the information that we garnered from the stock parts to design and fit additional options for our products. We are now exporting these products all over the world and have had tremendous success with them. We are very much looking forward to the next vehicles that SEMA will bring over and designing performance suspension products for them.” —Mike Crosby of Radflo

---

“We measured the HiLux and Ranger at the SEMA Garage, created parts based on the data and began selling the parts internationally. We also were able to have the HiLux delivered to our facility for a week, which allowed time for photography and further vehicle measurements. Having the vehicles made available to us was a huge benefit and expedited the development of the parts along with time and monetary savings.” —Steve Bower, engineering manager for Winfield Consumer Products/Husky Liner

---

“The mystique of the U.S. automotive aftermarket has extended to the farthest corners of the globe, and this phenomenon is most evident in emerging markets that are thirsty for American aftermarket parts and have the resources to buy them. The problem is, American companies don’t have access to some of the more popular platforms in these foreign markets, making it very difficult to develop parts for these vehicles. SEMA’s measuring sessions are the remedy we need to resolve this ongoing dilemma.” —David Borla, vice president sales and marketing, Borla Performance

---

A SEMA member manufacturer measuring the UAZ Hunter, the newest vehicle purchased by SEMA to provide access to vehicles not sold in the United States. SEMA has imported three other vehicles through a partnership with the U.S. Department of Commerce, to the United States as part of this program: a ’12 Toyota Hilux, ’13 Ford Ranger and ’14 Mitsubishi L200.

SEMA’s international department is charged with assisting members in growing their overseas businesses through networking opportunities with key overseas buyers, providing timely market information on top customizing markets, attracting international buyers to the SEMA Show and working with overseas governments to legalize the use of automotive specialty-equipment products. This international vehicle measuring program is yet another element in helping member companies overcome the difficulties of selling abroad where the vehicles on the roads in key countries may not always be the same as in the United States.

The initial phase of the program—bringing in global vehicles favored by enthusiasts but not sold in the United States—was made possible in part by a $500,000 U.S. Department of Commerce Market Development Cooperator Program grant in September 2011 to assist members to increase their overseas exports.

Thanks to the recent awarding of a second U.S. government grant to the program in the amount of $300,000, the international vehicle measuring program will be expanded to include measuring sessions in the United Arab Emirates (March 2015), Russia (May 2015) and China (September 2015). These daylong sessions will immediately follow SEMA overseas business-development trips so that attendees can participate in one-on-one meetings with pre-vetted buyers as well as the all-day measuring sessions.

For more information about SEMA’s international programs, including overseas trips and the new measuring sessions, visit www.sema.org/international or contact lindas@sema.org. To register to measure the HiLux, Ranger T6, Mitsubishi L200 or UAZ Hunter, contact Jim Moore at jimm@sema.org or visit the SEMA Garage website at http://www.semagarage.com/.

The Vehicles

Listed below is information about each of the vehicles available as part of the International Vehicle Measuring Program.

Toyota HiLux

• Version available at the SEMA Garage: ’12 4x4 four-door double-cab
• 2.7L gasoline engine
• Assembled in Thailand

Facts About the Toyota HiLux

• Number sold: Toyota has sold more than 5 million of its HiLux vehicles around the globe since the model’s introduction in 2004 (currently seventh generation).
• Nickname: The Indestructible Truck.
• Where sold: As of 2014, the Toyota HiLux is available worldwide except in Japan, the United States, Canada and South Korea.
• Best selling: The HiLux is a top seller in key countries and regions, including Australia, New Zealand, Europe, the Middle East, South Africa and Central America.
• Where produced: South Africa (for the European and South African markets), Thailand (for the Middle Eastern, Australian and Asian markets) and Argentina (for South America). The truck will soon be produced in China for the Chinese market.
• Main competitors: Nissan Navara, Ford Ranger T6, Mitsubishi L200 Triton and Chevy/Holden Colorado.
• Next generation: Toyota HiLux Ute is expected to be offered in late 2015 as a model-year ’16 offering.

Toyota HiLux Top 25 Countries (2013) No. Country/Units Sold 1 Thailand 179,114 2 Saudi Arabia 51,783 3 Brazil 42,626 4 Australia 39,931 5 South Africa 37,495 6 Malaysia 27,420 7 Argentina 27,400 8 United Arab Emirates 15,087 9 Indonesia 13,928 10 Oman 12,580 11 Peru 12,295 12 Mexico 9,120 13 United Kingdom 7,596 14 Qatar 6,904 15 Chile 6,796 16 Philippines 6,750 17 Egypt 6,359 18 Russia 6,207 19 Colombia 5,135 20 New Zealand 5,046 21 Ecuador 4,754 22 Pakistan 4,160 23 Kuwait 3,968 24 Iran 3,894 25 France 2,700 Source: SEMA calculations from IHS stats Note: Sales figures include Toyota HiLux pickup models (HiLux and HiLux Vigo)		Toyota HiLux Top 25 Countries (2005–2013) No. Country/Units Sold 1 Thailand 1,327,989 2 Saudi Arabia 384,693 3 Australia 348,273 4 South Africa 287,081 5 Brazil 251,843 6 Argentina 165,341 7 Malaysia 155,259 8 Oman 92,896 9 United Arab Emirates 83,661 10 Indonesia 59,134 11 United Kingdom 49,683 12 Peru 49,187 13 Mexico 43,512 14 Qatar 43,290 15 Colombia 39,677 16 Chile 39,153 17 New Zealand 37,836 18 Philippines 36,065 19 Egypt 35,511 20 Kuwait 35,412 21 Venezuela 34,493 22 Ecuador 32,641 23 Iran 28,490 24 Pakistan 22,286 25 France 22,162 Source: SEMA calculations from IHS statistics Note: Sales figures include Toyota HiLux pickup models (HiLux and HiLux Vigo)
Total Global Sales of the Toyota HiLux Year Units Sold 2013 564,163 2005–2013 3,929,284 Source: SEMA calculations from IHS stats Note: Sales figures include Toyota HiLux pickup models (HiLux and HiLux Vigo)		Global Vehicles Available to Members In Order To Create Export Ready Product Through a special partnership with the U.S. Department of Commerce, SEMA has imported globally popular, accessorization friendly vehicles not available in the US order to help SEMA-member manufacturers create export-ready products. Available vehicles: 2012 Toyota Hilux 2013 Ford Ranger T6 2014 Mitsuibishi L200 2014 UAZ Hunter

Ford Ranger T6

• Model available in the SEMA Garage: 2013 4x4 double-cab
• 2.5L gasoline engine; 5-speed transmission
• Assembled in South Africa

Facts about the Ford Ranger T6

• The newest in the midsize truck class, first going into production in 2011.
• Designed in Australia.
• Close to the size of the F-150 (Ford executives describe it as 90% the size of an F-150).
• Number Sold: 174,541 in 2013.
• Where Sold: 180 countries, but not in the United States or Canada.
• Where Made: South Africa, Thailand and Argentina.
• Offered in three cab body styles: double, super and regular.
• Main Competitors: Toyota HiLux, Nissan Navara, Mitsubishi L200 Triton and Chevy/Holden Colorado.

SEMA recently held the first International Vehicle Measuring Session featuring the four vehicles imported through this program. Pictured is a member measuring the Toyota HiLux, which continues to be popular. SEMA has successfully extended the length of time that the HiLux has been in the United States from the initial one-year period to two additional years.

Ford Ranger T6 Top 25 Countries (2013)

No. Country/Units Sold

1 Brazil 22,081
2 Australia 21,752
3 Thailand 20,981
4 Argentina 20,396
5 South Africa 19,894
6 Saudi Arabia 9,975
7 Indonesia 9,874
8 Malaysia 5,761
9 New Zealand 4,931
10 Mexico 4,867
11 Philippines 4,691
12 United Kingdom 4,310
13 Chile 3,167
14 Germany 2,706
15 Colombia 2,309
16 France 2,262
17 United Arab Emirates 2,119
18 Vietnam 1,834
19 Sweden 959
20 Belgium 890
21 Uruguay 748
22 Italy 693
23 Russia 688
24 Turkey 657
25 Spain 604

Total Global Sales of the Ford Ranger

Year Units Sold
2013 174,541

2014 Mitsubishi L200

• Version available at the SEMA Garage:
  2014 4x4 four-door double cab
• 2.5L turbodiesel engine; five-speed manual transmission
• Available to members as a short-bed version; SEMA has also imported the longer bed found in a number of markets, including Australia and Europe
• Assembled in Thailand

Facts About the Mitsubishi L200

• Manufactured in Thailand.
• Known as Triton in some markets (including Australia).
• Current L200 first went on sale in 2006.
• Worldwide sales topped 1.1 million in the nine years since the truck has been on the market.
• Sold in 158 countries around the world, but not in the United States or Canada.
• Mitsubishi will start producing a Fiat-dedicated line of the L200; the Fiat Professional commercial vehicles division will rebadge these trucks under the Fiat brand beginning in 2016.
• Main competitors: Toyota HiLux, Nissan Navara, Ford Ranger, Mazda BT-50 and VW Amarok.
• Largest market: Europe (excluding Russia and Ukraine) with 198,530 units sold; the United Kingdom accounts for 54,900 of this total.

Mitsubishi L200/Triton Top 25 Countries (2013) No. Country/Units Sold 1 Thailand 36,471 2 Australia 24,512 3 Brazil 21,376 4 United Arab Emirates 7,148 5 Malaysia 7,063 6 Indonesia 6,784 7 United Kingdom 5,527 8 Russia 5,518 9 Chile 5,496 10 Philippines 3,877 11 Turkey 3,592 12 Iran 3,294 13 Saudi Arabia 2,943 14 Mexico 2,807 15 Peru 1,816 16 South Africa 1,456 17 New Zealand 1,282 18 Morocco 1,256 19 France 1,255 20 Germany 1,078 21 Oman 704 22 Belgium 673 23 Sweden 650 24 Kuwait 566 25 Egypt 541 Source: SEMA calculations from IHS stats Note: Mitsubishi Triton is also called the L200 in certain markets		Mitsubishi L200/Triton Top 25 Countries (2005–2013) No. Country/Units sold 1 Thailand 227,004 2 Brazil 163,011 3 Australia 146,687 4 United Kingdom 51,216 5 Russia 44,752 6 United Arab Emirates 44,639 7 Malaysia 44,337 8 South Africa 38,216 9 Indonesia 36,615 10 Chile 36,393 11 Philippines 34,228 12 Turkey 24,800 13 Saudi Arabia 24,140 14 Iran 19,221 15 Germany 16,149 16 Italy 14,278 17 Mexico 13,263 18 France 11,889 19 Spain 9,879 20 Portugal 9,139 21 New Zealand 8,617 22 Peru 8,509 23 Oman 7,350 24 Morocco 7,192 25 Kuwait 7,044 Source: SEMA calculations from IHS stats Note: Mitsubishi Triton is also called the L200 in certain markets.

Total Global Sales of the Mitsubishi L200/Triton

Year Units Sold
2013 154,347
2005–2013 1,132,358

Four vehicles have been imported into the United States through a special partnership with the U.S. government in order to provide members to vehicles popularly accessorized globally but not in the United States. Each of the vehicles SEMA imports as part of the International Vehicle Measuring Program have received a one-year waiver from Customs, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to be brought into the country on a temporary basis. The waivers can be extended to a total of three years per vehicle.

Source: SEMA calculations from IHS stats

UAZ Hunter

• Version available at the SEMA Garage:
  2014 part-time 4x4
• 2.7L gasoline engine; five-speed manual transmission
• Assembled in Russia

Facts about the UAZ

• Where sold: Primarily Russia but also in Asian markets, including Vietnam, Laos and Mongolia; Europe, including Italy and the Czech Republic; and countries within Central America.
• UAZ Hunter is also known as UAZ 469 and, affectionately, as kozlik (“the goat”); it is an off-roader whose roots lay in the legendary UAZ 469—the Red Army Jeep.
• Current version first went on sale in 2003.
• Has a large following due to its affordable price and ability to be driven in virtually any terrain; simple design allows for easy and inexpensive maintenance and repairs.
• Built by UAZ in Ulyanovsk, a town in the Volga region (750 miles from Saint Petersburg); company produces light utility and military vehicles.

The Future of Small-/Medium-Size

Pickups in the United States

The Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Frontier (and for a time, Honda Ridgeline) have been the only options in the United States in terms of smaller pickups since the production of the third-generation Ford Ranger ended in 2011. That is about to change but with only minimal new offerings. The new ’15 Chevrolet Colorado and the GMC Canyon will be coming to the United States shortly.

Ford officials, while noting in a USA Today article that they are seeking to put a small pickup into the U.S. market, ruled out the importation of the Ford Ranger for now. Noting that the Ford Ranger T6 is nearly 90% the size of the F-150, it is too big for their plans to space out the model offerings; they hinted at perhaps creating a smaller pickup for the U.S. market.

Autoblog is reporting that VW is also watching the developments in the less-than-fullsize pickup market and has not ruled out entering the segment in the future, but there has been no commitment made to bring the popular VW Amarok to the United States.

SEMA News—December 2014

INTERNATIONAL
By Linda Spencer

SEMA’s International Vehicle Measuring Program

Offering Access to Hard-to-Obtain Vehicles

SEMA members measuring a ’14 Mitsubishi L200 in the SEMA Garage—1.1 million of these compact trucks have been sold around the world but they are not for sale in the United States and Canada.

What do a Toyota HiLux, a Ford Ranger T6, an UAZ Hunter and a Mitsubishi L200 have in common? For one thing these vehicles are known for being aftermarket-accessory friendly, are extremely popular with enthusiasts and are typically upgraded by owners who seek to take them off-roading. Another thing they have in common is that none of these vehicles are sold in the United States, but being very popular throughout the much of the rest of the world, they offer export marketing potential for U.S. companies.

Through a special partnership with the U.S. Department of Commerce, SEMA imports globally popular vehicles which are not sold in the United States in order to help SEMA-member manufacturers create export-ready products. The vehicles were selected based on feedback from overseas buyers, input from SEMA members and data tracking of the number of vehicles sold worldwide, and they were brought to the United States on temporary importation waivers.

The vehicles are now available to member manufacturers at the new SEMA Garage (for more information visit the fully equipped SEMA Garage. The vehicles can even be delivered to a SEMA member’s facility for those who need that sort of access.

The vehicle-import program has resonated with members since the first vehicle was brought into the country in July 2012. To date, nearly 250 member manufacturers have measured one or more of the trucks. The latest two vehicles—Mitsubishi L200 and UAZ Hunter—arrived in the United States in September with the first mega international measuring session featuring the four vehicles recently held at the SEMA Garage.

What Members Think

Below are comments from some of the companies that have measured the trucks:

“We [created] an in-dash navigation DVD/CD Bluetooth unit and a vehicle-specific dual-DVD headrest system for the Toyota HiLux. We are currently supplying these products to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Nicaragua, Colombia and Mexico, with other opportunities in Costa Rica and Honduras.” —Matt Bradley, applications manager/technical support, Rosen Electronics

---

“SEMA, by bringing vehicles to the membership that we would normally not have access to unless we went overseas, has allowed us the opportunity to develop aftermarket tunes for [a larger number of] international markets.” —Rick Trudo, president/CEO, SCT Performance/Bully Dog—Powered by Derive

---

“I took advantage of the SEMA Garage measuring session in Diamond Bar, California, in April, where we collected extensive 3D surface data on the Toyota HiLux. We used this data to design Ventvisor and Bugflector products for the HiLux. Collecting this data on our own would have been far more costly and much more difficult without the aid of SEMA. We will be making a return visit with prototypes of these parts to verify their fit as well as to collect data from SEMA’s other foreign vehicles that are currently available. After fit-up, these parts are slated to ship to Puerto Rico and Central and South American countries. We feel that SEMA’s data services and vehicle access programs are integral to being first to market in the United States as well as expanding into new markets.” —Jonathan Shroyer, program manager, Lund International

---

“We were able to grow our export market through this export vehicle program. Because of this program, we are going to see a nice increase in export sales for fender flares, bedrails and tailgate caps.” —Kenneth Merritt, vice president of export markets, Bushwacker

---

“I measured the Ford Ranger T6 and Toyota HiLux at a measuring session at the SEMA Garage in February of 2013. The program has been very helpful. I have referred to the measurements and photos taken there as recently as yesterday. I have been able to create prototypes for both models. We shipped one to South Africa and another to Ecuador. I am currently working on shipping covers to Thailand.” —Brandon Weltikol, engineer, Retra

---

“The [international vehicle measuring] program has come in handy. Our distributor in the United Kingdom has a Ranger T6 that it uses for a demo vehicle, and we were able to supply a TruckVault that fit perfectly. Having the measurements available definitely saved us time and money.” —Patricia Pienta, director of finance and international business, TruckVault Inc.

---

“This program allowed us to bring the vehicle into our facility and go through our normal R&D protocol to really fine-tune our design, just like we would on domestic vehicles. The Ranger was really beneficial in that it allowed us to go above and beyond the basic stock replacement products. We were able to take the information that we garnered from the stock parts to design and fit additional options for our products. We are now exporting these products all over the world and have had tremendous success with them. We are very much looking forward to the next vehicles that SEMA will bring over and designing performance suspension products for them.” —Mike Crosby of Radflo

---

“We measured the HiLux and Ranger at the SEMA Garage, created parts based on the data and began selling the parts internationally. We also were able to have the HiLux delivered to our facility for a week, which allowed time for photography and further vehicle measurements. Having the vehicles made available to us was a huge benefit and expedited the development of the parts along with time and monetary savings.” —Steve Bower, engineering manager for Winfield Consumer Products/Husky Liner

---

“The mystique of the U.S. automotive aftermarket has extended to the farthest corners of the globe, and this phenomenon is most evident in emerging markets that are thirsty for American aftermarket parts and have the resources to buy them. The problem is, American companies don’t have access to some of the more popular platforms in these foreign markets, making it very difficult to develop parts for these vehicles. SEMA’s measuring sessions are the remedy we need to resolve this ongoing dilemma.” —David Borla, vice president sales and marketing, Borla Performance

---

A SEMA member manufacturer measuring the UAZ Hunter, the newest vehicle purchased by SEMA to provide access to vehicles not sold in the United States. SEMA has imported three other vehicles through a partnership with the U.S. Department of Commerce, to the United States as part of this program: a ’12 Toyota Hilux, ’13 Ford Ranger and ’14 Mitsubishi L200.

SEMA’s international department is charged with assisting members in growing their overseas businesses through networking opportunities with key overseas buyers, providing timely market information on top customizing markets, attracting international buyers to the SEMA Show and working with overseas governments to legalize the use of automotive specialty-equipment products. This international vehicle measuring program is yet another element in helping member companies overcome the difficulties of selling abroad where the vehicles on the roads in key countries may not always be the same as in the United States.

The initial phase of the program—bringing in global vehicles favored by enthusiasts but not sold in the United States—was made possible in part by a $500,000 U.S. Department of Commerce Market Development Cooperator Program grant in September 2011 to assist members to increase their overseas exports.

Thanks to the recent awarding of a second U.S. government grant to the program in the amount of $300,000, the international vehicle measuring program will be expanded to include measuring sessions in the United Arab Emirates (March 2015), Russia (May 2015) and China (September 2015). These daylong sessions will immediately follow SEMA overseas business-development trips so that attendees can participate in one-on-one meetings with pre-vetted buyers as well as the all-day measuring sessions.

For more information about SEMA’s international programs, including overseas trips and the new measuring sessions, visit www.sema.org/international or contact lindas@sema.org. To register to measure the HiLux, Ranger T6, Mitsubishi L200 or UAZ Hunter, contact Jim Moore at jimm@sema.org or visit the SEMA Garage website at http://www.semagarage.com/.

The Vehicles

Listed below is information about each of the vehicles available as part of the International Vehicle Measuring Program.

Toyota HiLux

• Version available at the SEMA Garage: ’12 4x4 four-door double-cab
• 2.7L gasoline engine
• Assembled in Thailand

Facts About the Toyota HiLux

• Number sold: Toyota has sold more than 5 million of its HiLux vehicles around the globe since the model’s introduction in 2004 (currently seventh generation).
• Nickname: The Indestructible Truck.
• Where sold: As of 2014, the Toyota HiLux is available worldwide except in Japan, the United States, Canada and South Korea.
• Best selling: The HiLux is a top seller in key countries and regions, including Australia, New Zealand, Europe, the Middle East, South Africa and Central America.
• Where produced: South Africa (for the European and South African markets), Thailand (for the Middle Eastern, Australian and Asian markets) and Argentina (for South America). The truck will soon be produced in China for the Chinese market.
• Main competitors: Nissan Navara, Ford Ranger T6, Mitsubishi L200 Triton and Chevy/Holden Colorado.
• Next generation: Toyota HiLux Ute is expected to be offered in late 2015 as a model-year ’16 offering.

Toyota HiLux Top 25 Countries (2013) No. Country/Units Sold 1 Thailand 179,114 2 Saudi Arabia 51,783 3 Brazil 42,626 4 Australia 39,931 5 South Africa 37,495 6 Malaysia 27,420 7 Argentina 27,400 8 United Arab Emirates 15,087 9 Indonesia 13,928 10 Oman 12,580 11 Peru 12,295 12 Mexico 9,120 13 United Kingdom 7,596 14 Qatar 6,904 15 Chile 6,796 16 Philippines 6,750 17 Egypt 6,359 18 Russia 6,207 19 Colombia 5,135 20 New Zealand 5,046 21 Ecuador 4,754 22 Pakistan 4,160 23 Kuwait 3,968 24 Iran 3,894 25 France 2,700 Source: SEMA calculations from IHS stats Note: Sales figures include Toyota HiLux pickup models (HiLux and HiLux Vigo)		Toyota HiLux Top 25 Countries (2005–2013) No. Country/Units Sold 1 Thailand 1,327,989 2 Saudi Arabia 384,693 3 Australia 348,273 4 South Africa 287,081 5 Brazil 251,843 6 Argentina 165,341 7 Malaysia 155,259 8 Oman 92,896 9 United Arab Emirates 83,661 10 Indonesia 59,134 11 United Kingdom 49,683 12 Peru 49,187 13 Mexico 43,512 14 Qatar 43,290 15 Colombia 39,677 16 Chile 39,153 17 New Zealand 37,836 18 Philippines 36,065 19 Egypt 35,511 20 Kuwait 35,412 21 Venezuela 34,493 22 Ecuador 32,641 23 Iran 28,490 24 Pakistan 22,286 25 France 22,162 Source: SEMA calculations from IHS statistics Note: Sales figures include Toyota HiLux pickup models (HiLux and HiLux Vigo)
Total Global Sales of the Toyota HiLux Year Units Sold 2013 564,163 2005–2013 3,929,284 Source: SEMA calculations from IHS stats Note: Sales figures include Toyota HiLux pickup models (HiLux and HiLux Vigo)		Global Vehicles Available to Members In Order To Create Export Ready Product Through a special partnership with the U.S. Department of Commerce, SEMA has imported globally popular, accessorization friendly vehicles not available in the US order to help SEMA-member manufacturers create export-ready products. Available vehicles: 2012 Toyota Hilux 2013 Ford Ranger T6 2014 Mitsuibishi L200 2014 UAZ Hunter

Ford Ranger T6

• Model available in the SEMA Garage: 2013 4x4 double-cab
• 2.5L gasoline engine; 5-speed transmission
• Assembled in South Africa

Facts about the Ford Ranger T6

• The newest in the midsize truck class, first going into production in 2011.
• Designed in Australia.
• Close to the size of the F-150 (Ford executives describe it as 90% the size of an F-150).
• Number Sold: 174,541 in 2013.
• Where Sold: 180 countries, but not in the United States or Canada.
• Where Made: South Africa, Thailand and Argentina.
• Offered in three cab body styles: double, super and regular.
• Main Competitors: Toyota HiLux, Nissan Navara, Mitsubishi L200 Triton and Chevy/Holden Colorado.

SEMA recently held the first International Vehicle Measuring Session featuring the four vehicles imported through this program. Pictured is a member measuring the Toyota HiLux, which continues to be popular. SEMA has successfully extended the length of time that the HiLux has been in the United States from the initial one-year period to two additional years.

Ford Ranger T6 Top 25 Countries (2013)

No. Country/Units Sold

1 Brazil 22,081
2 Australia 21,752
3 Thailand 20,981
4 Argentina 20,396
5 South Africa 19,894
6 Saudi Arabia 9,975
7 Indonesia 9,874
8 Malaysia 5,761
9 New Zealand 4,931
10 Mexico 4,867
11 Philippines 4,691
12 United Kingdom 4,310
13 Chile 3,167
14 Germany 2,706
15 Colombia 2,309
16 France 2,262
17 United Arab Emirates 2,119
18 Vietnam 1,834
19 Sweden 959
20 Belgium 890
21 Uruguay 748
22 Italy 693
23 Russia 688
24 Turkey 657
25 Spain 604

Total Global Sales of the Ford Ranger

Year Units Sold
2013 174,541

2014 Mitsubishi L200

• Version available at the SEMA Garage:
  2014 4x4 four-door double cab
• 2.5L turbodiesel engine; five-speed manual transmission
• Available to members as a short-bed version; SEMA has also imported the longer bed found in a number of markets, including Australia and Europe
• Assembled in Thailand

Facts About the Mitsubishi L200

• Manufactured in Thailand.
• Known as Triton in some markets (including Australia).
• Current L200 first went on sale in 2006.
• Worldwide sales topped 1.1 million in the nine years since the truck has been on the market.
• Sold in 158 countries around the world, but not in the United States or Canada.
• Mitsubishi will start producing a Fiat-dedicated line of the L200; the Fiat Professional commercial vehicles division will rebadge these trucks under the Fiat brand beginning in 2016.
• Main competitors: Toyota HiLux, Nissan Navara, Ford Ranger, Mazda BT-50 and VW Amarok.
• Largest market: Europe (excluding Russia and Ukraine) with 198,530 units sold; the United Kingdom accounts for 54,900 of this total.

Mitsubishi L200/Triton Top 25 Countries (2013) No. Country/Units Sold 1 Thailand 36,471 2 Australia 24,512 3 Brazil 21,376 4 United Arab Emirates 7,148 5 Malaysia 7,063 6 Indonesia 6,784 7 United Kingdom 5,527 8 Russia 5,518 9 Chile 5,496 10 Philippines 3,877 11 Turkey 3,592 12 Iran 3,294 13 Saudi Arabia 2,943 14 Mexico 2,807 15 Peru 1,816 16 South Africa 1,456 17 New Zealand 1,282 18 Morocco 1,256 19 France 1,255 20 Germany 1,078 21 Oman 704 22 Belgium 673 23 Sweden 650 24 Kuwait 566 25 Egypt 541 Source: SEMA calculations from IHS stats Note: Mitsubishi Triton is also called the L200 in certain markets		Mitsubishi L200/Triton Top 25 Countries (2005–2013) No. Country/Units sold 1 Thailand 227,004 2 Brazil 163,011 3 Australia 146,687 4 United Kingdom 51,216 5 Russia 44,752 6 United Arab Emirates 44,639 7 Malaysia 44,337 8 South Africa 38,216 9 Indonesia 36,615 10 Chile 36,393 11 Philippines 34,228 12 Turkey 24,800 13 Saudi Arabia 24,140 14 Iran 19,221 15 Germany 16,149 16 Italy 14,278 17 Mexico 13,263 18 France 11,889 19 Spain 9,879 20 Portugal 9,139 21 New Zealand 8,617 22 Peru 8,509 23 Oman 7,350 24 Morocco 7,192 25 Kuwait 7,044 Source: SEMA calculations from IHS stats Note: Mitsubishi Triton is also called the L200 in certain markets.

Total Global Sales of the Mitsubishi L200/Triton

Year Units Sold
2013 154,347
2005–2013 1,132,358

Four vehicles have been imported into the United States through a special partnership with the U.S. government in order to provide members to vehicles popularly accessorized globally but not in the United States. Each of the vehicles SEMA imports as part of the International Vehicle Measuring Program have received a one-year waiver from Customs, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to be brought into the country on a temporary basis. The waivers can be extended to a total of three years per vehicle.

Source: SEMA calculations from IHS stats

UAZ Hunter

• Version available at the SEMA Garage:
  2014 part-time 4x4
• 2.7L gasoline engine; five-speed manual transmission
• Assembled in Russia

Facts about the UAZ

• Where sold: Primarily Russia but also in Asian markets, including Vietnam, Laos and Mongolia; Europe, including Italy and the Czech Republic; and countries within Central America.
• UAZ Hunter is also known as UAZ 469 and, affectionately, as kozlik (“the goat”); it is an off-roader whose roots lay in the legendary UAZ 469—the Red Army Jeep.
• Current version first went on sale in 2003.
• Has a large following due to its affordable price and ability to be driven in virtually any terrain; simple design allows for easy and inexpensive maintenance and repairs.
• Built by UAZ in Ulyanovsk, a town in the Volga region (750 miles from Saint Petersburg); company produces light utility and military vehicles.

The Future of Small-/Medium-Size

Pickups in the United States

The Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Frontier (and for a time, Honda Ridgeline) have been the only options in the United States in terms of smaller pickups since the production of the third-generation Ford Ranger ended in 2011. That is about to change but with only minimal new offerings. The new ’15 Chevrolet Colorado and the GMC Canyon will be coming to the United States shortly.

Ford officials, while noting in a USA Today article that they are seeking to put a small pickup into the U.S. market, ruled out the importation of the Ford Ranger for now. Noting that the Ford Ranger T6 is nearly 90% the size of the F-150, it is too big for their plans to space out the model offerings; they hinted at perhaps creating a smaller pickup for the U.S. market.

Autoblog is reporting that VW is also watching the developments in the less-than-fullsize pickup market and has not ruled out entering the segment in the future, but there has been no commitment made to bring the popular VW Amarok to the United States.

SEMA News—December 2014

BUSINESS
By Mike Imlay

The Industry’s Data Game-Changer

An Exclusive Progress Report on the SEMA Data Co-op

Perhaps the most exciting news for SDC members is the debut of SEMA Search, a new online tool developed to deliver retailers and counter people in part stores, web businesses and warehouses a one-stop reference for SDC-member products.

When SEMA launched the SEMA Data Co-op (SDC) a little over two years ago, the goal was admittedly ambitious: to revolutionize the way automotive specialty-equipment manufacturers (data suppliers) convey product information to warehouse distributors and resellers (data receivers) for the benefit of all. Now, according to Jon Wyly, the co-op’s CEO, the SDC is delivering thousands of data sets a week, representing millions of part numbers and tens of millions of vehicle applications, through a database that continues to grow by leaps and bounds daily.

In other words, the revolution is on, and the SDC—one of the biggest initiatives to hit the industry in recent years—is fast becoming a game-changer at all levels, right down to the counter person.

“By all indications, we’re making significant progress,” said Wyly. “What’s especially encouraging is that we’re beginning to push the lid off of a perceived glass ceiling that the industry has been dealing with on the numbers of brands available from any one source.”

Experts believe that the number for prior industry repositories hovered around 300. In recent months, the SDC has grown to exceed 360 supplier brands and 450 receivers. Now the effort is on to entice yet more companies and brands into the co-op to build what SEMA hopes to be the industry’s definitive data repository.

Wyly has every reason to believe that goal is well within reach. In fact, he expects the SDC to attain an unprecedented level of industry coverage over the next few years. He noted that SEMA alone has approximately 3,000 manufacturer members, which translates to a couple of thousand brands that his team can recruit into the system.

	Jon Wyly, CEO of the SEMA Data Co-op (SDC), has assembled a handpicked team of industry veterans to grow and take the co-op in exciting new directions, including the launch of SEMA Search.

“Two and a half years ago, the SEMA Data Co-op was me,” Wyly reflected. “We’ve since been able to put together a really good, hand-picked team, which is still growing like crazy. I’m really proud of the group we’ve assembled so far. We’re all about having quality people, experts in their fields, and a good understanding of the automotive business. We want to make sure that everybody understands that the SDC is made up of people who have lived this business.”

That team includes experts dedicated to every facet of growing the co-op. In the system-development realm, SDC Vice President of eBusiness and Internet Technology Bob Castle is an industry veteran who brings extensive experience in e-commerce, data management, business-to-business and business-to-cosumer applications, data distribution and delivery and systems development.

Meanwhile, SDC Director of Membership Jim Graven is spearheading efforts to bring more data suppliers and receivers onboard. His background includes extensive sales, marketing and project-management experience at Reliable Automotive and Arrow Speed Warehouse, where he managed various customer-facing teams, events, media production and end-to-end project organization.

“Our goal over the course of the coming year is to bring all of our development resources in-house,” Wyly said. “This will give us total control of the look, feel and maintenance of the system for users as well as direct control over an ongoing list of enhancements.” He added that the SDC’s ever-growing list of users is providing plenty of suggestions and feedback for such enhancements.

Growing the Co-op

A recent addition to the SDC team, Allen Horwitz is making daily personal contact with potential data suppliers and receivers to expand co-op membership. He said that his role is less about “selling” the people he speaks with and more about educating them.

“We have worked hard to get our information out there, but there are still lots of misconceptions involving what the SDC really is,” he explained. “We’re sometimes confused with SEMA’s Tech Transfer program, which provides vehicle specifications from the OEMs. Another misconception I encounter is that suppliers don’t realize that receivers who are SEMA members are entitled to unlimited data downloads for free as long as they maintain their membership.”

Horwitz noted that there is much enthusiasm for the SDC once such misinformation is overcome. In fact, current co-op members are now going out of their way to suggest other membership leads.

“We have several examples of receivers who have provided us lists of the suppliers that they would like to receive data from through the SDC,” he said. “I also have several receiver contacts who tell me that they’re encouraging suppliers to use the SDC to distribute their data. In addition, I’ve spoken to several suppliers who have been encouraging receivers to sign with the SDC in order to get access to their data.”

The SDC Product Information Management System (PIMS) allows a manufacturer to load a new part into the system and literally distribute its data to warehouse distributors and resellers within hours—helping the company speed its products to market in record time.

Horwitz said that the SDC’s business model goes a long way toward encouraging new manufacturers, warehouse distributors and resellers to join the project.

“As an association whose mission it is to help our members succeed and prosper, we get to focus on our members prospering ahead of the SDC prospering,” he said. “Yes, we do have a fiduciary responsibility to operate the co-op successfully, but we are primarily mission driven, not profit driven. This has a dramatic effect on the way we go to market and represent our services. We’re empowered to make decisions based on the best interests of our members.”

In the end, the SDC’s entire approach has been to build and offer members a tool set that they can use to develop and maintain their data along with its ownership and control.

“With our HelpDesk we walk them through the process step by step, but ultimately they become the experts over their data,” Horwitz said. “The tool set lowers the bar of the complexity of managing these data sets. Our business model of making the data virtually free to receivers also removes a barrier that suppliers might have for distributing their data.”

Forging New Connections

Beyond disseminating data to existing customers, however, the SDC is also proving to be an important tool for expanding business, affording manufacturers new opportunities to reach warehouse distributors and resellers that they might not previously have dealt with.

“Once suppliers are in our system, they can go through it and view our receiver list almost like a lead list,” explained Wyly. “They can then message receivers through the system and see if they’re interested in doing business. Receivers can likewise identify and connect with brands they wish to do business with. We’re literally making introductions back and forth within the system. As complicated as the technology is behind this thing, the business model is very simple and straightforward.”

Improving the industry’s overall data quality has also been an SDC goal from the start. The co-op has developed a tiered program to assist manufacturer-suppliers in reaching specific levels of data quality, labeled bronze, silver, gold and platinum. The higher the data quality, the more attractive brands become to large resellers—especially outfits such as Summit, Amazon and auto-parts chains with extremely demanding data requirements.

“One of our most significant recent developments is that more than 254 brands have gone through our onboarding process at DataAgility, our outsource for HelpDesk services, and have achieved our bronze level of data compliance,” said Wyly. “That’s our introductory, usable data set for most e-business systems, whether they be for the web, retailing or warehousing. Our goal is to continually work one on one with manufacturers and help them ultimately rise to platinum standards.”

Wyly noted that it’s not unusual for a manufacturer to come into the SDC with a list of current customers for its data while simultaneously setting its sights on data-intense resellers such as Amazon.

“We can show manufacturers in our system exactly what Amazon’s requirements are and help them get to those requirements,” Wyly pointed out. “The manufacturers won’t be guessing how to satisfy their needs. We know what their needs are.”

Wyly conceded that there can be a fair amount of initial work gathering, standardizing and validating product data for manufacturers new to the SDC concept. However, once they clear that hurdle and complete their main data set, ongoing maintenance is simple.

“That’s the beauty of our Product Information Management System [PIMS],” he explained. “It’s a custom-built technology that we designed from scratch. It’s the only one like it anywhere. It’s designed for the manufacturer-suppliers to be able to log into the system and manage their product information right there 24/7, 365 days a year.”

The SDC includes an extremely intuitive interface. Once suppliers learn the system, they have total, continued control over their data. They can make changes and adjustments on the fly and even upload large collections of additional data via FTP or directly into the system. According to Wyly, this yields unprecedented speed to market.

“With other systems currently out there, it’s not unusual to take 30 to 60 days to get new data into the marketplace,” he said. “With our PIMS, a manufacturer can literally load a new part into the system and—if it passes through our validation—that product data is being distributed out to customers that very same day, literally within hours.”

Moreover, the SDC data mechanisms deliver every supplier the same capabilities without discrimination. The system works just as well for a small supplier with 10 part numbers as it does for a big manufacturer with tens of thousands.

Enter SEMA Search

	Launched just over two years ago, the SDC is fast becoming a game-changer in the way the specialty-equipment industry exchanges product data. With more than 360 data suppliers and more than 450 data receivers, the SDC system is now poised to grow beyond “critical mass.”

Perhaps the most exciting news for SDC members, however, is the recent construction of SEMA Search, a new tool developed to deliver retailers and counter people in part stores, web businesses and warehouses a one-stop reference for SDC-member products. It’s a sort of electronic catalog for the specialty-equipment trade that users can search by brand, part number, product category, product attributes,application and more.

“When you’re sitting on a data repository of the size and scope of what we’re building, any good business person is going to sit down and brainstorm further uses for the data,” said Wyly of SEMA Search’s development. “The question for us was what we could do with this data to further help the industry along. How do we help people sell more parts?”

Unveiled at the recent 2014 SEMA Show, SEMA Search is initially designed for trade use only, although a consumer-facing version is also planned eventually (see the “SEMA Search Quick Facts” sidebar). Every new product entered into the SDC repository will also appear at SEMA Search free of charge. All a manufacturer has to do to be visible in SEMA Search is join the SDC and manage its data just as more than 300 other brands have already chosen to do.

“SEMA Search offers a great data set for counter people to pull from with a very easy-to-use, intuitive interface,” said Wyly. “If you think about the counter person, he’s having people walk up all day long and ask for items, not necessarily brands.”

In this scenario, a knowledgeable counter person likely has some brands in his head that he favors. He may then go to a couple of WD data systems to look up those brand offerings. In addition, he might go to two or three manufacturer websites to show the customer a few more choices as well. Unfortunately for the counter person, each of those multiple sources often operates a bit differently.

“It doesn’t take long for that to add up to a lot of work,” Wyly said. “As a counter guy, you end up having to be very proficient at navigating a wide variety of websites trying to dig out the information to answer a consumer’s question. Our goal is to take all the data that we have aggregated in one place and provide one place for this guy to go to get information on any product or brand at one time for side-by-side comparison.”

From the manufacturer-supplier side, SEMA Search also promises to quickly familiarize retailers with new products from both fresh and well-established brands.

“It’s very non-partisan,” noted Wyly. “We’re giving the sales people the opportunity to see everything that’s available and make their decisions based on the information provided. Because we’re SEMA, it’s about helping any and every business every way we can.”

More Information

To learn more about the SEMA Data Co-op as well as SEMA Search, visit www.SEMAdatacoop.org online or contact the SDC membership department at 888-958-6698 x4.

---

SEMA Search Quick Facts

What is SEMA Search?
SEMA Search is a web-based search tool designed for use by salespeople in the trade to access product information from the SDC database.

How does it function?
Through a very intuitive interface, it provides users with the ability to search for parts by a variety of criteria, including year/make/model lookups as well as product searches based on types of products, features, engine fitment, brand, material and more.

Why do data suppliers need SEMA Search?
By utilizing the rapidly growing database of parts in the SDC, salespeople can get a broad view of available products in one place, using one consistent lookup tool rather than hopping from site to site trying to gather information on various brands. Users can also perform side-by-side comparisons of products right on the screen and get introduced to products that they might not have considered or known about before. Suppliers benefit from exposure to the entire user base in a completely product- and feature-oriented manner, ensuring that every product that meets the search criteria will be displayed in a comparable way.

How will SDC members benefit?
SEMA Search is yet another practical, business-building use of the product data that is managed and stored in the SDC system. Not only will the products be made visible to an ever-increasing user base of receivers but potentially to consumers as well when the SDC rolls out a public-facing version. Additionally, the development of SEMA Search will be the springboard for connectivity in the form of “content on demand.” This will enable the delivery of rich product data via application programming interfaces and other connectivity without the need for retailers to house massive data files locally.

How will it change the way retail countermen interact with their customers?
Through this single source for the lookup and display of hundreds of brands and millions of parts, retail salespeople will be able to show customers more options than ever more efficiently than ever. No longer will the retail customer’s options be limited by what the counterman is “used to selling” or what he doesn’t know about. SEMA Search provides a total view of all the products in the SDC database, creating new selling opportunities for all involved and giving salespeople the confidence to expand their offerings.

How will the search tool benefit enthusiasts seeking upgrades for their builds?
It’s really all about the data. As the SDC continues to work with suppliers to add rich content to their data, enthusiasts will ultimately get better information in a more timely manner through SEMA Search. No longer will new products languish on warehouse shelves for weeks or months before customers are aware of them. With the SDC and SEMA Search, new products can be loaded today and sold tomorrow.

How will it help the entire supply chain, from manufacturer to end user?
SEMA Search is all about bringing every possible option to the selling arena. Participating suppliers will have equal opportunity to be viewed by industry salespeople and presented to consumers. Salespeople will enjoy instant access to massive amounts of product choices, and consumers will ultimately find the parts that best suite their project, style and budget. Consider SEMA Search to be a parts encyclopedia wrapped in an easy-to-use, intuitive web interface.
 

SEMA News—December 2014

BUSINESS
By Mike Imlay

The Industry’s Data Game-Changer

An Exclusive Progress Report on the SEMA Data Co-op

Perhaps the most exciting news for SDC members is the debut of SEMA Search, a new online tool developed to deliver retailers and counter people in part stores, web businesses and warehouses a one-stop reference for SDC-member products.

When SEMA launched the SEMA Data Co-op (SDC) a little over two years ago, the goal was admittedly ambitious: to revolutionize the way automotive specialty-equipment manufacturers (data suppliers) convey product information to warehouse distributors and resellers (data receivers) for the benefit of all. Now, according to Jon Wyly, the co-op’s CEO, the SDC is delivering thousands of data sets a week, representing millions of part numbers and tens of millions of vehicle applications, through a database that continues to grow by leaps and bounds daily.

In other words, the revolution is on, and the SDC—one of the biggest initiatives to hit the industry in recent years—is fast becoming a game-changer at all levels, right down to the counter person.

“By all indications, we’re making significant progress,” said Wyly. “What’s especially encouraging is that we’re beginning to push the lid off of a perceived glass ceiling that the industry has been dealing with on the numbers of brands available from any one source.”

Experts believe that the number for prior industry repositories hovered around 300. In recent months, the SDC has grown to exceed 360 supplier brands and 450 receivers. Now the effort is on to entice yet more companies and brands into the co-op to build what SEMA hopes to be the industry’s definitive data repository.

Wyly has every reason to believe that goal is well within reach. In fact, he expects the SDC to attain an unprecedented level of industry coverage over the next few years. He noted that SEMA alone has approximately 3,000 manufacturer members, which translates to a couple of thousand brands that his team can recruit into the system.

	Jon Wyly, CEO of the SEMA Data Co-op (SDC), has assembled a handpicked team of industry veterans to grow and take the co-op in exciting new directions, including the launch of SEMA Search.

“Two and a half years ago, the SEMA Data Co-op was me,” Wyly reflected. “We’ve since been able to put together a really good, hand-picked team, which is still growing like crazy. I’m really proud of the group we’ve assembled so far. We’re all about having quality people, experts in their fields, and a good understanding of the automotive business. We want to make sure that everybody understands that the SDC is made up of people who have lived this business.”

That team includes experts dedicated to every facet of growing the co-op. In the system-development realm, SDC Vice President of eBusiness and Internet Technology Bob Castle is an industry veteran who brings extensive experience in e-commerce, data management, business-to-business and business-to-cosumer applications, data distribution and delivery and systems development.

Meanwhile, SDC Director of Membership Jim Graven is spearheading efforts to bring more data suppliers and receivers onboard. His background includes extensive sales, marketing and project-management experience at Reliable Automotive and Arrow Speed Warehouse, where he managed various customer-facing teams, events, media production and end-to-end project organization.

“Our goal over the course of the coming year is to bring all of our development resources in-house,” Wyly said. “This will give us total control of the look, feel and maintenance of the system for users as well as direct control over an ongoing list of enhancements.” He added that the SDC’s ever-growing list of users is providing plenty of suggestions and feedback for such enhancements.

Growing the Co-op

A recent addition to the SDC team, Allen Horwitz is making daily personal contact with potential data suppliers and receivers to expand co-op membership. He said that his role is less about “selling” the people he speaks with and more about educating them.

“We have worked hard to get our information out there, but there are still lots of misconceptions involving what the SDC really is,” he explained. “We’re sometimes confused with SEMA’s Tech Transfer program, which provides vehicle specifications from the OEMs. Another misconception I encounter is that suppliers don’t realize that receivers who are SEMA members are entitled to unlimited data downloads for free as long as they maintain their membership.”

Horwitz noted that there is much enthusiasm for the SDC once such misinformation is overcome. In fact, current co-op members are now going out of their way to suggest other membership leads.

“We have several examples of receivers who have provided us lists of the suppliers that they would like to receive data from through the SDC,” he said. “I also have several receiver contacts who tell me that they’re encouraging suppliers to use the SDC to distribute their data. In addition, I’ve spoken to several suppliers who have been encouraging receivers to sign with the SDC in order to get access to their data.”

The SDC Product Information Management System (PIMS) allows a manufacturer to load a new part into the system and literally distribute its data to warehouse distributors and resellers within hours—helping the company speed its products to market in record time.

Horwitz said that the SDC’s business model goes a long way toward encouraging new manufacturers, warehouse distributors and resellers to join the project.

“As an association whose mission it is to help our members succeed and prosper, we get to focus on our members prospering ahead of the SDC prospering,” he said. “Yes, we do have a fiduciary responsibility to operate the co-op successfully, but we are primarily mission driven, not profit driven. This has a dramatic effect on the way we go to market and represent our services. We’re empowered to make decisions based on the best interests of our members.”

In the end, the SDC’s entire approach has been to build and offer members a tool set that they can use to develop and maintain their data along with its ownership and control.

“With our HelpDesk we walk them through the process step by step, but ultimately they become the experts over their data,” Horwitz said. “The tool set lowers the bar of the complexity of managing these data sets. Our business model of making the data virtually free to receivers also removes a barrier that suppliers might have for distributing their data.”

Forging New Connections

Beyond disseminating data to existing customers, however, the SDC is also proving to be an important tool for expanding business, affording manufacturers new opportunities to reach warehouse distributors and resellers that they might not previously have dealt with.

“Once suppliers are in our system, they can go through it and view our receiver list almost like a lead list,” explained Wyly. “They can then message receivers through the system and see if they’re interested in doing business. Receivers can likewise identify and connect with brands they wish to do business with. We’re literally making introductions back and forth within the system. As complicated as the technology is behind this thing, the business model is very simple and straightforward.”

Improving the industry’s overall data quality has also been an SDC goal from the start. The co-op has developed a tiered program to assist manufacturer-suppliers in reaching specific levels of data quality, labeled bronze, silver, gold and platinum. The higher the data quality, the more attractive brands become to large resellers—especially outfits such as Summit, Amazon and auto-parts chains with extremely demanding data requirements.

“One of our most significant recent developments is that more than 254 brands have gone through our onboarding process at DataAgility, our outsource for HelpDesk services, and have achieved our bronze level of data compliance,” said Wyly. “That’s our introductory, usable data set for most e-business systems, whether they be for the web, retailing or warehousing. Our goal is to continually work one on one with manufacturers and help them ultimately rise to platinum standards.”

Wyly noted that it’s not unusual for a manufacturer to come into the SDC with a list of current customers for its data while simultaneously setting its sights on data-intense resellers such as Amazon.

“We can show manufacturers in our system exactly what Amazon’s requirements are and help them get to those requirements,” Wyly pointed out. “The manufacturers won’t be guessing how to satisfy their needs. We know what their needs are.”

Wyly conceded that there can be a fair amount of initial work gathering, standardizing and validating product data for manufacturers new to the SDC concept. However, once they clear that hurdle and complete their main data set, ongoing maintenance is simple.

“That’s the beauty of our Product Information Management System [PIMS],” he explained. “It’s a custom-built technology that we designed from scratch. It’s the only one like it anywhere. It’s designed for the manufacturer-suppliers to be able to log into the system and manage their product information right there 24/7, 365 days a year.”

The SDC includes an extremely intuitive interface. Once suppliers learn the system, they have total, continued control over their data. They can make changes and adjustments on the fly and even upload large collections of additional data via FTP or directly into the system. According to Wyly, this yields unprecedented speed to market.

“With other systems currently out there, it’s not unusual to take 30 to 60 days to get new data into the marketplace,” he said. “With our PIMS, a manufacturer can literally load a new part into the system and—if it passes through our validation—that product data is being distributed out to customers that very same day, literally within hours.”

Moreover, the SDC data mechanisms deliver every supplier the same capabilities without discrimination. The system works just as well for a small supplier with 10 part numbers as it does for a big manufacturer with tens of thousands.

Enter SEMA Search

	Launched just over two years ago, the SDC is fast becoming a game-changer in the way the specialty-equipment industry exchanges product data. With more than 360 data suppliers and more than 450 data receivers, the SDC system is now poised to grow beyond “critical mass.”

Perhaps the most exciting news for SDC members, however, is the recent construction of SEMA Search, a new tool developed to deliver retailers and counter people in part stores, web businesses and warehouses a one-stop reference for SDC-member products. It’s a sort of electronic catalog for the specialty-equipment trade that users can search by brand, part number, product category, product attributes,application and more.

“When you’re sitting on a data repository of the size and scope of what we’re building, any good business person is going to sit down and brainstorm further uses for the data,” said Wyly of SEMA Search’s development. “The question for us was what we could do with this data to further help the industry along. How do we help people sell more parts?”

Unveiled at the recent 2014 SEMA Show, SEMA Search is initially designed for trade use only, although a consumer-facing version is also planned eventually (see the “SEMA Search Quick Facts” sidebar). Every new product entered into the SDC repository will also appear at SEMA Search free of charge. All a manufacturer has to do to be visible in SEMA Search is join the SDC and manage its data just as more than 300 other brands have already chosen to do.

“SEMA Search offers a great data set for counter people to pull from with a very easy-to-use, intuitive interface,” said Wyly. “If you think about the counter person, he’s having people walk up all day long and ask for items, not necessarily brands.”

In this scenario, a knowledgeable counter person likely has some brands in his head that he favors. He may then go to a couple of WD data systems to look up those brand offerings. In addition, he might go to two or three manufacturer websites to show the customer a few more choices as well. Unfortunately for the counter person, each of those multiple sources often operates a bit differently.

“It doesn’t take long for that to add up to a lot of work,” Wyly said. “As a counter guy, you end up having to be very proficient at navigating a wide variety of websites trying to dig out the information to answer a consumer’s question. Our goal is to take all the data that we have aggregated in one place and provide one place for this guy to go to get information on any product or brand at one time for side-by-side comparison.”

From the manufacturer-supplier side, SEMA Search also promises to quickly familiarize retailers with new products from both fresh and well-established brands.

“It’s very non-partisan,” noted Wyly. “We’re giving the sales people the opportunity to see everything that’s available and make their decisions based on the information provided. Because we’re SEMA, it’s about helping any and every business every way we can.”

More Information

To learn more about the SEMA Data Co-op as well as SEMA Search, visit www.SEMAdatacoop.org online or contact the SDC membership department at 888-958-6698 x4.

---

SEMA Search Quick Facts

What is SEMA Search?
SEMA Search is a web-based search tool designed for use by salespeople in the trade to access product information from the SDC database.

How does it function?
Through a very intuitive interface, it provides users with the ability to search for parts by a variety of criteria, including year/make/model lookups as well as product searches based on types of products, features, engine fitment, brand, material and more.

Why do data suppliers need SEMA Search?
By utilizing the rapidly growing database of parts in the SDC, salespeople can get a broad view of available products in one place, using one consistent lookup tool rather than hopping from site to site trying to gather information on various brands. Users can also perform side-by-side comparisons of products right on the screen and get introduced to products that they might not have considered or known about before. Suppliers benefit from exposure to the entire user base in a completely product- and feature-oriented manner, ensuring that every product that meets the search criteria will be displayed in a comparable way.

How will SDC members benefit?
SEMA Search is yet another practical, business-building use of the product data that is managed and stored in the SDC system. Not only will the products be made visible to an ever-increasing user base of receivers but potentially to consumers as well when the SDC rolls out a public-facing version. Additionally, the development of SEMA Search will be the springboard for connectivity in the form of “content on demand.” This will enable the delivery of rich product data via application programming interfaces and other connectivity without the need for retailers to house massive data files locally.

How will it change the way retail countermen interact with their customers?
Through this single source for the lookup and display of hundreds of brands and millions of parts, retail salespeople will be able to show customers more options than ever more efficiently than ever. No longer will the retail customer’s options be limited by what the counterman is “used to selling” or what he doesn’t know about. SEMA Search provides a total view of all the products in the SDC database, creating new selling opportunities for all involved and giving salespeople the confidence to expand their offerings.

How will the search tool benefit enthusiasts seeking upgrades for their builds?
It’s really all about the data. As the SDC continues to work with suppliers to add rich content to their data, enthusiasts will ultimately get better information in a more timely manner through SEMA Search. No longer will new products languish on warehouse shelves for weeks or months before customers are aware of them. With the SDC and SEMA Search, new products can be loaded today and sold tomorrow.

How will it help the entire supply chain, from manufacturer to end user?
SEMA Search is all about bringing every possible option to the selling arena. Participating suppliers will have equal opportunity to be viewed by industry salespeople and presented to consumers. Salespeople will enjoy instant access to massive amounts of product choices, and consumers will ultimately find the parts that best suite their project, style and budget. Consider SEMA Search to be a parts encyclopedia wrapped in an easy-to-use, intuitive web interface.
 

SEMA News—December 2014

BUSINESS
By Mike Imlay

The Industry’s Data Game-Changer

An Exclusive Progress Report on the SEMA Data Co-op

Perhaps the most exciting news for SDC members is the debut of SEMA Search, a new online tool developed to deliver retailers and counter people in part stores, web businesses and warehouses a one-stop reference for SDC-member products.

When SEMA launched the SEMA Data Co-op (SDC) a little over two years ago, the goal was admittedly ambitious: to revolutionize the way automotive specialty-equipment manufacturers (data suppliers) convey product information to warehouse distributors and resellers (data receivers) for the benefit of all. Now, according to Jon Wyly, the co-op’s CEO, the SDC is delivering thousands of data sets a week, representing millions of part numbers and tens of millions of vehicle applications, through a database that continues to grow by leaps and bounds daily.

In other words, the revolution is on, and the SDC—one of the biggest initiatives to hit the industry in recent years—is fast becoming a game-changer at all levels, right down to the counter person.

“By all indications, we’re making significant progress,” said Wyly. “What’s especially encouraging is that we’re beginning to push the lid off of a perceived glass ceiling that the industry has been dealing with on the numbers of brands available from any one source.”

Experts believe that the number for prior industry repositories hovered around 300. In recent months, the SDC has grown to exceed 360 supplier brands and 450 receivers. Now the effort is on to entice yet more companies and brands into the co-op to build what SEMA hopes to be the industry’s definitive data repository.

Wyly has every reason to believe that goal is well within reach. In fact, he expects the SDC to attain an unprecedented level of industry coverage over the next few years. He noted that SEMA alone has approximately 3,000 manufacturer members, which translates to a couple of thousand brands that his team can recruit into the system.

	Jon Wyly, CEO of the SEMA Data Co-op (SDC), has assembled a handpicked team of industry veterans to grow and take the co-op in exciting new directions, including the launch of SEMA Search.

“Two and a half years ago, the SEMA Data Co-op was me,” Wyly reflected. “We’ve since been able to put together a really good, hand-picked team, which is still growing like crazy. I’m really proud of the group we’ve assembled so far. We’re all about having quality people, experts in their fields, and a good understanding of the automotive business. We want to make sure that everybody understands that the SDC is made up of people who have lived this business.”

That team includes experts dedicated to every facet of growing the co-op. In the system-development realm, SDC Vice President of eBusiness and Internet Technology Bob Castle is an industry veteran who brings extensive experience in e-commerce, data management, business-to-business and business-to-cosumer applications, data distribution and delivery and systems development.

Meanwhile, SDC Director of Membership Jim Graven is spearheading efforts to bring more data suppliers and receivers onboard. His background includes extensive sales, marketing and project-management experience at Reliable Automotive and Arrow Speed Warehouse, where he managed various customer-facing teams, events, media production and end-to-end project organization.

“Our goal over the course of the coming year is to bring all of our development resources in-house,” Wyly said. “This will give us total control of the look, feel and maintenance of the system for users as well as direct control over an ongoing list of enhancements.” He added that the SDC’s ever-growing list of users is providing plenty of suggestions and feedback for such enhancements.

Growing the Co-op

A recent addition to the SDC team, Allen Horwitz is making daily personal contact with potential data suppliers and receivers to expand co-op membership. He said that his role is less about “selling” the people he speaks with and more about educating them.

“We have worked hard to get our information out there, but there are still lots of misconceptions involving what the SDC really is,” he explained. “We’re sometimes confused with SEMA’s Tech Transfer program, which provides vehicle specifications from the OEMs. Another misconception I encounter is that suppliers don’t realize that receivers who are SEMA members are entitled to unlimited data downloads for free as long as they maintain their membership.”

Horwitz noted that there is much enthusiasm for the SDC once such misinformation is overcome. In fact, current co-op members are now going out of their way to suggest other membership leads.

“We have several examples of receivers who have provided us lists of the suppliers that they would like to receive data from through the SDC,” he said. “I also have several receiver contacts who tell me that they’re encouraging suppliers to use the SDC to distribute their data. In addition, I’ve spoken to several suppliers who have been encouraging receivers to sign with the SDC in order to get access to their data.”

The SDC Product Information Management System (PIMS) allows a manufacturer to load a new part into the system and literally distribute its data to warehouse distributors and resellers within hours—helping the company speed its products to market in record time.

Horwitz said that the SDC’s business model goes a long way toward encouraging new manufacturers, warehouse distributors and resellers to join the project.

“As an association whose mission it is to help our members succeed and prosper, we get to focus on our members prospering ahead of the SDC prospering,” he said. “Yes, we do have a fiduciary responsibility to operate the co-op successfully, but we are primarily mission driven, not profit driven. This has a dramatic effect on the way we go to market and represent our services. We’re empowered to make decisions based on the best interests of our members.”

In the end, the SDC’s entire approach has been to build and offer members a tool set that they can use to develop and maintain their data along with its ownership and control.

“With our HelpDesk we walk them through the process step by step, but ultimately they become the experts over their data,” Horwitz said. “The tool set lowers the bar of the complexity of managing these data sets. Our business model of making the data virtually free to receivers also removes a barrier that suppliers might have for distributing their data.”

Forging New Connections

Beyond disseminating data to existing customers, however, the SDC is also proving to be an important tool for expanding business, affording manufacturers new opportunities to reach warehouse distributors and resellers that they might not previously have dealt with.

“Once suppliers are in our system, they can go through it and view our receiver list almost like a lead list,” explained Wyly. “They can then message receivers through the system and see if they’re interested in doing business. Receivers can likewise identify and connect with brands they wish to do business with. We’re literally making introductions back and forth within the system. As complicated as the technology is behind this thing, the business model is very simple and straightforward.”

Improving the industry’s overall data quality has also been an SDC goal from the start. The co-op has developed a tiered program to assist manufacturer-suppliers in reaching specific levels of data quality, labeled bronze, silver, gold and platinum. The higher the data quality, the more attractive brands become to large resellers—especially outfits such as Summit, Amazon and auto-parts chains with extremely demanding data requirements.

“One of our most significant recent developments is that more than 254 brands have gone through our onboarding process at DataAgility, our outsource for HelpDesk services, and have achieved our bronze level of data compliance,” said Wyly. “That’s our introductory, usable data set for most e-business systems, whether they be for the web, retailing or warehousing. Our goal is to continually work one on one with manufacturers and help them ultimately rise to platinum standards.”

Wyly noted that it’s not unusual for a manufacturer to come into the SDC with a list of current customers for its data while simultaneously setting its sights on data-intense resellers such as Amazon.

“We can show manufacturers in our system exactly what Amazon’s requirements are and help them get to those requirements,” Wyly pointed out. “The manufacturers won’t be guessing how to satisfy their needs. We know what their needs are.”

Wyly conceded that there can be a fair amount of initial work gathering, standardizing and validating product data for manufacturers new to the SDC concept. However, once they clear that hurdle and complete their main data set, ongoing maintenance is simple.

“That’s the beauty of our Product Information Management System [PIMS],” he explained. “It’s a custom-built technology that we designed from scratch. It’s the only one like it anywhere. It’s designed for the manufacturer-suppliers to be able to log into the system and manage their product information right there 24/7, 365 days a year.”

The SDC includes an extremely intuitive interface. Once suppliers learn the system, they have total, continued control over their data. They can make changes and adjustments on the fly and even upload large collections of additional data via FTP or directly into the system. According to Wyly, this yields unprecedented speed to market.

“With other systems currently out there, it’s not unusual to take 30 to 60 days to get new data into the marketplace,” he said. “With our PIMS, a manufacturer can literally load a new part into the system and—if it passes through our validation—that product data is being distributed out to customers that very same day, literally within hours.”

Moreover, the SDC data mechanisms deliver every supplier the same capabilities without discrimination. The system works just as well for a small supplier with 10 part numbers as it does for a big manufacturer with tens of thousands.

Enter SEMA Search

	Launched just over two years ago, the SDC is fast becoming a game-changer in the way the specialty-equipment industry exchanges product data. With more than 360 data suppliers and more than 450 data receivers, the SDC system is now poised to grow beyond “critical mass.”

Perhaps the most exciting news for SDC members, however, is the recent construction of SEMA Search, a new tool developed to deliver retailers and counter people in part stores, web businesses and warehouses a one-stop reference for SDC-member products. It’s a sort of electronic catalog for the specialty-equipment trade that users can search by brand, part number, product category, product attributes,application and more.

“When you’re sitting on a data repository of the size and scope of what we’re building, any good business person is going to sit down and brainstorm further uses for the data,” said Wyly of SEMA Search’s development. “The question for us was what we could do with this data to further help the industry along. How do we help people sell more parts?”

Unveiled at the recent 2014 SEMA Show, SEMA Search is initially designed for trade use only, although a consumer-facing version is also planned eventually (see the “SEMA Search Quick Facts” sidebar). Every new product entered into the SDC repository will also appear at SEMA Search free of charge. All a manufacturer has to do to be visible in SEMA Search is join the SDC and manage its data just as more than 300 other brands have already chosen to do.

“SEMA Search offers a great data set for counter people to pull from with a very easy-to-use, intuitive interface,” said Wyly. “If you think about the counter person, he’s having people walk up all day long and ask for items, not necessarily brands.”

In this scenario, a knowledgeable counter person likely has some brands in his head that he favors. He may then go to a couple of WD data systems to look up those brand offerings. In addition, he might go to two or three manufacturer websites to show the customer a few more choices as well. Unfortunately for the counter person, each of those multiple sources often operates a bit differently.

“It doesn’t take long for that to add up to a lot of work,” Wyly said. “As a counter guy, you end up having to be very proficient at navigating a wide variety of websites trying to dig out the information to answer a consumer’s question. Our goal is to take all the data that we have aggregated in one place and provide one place for this guy to go to get information on any product or brand at one time for side-by-side comparison.”

From the manufacturer-supplier side, SEMA Search also promises to quickly familiarize retailers with new products from both fresh and well-established brands.

“It’s very non-partisan,” noted Wyly. “We’re giving the sales people the opportunity to see everything that’s available and make their decisions based on the information provided. Because we’re SEMA, it’s about helping any and every business every way we can.”

More Information

To learn more about the SEMA Data Co-op as well as SEMA Search, visit www.SEMAdatacoop.org online or contact the SDC membership department at 888-958-6698 x4.

---

SEMA Search Quick Facts

What is SEMA Search?
SEMA Search is a web-based search tool designed for use by salespeople in the trade to access product information from the SDC database.

How does it function?
Through a very intuitive interface, it provides users with the ability to search for parts by a variety of criteria, including year/make/model lookups as well as product searches based on types of products, features, engine fitment, brand, material and more.

Why do data suppliers need SEMA Search?
By utilizing the rapidly growing database of parts in the SDC, salespeople can get a broad view of available products in one place, using one consistent lookup tool rather than hopping from site to site trying to gather information on various brands. Users can also perform side-by-side comparisons of products right on the screen and get introduced to products that they might not have considered or known about before. Suppliers benefit from exposure to the entire user base in a completely product- and feature-oriented manner, ensuring that every product that meets the search criteria will be displayed in a comparable way.

How will SDC members benefit?
SEMA Search is yet another practical, business-building use of the product data that is managed and stored in the SDC system. Not only will the products be made visible to an ever-increasing user base of receivers but potentially to consumers as well when the SDC rolls out a public-facing version. Additionally, the development of SEMA Search will be the springboard for connectivity in the form of “content on demand.” This will enable the delivery of rich product data via application programming interfaces and other connectivity without the need for retailers to house massive data files locally.

How will it change the way retail countermen interact with their customers?
Through this single source for the lookup and display of hundreds of brands and millions of parts, retail salespeople will be able to show customers more options than ever more efficiently than ever. No longer will the retail customer’s options be limited by what the counterman is “used to selling” or what he doesn’t know about. SEMA Search provides a total view of all the products in the SDC database, creating new selling opportunities for all involved and giving salespeople the confidence to expand their offerings.

How will the search tool benefit enthusiasts seeking upgrades for their builds?
It’s really all about the data. As the SDC continues to work with suppliers to add rich content to their data, enthusiasts will ultimately get better information in a more timely manner through SEMA Search. No longer will new products languish on warehouse shelves for weeks or months before customers are aware of them. With the SDC and SEMA Search, new products can be loaded today and sold tomorrow.

How will it help the entire supply chain, from manufacturer to end user?
SEMA Search is all about bringing every possible option to the selling arena. Participating suppliers will have equal opportunity to be viewed by industry salespeople and presented to consumers. Salespeople will enjoy instant access to massive amounts of product choices, and consumers will ultimately find the parts that best suite their project, style and budget. Consider SEMA Search to be a parts encyclopedia wrapped in an easy-to-use, intuitive web interface.
 

SEMA News—December 2014

BUSINESS
By Mike Imlay

The Industry’s Data Game-Changer

An Exclusive Progress Report on the SEMA Data Co-op

Perhaps the most exciting news for SDC members is the debut of SEMA Search, a new online tool developed to deliver retailers and counter people in part stores, web businesses and warehouses a one-stop reference for SDC-member products.

When SEMA launched the SEMA Data Co-op (SDC) a little over two years ago, the goal was admittedly ambitious: to revolutionize the way automotive specialty-equipment manufacturers (data suppliers) convey product information to warehouse distributors and resellers (data receivers) for the benefit of all. Now, according to Jon Wyly, the co-op’s CEO, the SDC is delivering thousands of data sets a week, representing millions of part numbers and tens of millions of vehicle applications, through a database that continues to grow by leaps and bounds daily.

In other words, the revolution is on, and the SDC—one of the biggest initiatives to hit the industry in recent years—is fast becoming a game-changer at all levels, right down to the counter person.

“By all indications, we’re making significant progress,” said Wyly. “What’s especially encouraging is that we’re beginning to push the lid off of a perceived glass ceiling that the industry has been dealing with on the numbers of brands available from any one source.”

Experts believe that the number for prior industry repositories hovered around 300. In recent months, the SDC has grown to exceed 360 supplier brands and 450 receivers. Now the effort is on to entice yet more companies and brands into the co-op to build what SEMA hopes to be the industry’s definitive data repository.

Wyly has every reason to believe that goal is well within reach. In fact, he expects the SDC to attain an unprecedented level of industry coverage over the next few years. He noted that SEMA alone has approximately 3,000 manufacturer members, which translates to a couple of thousand brands that his team can recruit into the system.

	Jon Wyly, CEO of the SEMA Data Co-op (SDC), has assembled a handpicked team of industry veterans to grow and take the co-op in exciting new directions, including the launch of SEMA Search.

“Two and a half years ago, the SEMA Data Co-op was me,” Wyly reflected. “We’ve since been able to put together a really good, hand-picked team, which is still growing like crazy. I’m really proud of the group we’ve assembled so far. We’re all about having quality people, experts in their fields, and a good understanding of the automotive business. We want to make sure that everybody understands that the SDC is made up of people who have lived this business.”

That team includes experts dedicated to every facet of growing the co-op. In the system-development realm, SDC Vice President of eBusiness and Internet Technology Bob Castle is an industry veteran who brings extensive experience in e-commerce, data management, business-to-business and business-to-cosumer applications, data distribution and delivery and systems development.

Meanwhile, SDC Director of Membership Jim Graven is spearheading efforts to bring more data suppliers and receivers onboard. His background includes extensive sales, marketing and project-management experience at Reliable Automotive and Arrow Speed Warehouse, where he managed various customer-facing teams, events, media production and end-to-end project organization.

“Our goal over the course of the coming year is to bring all of our development resources in-house,” Wyly said. “This will give us total control of the look, feel and maintenance of the system for users as well as direct control over an ongoing list of enhancements.” He added that the SDC’s ever-growing list of users is providing plenty of suggestions and feedback for such enhancements.

Growing the Co-op

A recent addition to the SDC team, Allen Horwitz is making daily personal contact with potential data suppliers and receivers to expand co-op membership. He said that his role is less about “selling” the people he speaks with and more about educating them.

“We have worked hard to get our information out there, but there are still lots of misconceptions involving what the SDC really is,” he explained. “We’re sometimes confused with SEMA’s Tech Transfer program, which provides vehicle specifications from the OEMs. Another misconception I encounter is that suppliers don’t realize that receivers who are SEMA members are entitled to unlimited data downloads for free as long as they maintain their membership.”

Horwitz noted that there is much enthusiasm for the SDC once such misinformation is overcome. In fact, current co-op members are now going out of their way to suggest other membership leads.

“We have several examples of receivers who have provided us lists of the suppliers that they would like to receive data from through the SDC,” he said. “I also have several receiver contacts who tell me that they’re encouraging suppliers to use the SDC to distribute their data. In addition, I’ve spoken to several suppliers who have been encouraging receivers to sign with the SDC in order to get access to their data.”

The SDC Product Information Management System (PIMS) allows a manufacturer to load a new part into the system and literally distribute its data to warehouse distributors and resellers within hours—helping the company speed its products to market in record time.

Horwitz said that the SDC’s business model goes a long way toward encouraging new manufacturers, warehouse distributors and resellers to join the project.

“As an association whose mission it is to help our members succeed and prosper, we get to focus on our members prospering ahead of the SDC prospering,” he said. “Yes, we do have a fiduciary responsibility to operate the co-op successfully, but we are primarily mission driven, not profit driven. This has a dramatic effect on the way we go to market and represent our services. We’re empowered to make decisions based on the best interests of our members.”

In the end, the SDC’s entire approach has been to build and offer members a tool set that they can use to develop and maintain their data along with its ownership and control.

“With our HelpDesk we walk them through the process step by step, but ultimately they become the experts over their data,” Horwitz said. “The tool set lowers the bar of the complexity of managing these data sets. Our business model of making the data virtually free to receivers also removes a barrier that suppliers might have for distributing their data.”

Forging New Connections

Beyond disseminating data to existing customers, however, the SDC is also proving to be an important tool for expanding business, affording manufacturers new opportunities to reach warehouse distributors and resellers that they might not previously have dealt with.

“Once suppliers are in our system, they can go through it and view our receiver list almost like a lead list,” explained Wyly. “They can then message receivers through the system and see if they’re interested in doing business. Receivers can likewise identify and connect with brands they wish to do business with. We’re literally making introductions back and forth within the system. As complicated as the technology is behind this thing, the business model is very simple and straightforward.”

Improving the industry’s overall data quality has also been an SDC goal from the start. The co-op has developed a tiered program to assist manufacturer-suppliers in reaching specific levels of data quality, labeled bronze, silver, gold and platinum. The higher the data quality, the more attractive brands become to large resellers—especially outfits such as Summit, Amazon and auto-parts chains with extremely demanding data requirements.

“One of our most significant recent developments is that more than 254 brands have gone through our onboarding process at DataAgility, our outsource for HelpDesk services, and have achieved our bronze level of data compliance,” said Wyly. “That’s our introductory, usable data set for most e-business systems, whether they be for the web, retailing or warehousing. Our goal is to continually work one on one with manufacturers and help them ultimately rise to platinum standards.”

Wyly noted that it’s not unusual for a manufacturer to come into the SDC with a list of current customers for its data while simultaneously setting its sights on data-intense resellers such as Amazon.

“We can show manufacturers in our system exactly what Amazon’s requirements are and help them get to those requirements,” Wyly pointed out. “The manufacturers won’t be guessing how to satisfy their needs. We know what their needs are.”

Wyly conceded that there can be a fair amount of initial work gathering, standardizing and validating product data for manufacturers new to the SDC concept. However, once they clear that hurdle and complete their main data set, ongoing maintenance is simple.

“That’s the beauty of our Product Information Management System [PIMS],” he explained. “It’s a custom-built technology that we designed from scratch. It’s the only one like it anywhere. It’s designed for the manufacturer-suppliers to be able to log into the system and manage their product information right there 24/7, 365 days a year.”

The SDC includes an extremely intuitive interface. Once suppliers learn the system, they have total, continued control over their data. They can make changes and adjustments on the fly and even upload large collections of additional data via FTP or directly into the system. According to Wyly, this yields unprecedented speed to market.

“With other systems currently out there, it’s not unusual to take 30 to 60 days to get new data into the marketplace,” he said. “With our PIMS, a manufacturer can literally load a new part into the system and—if it passes through our validation—that product data is being distributed out to customers that very same day, literally within hours.”

Moreover, the SDC data mechanisms deliver every supplier the same capabilities without discrimination. The system works just as well for a small supplier with 10 part numbers as it does for a big manufacturer with tens of thousands.

Enter SEMA Search

	Launched just over two years ago, the SDC is fast becoming a game-changer in the way the specialty-equipment industry exchanges product data. With more than 360 data suppliers and more than 450 data receivers, the SDC system is now poised to grow beyond “critical mass.”

Perhaps the most exciting news for SDC members, however, is the recent construction of SEMA Search, a new tool developed to deliver retailers and counter people in part stores, web businesses and warehouses a one-stop reference for SDC-member products. It’s a sort of electronic catalog for the specialty-equipment trade that users can search by brand, part number, product category, product attributes,application and more.

“When you’re sitting on a data repository of the size and scope of what we’re building, any good business person is going to sit down and brainstorm further uses for the data,” said Wyly of SEMA Search’s development. “The question for us was what we could do with this data to further help the industry along. How do we help people sell more parts?”

Unveiled at the recent 2014 SEMA Show, SEMA Search is initially designed for trade use only, although a consumer-facing version is also planned eventually (see the “SEMA Search Quick Facts” sidebar). Every new product entered into the SDC repository will also appear at SEMA Search free of charge. All a manufacturer has to do to be visible in SEMA Search is join the SDC and manage its data just as more than 300 other brands have already chosen to do.

“SEMA Search offers a great data set for counter people to pull from with a very easy-to-use, intuitive interface,” said Wyly. “If you think about the counter person, he’s having people walk up all day long and ask for items, not necessarily brands.”

In this scenario, a knowledgeable counter person likely has some brands in his head that he favors. He may then go to a couple of WD data systems to look up those brand offerings. In addition, he might go to two or three manufacturer websites to show the customer a few more choices as well. Unfortunately for the counter person, each of those multiple sources often operates a bit differently.

“It doesn’t take long for that to add up to a lot of work,” Wyly said. “As a counter guy, you end up having to be very proficient at navigating a wide variety of websites trying to dig out the information to answer a consumer’s question. Our goal is to take all the data that we have aggregated in one place and provide one place for this guy to go to get information on any product or brand at one time for side-by-side comparison.”

From the manufacturer-supplier side, SEMA Search also promises to quickly familiarize retailers with new products from both fresh and well-established brands.

“It’s very non-partisan,” noted Wyly. “We’re giving the sales people the opportunity to see everything that’s available and make their decisions based on the information provided. Because we’re SEMA, it’s about helping any and every business every way we can.”

More Information

To learn more about the SEMA Data Co-op as well as SEMA Search, visit www.SEMAdatacoop.org online or contact the SDC membership department at 888-958-6698 x4.

---

SEMA Search Quick Facts

What is SEMA Search?
SEMA Search is a web-based search tool designed for use by salespeople in the trade to access product information from the SDC database.

How does it function?
Through a very intuitive interface, it provides users with the ability to search for parts by a variety of criteria, including year/make/model lookups as well as product searches based on types of products, features, engine fitment, brand, material and more.

Why do data suppliers need SEMA Search?
By utilizing the rapidly growing database of parts in the SDC, salespeople can get a broad view of available products in one place, using one consistent lookup tool rather than hopping from site to site trying to gather information on various brands. Users can also perform side-by-side comparisons of products right on the screen and get introduced to products that they might not have considered or known about before. Suppliers benefit from exposure to the entire user base in a completely product- and feature-oriented manner, ensuring that every product that meets the search criteria will be displayed in a comparable way.

How will SDC members benefit?
SEMA Search is yet another practical, business-building use of the product data that is managed and stored in the SDC system. Not only will the products be made visible to an ever-increasing user base of receivers but potentially to consumers as well when the SDC rolls out a public-facing version. Additionally, the development of SEMA Search will be the springboard for connectivity in the form of “content on demand.” This will enable the delivery of rich product data via application programming interfaces and other connectivity without the need for retailers to house massive data files locally.

How will it change the way retail countermen interact with their customers?
Through this single source for the lookup and display of hundreds of brands and millions of parts, retail salespeople will be able to show customers more options than ever more efficiently than ever. No longer will the retail customer’s options be limited by what the counterman is “used to selling” or what he doesn’t know about. SEMA Search provides a total view of all the products in the SDC database, creating new selling opportunities for all involved and giving salespeople the confidence to expand their offerings.

How will the search tool benefit enthusiasts seeking upgrades for their builds?
It’s really all about the data. As the SDC continues to work with suppliers to add rich content to their data, enthusiasts will ultimately get better information in a more timely manner through SEMA Search. No longer will new products languish on warehouse shelves for weeks or months before customers are aware of them. With the SDC and SEMA Search, new products can be loaded today and sold tomorrow.

How will it help the entire supply chain, from manufacturer to end user?
SEMA Search is all about bringing every possible option to the selling arena. Participating suppliers will have equal opportunity to be viewed by industry salespeople and presented to consumers. Salespeople will enjoy instant access to massive amounts of product choices, and consumers will ultimately find the parts that best suite their project, style and budget. Consider SEMA Search to be a parts encyclopedia wrapped in an easy-to-use, intuitive web interface.
 

SEMA News—December 2014

BUSINESS
By Mike Imlay

The Industry’s Data Game-Changer

An Exclusive Progress Report on the SEMA Data Co-op

Perhaps the most exciting news for SDC members is the debut of SEMA Search, a new online tool developed to deliver retailers and counter people in part stores, web businesses and warehouses a one-stop reference for SDC-member products.

When SEMA launched the SEMA Data Co-op (SDC) a little over two years ago, the goal was admittedly ambitious: to revolutionize the way automotive specialty-equipment manufacturers (data suppliers) convey product information to warehouse distributors and resellers (data receivers) for the benefit of all. Now, according to Jon Wyly, the co-op’s CEO, the SDC is delivering thousands of data sets a week, representing millions of part numbers and tens of millions of vehicle applications, through a database that continues to grow by leaps and bounds daily.

In other words, the revolution is on, and the SDC—one of the biggest initiatives to hit the industry in recent years—is fast becoming a game-changer at all levels, right down to the counter person.

“By all indications, we’re making significant progress,” said Wyly. “What’s especially encouraging is that we’re beginning to push the lid off of a perceived glass ceiling that the industry has been dealing with on the numbers of brands available from any one source.”

Experts believe that the number for prior industry repositories hovered around 300. In recent months, the SDC has grown to exceed 360 supplier brands and 450 receivers. Now the effort is on to entice yet more companies and brands into the co-op to build what SEMA hopes to be the industry’s definitive data repository.

Wyly has every reason to believe that goal is well within reach. In fact, he expects the SDC to attain an unprecedented level of industry coverage over the next few years. He noted that SEMA alone has approximately 3,000 manufacturer members, which translates to a couple of thousand brands that his team can recruit into the system.

	Jon Wyly, CEO of the SEMA Data Co-op (SDC), has assembled a handpicked team of industry veterans to grow and take the co-op in exciting new directions, including the launch of SEMA Search.

“Two and a half years ago, the SEMA Data Co-op was me,” Wyly reflected. “We’ve since been able to put together a really good, hand-picked team, which is still growing like crazy. I’m really proud of the group we’ve assembled so far. We’re all about having quality people, experts in their fields, and a good understanding of the automotive business. We want to make sure that everybody understands that the SDC is made up of people who have lived this business.”

That team includes experts dedicated to every facet of growing the co-op. In the system-development realm, SDC Vice President of eBusiness and Internet Technology Bob Castle is an industry veteran who brings extensive experience in e-commerce, data management, business-to-business and business-to-cosumer applications, data distribution and delivery and systems development.

Meanwhile, SDC Director of Membership Jim Graven is spearheading efforts to bring more data suppliers and receivers onboard. His background includes extensive sales, marketing and project-management experience at Reliable Automotive and Arrow Speed Warehouse, where he managed various customer-facing teams, events, media production and end-to-end project organization.

“Our goal over the course of the coming year is to bring all of our development resources in-house,” Wyly said. “This will give us total control of the look, feel and maintenance of the system for users as well as direct control over an ongoing list of enhancements.” He added that the SDC’s ever-growing list of users is providing plenty of suggestions and feedback for such enhancements.

Growing the Co-op

A recent addition to the SDC team, Allen Horwitz is making daily personal contact with potential data suppliers and receivers to expand co-op membership. He said that his role is less about “selling” the people he speaks with and more about educating them.

“We have worked hard to get our information out there, but there are still lots of misconceptions involving what the SDC really is,” he explained. “We’re sometimes confused with SEMA’s Tech Transfer program, which provides vehicle specifications from the OEMs. Another misconception I encounter is that suppliers don’t realize that receivers who are SEMA members are entitled to unlimited data downloads for free as long as they maintain their membership.”

Horwitz noted that there is much enthusiasm for the SDC once such misinformation is overcome. In fact, current co-op members are now going out of their way to suggest other membership leads.

“We have several examples of receivers who have provided us lists of the suppliers that they would like to receive data from through the SDC,” he said. “I also have several receiver contacts who tell me that they’re encouraging suppliers to use the SDC to distribute their data. In addition, I’ve spoken to several suppliers who have been encouraging receivers to sign with the SDC in order to get access to their data.”

The SDC Product Information Management System (PIMS) allows a manufacturer to load a new part into the system and literally distribute its data to warehouse distributors and resellers within hours—helping the company speed its products to market in record time.

Horwitz said that the SDC’s business model goes a long way toward encouraging new manufacturers, warehouse distributors and resellers to join the project.

“As an association whose mission it is to help our members succeed and prosper, we get to focus on our members prospering ahead of the SDC prospering,” he said. “Yes, we do have a fiduciary responsibility to operate the co-op successfully, but we are primarily mission driven, not profit driven. This has a dramatic effect on the way we go to market and represent our services. We’re empowered to make decisions based on the best interests of our members.”

In the end, the SDC’s entire approach has been to build and offer members a tool set that they can use to develop and maintain their data along with its ownership and control.

“With our HelpDesk we walk them through the process step by step, but ultimately they become the experts over their data,” Horwitz said. “The tool set lowers the bar of the complexity of managing these data sets. Our business model of making the data virtually free to receivers also removes a barrier that suppliers might have for distributing their data.”

Forging New Connections

Beyond disseminating data to existing customers, however, the SDC is also proving to be an important tool for expanding business, affording manufacturers new opportunities to reach warehouse distributors and resellers that they might not previously have dealt with.

“Once suppliers are in our system, they can go through it and view our receiver list almost like a lead list,” explained Wyly. “They can then message receivers through the system and see if they’re interested in doing business. Receivers can likewise identify and connect with brands they wish to do business with. We’re literally making introductions back and forth within the system. As complicated as the technology is behind this thing, the business model is very simple and straightforward.”

Improving the industry’s overall data quality has also been an SDC goal from the start. The co-op has developed a tiered program to assist manufacturer-suppliers in reaching specific levels of data quality, labeled bronze, silver, gold and platinum. The higher the data quality, the more attractive brands become to large resellers—especially outfits such as Summit, Amazon and auto-parts chains with extremely demanding data requirements.

“One of our most significant recent developments is that more than 254 brands have gone through our onboarding process at DataAgility, our outsource for HelpDesk services, and have achieved our bronze level of data compliance,” said Wyly. “That’s our introductory, usable data set for most e-business systems, whether they be for the web, retailing or warehousing. Our goal is to continually work one on one with manufacturers and help them ultimately rise to platinum standards.”

Wyly noted that it’s not unusual for a manufacturer to come into the SDC with a list of current customers for its data while simultaneously setting its sights on data-intense resellers such as Amazon.

“We can show manufacturers in our system exactly what Amazon’s requirements are and help them get to those requirements,” Wyly pointed out. “The manufacturers won’t be guessing how to satisfy their needs. We know what their needs are.”

Wyly conceded that there can be a fair amount of initial work gathering, standardizing and validating product data for manufacturers new to the SDC concept. However, once they clear that hurdle and complete their main data set, ongoing maintenance is simple.

“That’s the beauty of our Product Information Management System [PIMS],” he explained. “It’s a custom-built technology that we designed from scratch. It’s the only one like it anywhere. It’s designed for the manufacturer-suppliers to be able to log into the system and manage their product information right there 24/7, 365 days a year.”

The SDC includes an extremely intuitive interface. Once suppliers learn the system, they have total, continued control over their data. They can make changes and adjustments on the fly and even upload large collections of additional data via FTP or directly into the system. According to Wyly, this yields unprecedented speed to market.

“With other systems currently out there, it’s not unusual to take 30 to 60 days to get new data into the marketplace,” he said. “With our PIMS, a manufacturer can literally load a new part into the system and—if it passes through our validation—that product data is being distributed out to customers that very same day, literally within hours.”

Moreover, the SDC data mechanisms deliver every supplier the same capabilities without discrimination. The system works just as well for a small supplier with 10 part numbers as it does for a big manufacturer with tens of thousands.

Enter SEMA Search

	Launched just over two years ago, the SDC is fast becoming a game-changer in the way the specialty-equipment industry exchanges product data. With more than 360 data suppliers and more than 450 data receivers, the SDC system is now poised to grow beyond “critical mass.”

Perhaps the most exciting news for SDC members, however, is the recent construction of SEMA Search, a new tool developed to deliver retailers and counter people in part stores, web businesses and warehouses a one-stop reference for SDC-member products. It’s a sort of electronic catalog for the specialty-equipment trade that users can search by brand, part number, product category, product attributes,application and more.

“When you’re sitting on a data repository of the size and scope of what we’re building, any good business person is going to sit down and brainstorm further uses for the data,” said Wyly of SEMA Search’s development. “The question for us was what we could do with this data to further help the industry along. How do we help people sell more parts?”

Unveiled at the recent 2014 SEMA Show, SEMA Search is initially designed for trade use only, although a consumer-facing version is also planned eventually (see the “SEMA Search Quick Facts” sidebar). Every new product entered into the SDC repository will also appear at SEMA Search free of charge. All a manufacturer has to do to be visible in SEMA Search is join the SDC and manage its data just as more than 300 other brands have already chosen to do.

“SEMA Search offers a great data set for counter people to pull from with a very easy-to-use, intuitive interface,” said Wyly. “If you think about the counter person, he’s having people walk up all day long and ask for items, not necessarily brands.”

In this scenario, a knowledgeable counter person likely has some brands in his head that he favors. He may then go to a couple of WD data systems to look up those brand offerings. In addition, he might go to two or three manufacturer websites to show the customer a few more choices as well. Unfortunately for the counter person, each of those multiple sources often operates a bit differently.

“It doesn’t take long for that to add up to a lot of work,” Wyly said. “As a counter guy, you end up having to be very proficient at navigating a wide variety of websites trying to dig out the information to answer a consumer’s question. Our goal is to take all the data that we have aggregated in one place and provide one place for this guy to go to get information on any product or brand at one time for side-by-side comparison.”

From the manufacturer-supplier side, SEMA Search also promises to quickly familiarize retailers with new products from both fresh and well-established brands.

“It’s very non-partisan,” noted Wyly. “We’re giving the sales people the opportunity to see everything that’s available and make their decisions based on the information provided. Because we’re SEMA, it’s about helping any and every business every way we can.”

More Information

To learn more about the SEMA Data Co-op as well as SEMA Search, visit www.SEMAdatacoop.org online or contact the SDC membership department at 888-958-6698 x4.

---

SEMA Search Quick Facts

What is SEMA Search?
SEMA Search is a web-based search tool designed for use by salespeople in the trade to access product information from the SDC database.

How does it function?
Through a very intuitive interface, it provides users with the ability to search for parts by a variety of criteria, including year/make/model lookups as well as product searches based on types of products, features, engine fitment, brand, material and more.

Why do data suppliers need SEMA Search?
By utilizing the rapidly growing database of parts in the SDC, salespeople can get a broad view of available products in one place, using one consistent lookup tool rather than hopping from site to site trying to gather information on various brands. Users can also perform side-by-side comparisons of products right on the screen and get introduced to products that they might not have considered or known about before. Suppliers benefit from exposure to the entire user base in a completely product- and feature-oriented manner, ensuring that every product that meets the search criteria will be displayed in a comparable way.

How will SDC members benefit?
SEMA Search is yet another practical, business-building use of the product data that is managed and stored in the SDC system. Not only will the products be made visible to an ever-increasing user base of receivers but potentially to consumers as well when the SDC rolls out a public-facing version. Additionally, the development of SEMA Search will be the springboard for connectivity in the form of “content on demand.” This will enable the delivery of rich product data via application programming interfaces and other connectivity without the need for retailers to house massive data files locally.

How will it change the way retail countermen interact with their customers?
Through this single source for the lookup and display of hundreds of brands and millions of parts, retail salespeople will be able to show customers more options than ever more efficiently than ever. No longer will the retail customer’s options be limited by what the counterman is “used to selling” or what he doesn’t know about. SEMA Search provides a total view of all the products in the SDC database, creating new selling opportunities for all involved and giving salespeople the confidence to expand their offerings.

How will the search tool benefit enthusiasts seeking upgrades for their builds?
It’s really all about the data. As the SDC continues to work with suppliers to add rich content to their data, enthusiasts will ultimately get better information in a more timely manner through SEMA Search. No longer will new products languish on warehouse shelves for weeks or months before customers are aware of them. With the SDC and SEMA Search, new products can be loaded today and sold tomorrow.

How will it help the entire supply chain, from manufacturer to end user?
SEMA Search is all about bringing every possible option to the selling arena. Participating suppliers will have equal opportunity to be viewed by industry salespeople and presented to consumers. Salespeople will enjoy instant access to massive amounts of product choices, and consumers will ultimately find the parts that best suite their project, style and budget. Consider SEMA Search to be a parts encyclopedia wrapped in an easy-to-use, intuitive web interface.
 

SEMA News—December 2014

BUSINESS
By Mike Imlay

The Industry’s Data Game-Changer

An Exclusive Progress Report on the SEMA Data Co-op

Perhaps the most exciting news for SDC members is the debut of SEMA Search, a new online tool developed to deliver retailers and counter people in part stores, web businesses and warehouses a one-stop reference for SDC-member products.

When SEMA launched the SEMA Data Co-op (SDC) a little over two years ago, the goal was admittedly ambitious: to revolutionize the way automotive specialty-equipment manufacturers (data suppliers) convey product information to warehouse distributors and resellers (data receivers) for the benefit of all. Now, according to Jon Wyly, the co-op’s CEO, the SDC is delivering thousands of data sets a week, representing millions of part numbers and tens of millions of vehicle applications, through a database that continues to grow by leaps and bounds daily.

In other words, the revolution is on, and the SDC—one of the biggest initiatives to hit the industry in recent years—is fast becoming a game-changer at all levels, right down to the counter person.

“By all indications, we’re making significant progress,” said Wyly. “What’s especially encouraging is that we’re beginning to push the lid off of a perceived glass ceiling that the industry has been dealing with on the numbers of brands available from any one source.”

Experts believe that the number for prior industry repositories hovered around 300. In recent months, the SDC has grown to exceed 360 supplier brands and 450 receivers. Now the effort is on to entice yet more companies and brands into the co-op to build what SEMA hopes to be the industry’s definitive data repository.

Wyly has every reason to believe that goal is well within reach. In fact, he expects the SDC to attain an unprecedented level of industry coverage over the next few years. He noted that SEMA alone has approximately 3,000 manufacturer members, which translates to a couple of thousand brands that his team can recruit into the system.

	Jon Wyly, CEO of the SEMA Data Co-op (SDC), has assembled a handpicked team of industry veterans to grow and take the co-op in exciting new directions, including the launch of SEMA Search.

“Two and a half years ago, the SEMA Data Co-op was me,” Wyly reflected. “We’ve since been able to put together a really good, hand-picked team, which is still growing like crazy. I’m really proud of the group we’ve assembled so far. We’re all about having quality people, experts in their fields, and a good understanding of the automotive business. We want to make sure that everybody understands that the SDC is made up of people who have lived this business.”

That team includes experts dedicated to every facet of growing the co-op. In the system-development realm, SDC Vice President of eBusiness and Internet Technology Bob Castle is an industry veteran who brings extensive experience in e-commerce, data management, business-to-business and business-to-cosumer applications, data distribution and delivery and systems development.

Meanwhile, SDC Director of Membership Jim Graven is spearheading efforts to bring more data suppliers and receivers onboard. His background includes extensive sales, marketing and project-management experience at Reliable Automotive and Arrow Speed Warehouse, where he managed various customer-facing teams, events, media production and end-to-end project organization.

“Our goal over the course of the coming year is to bring all of our development resources in-house,” Wyly said. “This will give us total control of the look, feel and maintenance of the system for users as well as direct control over an ongoing list of enhancements.” He added that the SDC’s ever-growing list of users is providing plenty of suggestions and feedback for such enhancements.

Growing the Co-op

A recent addition to the SDC team, Allen Horwitz is making daily personal contact with potential data suppliers and receivers to expand co-op membership. He said that his role is less about “selling” the people he speaks with and more about educating them.

“We have worked hard to get our information out there, but there are still lots of misconceptions involving what the SDC really is,” he explained. “We’re sometimes confused with SEMA’s Tech Transfer program, which provides vehicle specifications from the OEMs. Another misconception I encounter is that suppliers don’t realize that receivers who are SEMA members are entitled to unlimited data downloads for free as long as they maintain their membership.”

Horwitz noted that there is much enthusiasm for the SDC once such misinformation is overcome. In fact, current co-op members are now going out of their way to suggest other membership leads.

“We have several examples of receivers who have provided us lists of the suppliers that they would like to receive data from through the SDC,” he said. “I also have several receiver contacts who tell me that they’re encouraging suppliers to use the SDC to distribute their data. In addition, I’ve spoken to several suppliers who have been encouraging receivers to sign with the SDC in order to get access to their data.”

The SDC Product Information Management System (PIMS) allows a manufacturer to load a new part into the system and literally distribute its data to warehouse distributors and resellers within hours—helping the company speed its products to market in record time.

Horwitz said that the SDC’s business model goes a long way toward encouraging new manufacturers, warehouse distributors and resellers to join the project.

“As an association whose mission it is to help our members succeed and prosper, we get to focus on our members prospering ahead of the SDC prospering,” he said. “Yes, we do have a fiduciary responsibility to operate the co-op successfully, but we are primarily mission driven, not profit driven. This has a dramatic effect on the way we go to market and represent our services. We’re empowered to make decisions based on the best interests of our members.”

In the end, the SDC’s entire approach has been to build and offer members a tool set that they can use to develop and maintain their data along with its ownership and control.

“With our HelpDesk we walk them through the process step by step, but ultimately they become the experts over their data,” Horwitz said. “The tool set lowers the bar of the complexity of managing these data sets. Our business model of making the data virtually free to receivers also removes a barrier that suppliers might have for distributing their data.”

Forging New Connections

Beyond disseminating data to existing customers, however, the SDC is also proving to be an important tool for expanding business, affording manufacturers new opportunities to reach warehouse distributors and resellers that they might not previously have dealt with.

“Once suppliers are in our system, they can go through it and view our receiver list almost like a lead list,” explained Wyly. “They can then message receivers through the system and see if they’re interested in doing business. Receivers can likewise identify and connect with brands they wish to do business with. We’re literally making introductions back and forth within the system. As complicated as the technology is behind this thing, the business model is very simple and straightforward.”

Improving the industry’s overall data quality has also been an SDC goal from the start. The co-op has developed a tiered program to assist manufacturer-suppliers in reaching specific levels of data quality, labeled bronze, silver, gold and platinum. The higher the data quality, the more attractive brands become to large resellers—especially outfits such as Summit, Amazon and auto-parts chains with extremely demanding data requirements.

“One of our most significant recent developments is that more than 254 brands have gone through our onboarding process at DataAgility, our outsource for HelpDesk services, and have achieved our bronze level of data compliance,” said Wyly. “That’s our introductory, usable data set for most e-business systems, whether they be for the web, retailing or warehousing. Our goal is to continually work one on one with manufacturers and help them ultimately rise to platinum standards.”

Wyly noted that it’s not unusual for a manufacturer to come into the SDC with a list of current customers for its data while simultaneously setting its sights on data-intense resellers such as Amazon.

“We can show manufacturers in our system exactly what Amazon’s requirements are and help them get to those requirements,” Wyly pointed out. “The manufacturers won’t be guessing how to satisfy their needs. We know what their needs are.”

Wyly conceded that there can be a fair amount of initial work gathering, standardizing and validating product data for manufacturers new to the SDC concept. However, once they clear that hurdle and complete their main data set, ongoing maintenance is simple.

“That’s the beauty of our Product Information Management System [PIMS],” he explained. “It’s a custom-built technology that we designed from scratch. It’s the only one like it anywhere. It’s designed for the manufacturer-suppliers to be able to log into the system and manage their product information right there 24/7, 365 days a year.”

The SDC includes an extremely intuitive interface. Once suppliers learn the system, they have total, continued control over their data. They can make changes and adjustments on the fly and even upload large collections of additional data via FTP or directly into the system. According to Wyly, this yields unprecedented speed to market.

“With other systems currently out there, it’s not unusual to take 30 to 60 days to get new data into the marketplace,” he said. “With our PIMS, a manufacturer can literally load a new part into the system and—if it passes through our validation—that product data is being distributed out to customers that very same day, literally within hours.”

Moreover, the SDC data mechanisms deliver every supplier the same capabilities without discrimination. The system works just as well for a small supplier with 10 part numbers as it does for a big manufacturer with tens of thousands.

Enter SEMA Search

	Launched just over two years ago, the SDC is fast becoming a game-changer in the way the specialty-equipment industry exchanges product data. With more than 360 data suppliers and more than 450 data receivers, the SDC system is now poised to grow beyond “critical mass.”

Perhaps the most exciting news for SDC members, however, is the recent construction of SEMA Search, a new tool developed to deliver retailers and counter people in part stores, web businesses and warehouses a one-stop reference for SDC-member products. It’s a sort of electronic catalog for the specialty-equipment trade that users can search by brand, part number, product category, product attributes,application and more.

“When you’re sitting on a data repository of the size and scope of what we’re building, any good business person is going to sit down and brainstorm further uses for the data,” said Wyly of SEMA Search’s development. “The question for us was what we could do with this data to further help the industry along. How do we help people sell more parts?”

Unveiled at the recent 2014 SEMA Show, SEMA Search is initially designed for trade use only, although a consumer-facing version is also planned eventually (see the “SEMA Search Quick Facts” sidebar). Every new product entered into the SDC repository will also appear at SEMA Search free of charge. All a manufacturer has to do to be visible in SEMA Search is join the SDC and manage its data just as more than 300 other brands have already chosen to do.

“SEMA Search offers a great data set for counter people to pull from with a very easy-to-use, intuitive interface,” said Wyly. “If you think about the counter person, he’s having people walk up all day long and ask for items, not necessarily brands.”

In this scenario, a knowledgeable counter person likely has some brands in his head that he favors. He may then go to a couple of WD data systems to look up those brand offerings. In addition, he might go to two or three manufacturer websites to show the customer a few more choices as well. Unfortunately for the counter person, each of those multiple sources often operates a bit differently.

“It doesn’t take long for that to add up to a lot of work,” Wyly said. “As a counter guy, you end up having to be very proficient at navigating a wide variety of websites trying to dig out the information to answer a consumer’s question. Our goal is to take all the data that we have aggregated in one place and provide one place for this guy to go to get information on any product or brand at one time for side-by-side comparison.”

From the manufacturer-supplier side, SEMA Search also promises to quickly familiarize retailers with new products from both fresh and well-established brands.

“It’s very non-partisan,” noted Wyly. “We’re giving the sales people the opportunity to see everything that’s available and make their decisions based on the information provided. Because we’re SEMA, it’s about helping any and every business every way we can.”

More Information

To learn more about the SEMA Data Co-op as well as SEMA Search, visit www.SEMAdatacoop.org online or contact the SDC membership department at 888-958-6698 x4.

---

SEMA Search Quick Facts

What is SEMA Search?
SEMA Search is a web-based search tool designed for use by salespeople in the trade to access product information from the SDC database.

How does it function?
Through a very intuitive interface, it provides users with the ability to search for parts by a variety of criteria, including year/make/model lookups as well as product searches based on types of products, features, engine fitment, brand, material and more.

Why do data suppliers need SEMA Search?
By utilizing the rapidly growing database of parts in the SDC, salespeople can get a broad view of available products in one place, using one consistent lookup tool rather than hopping from site to site trying to gather information on various brands. Users can also perform side-by-side comparisons of products right on the screen and get introduced to products that they might not have considered or known about before. Suppliers benefit from exposure to the entire user base in a completely product- and feature-oriented manner, ensuring that every product that meets the search criteria will be displayed in a comparable way.

How will SDC members benefit?
SEMA Search is yet another practical, business-building use of the product data that is managed and stored in the SDC system. Not only will the products be made visible to an ever-increasing user base of receivers but potentially to consumers as well when the SDC rolls out a public-facing version. Additionally, the development of SEMA Search will be the springboard for connectivity in the form of “content on demand.” This will enable the delivery of rich product data via application programming interfaces and other connectivity without the need for retailers to house massive data files locally.

How will it change the way retail countermen interact with their customers?
Through this single source for the lookup and display of hundreds of brands and millions of parts, retail salespeople will be able to show customers more options than ever more efficiently than ever. No longer will the retail customer’s options be limited by what the counterman is “used to selling” or what he doesn’t know about. SEMA Search provides a total view of all the products in the SDC database, creating new selling opportunities for all involved and giving salespeople the confidence to expand their offerings.

How will the search tool benefit enthusiasts seeking upgrades for their builds?
It’s really all about the data. As the SDC continues to work with suppliers to add rich content to their data, enthusiasts will ultimately get better information in a more timely manner through SEMA Search. No longer will new products languish on warehouse shelves for weeks or months before customers are aware of them. With the SDC and SEMA Search, new products can be loaded today and sold tomorrow.

How will it help the entire supply chain, from manufacturer to end user?
SEMA Search is all about bringing every possible option to the selling arena. Participating suppliers will have equal opportunity to be viewed by industry salespeople and presented to consumers. Salespeople will enjoy instant access to massive amounts of product choices, and consumers will ultimately find the parts that best suite their project, style and budget. Consider SEMA Search to be a parts encyclopedia wrapped in an easy-to-use, intuitive web interface.
 

SEMA News—December 2014

BUSINESS
By Mike Imlay

The Industry’s Data Game-Changer

An Exclusive Progress Report on the SEMA Data Co-op

Perhaps the most exciting news for SDC members is the debut of SEMA Search, a new online tool developed to deliver retailers and counter people in part stores, web businesses and warehouses a one-stop reference for SDC-member products.

When SEMA launched the SEMA Data Co-op (SDC) a little over two years ago, the goal was admittedly ambitious: to revolutionize the way automotive specialty-equipment manufacturers (data suppliers) convey product information to warehouse distributors and resellers (data receivers) for the benefit of all. Now, according to Jon Wyly, the co-op’s CEO, the SDC is delivering thousands of data sets a week, representing millions of part numbers and tens of millions of vehicle applications, through a database that continues to grow by leaps and bounds daily.

In other words, the revolution is on, and the SDC—one of the biggest initiatives to hit the industry in recent years—is fast becoming a game-changer at all levels, right down to the counter person.

“By all indications, we’re making significant progress,” said Wyly. “What’s especially encouraging is that we’re beginning to push the lid off of a perceived glass ceiling that the industry has been dealing with on the numbers of brands available from any one source.”

Experts believe that the number for prior industry repositories hovered around 300. In recent months, the SDC has grown to exceed 360 supplier brands and 450 receivers. Now the effort is on to entice yet more companies and brands into the co-op to build what SEMA hopes to be the industry’s definitive data repository.

Wyly has every reason to believe that goal is well within reach. In fact, he expects the SDC to attain an unprecedented level of industry coverage over the next few years. He noted that SEMA alone has approximately 3,000 manufacturer members, which translates to a couple of thousand brands that his team can recruit into the system.

	Jon Wyly, CEO of the SEMA Data Co-op (SDC), has assembled a handpicked team of industry veterans to grow and take the co-op in exciting new directions, including the launch of SEMA Search.

“Two and a half years ago, the SEMA Data Co-op was me,” Wyly reflected. “We’ve since been able to put together a really good, hand-picked team, which is still growing like crazy. I’m really proud of the group we’ve assembled so far. We’re all about having quality people, experts in their fields, and a good understanding of the automotive business. We want to make sure that everybody understands that the SDC is made up of people who have lived this business.”

That team includes experts dedicated to every facet of growing the co-op. In the system-development realm, SDC Vice President of eBusiness and Internet Technology Bob Castle is an industry veteran who brings extensive experience in e-commerce, data management, business-to-business and business-to-cosumer applications, data distribution and delivery and systems development.

Meanwhile, SDC Director of Membership Jim Graven is spearheading efforts to bring more data suppliers and receivers onboard. His background includes extensive sales, marketing and project-management experience at Reliable Automotive and Arrow Speed Warehouse, where he managed various customer-facing teams, events, media production and end-to-end project organization.

“Our goal over the course of the coming year is to bring all of our development resources in-house,” Wyly said. “This will give us total control of the look, feel and maintenance of the system for users as well as direct control over an ongoing list of enhancements.” He added that the SDC’s ever-growing list of users is providing plenty of suggestions and feedback for such enhancements.

Growing the Co-op

A recent addition to the SDC team, Allen Horwitz is making daily personal contact with potential data suppliers and receivers to expand co-op membership. He said that his role is less about “selling” the people he speaks with and more about educating them.

“We have worked hard to get our information out there, but there are still lots of misconceptions involving what the SDC really is,” he explained. “We’re sometimes confused with SEMA’s Tech Transfer program, which provides vehicle specifications from the OEMs. Another misconception I encounter is that suppliers don’t realize that receivers who are SEMA members are entitled to unlimited data downloads for free as long as they maintain their membership.”

Horwitz noted that there is much enthusiasm for the SDC once such misinformation is overcome. In fact, current co-op members are now going out of their way to suggest other membership leads.

“We have several examples of receivers who have provided us lists of the suppliers that they would like to receive data from through the SDC,” he said. “I also have several receiver contacts who tell me that they’re encouraging suppliers to use the SDC to distribute their data. In addition, I’ve spoken to several suppliers who have been encouraging receivers to sign with the SDC in order to get access to their data.”

The SDC Product Information Management System (PIMS) allows a manufacturer to load a new part into the system and literally distribute its data to warehouse distributors and resellers within hours—helping the company speed its products to market in record time.

Horwitz said that the SDC’s business model goes a long way toward encouraging new manufacturers, warehouse distributors and resellers to join the project.

“As an association whose mission it is to help our members succeed and prosper, we get to focus on our members prospering ahead of the SDC prospering,” he said. “Yes, we do have a fiduciary responsibility to operate the co-op successfully, but we are primarily mission driven, not profit driven. This has a dramatic effect on the way we go to market and represent our services. We’re empowered to make decisions based on the best interests of our members.”

In the end, the SDC’s entire approach has been to build and offer members a tool set that they can use to develop and maintain their data along with its ownership and control.

“With our HelpDesk we walk them through the process step by step, but ultimately they become the experts over their data,” Horwitz said. “The tool set lowers the bar of the complexity of managing these data sets. Our business model of making the data virtually free to receivers also removes a barrier that suppliers might have for distributing their data.”

Forging New Connections

Beyond disseminating data to existing customers, however, the SDC is also proving to be an important tool for expanding business, affording manufacturers new opportunities to reach warehouse distributors and resellers that they might not previously have dealt with.

“Once suppliers are in our system, they can go through it and view our receiver list almost like a lead list,” explained Wyly. “They can then message receivers through the system and see if they’re interested in doing business. Receivers can likewise identify and connect with brands they wish to do business with. We’re literally making introductions back and forth within the system. As complicated as the technology is behind this thing, the business model is very simple and straightforward.”

Improving the industry’s overall data quality has also been an SDC goal from the start. The co-op has developed a tiered program to assist manufacturer-suppliers in reaching specific levels of data quality, labeled bronze, silver, gold and platinum. The higher the data quality, the more attractive brands become to large resellers—especially outfits such as Summit, Amazon and auto-parts chains with extremely demanding data requirements.

“One of our most significant recent developments is that more than 254 brands have gone through our onboarding process at DataAgility, our outsource for HelpDesk services, and have achieved our bronze level of data compliance,” said Wyly. “That’s our introductory, usable data set for most e-business systems, whether they be for the web, retailing or warehousing. Our goal is to continually work one on one with manufacturers and help them ultimately rise to platinum standards.”

Wyly noted that it’s not unusual for a manufacturer to come into the SDC with a list of current customers for its data while simultaneously setting its sights on data-intense resellers such as Amazon.

“We can show manufacturers in our system exactly what Amazon’s requirements are and help them get to those requirements,” Wyly pointed out. “The manufacturers won’t be guessing how to satisfy their needs. We know what their needs are.”

Wyly conceded that there can be a fair amount of initial work gathering, standardizing and validating product data for manufacturers new to the SDC concept. However, once they clear that hurdle and complete their main data set, ongoing maintenance is simple.

“That’s the beauty of our Product Information Management System [PIMS],” he explained. “It’s a custom-built technology that we designed from scratch. It’s the only one like it anywhere. It’s designed for the manufacturer-suppliers to be able to log into the system and manage their product information right there 24/7, 365 days a year.”

The SDC includes an extremely intuitive interface. Once suppliers learn the system, they have total, continued control over their data. They can make changes and adjustments on the fly and even upload large collections of additional data via FTP or directly into the system. According to Wyly, this yields unprecedented speed to market.

“With other systems currently out there, it’s not unusual to take 30 to 60 days to get new data into the marketplace,” he said. “With our PIMS, a manufacturer can literally load a new part into the system and—if it passes through our validation—that product data is being distributed out to customers that very same day, literally within hours.”

Moreover, the SDC data mechanisms deliver every supplier the same capabilities without discrimination. The system works just as well for a small supplier with 10 part numbers as it does for a big manufacturer with tens of thousands.

Enter SEMA Search

	Launched just over two years ago, the SDC is fast becoming a game-changer in the way the specialty-equipment industry exchanges product data. With more than 360 data suppliers and more than 450 data receivers, the SDC system is now poised to grow beyond “critical mass.”

Perhaps the most exciting news for SDC members, however, is the recent construction of SEMA Search, a new tool developed to deliver retailers and counter people in part stores, web businesses and warehouses a one-stop reference for SDC-member products. It’s a sort of electronic catalog for the specialty-equipment trade that users can search by brand, part number, product category, product attributes,application and more.

“When you’re sitting on a data repository of the size and scope of what we’re building, any good business person is going to sit down and brainstorm further uses for the data,” said Wyly of SEMA Search’s development. “The question for us was what we could do with this data to further help the industry along. How do we help people sell more parts?”

Unveiled at the recent 2014 SEMA Show, SEMA Search is initially designed for trade use only, although a consumer-facing version is also planned eventually (see the “SEMA Search Quick Facts” sidebar). Every new product entered into the SDC repository will also appear at SEMA Search free of charge. All a manufacturer has to do to be visible in SEMA Search is join the SDC and manage its data just as more than 300 other brands have already chosen to do.

“SEMA Search offers a great data set for counter people to pull from with a very easy-to-use, intuitive interface,” said Wyly. “If you think about the counter person, he’s having people walk up all day long and ask for items, not necessarily brands.”

In this scenario, a knowledgeable counter person likely has some brands in his head that he favors. He may then go to a couple of WD data systems to look up those brand offerings. In addition, he might go to two or three manufacturer websites to show the customer a few more choices as well. Unfortunately for the counter person, each of those multiple sources often operates a bit differently.

“It doesn’t take long for that to add up to a lot of work,” Wyly said. “As a counter guy, you end up having to be very proficient at navigating a wide variety of websites trying to dig out the information to answer a consumer’s question. Our goal is to take all the data that we have aggregated in one place and provide one place for this guy to go to get information on any product or brand at one time for side-by-side comparison.”

From the manufacturer-supplier side, SEMA Search also promises to quickly familiarize retailers with new products from both fresh and well-established brands.

“It’s very non-partisan,” noted Wyly. “We’re giving the sales people the opportunity to see everything that’s available and make their decisions based on the information provided. Because we’re SEMA, it’s about helping any and every business every way we can.”

More Information

To learn more about the SEMA Data Co-op as well as SEMA Search, visit www.SEMAdatacoop.org online or contact the SDC membership department at 888-958-6698 x4.

---

SEMA Search Quick Facts

What is SEMA Search?
SEMA Search is a web-based search tool designed for use by salespeople in the trade to access product information from the SDC database.

How does it function?
Through a very intuitive interface, it provides users with the ability to search for parts by a variety of criteria, including year/make/model lookups as well as product searches based on types of products, features, engine fitment, brand, material and more.

Why do data suppliers need SEMA Search?
By utilizing the rapidly growing database of parts in the SDC, salespeople can get a broad view of available products in one place, using one consistent lookup tool rather than hopping from site to site trying to gather information on various brands. Users can also perform side-by-side comparisons of products right on the screen and get introduced to products that they might not have considered or known about before. Suppliers benefit from exposure to the entire user base in a completely product- and feature-oriented manner, ensuring that every product that meets the search criteria will be displayed in a comparable way.

How will SDC members benefit?
SEMA Search is yet another practical, business-building use of the product data that is managed and stored in the SDC system. Not only will the products be made visible to an ever-increasing user base of receivers but potentially to consumers as well when the SDC rolls out a public-facing version. Additionally, the development of SEMA Search will be the springboard for connectivity in the form of “content on demand.” This will enable the delivery of rich product data via application programming interfaces and other connectivity without the need for retailers to house massive data files locally.

How will it change the way retail countermen interact with their customers?
Through this single source for the lookup and display of hundreds of brands and millions of parts, retail salespeople will be able to show customers more options than ever more efficiently than ever. No longer will the retail customer’s options be limited by what the counterman is “used to selling” or what he doesn’t know about. SEMA Search provides a total view of all the products in the SDC database, creating new selling opportunities for all involved and giving salespeople the confidence to expand their offerings.

How will the search tool benefit enthusiasts seeking upgrades for their builds?
It’s really all about the data. As the SDC continues to work with suppliers to add rich content to their data, enthusiasts will ultimately get better information in a more timely manner through SEMA Search. No longer will new products languish on warehouse shelves for weeks or months before customers are aware of them. With the SDC and SEMA Search, new products can be loaded today and sold tomorrow.

How will it help the entire supply chain, from manufacturer to end user?
SEMA Search is all about bringing every possible option to the selling arena. Participating suppliers will have equal opportunity to be viewed by industry salespeople and presented to consumers. Salespeople will enjoy instant access to massive amounts of product choices, and consumers will ultimately find the parts that best suite their project, style and budget. Consider SEMA Search to be a parts encyclopedia wrapped in an easy-to-use, intuitive web interface.
 

SEMA News—December 2014

BUSINESS
By Mike Imlay

The Industry’s Data Game-Changer

An Exclusive Progress Report on the SEMA Data Co-op

Perhaps the most exciting news for SDC members is the debut of SEMA Search, a new online tool developed to deliver retailers and counter people in part stores, web businesses and warehouses a one-stop reference for SDC-member products.

When SEMA launched the SEMA Data Co-op (SDC) a little over two years ago, the goal was admittedly ambitious: to revolutionize the way automotive specialty-equipment manufacturers (data suppliers) convey product information to warehouse distributors and resellers (data receivers) for the benefit of all. Now, according to Jon Wyly, the co-op’s CEO, the SDC is delivering thousands of data sets a week, representing millions of part numbers and tens of millions of vehicle applications, through a database that continues to grow by leaps and bounds daily.

In other words, the revolution is on, and the SDC—one of the biggest initiatives to hit the industry in recent years—is fast becoming a game-changer at all levels, right down to the counter person.

“By all indications, we’re making significant progress,” said Wyly. “What’s especially encouraging is that we’re beginning to push the lid off of a perceived glass ceiling that the industry has been dealing with on the numbers of brands available from any one source.”

Experts believe that the number for prior industry repositories hovered around 300. In recent months, the SDC has grown to exceed 360 supplier brands and 450 receivers. Now the effort is on to entice yet more companies and brands into the co-op to build what SEMA hopes to be the industry’s definitive data repository.

Wyly has every reason to believe that goal is well within reach. In fact, he expects the SDC to attain an unprecedented level of industry coverage over the next few years. He noted that SEMA alone has approximately 3,000 manufacturer members, which translates to a couple of thousand brands that his team can recruit into the system.

	Jon Wyly, CEO of the SEMA Data Co-op (SDC), has assembled a handpicked team of industry veterans to grow and take the co-op in exciting new directions, including the launch of SEMA Search.

“Two and a half years ago, the SEMA Data Co-op was me,” Wyly reflected. “We’ve since been able to put together a really good, hand-picked team, which is still growing like crazy. I’m really proud of the group we’ve assembled so far. We’re all about having quality people, experts in their fields, and a good understanding of the automotive business. We want to make sure that everybody understands that the SDC is made up of people who have lived this business.”

That team includes experts dedicated to every facet of growing the co-op. In the system-development realm, SDC Vice President of eBusiness and Internet Technology Bob Castle is an industry veteran who brings extensive experience in e-commerce, data management, business-to-business and business-to-cosumer applications, data distribution and delivery and systems development.

Meanwhile, SDC Director of Membership Jim Graven is spearheading efforts to bring more data suppliers and receivers onboard. His background includes extensive sales, marketing and project-management experience at Reliable Automotive and Arrow Speed Warehouse, where he managed various customer-facing teams, events, media production and end-to-end project organization.

“Our goal over the course of the coming year is to bring all of our development resources in-house,” Wyly said. “This will give us total control of the look, feel and maintenance of the system for users as well as direct control over an ongoing list of enhancements.” He added that the SDC’s ever-growing list of users is providing plenty of suggestions and feedback for such enhancements.

Growing the Co-op

A recent addition to the SDC team, Allen Horwitz is making daily personal contact with potential data suppliers and receivers to expand co-op membership. He said that his role is less about “selling” the people he speaks with and more about educating them.

“We have worked hard to get our information out there, but there are still lots of misconceptions involving what the SDC really is,” he explained. “We’re sometimes confused with SEMA’s Tech Transfer program, which provides vehicle specifications from the OEMs. Another misconception I encounter is that suppliers don’t realize that receivers who are SEMA members are entitled to unlimited data downloads for free as long as they maintain their membership.”

Horwitz noted that there is much enthusiasm for the SDC once such misinformation is overcome. In fact, current co-op members are now going out of their way to suggest other membership leads.

“We have several examples of receivers who have provided us lists of the suppliers that they would like to receive data from through the SDC,” he said. “I also have several receiver contacts who tell me that they’re encouraging suppliers to use the SDC to distribute their data. In addition, I’ve spoken to several suppliers who have been encouraging receivers to sign with the SDC in order to get access to their data.”

The SDC Product Information Management System (PIMS) allows a manufacturer to load a new part into the system and literally distribute its data to warehouse distributors and resellers within hours—helping the company speed its products to market in record time.

Horwitz said that the SDC’s business model goes a long way toward encouraging new manufacturers, warehouse distributors and resellers to join the project.

“As an association whose mission it is to help our members succeed and prosper, we get to focus on our members prospering ahead of the SDC prospering,” he said. “Yes, we do have a fiduciary responsibility to operate the co-op successfully, but we are primarily mission driven, not profit driven. This has a dramatic effect on the way we go to market and represent our services. We’re empowered to make decisions based on the best interests of our members.”

In the end, the SDC’s entire approach has been to build and offer members a tool set that they can use to develop and maintain their data along with its ownership and control.

“With our HelpDesk we walk them through the process step by step, but ultimately they become the experts over their data,” Horwitz said. “The tool set lowers the bar of the complexity of managing these data sets. Our business model of making the data virtually free to receivers also removes a barrier that suppliers might have for distributing their data.”

Forging New Connections

Beyond disseminating data to existing customers, however, the SDC is also proving to be an important tool for expanding business, affording manufacturers new opportunities to reach warehouse distributors and resellers that they might not previously have dealt with.

“Once suppliers are in our system, they can go through it and view our receiver list almost like a lead list,” explained Wyly. “They can then message receivers through the system and see if they’re interested in doing business. Receivers can likewise identify and connect with brands they wish to do business with. We’re literally making introductions back and forth within the system. As complicated as the technology is behind this thing, the business model is very simple and straightforward.”

Improving the industry’s overall data quality has also been an SDC goal from the start. The co-op has developed a tiered program to assist manufacturer-suppliers in reaching specific levels of data quality, labeled bronze, silver, gold and platinum. The higher the data quality, the more attractive brands become to large resellers—especially outfits such as Summit, Amazon and auto-parts chains with extremely demanding data requirements.

“One of our most significant recent developments is that more than 254 brands have gone through our onboarding process at DataAgility, our outsource for HelpDesk services, and have achieved our bronze level of data compliance,” said Wyly. “That’s our introductory, usable data set for most e-business systems, whether they be for the web, retailing or warehousing. Our goal is to continually work one on one with manufacturers and help them ultimately rise to platinum standards.”

Wyly noted that it’s not unusual for a manufacturer to come into the SDC with a list of current customers for its data while simultaneously setting its sights on data-intense resellers such as Amazon.

“We can show manufacturers in our system exactly what Amazon’s requirements are and help them get to those requirements,” Wyly pointed out. “The manufacturers won’t be guessing how to satisfy their needs. We know what their needs are.”

Wyly conceded that there can be a fair amount of initial work gathering, standardizing and validating product data for manufacturers new to the SDC concept. However, once they clear that hurdle and complete their main data set, ongoing maintenance is simple.

“That’s the beauty of our Product Information Management System [PIMS],” he explained. “It’s a custom-built technology that we designed from scratch. It’s the only one like it anywhere. It’s designed for the manufacturer-suppliers to be able to log into the system and manage their product information right there 24/7, 365 days a year.”

The SDC includes an extremely intuitive interface. Once suppliers learn the system, they have total, continued control over their data. They can make changes and adjustments on the fly and even upload large collections of additional data via FTP or directly into the system. According to Wyly, this yields unprecedented speed to market.

“With other systems currently out there, it’s not unusual to take 30 to 60 days to get new data into the marketplace,” he said. “With our PIMS, a manufacturer can literally load a new part into the system and—if it passes through our validation—that product data is being distributed out to customers that very same day, literally within hours.”

Moreover, the SDC data mechanisms deliver every supplier the same capabilities without discrimination. The system works just as well for a small supplier with 10 part numbers as it does for a big manufacturer with tens of thousands.

Enter SEMA Search

	Launched just over two years ago, the SDC is fast becoming a game-changer in the way the specialty-equipment industry exchanges product data. With more than 360 data suppliers and more than 450 data receivers, the SDC system is now poised to grow beyond “critical mass.”

Perhaps the most exciting news for SDC members, however, is the recent construction of SEMA Search, a new tool developed to deliver retailers and counter people in part stores, web businesses and warehouses a one-stop reference for SDC-member products. It’s a sort of electronic catalog for the specialty-equipment trade that users can search by brand, part number, product category, product attributes,application and more.

“When you’re sitting on a data repository of the size and scope of what we’re building, any good business person is going to sit down and brainstorm further uses for the data,” said Wyly of SEMA Search’s development. “The question for us was what we could do with this data to further help the industry along. How do we help people sell more parts?”

Unveiled at the recent 2014 SEMA Show, SEMA Search is initially designed for trade use only, although a consumer-facing version is also planned eventually (see the “SEMA Search Quick Facts” sidebar). Every new product entered into the SDC repository will also appear at SEMA Search free of charge. All a manufacturer has to do to be visible in SEMA Search is join the SDC and manage its data just as more than 300 other brands have already chosen to do.

“SEMA Search offers a great data set for counter people to pull from with a very easy-to-use, intuitive interface,” said Wyly. “If you think about the counter person, he’s having people walk up all day long and ask for items, not necessarily brands.”

In this scenario, a knowledgeable counter person likely has some brands in his head that he favors. He may then go to a couple of WD data systems to look up those brand offerings. In addition, he might go to two or three manufacturer websites to show the customer a few more choices as well. Unfortunately for the counter person, each of those multiple sources often operates a bit differently.

“It doesn’t take long for that to add up to a lot of work,” Wyly said. “As a counter guy, you end up having to be very proficient at navigating a wide variety of websites trying to dig out the information to answer a consumer’s question. Our goal is to take all the data that we have aggregated in one place and provide one place for this guy to go to get information on any product or brand at one time for side-by-side comparison.”

From the manufacturer-supplier side, SEMA Search also promises to quickly familiarize retailers with new products from both fresh and well-established brands.

“It’s very non-partisan,” noted Wyly. “We’re giving the sales people the opportunity to see everything that’s available and make their decisions based on the information provided. Because we’re SEMA, it’s about helping any and every business every way we can.”

More Information

To learn more about the SEMA Data Co-op as well as SEMA Search, visit www.SEMAdatacoop.org online or contact the SDC membership department at 888-958-6698 x4.

---

SEMA Search Quick Facts

What is SEMA Search?
SEMA Search is a web-based search tool designed for use by salespeople in the trade to access product information from the SDC database.

How does it function?
Through a very intuitive interface, it provides users with the ability to search for parts by a variety of criteria, including year/make/model lookups as well as product searches based on types of products, features, engine fitment, brand, material and more.

Why do data suppliers need SEMA Search?
By utilizing the rapidly growing database of parts in the SDC, salespeople can get a broad view of available products in one place, using one consistent lookup tool rather than hopping from site to site trying to gather information on various brands. Users can also perform side-by-side comparisons of products right on the screen and get introduced to products that they might not have considered or known about before. Suppliers benefit from exposure to the entire user base in a completely product- and feature-oriented manner, ensuring that every product that meets the search criteria will be displayed in a comparable way.

How will SDC members benefit?
SEMA Search is yet another practical, business-building use of the product data that is managed and stored in the SDC system. Not only will the products be made visible to an ever-increasing user base of receivers but potentially to consumers as well when the SDC rolls out a public-facing version. Additionally, the development of SEMA Search will be the springboard for connectivity in the form of “content on demand.” This will enable the delivery of rich product data via application programming interfaces and other connectivity without the need for retailers to house massive data files locally.

How will it change the way retail countermen interact with their customers?
Through this single source for the lookup and display of hundreds of brands and millions of parts, retail salespeople will be able to show customers more options than ever more efficiently than ever. No longer will the retail customer’s options be limited by what the counterman is “used to selling” or what he doesn’t know about. SEMA Search provides a total view of all the products in the SDC database, creating new selling opportunities for all involved and giving salespeople the confidence to expand their offerings.

How will the search tool benefit enthusiasts seeking upgrades for their builds?
It’s really all about the data. As the SDC continues to work with suppliers to add rich content to their data, enthusiasts will ultimately get better information in a more timely manner through SEMA Search. No longer will new products languish on warehouse shelves for weeks or months before customers are aware of them. With the SDC and SEMA Search, new products can be loaded today and sold tomorrow.

How will it help the entire supply chain, from manufacturer to end user?
SEMA Search is all about bringing every possible option to the selling arena. Participating suppliers will have equal opportunity to be viewed by industry salespeople and presented to consumers. Salespeople will enjoy instant access to massive amounts of product choices, and consumers will ultimately find the parts that best suite their project, style and budget. Consider SEMA Search to be a parts encyclopedia wrapped in an easy-to-use, intuitive web interface.