By Ashley Reyes
When Design Engineering Inc. (DEI), a manufacturer of high-performance heat and sound control solutions, joined SEMA Data in 2024, the team faced a familiar problem. After three decades in business, they had plenty of product information, but it was inconsistent, incomplete and not aligned with current industry standards. One year later, DEI earned a SEMA Data Excellence Award at the Platinum level, which recognizes manufacturers that deliver complete, accurate and reliable product information to resellers across the SEMA Data network.
For DEI, the award is not just a technical milestone; it's a business win that makes it easier for customers and partners to do business with them.
Journey to Excellence
After 30 years in business, DEI had plenty of product data, but much of it was inconsistent and incomplete. The biggest challenge was identifying the gaps and aligning with new industry standards.
Jason Pokines, data assets specialist at DEI, credits SEMA Data's tools for making the process manageable. The SEMA Data Scorecard inside the Product Information Management System (PIMS) with its "Fix-It" report, highlighted missing fields. PartsHub simplified imports and exports of Excel load sheets for quick updates.
The SEMA Data Scorecard is a tool that measures the quality and completeness of product and technical data shared by manufacturers. Those with Gold and Platinum scores are distinguished as having achieved "Data Excellence." DEI achieved Platinum.
For Pokines, progress came step by step. "There's an old saying that the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. These tools gave us the eyes to see and the teeth to bite," he said.
Quality Data, Quality Results
Achieving Data Excellence is more than just a win for the data team. For Brad Bricker, vice president of sales and marketing at DEI, Data excellence benefits the entire business and, ultimately, their customers.
"Having complete data makes doing business with DEI that much easier," he said. "Whether we are dealing with a new customer that needs to load the entire line or we need to get new product information out to our existing account base, everything our customers need is in one place with easy access."
"Our customers have hundreds, if not thousands, of vendors they do business with, and our goal is to make doing business with DEI hassle-free. Having accurate and updated data is a big part of that. Many of our customers give us a very high rating when it comes to data, and we are typically well above their average vendor rating."
Support That Feels Like Partnership
One of the benefits of joining SEMA Data is that members gain access to a team of data experts who guide them through the data management process. Pokines cited SEMA Data's ongoing trainings and web conferences as key resources for him to ask questions, hear others' questions and get immediate feedback. Outside of those opportunities, SEMA Data's chat window and Pokines' ability to submit a ticket in the customer portal helps DEI escalate visibility.
"Team member Jason Kemmerer has helped me so quickly and with such understanding that he's been more like a remote coworker than a support specialist," said Pokines. "I've thrown a few tickets to Richard Nemcek when I have a partner who needs access or training. Not once have any of them needed additional help after that. That's what I call taking care of business."
Advice for Fellow Manufacturers
For manufacturers looking to achieve Data Excellence, Pokines' advice is simple: "Just do it. Take the time to make it right. Quality work doesn't just solve problems, it prevents them."
Get In Touch
SEMA Data is the leading provider of standardized product data with more than 650 brands, a collective inventory of more than 4.5 million parts and an active network for more than 4,750 resellers. It serves as the central hub for product information in the specialty-automotive market, supplying manufacturers and resellers with continuing education regarding evolving product data standards, a comprehensive set of online data management tools and a full team of product data experts to support them through the data management process.
For more information, visit www.semadata.org or meet the SEMA Data team at the 2025 SEMA Show, November 4-7, Las Vegas, in Central Hall, 2nd Floor, booth #20678.
