The traditional solution for many companies has been to hire a professional photographer who not only has the time but the skills to produce quality images. But that can be daunting for a small, midsize or start-up manufacturer with limited resources. And, left with the prospect of creating their own images in-house, many businesses simply freeze up.

“The term ‘rich data’ can feel scary—even ‘product photography’ can feel scary,” acknowledged Colin Frost, strategy consultant for Fenix Consulting, which assists aftermarket companies in developing successful web and print strategies. “A scene of vast rolling paper, white rooms and expensive photography equipment are often what come to mind. But those are fears of yesterday. Today, you can capture beautiful images with most smartphones.”

EnerSys introduces its new line of Odyssey Battery portable chargers. With automatic six-stage charging, the chargers facilitate full and proper charging. Charger safety features include spark-free connections as well as built-in over-voltage, overload, over-temperature, reverse polarity and ignition protection. The all-digital power-charging platform is packaged in a rugged housing of extruded aluminum, providing weatherproof protection. A user-friendly interface with an innovative LED battery-charge monitor provides users with a relative charge level status at a glance during operation.

Blue Sea Systems bus bars now available at Del City. These engineered products are designed, tested, and built to meet the stringent requirements of the boating, emergency and commercial vehicle industries. Single power inputs can be re-distributed across the entire bar so that multiple output connections can be added. Select from a variety of single- and dual-bus bars, ranging from 100A to 1,000A. Battery terminal-mount bus bars (both positive and negative) can be easily added to a threaded-post battery terminal.

https://www.sema.org/sema-news/2015/12/new-products-december-2015

EnerSys introduces its new line of Odyssey Battery portable chargers. With automatic six-stage charging, the chargers facilitate full and proper charging. Charger safety features include spark-free connections as well as built-in over-voltage, overload, over-temperature, reverse polarity and ignition protection. The all-digital power-charging platform is packaged in a rugged housing of extruded aluminum, providing weatherproof protection. A user-friendly interface with an innovative LED battery-charge monitor provides users with a relative charge level status at a glance during operation.

Blue Sea Systems bus bars now available at Del City. These engineered products are designed, tested, and built to meet the stringent requirements of the boating, emergency and commercial vehicle industries. Single power inputs can be re-distributed across the entire bar so that multiple output connections can be added. Select from a variety of single- and dual-bus bars, ranging from 100A to 1,000A. Battery terminal-mount bus bars (both positive and negative) can be easily added to a threaded-post battery terminal.

https://www.sema.org/sema-news/2015/12/new-products-december-2015

Information is the key to sales. Automotive parts resellers—distributors, retailers and e-commerce dealers—need accurate information about product attributes such as weights and measures, descriptions, current pricing, UPC codes and more in order to power their lookup tools and point-of-sale systems. The SEMA Data Co-op (SDC) was created as a product-data repository to supply that information and more to the automotive specialty parts marketplace.

The SDC provides accurate and high-quality information to retailers from participating manufacturers, importers and brand owners, validating its data to the Auto Care Association Advanced Catalog Enhanced Standard (ACES) and Product Information Exchange Standard (PIES). It is the only source for free and complete data that complies with industry standards for approved retailers, and it doesn’t restrict the amount of data retailers can receive.

Information is the key to sales. Automotive parts resellers—distributors, retailers and e-commerce dealers—need accurate information about product attributes such as weights and measures, descriptions, current pricing, UPC codes and more in order to power their lookup tools and point-of-sale systems. The SEMA Data Co-op (SDC) was created as a product-data repository to supply that information and more to the automotive specialty parts marketplace.

The SDC provides accurate and high-quality information to retailers from participating manufacturers, importers and brand owners, validating its data to the Auto Care Association Advanced Catalog Enhanced Standard (ACES) and Product Information Exchange Standard (PIES). It is the only source for free and complete data that complies with industry standards for approved retailers, and it doesn’t restrict the amount of data retailers can receive.

Introduced at the SEMA Show last year, the SEMA Battle of the Builders® competition began with more than 200 vehicle builders and car customizers entering 260 custom cars competing for the coveted title of Top Builder.

By Chad Simon

A one-hour special focused on the SEMA Battle of the Builders® competition will premiere on Velocity February 1, 2016. Filmed throughout the week of the SEMA Show and culminating at SEMA Ignited, SEMA Battle of the Builders® is the ultimate competition for vehicle builders. The television special, hosted by “Overhaulin’s” Chris Jacobs and Adrienne Janic, features behind-the-scenes footage of the competition and never-before-seen coverage of the judges who narrowed the field down from more than 200 entries.

The winner of the competition was announced Friday evening, November 6, 2015, at SEMA Ignited—the official SEMA Show after-party—in front of a crowd more than 15,000 strong at the main stage in the Gold Lot across the street from the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Introduced at the SEMA Show last year, the SEMA Battle of the Builders® competition began with more than 200 vehicle builders and car customizers entering 260 custom cars competing for the coveted title of Top Builder. Builders who made it to the Top 10 round of competition selected amongst themselves the Top Builder. Production teams were on-site to film various television programs that will air nationwide early next year.

For details on the SEMA Battle of the Builders®, visit www.semaignited.com.

Introduced at the SEMA Show last year, the SEMA Battle of the Builders® competition began with more than 200 vehicle builders and car customizers entering 260 custom cars competing for the coveted title of Top Builder.

By Chad Simon

A one-hour special focused on the SEMA Battle of the Builders® competition will premiere on Velocity February 1, 2016. Filmed throughout the week of the SEMA Show and culminating at SEMA Ignited, SEMA Battle of the Builders® is the ultimate competition for vehicle builders. The television special, hosted by “Overhaulin’s” Chris Jacobs and Adrienne Janic, features behind-the-scenes footage of the competition and never-before-seen coverage of the judges who narrowed the field down from more than 200 entries.

The winner of the competition was announced Friday evening, November 6, 2015, at SEMA Ignited—the official SEMA Show after-party—in front of a crowd more than 15,000 strong at the main stage in the Gold Lot across the street from the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Introduced at the SEMA Show last year, the SEMA Battle of the Builders® competition began with more than 200 vehicle builders and car customizers entering 260 custom cars competing for the coveted title of Top Builder. Builders who made it to the Top 10 round of competition selected amongst themselves the Top Builder. Production teams were on-site to film various television programs that will air nationwide early next year.

For details on the SEMA Battle of the Builders®, visit www.semaignited.com.

Introduced at the SEMA Show last year, the SEMA Battle of the Builders® competition began with more than 200 vehicle builders and car customizers entering 260 custom cars competing for the coveted title of Top Builder.

By Chad Simon

A one-hour special focused on the SEMA Battle of the Builders® competition will premiere on Velocity February 1, 2016. Filmed throughout the week of the SEMA Show and culminating at SEMA Ignited, SEMA Battle of the Builders® is the ultimate competition for vehicle builders. The television special, hosted by “Overhaulin’s” Chris Jacobs and Adrienne Janic, features behind-the-scenes footage of the competition and never-before-seen coverage of the judges who narrowed the field down from more than 200 entries.

The winner of the competition was announced Friday evening, November 6, 2015, at SEMA Ignited—the official SEMA Show after-party—in front of a crowd more than 15,000 strong at the main stage in the Gold Lot across the street from the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Introduced at the SEMA Show last year, the SEMA Battle of the Builders® competition began with more than 200 vehicle builders and car customizers entering 260 custom cars competing for the coveted title of Top Builder. Builders who made it to the Top 10 round of competition selected amongst themselves the Top Builder. Production teams were on-site to film various television programs that will air nationwide early next year.

For details on the SEMA Battle of the Builders®, visit www.semaignited.com.

Introduced at the SEMA Show last year, the SEMA Battle of the Builders® competition began with more than 200 vehicle builders and car customizers entering 260 custom cars competing for the coveted title of Top Builder.

By Chad Simon

A one-hour special focused on the SEMA Battle of the Builders® competition will premiere on Velocity February 1, 2016. Filmed throughout the week of the SEMA Show and culminating at SEMA Ignited, SEMA Battle of the Builders® is the ultimate competition for vehicle builders. The television special, hosted by “Overhaulin’s” Chris Jacobs and Adrienne Janic, features behind-the-scenes footage of the competition and never-before-seen coverage of the judges who narrowed the field down from more than 200 entries.

The winner of the competition was announced Friday evening, November 6, 2015, at SEMA Ignited—the official SEMA Show after-party—in front of a crowd more than 15,000 strong at the main stage in the Gold Lot across the street from the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Introduced at the SEMA Show last year, the SEMA Battle of the Builders® competition began with more than 200 vehicle builders and car customizers entering 260 custom cars competing for the coveted title of Top Builder. Builders who made it to the Top 10 round of competition selected amongst themselves the Top Builder. Production teams were on-site to film various television programs that will air nationwide early next year.

For details on the SEMA Battle of the Builders®, visit www.semaignited.com.

By SEMA Editors

The 2015 PRI Show saw tens of thousands of attendees from across the United States and more than 70 countries flock to the Indiana Convention Center for three days of intense shopping for the latest offerings from more than 1,200 manufacturers of racing and high-performance automotive components.

The “Three Biggest Business Days In Racing” lived up to the billing Saturday as the PRI Trade Show sprinted to the finish line with yet another day of crowded display booths and brisk parts sales.

The 2015 edition of the world's premier event for motorsports professionals saw tens of thousands of attendees from across the United States and more than 70 countries flock to the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis for three days of intense shopping for the latest offerings from more than 1,200 manufacturers of racing and high-performance automotive components, as well as precision machining equipment.

“We’ve grown each of the three years since returning to Indianapolis, and it’s safe to say that 2015 has been one of the most successful PRI Trade Shows ever,” said John Kilroy, PRI Show producer. “We’ve received positive feedback and glowing numbers beginning with the start of Race Industry Week on Monday, through the PRI Grand Opening Breakfast, and then all the way until the Show’s closing today. A large amount of business was done this week, and that bodes well for the industry in 2016.”

A strong Race Industry Week schedule featured more than three-dozen events, including the Advanced Engineering Technology Conference (AETC), the Race Track Business Conference, the International Council of Motorsport Sciences (ICMS) Annual Congress, and the Advanced Vehicle Dynamics and Data Acquisition Seminar. NASCAR's 2012 Sprint Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski headlined the Grand Opening Breakfast’s popular morning talk show with host Dave Despain of MAVTV.

After two straight days of shoulder-to-shoulder aisle activity and robust sales, there was no let-up on Saturday.

“The Show’s been excellent this year—we had many more people come by this year than we initially anticipated,” said Melissa Moorhead from exhibitor Rottler Manufacturing. “It seems like attendance has been larger than it has been in the past, and we’ve seen a good variety of customers. PRI is our favorite show, and it’s our biggest Show. We have 14 machines on display this year. Every year PRI seems to get bigger and better for us.”

Similar accounts were heard throughout the Convention Center.

“The Show has been excellent,” said Rob Remesi of exhibitor Jesel Valve Train. “Last year was a very busy Show here, but this year is far above it. I don’t think I’ve given away as many cards as I have here, and we’re almost out of catalogs. The crowd here is fantastic. Day three was as busy as days one and two. We’re seeing new buyers, some international sales, dealers from Australia that are interested in becoming retailers for us in Australia, and, of course, U.S. sales as well.”

Attendees continued to express their appreciation throughout one of the Show's busiest-ever final days.

“They have anything you could possibly ever want here,” offered Reece Tracy, a fabricator with Hearn Motorsports from Litchfield, Illinois. “There’s stuff that I’ve never thought about that can make your job 10 times easier. The Trick Tools booth, anything you want to see or anything you could dream of is here. Their header building kit is absolutely outrageous.”

Most importantly, attendees used the opportunity to shop at the world's largest racing marketplace.

“The Show was great,” said John Kolivas of KBX Performance, Ashland Mississippi. “We came down to visit with quite a few of our vendors. We own an engine and tuning shop. So we’ve talked to DART and a lot of the piston companies, and we just bought a honing machine from Rottler. Everybody that’s anybody is here. Anything you want to find is here. We really enjoy it.”

Penske Racing Shocks’ Matt Giles summed up the final day: “This is probably the busiest Saturday I’ve ever seen. We’ve been busy non-stop.

Preparations are already underway for the 2016 PRI Trade Show at the Indiana Convention Center, December 8–10.