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AUG 30, 2012 www.illumaware.com 1 Mobile Friendly MyCarParts All MyCarParts online catalogs recently received a free enhancement to enrich the viewing experience on mobile devices. The updated interface includes more mobile friendly applicaEon search lisEngs, as well as a reorganized product informaEon page to beGer present your products on the smaller mobile screens. By making MyCarParts more mobile friendly, Illumaware conEnues to support the delivery of your catalog directly to the customer and installer. PuKng your informaEon directly in their hands, whether in the garage or along the side of the road, generates grass root support for your brand and can lead to a purchase decision being made well before the customer arrives at a store. ALer the purchase, leveraging the new mobile MyCarParts interface to deliver addiEonal assets such as installaEon diagrams and warranty informaEon will further enhance your brand loyalty in the marketplace. This enhancement may provide a great opportunity to raise awareness about your online catalog with a new press release or through social media. If you have any quesEons about how to include addiEonal product informaEon or digital assets to complete your online presentaEon, please let us know and we will be happy to help. ALSO IN THIS EDITION INVALID APPLICATIONS TO KEEP OR NOT TO KEEP? PAGE 2 PRIORITIZE HOLES WITH VIO INTEGRATION PAGE 3 DUPLICATE ENGINES? PAGE 3 THE ATTRIBUTES ARE COMING THE ATTRIBUTES ARE COMING PAGE 4 THE ILLUMINATOR VOLUME VII 2012 Fall Leadership Days In San Francisco The AutomoEve ALermarket Industry AssociaEon’s Fall Leadership Days conference will open September 5th in San Francisco, CA. The conference provides an opportunity for the associaEon’s staff and volunteer leadership to assemble and discuss industry challenges and opportuniEes. It is at these meeEngs where changes are proposed and approved to industry standards such as ACES and PIES. Brian Williams will again be in aGendance represenEng Illumaware, helping to ensure our ability to meet the data requirements of a dynamic industry. If you, or a member of your organizaEon will be aGending and would like to simply meet or discuss new opportuniEes we may assist with, please contact Brian in advance of the conference at [email protected] .

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Page 1: Illuminator V07

AUG  30,  2012 www.illumaware.com 1

Mobile Friendly MyCarParts

All  MyCarParts  online  catalogs  recently  received  a  free  enhancement  to  enrich  the  viewing  experience  on  mobile  devices.  The  updated  interface  includes  more  mobile  friendly  applicaEon  search  lisEngs,  as  well  as  a  reorganized  product  informaEon  page  to  beGer  present  your  products  on  the  smaller  mobile  screens.

By  making  MyCarParts  more  mobile  friendly,  Illumaware  conEnues  to  support  the  delivery  of  your  catalog  directly  to  the  customer  and  installer.  PuKng  your  informaEon  directly  in  their  hands,  whether  in  the  garage  or  along  the  side  of  the  road,  generates  grass  root  support  for  your  brand  and  can  lead  to  a  purchase  decision  being  made  well  before  the  customer  arrives  at  a  store.  ALer  the  purchase,  leveraging  the  new  mobile  MyCarParts  interface  to  deliver  addiEonal  assets  such  as  installaEon  diagrams  and  warranty  informaEon  will  further  enhance  your  brand  loyalty  in  the  marketplace.

This  enhancement  may  provide  a  great  opportunity  to  raise  awareness  about  your  online  catalog  with  a  new  press  release  or  through  social  media.  If  you  have  any  quesEons  about  how  to  include  addiEonal  product  informaEon  or  digital  assets  to  complete  your  online  presentaEon,  please  let  us  know  and  we  will  be  happy  to  help.

ALSO  IN  THIS  EDITION

INVALID  APPLICATIONSTO  KEEP  OR  NOT  TO  KEEP?

PAGE  2

PRIORITIZE  HOLESWITH  VIO  INTEGRATION

PAGE  3

DUPLICATE  ENGINES?PAGE  3

THE  ATTRIBUTES  ARE  COMINGTHE  ATTRIBUTES  ARE  COMING

PAGE  4

THE ILLUMINATOR VOLUME VII

2012 Fall Leadership Days In San Francisco

The  AutomoEve  ALermarket  Industry  AssociaEon’s  Fall  Leadership  Days  conference  will  open  September  5th  in  San  Francisco,  CA.  The  conference  provides  an  opportunity  for  the  associaEon’s  staff  and  volunteer  leadership  to  assemble  and  discuss  industry  challenges  and  opportuniEes.  It  is  at  these  meeEngs  where  changes  are  proposed  and  approved  to  industry  standards  such  as  ACES  and  PIES.

Brian  Williams  will  again  be  in  aGendance  represenEng  Illumaware,  helping  to  ensure  our  ability  to  meet  the  data  requirements  of  a  dynamic  industry.  If  you,  or  a  member  of  your  organizaEon  will  be  aGending  and  would  like  to  simply  meet  or  discuss  new  opportuniEes  we  may  assist  with,  please  contact  Brian  in  advance  of  the  conference  at  [email protected].

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Invalid Applications – To Keep or Not To Keep?A  common  area  of  discussion  regarding  the  ACES  standard  is  the  concept  of  an  invalid  vehicle  configuraEon,  and  just  how  much  value  they  have.  Defining  and  transmiKng  invalid  applicaEons  is  a  fully  supported  and  well  documented  funcEon  of  the  ACES  XML  standard,  but  it  is  important  to  understand  that  a  valid  “ACES”  pracEce  may  not  be  the  most  successful  business  pracEce  for  you.

We’ve  all  been  there.  Looking  at  a  new  “Invalid  ApplicaEon”  wondering  what  changed  to  make  it  invalid  when  our  own  research  says  it  does  exist.  It  is  very  tempEng  to  simply  click  “Keep  Record  Without  ValidaEon”  and  move  on;  but  that  decision  shouldn’t  be  made  without  understanding  exactly  how  those  records  are  going  to  be  treated  by  all  parEes  from  that  point  forward.

From  a  record  validaEon  standpoint  within  Evokat,  this  record  will  no  longer  be  reviewed  for  validity,  which  means  that  you  will  not  be  noEfied  if  anything  else  changes  in  the  configuraEon.  In  many  cases,  this  is  desirable,  but  it  can  also  lead  to  unknown  configuraEon  holes  by  not  keeping  up  to  date  with  minor  changes  made  to  the  AAIA  standard.  A  visual  review  of  your  applicaEon  definiEons  may  not  be  enough  to  highlight  where  differences  occur  and  that  can  lead  to  lost  sales,  especially  when  records  may  be  dropped  when  converEng  to  other  standards  such  as  Legacy.

Including  these  records  in  an  ACES  XML  file  is  a  valid  pracEce  and  rather  straight  forward.  A  simple  “validate=no”  value  is  included  with  these  records,  telling  data  receivers  that  the  vehicle  being  communicated  cannot  be  validated  against  the  VCDB.  From  that  point,  it  is  up  to  the  data  receiver  to  define  if  and  how  they  are  going  to  handle  these  situaEons.  The  three  most  common  approaches  in  our  industry  today  are:  to  ignore  the  validate  value,  to  skip  non-­‐valid  records,  and  to  accept  them.  1)  The  “validate”  value  can  be  disregarded  and  the  records  processed  normally.  This  approach  can  delay  file  processing  as  validaEon  reports  balloon  in  size  and  highlight  the  records  that  were  already  defined  to  be  invalid.

2)  Receivers  can  ignore  these  records  enErely,  leading  to  coverage  differences  between  your  catalog  and  theirs.  Even  if  the  records  are  not  ignored  during  the  iniEal  processing,  a  search  tool  that  is  structured  around  the  VCDB  will  effecEvely  ignore  any  records  that  refer  to  an  invalid  configuraEon  meaning  that  potenEal  customers  may  not  be  presented  with  your  product  as  an  opEon.

3)  If  the  invalid  records  are  ingested  correctly,  and  if  the  catalog  interface  is  designed  to  allow  deviaEons  from  the  VCDB,  then  the  applicaEons  can  be  presented  to  the  customer.  Some  catalogs,  such  as  MyCarParts,  are  designed  to  handle  applicaEons  in  this  manner,  but  it  is  not  safe  to  assume  that  all  search  tools  are  designed  the  same  way.

Keeping  an  invalid  configuraEon  does  have  its  place,  and  has  value  in  allowing  catalog  managers  to  author  applicaEons  in  advance  of  a  vehicle’s  inclusion  in  the  VCDB,  but  it  can  lead  to  a  false  sense  of  security  as  well.  Overuse  of  the  “Keep  Record  Without  ValidaEon”  funcEon  to  keep  your  “Analyze  My  Catalog”  scorecards  in  the  black  should  be  avoided.  Each  invalid  configuraEon  should  be  reviewed  and  researched  to  see  if  the  vehicle  was  simply  reclassified  in  the  VCDB,  or  if  the  original  definiEon  was  actually  incorrect.  Taking  the  proper  acEon  to  resolve  these  records  will  help  drive  sales,  increase  efficiency,  and  improve  relaEonships  with  trading  partners.

THE ILLUMINATOR VOLUME VI

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Prioritize Holes With VIO Integration

THE ILLUMINATOR VOLUME VI

To  maximize  your  sales  opportuniEes  as  well  as  get  your  catalog  recognized  as  an  industry  leader,  it’s  criEcal  to  spend  Eme  analyzing  and  acEng  upon  your  coverage  holes.  The  coverage  holes  displayed  on  the  Analyze  My  Catalog  scorecard  are  an  effecEve  tool  to  ensure  the  broadest  market  coverage  possible  and  to  keep  up  with  changes  in  the  vehicle  standards.

Evokat  presents  a  structured  analysis  of  your  applicaEon  coverage  against  the  VCDB  and  NAPA  Vehicle  tables  on  the  ‘Analyze  My  Catalog’  page.  Holes  are  broken  down  into  4  acEonable  levels  for  efficiency:  Makes,  Models,  Model  Years,  and  ConfiguraEons  without  coverage.  The  different  Eers  are  separated  to  make  it  easier  to  idenEfy  acEonable  holes  and  to  focus  on  vehicles  you  are  most  interested  in  serving.

Even  with  this  Eered  approach,  the  holes  informaEon  can  be  overwhelming  and  it  can  be  a  challenge  to  determine  the  best  starEng  point.  That  is  where  integraEon  with  Vehicles  In  

OperaEon  (VIO)  informaEon  comes  into  play.  If  you  subscribe  to  a  VIO  data  service,  such  as  Polk  or  Experion,  that  informaEon  can  be  linked  to  your  coverage  holes,  at  the  Make  and  Model  levels,  to  highlight  the  vehicles  that  should  be  given  top  priority.  Simply  provide  us  with  a  copy  of  the  VIO  informaEon  you  purchased  and  we  will  load  it  into  your  secured  database  for  use  in  reports.

Not  all  coverage  holes  are  created  equal,  so  narrowing  your  focus  with  VIO  integraEon  will  help  to  maximize  your  sales  opportuniEes  in  the  shortest  Eme  possible.

Polk  is  the  premier  provider  of  automoEve  market  intelligence.  If  you  are  interested  in  learning  more  about  ways  to  leverage  VIO  informaEon,  ask  us  for  a  demonstraEon  or  contact  ALermarket  PracEce  Leader  Mark  Seng  at  [email protected].

Duplicate Engines?As  AAIA  has  conEnued  to  expand  the  coverage  of  the  VCDB  across  the  enEre  North  American  ALermarket,  through  the  inclusion  of  the  Canada  and  Mexico  regions,  new  data  challenges  have  presented  themselves  to  Catalog  Managers  in  the  form  of  “duplicate”  engines.  

You  may  have  noEced  occasions  where  the  Evokat  mapping  screen  displays  two  idenEcal  engine  values  for  selecEon,  and  wondered  which  to  select.  In  fact,  they  only  appear  to  be  duplicates  but  they  are  not.  A  complete  engine  base  defines  a  bore  and  stroke  size,  among  other  values,  as  well  as  the  more  visible  values  such  as  liter  and  cylinder.  SomeEmes  these  aGributes  are  leL  undefined  which  prevents  them  from  being  

recognized  as  idenEcal.  SomeEmes  the  values  are  off  by  as  liGle  as  1  millimeter  due  to  reporEng  differences  by  mulEple  sources.

If  you  are  know  your  part  fits  a  5.4L  engine  and  are  presented  with  mulEple  values,  then  you  should  select  both  engines  even  though  they  appear  to  be  duplicates.  That  is  the  best  way  to  ensure  that  the  coverage  you  want  is  defined.

We  will  conEnue  to  monitor  all  changes  made  to  the  VCDB  and  to  pursue  ways  to  clarify  these  situaEons  when  possible.  If  you  have  quesEons,  concerns,  or  thoughts  on  this  point,  please  contact  us  at  any  Eme.

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The Attributes Are Coming! The Attributes Are Coming!

THE ILLUMINATOR VOLUME VI

Members  acEve  in  the  AAIA  community  are  already  aware  of  a  pending  extension  of  the  PCDB,  called  the  Product  AGribute  Database  or  the  PADB.  The  design  of  this  addiEon  has  been  under  review  for  months  and  will  likely  be  raEfied  during  the  Fall  Leadership  Days  conference  in  early  September.  Use  of  the  new  PADB  is  opEonal.  However,  an  understanding  of  its  purpose  if  your  trading  partners  have  plans  to  require  it  is  important  for  future  planning.

The  PADB  is  the  result  of  a  long  overdue  and  very  challenging  effort  to  standardize  product  aGribute  informaEon  across  the  industry.  Several  teams  of  Subject  MaGer  Experts  (SMEs)  have  reviewed  aGributes  used  by  manufacturers  and  suppliers  to  determine  a  set  of  common  aGribute  definiEons  by  part  type.  The  goal  is  to  both  ensure  consistent  communicaEon  of  criEcal  product  informaEon,  as  well  as  to  simplify  the  data  authoring  process.  If  leveraged  properly,  potenEal  customers  will  not  leave  confused  as  to  whether  “color”  and  “finish”  actually  refer  to  the  same  thing,  and  

suppliers  will  not  have  to  author  custom  aGributes  to  fit  the  preferences  of  specific  trading  partners.  

An  addiEonal  result  of  the  PADB  projects  is  the  creaEon  of  new  “PIES  Only”  and  “ACES  Only”  AAIA  Part  Types.  The  SMEs  idenEfied  several  categories  where  the  level  of  specificity  needed  to  describe  the  product  was  far  less  than  what  is  needed  to  define  its  mulEple  uses  on  a  vehicle.  For  example,  a  bearing  may  have  dozens  of  specific  placements  on  a  vehicle,  but  from  a  product  classificaEon  standpoint,  simply  calling  it  a  “bearing”  is  sufficient.  These  new  PIES  and  ACES  Only  part  types  will  be  introduced  to  the  standard  gradually,  and  should  be  incorporated  into  your  future  catalog  authoring  plans.  Evokat  has  already  been  updated  to  handle  this  new  level  of  Part  Type  assignment,  as  a  primary  “Part  Type”  value  can  be  assigned  on  the  Product  Detail  >  Basic  page  in  addiEon  to  the  mulEple  part  types  that  can  be  assigned  via  product  descripEons.  Once  the  new  “PIES  Only”  part  types  are  released,  they  will  be  available  for  assignment  on  these  pages.    The  true  effecEveness  of  this  iniEaEve  will  not  be  known  for  several  months,  unEl  both  retailers  and  suppliers  have  an  opportunity  to  incorporate  and  author  these  values.  If  either  side  does  not  embrace  the  expansion  then  the  effort  will  have  liGle  value,  but  if  it  is  fully  accepted  by  all  parEes,  retailers  will  be  able  to  build  effecEve  comparison  driven  shopping  carts  and  suppliers  may  find  new  ways  to  communicate  their  products  selling  points.  Within  Evokat,  our  strategy  is  to  conEnue  to  provide  catalog  managers  with  the  freedom  to  define  product  aGributes  to  fit  your  custom  branding  goals,  while  establishing  a  link  between  your  aGribute  names  and  the  new  official  industry  terminology.

Contact Information 800.880.4964 Bruce SpeicherManaging Partner

Brenda HeinitzDirector of Cataloging

Adrian KlingelFounder and CTO

Brian WilliamsDirector of Operations

Ralph BowenEvokat Subscription Sales

Richelle PowellDirector of Finance