TECH & AI
The shifting concept of car ownership is also changing the way Epicor looks at its markets .
“ Who is really going to own the cars of the future ?” asks Hardin . “ Is it a fleet ? Is the fleet going to be basically shared ownership of cars ? So we ’ re looking at the value proposition of how repair is going to be managed in terms of the service to end consumers .
“ It all starts with knowing just one piece of information , and telling different stories with it , and going in different directions . If you can predict demand for a part on any one vehicle , that story can be told in different ways .”
As for the future , data will play an evergrowing role in what Epicor is able to offer customers .
“ There are about 290 million vehicles registered in the industry that are targeted by our customers , and around 100 million repair events every single year ,” says Hardin .
He says the company captures multiple “ touchpoints ” around every single repair event , examining choices made by the repair
EPICOR LOGS AROUND 100 million AUTOMOTIVE ‘ REPAIR EVENTS ’ EVERY YEAR
shops around the ordering of one branded part over another .
“ The aim is to add value to these choices ,” he says , “ so we our can track the purchase of expensive parts , less-expensive parts and economy parts , and help supply chain vendors properly price and position products based on where they see behaviour and choices going .”
In short , Epicor has a picture of every item of inventory in every location every single day , with data analytics painting pictures everyone in the industry can reference and work from . Ultimately , Epicor is looking to coordinate , optimise and build-out efficiency across an entire industry .
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