Redefining the Gold Standard : 2013 AASA Pulse Benchmarks. August 2013

Transcription

1 Redefining the Gold Standard : 2013 AASA Pulse Benchmarks August 2013

2 AASA Thought Leadership: Redefining the Gold Standard : 2013 AASA Pulse Benchmarks By Paul McCarthy, AASA Vice President, Industry Analysis, Planning and Member Services and Bailey L. W. Overman, AASA Analyst / Coordinator The AASA Pulse: Supplier KPI Benchmarks is the annual benchmarking survey available exclusively to AASA aftermarket supplier members. A vital tool in members business and strategic planning, the AASA Pulse covers aftermarket supplier key performance indicators not currently tracked or available elsewhere, such as: warranty returns, order metrics (fill rate, turnaround, shipping), sales force and marketing and key financial metrics. The AASA Pulse is an exclusive survey for AASA members only, and responses are strictly confidential and anonymous. This analysis of the recent AASA Pulse only examines a few of the key insights in the survey of 2012 metrics. The full analysis of AASA Pulse results includes significantly more data points and insights on the topics mentioned in this analysis and a number of subject areas and metrics not discussed here. Only participants receive the full AASA Pulse analysis which includes segmented results by company size and product category. AASA members are encouraged to take advantage of this tremendous opportunity to participate in this key supplier metric survey each year. Key Insights: 2013 AASA Pulse: Supplier KPI Benchmarks The key insights from the AASA Pulse survey of 2012 metrics presented here are focused on these specific subject areas: returns, fill rates, e-tailing, payment terms, operations, marketing and forecasting. Returns: 2.5% or Less Related to Actual Quality Issues The majority of AASA Pulse survey respondents indicate that 2.5 percent or less of warranty returns are related to actual quality issues. While warranty returns averaged 2.6 percent of sales, the range of responses was very large. Based on this feedback from the AASA Pulse respondents, the aftermarket has roughly $3.5 billion dollars of parts warranty returns a year for non-defective parts. This does not include the indirect costs of transportation, labor/headcount, approval and processing time. If the industry could reduce warranty returns by half, the resulting savings of approximately $1.3 billion would go straight to the bottom line of suppliers and channel partners. If returns were reduced

3 just to quality issues, the industry would have $3.4 billion in additional profit. Including the indirect costs could take the total incremental potential profit pool to $3.9 billion. For more information about warranty returns and the aftermarket, please click here.

4 Stock adjustment rose in 2012, raising concern about this practice across the industry. In an era of big data, advanced analytics and supply chain integration, should the industry be experiencing this level of annual stock and obsolescence returns? Fill Rates: Differentiation Becoming More Difficult Differentiation through high fill rates is becoming more difficult for suppliers. The 95 percent fill rate has become increasingly standard among suppliers and is now more of a requirement than a characteristic of a champion. According to AASA Pulse respondents, the average fill rate by unit volume, dollar value, and line item was 95.5 percent, 95.4 percent and 94.9 percent, respectively. Majority of AASA Pulse participants reported order turnaround of three days or less. Although only a small amount of business is done through vendor direct programs on average, this activity has been increasing steadily for the past three years. A portion of respondents indicated they sold more than 10 percent through vendor direct. This may be evidence that aftermarket business models may be diverging. For larger firms, a more significant portion of business is done via vendor direct. Is this an indication that this practice potentially could spread more widely in the future?

5 e-tailing: Supplier-Direct Sales Still Low The number of supplier respondents who reported selling directly in the e-tailing channel is very low. The AASA Pulse results also indicate about 10 percent of suppliers utilize the direct e-commerce sales model. Overall, smaller sized firms have played the largest part in the direct e-tailing space. Payment Terms: An Ongoing Dilemma for the Aftermarket Payment terms remain an ongoing dilemma for the aftermarket, according to AASA Pulse survey responses. Payment terms with retailers averaged between days for respondents in Terms with warehouse distributors averaged between days, although some ranged as high as 290 days. To learn more about the costs and risks of associated with the use extended terms in the aftermarket, access the AASA Special Report, You Want to Pay When? by clicking here. NOTE: This an AASA member-exclusive report. Your member login information will be required to view it. Operations: In-House Manufacturing Increases The percent of products manufactured in-house increased slightly from 2011, according to AASA Pulse participants. Manufacturing in low-cost countries also increased 10 percentage points from 2011.

6 Marketing and Forecasting: More Collaboration? Customer-specific marketing on average was the highest area of marketing spend for suppliers. An overwhelming majority of AASA Pulse respondents reported access to Point-of-Sale (POS) and forecasting data from channel partners. However, only a portion reported using the POS and forecasting data always or frequently. Most respondents said POS data is very useful, but a subset finds limited value in the data. These results may indicate significant opportunity for the industry to collaborate across the value chain to reduce inventory and improve forecasting. How often do you utilize POS (point-of-sale) and/or forecasting data from channel partners in your production scheduling and your forecasting activities? Always 12% Frequently 22% Sometimes 31% Rarely 25% Never No access 10% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% Source: 2013 AASA Pulse: KPI Benchmarks Survey AASA Pulse Participants Get Much More! This report spotlights only the high level trends for the 2013 AASA Pulse report. Survey participants received detailed information on more subjects from the results: data on product, company size splits and much more. If your company was one of the few AASA members that didn t take the AASA Pulse this year, make sure you participate in Contact Bailey W. Overman to be added to the 2014 AASA Pulse survey distribution list: boverman@aasa.mema.org.