{"id":3743,"date":"2021-07-27T06:58:02","date_gmt":"2021-07-27T06:58:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.factorydata.com\/?p=3743"},"modified":"2021-07-27T06:58:02","modified_gmt":"2021-07-27T06:58:02","slug":"interchangeability-less-is-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.factorydata.com\/en\/interchangeability-less-is-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Interchangeability: Less is more!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today we\u2019re going to talk about \u201cinterchangeability\u201d, a term that sounds a bit extravagant but serves as the explanation for why some spare parts specialists find up to 400% more solutions than the rest<\/strong>.<\/h4>\n

Interchangeability consists in the possibility of offering or selling an alternative product<\/strong> whose reference number is different from the one of the product they’re asking us for, but which serves as a perfect substitute.<\/h4>\n

This ability to find solutions allows great specialists to offer solutions for many more products with fewer reference numbers in their product ranges. It seems fantastic, doesn\u2019t it?<\/h4>\n

\"Interchange-1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

At first we might think that all the possibilities of interchangeability between products are perfectly published and known by everyone, but this is very far from reality.
\nClearly, some players on the market don\u2019t have too much interest in these possibilities being known<\/strong>. Because, otherwise, how would they sell new products to replace the old ones? How would they sell five difference reference numbers if we found out all five could be simplified by one alone?<\/h4>\n

\"Interchange-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The problem is that since there are no common criteria for determining if two products are the same or not, there is no way of knowing whether or not somebody\u2019s products are repeated. It seems silly, but what\u2019s happening is really that simple.<\/h4>\n

At Factory Data, we developed an algorithm which uses the majority criteria of the aftermarket<\/strong> (represented by 15-20 distributors and manufacturers) to determine whether two products are different or not<\/strong>. And after all these years of work, the magic arrived: we were able to determine how many distinct products exist on the entire market!!<\/h4>\n

This way, now we can compare, in terms of interchangeability, any brand or product range selection on the market with respect to the majority criteria to know what type of service we are being offered.<\/h4>\n

Here are the interchangeability ratios for certain brands\u2019 selections of alternators and starter motors:<\/h4>\n

\"Interchange-table\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As we can see, vehicle manufacturers<\/strong> like MERCEDES BENZ or VOLKSWAGEN tend to have a very low interchangeability rate<\/strong>. For them, A is A and B is B; there are no other options. Something similar occur with OEM parts manufacturers product ranges.<\/h4>\n

For IAM manufacturers<\/strong>, however, the ratios are much higher<\/strong>, meaning that with each one of their products we could serve more than one existing product.<\/h4>\n

But why are there such large differences in their interchangeability ratios? The answer lies in the different criteria established by each manufacturer as valid for deciding that two products are alternatives or interchangeable<\/strong>. If we analyse the most typical differences shown by interchangeable products, they are:<\/h4>\n