As part of its ongoing efforts to assist its member companies and the equipment manufacturing industry at-large and address the needs and evolving expectations of customers in an era of sweeping technological change, AEM is pleased to announce the formation of an Aftermarket Support Committee.
The recently formalized committee held its inaugural meeting in July and is comprised of representatives from more than two dozen AEM member companies.
“For our members to provide aftermarket solutions for their customers, they must first understand the value-creation potential that exists and where their organization needs to be relative to customer expectations – two, three and five years from now,” said AEM Senior Director of Utility John Somers. “The purpose of this committee is to help put our members in position to harness their ambitions, gain that necessary understanding and – ultimately – take advantage of current and future opportunities in the aftermarket.”
In a survey that McKinsey and AEM conducted in 2017, agriculture and construction customers reported they trust OEMs the most to provide them with new technologies. In addition, the survey found that OEMs with service arms generate twice the earnings before interest and taxes of peers that don’t.
With those facts in mind, AEM held a meeting with member company representatives in late April to discuss the possible need for a group related to aftermarket support. Member company representatives in attendance discussed a wide range of topics – workforce development, Right to Repair, best practices for parts and services, condition monitoring, and more – and decided to formalize as an AEM board-level committee.
At the inaugural meeting of the committee held earlier this month, attendees worked to determining next steps and establishing areas of focus for its participants moving forward.
In a discussion led by the committee’s chair, David Faber of Caterpillar, along with committee member Jason Oglesby of Wacker Neuson, the group eventually settled on four areas of focus:
- Electric and/or Alternative Fuel-Powered Equipment
- Uptime and eCommerce
- Parts
- Service
Each of the four areas consisted of numerous topics, and the group had conversations about how these topics areas are changing and the impacts they are having on the distribution and service networks of equipment manufacturers.
“The research conducted by McKinsey and AEM found that the OEMs that are able to effectively provide aftermarket support for equipment end users to benefit from the potential to generate value and build customer loyalty over the long term,” said Somers. “Moving forward, AEM will work to schedule meetings – using volunteers from the Aftermarket Support Committee or other member company representatives – on each of the four task forces. Those meetings will then be used to better define each area and start to determine corresponding actions and goals for the benefit of all AEM members and the industry as a whole.”
For more information on AEM’s newly formed Aftermarket Support Committee, contact John Somers at [email protected].
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