OptiCat, a leading supplier of data services for the Automotive Aftermarket, Heavy Duty Aftermarket and other markets, has listened to suppliers and distributors to make its powerful, award-winning and revolutionary “Load Sheet” service even more effective. OptiCat has now added the appropriate data structures to meet the custom needs for over 30 leading distributors, with more on the way as suppliers need them!
The 2020 AASA ATC “Technology Innovation Award” was presented to OptiCat for its Load Sheets service. This service was designed to simplify the process for suppliers to deliver unique new item setup data and other information to meet the specific needs of individual data receivers. More specifically, Load Sheets address the needs of distributors who require product information that is not accommodated by the industry standard Auto Care Association PIES data fields. In the past, suppliers were required to maintain separate and time-consuming forms to accommodate each distributor’s needs. Now, the OptiCat Load Sheet service makes this problem a thing of the past, by integrating this service into its OnBoard Pro (for suppliers) and OnDemand (for distributors) portals. This service is ideal for securely handling unique data fields and types such as internal product line codes, distributor specific pricing, unique country codes, direct ship information, buyer designations, and others. Literally any type of unique product information can be securely shared between suppliers and distributors using Load Sheets, and distributors can also use Load Sheets for their own internal and external secure communications of information.
As noted, the Load Sheets tool is fully integrated into OptiCat’s OnBoard Pro and OnDemand portals as a high-value additional service. It also includes automated communications of changes and can include data validation based on the distributor’s custom specifications. This means that once the supplier maps the specific data formats needed by each data receiver in the OnBoard Pro system and populates the information fields (all the fields are already identified for each of the 35 distributors), given any custom validation needed by the distributor, the data will be automatically distributed to the supplier’s approved data receiver portals in one convenient action, along with the supplier’s other automatic product data deliveries, as appropriate. And, since the data is resident in the OnBoard Pro system, it is always available for reference when the data receiver requires new information or fields, or the supplier desires to make changes. The flexibility and simplicity of this system coupled with the reliability, simplicity and speed-to-market of the OnBoard Pro system efficiently help suppliers meet their customers’ unique data needs. Just one more way that OptiCat, “HELPS YOU SELL MORE PARTS”!
