TecCom’s 25th anniversary year comes to a close. We’ve reflected on the achievements, milestones, and personal stories that shaped our journey. After hearing from the pioneers who built the foundation of where we are today, we now look toward the road ahead. What will define the aftermarket between now and 2030? How will TecCom continue leading the way, from digitization to AI, and from process optimization to full interoperability?
To find out, we spoke with Bryan Marschall, VP Process Solutions, who shared his vision for the next chapter of TecCom’s evolution.
When you reflect on TecCom’s 25-year journey, what stands out as we look toward the future?
Bryan Marschall: What strikes me most is how consistently TecCom has evolved alongside an industry that has grown more complex with every passing year. In the early days, digitizing order processes and establishing standards fundamentally changed how business was done. These foundations of structure, quality and digital efficiency remain essential today.
But the landscape around us has shifted significantly. The aftermarket is facing some of the toughest challenges in its history: intense competition, new regulatory demands, global insecurities, supply chain volatility and rapidly changing customer expectations. Every player in the ecosystem is dealing with rising complexity and greater pressure to adapt quickly.
In this environment, digital efficiency is no longer a differentiator. It has become a basic requirement for resilience. But it is not enough. To meet future demands, the industry needs more connected and interoperable ways of working, along with the ability to harness artificial intelligence (AI). That is where TecCom will continue to play a decisive role, and where we are already setting the course today.
This shift from digitisation to AI – what does it involve and how do we drive it?
Bryan Marschall: The move towards AI is a natural evolution of everything we have built over the past decades. By harmonising data, defining consistent standards, and enabling high-quality, automated processes across thousands of partners, we’ve created exactly the structured and trustworthy data foundation AI depends on. Without this reliability, AI simply cannot work. This is how TecCom’s long-standing strengths become the enabler of everything that follows.
The next milestone is interoperability. Our solutions have always connected to ERP systems and partner networks, but the TecCom Business Cloud takes this to a new level. It enables a far more efficient and consistent real-time flow of data across the ecosystem. This also strengthens TecCom Managed Data, enabling seamless exchange of price, availability and article information for direct use in client processes. The task now is to bring as many players as possible onto this foundation so we can unlock the full potential of interoperability and reach the scale the industry needs.
This progress opens the door to higher-value use cases. As AI becomes mature enough for complex supply chain environments, we will see more automation of decisions that still require manual effort today, including dynamic pricing, predicting needs, identifying exceptions, and optimizing inventories.
We are right in the middle of preparing the ground for all of this. Across TecAlliance, we are reworking how we operate — for our own efficiency and, even more importantly, for the benefit of our clients. This includes moving towards Spec-Driven Development, equipping our teams for new tech requirements and advancing the first real projects that put these capabilities into practice.
What does “reaching scale” mean in concrete terms and how is it beneficial to clients?
Bryan Marschall: For many years, our focus was on optimizing supply chain processes such as orders, returns, and data management. This emphasis on process excellence made us an industry leader. But isolated optimization has reached its limits, and today’s challenges can no longer be solved in silos.
That is why our focus is also shifting to our greatest asset: the TecCom platform, the largest B2B trading platform in the industry, with the TecCom Portal as the central access point.
The task now is to scale and increase reach. Two elements will drive this:
- Radical simplification for users and partners
- Interoperability that removes barriers
By 2030, we want every supplier, distributor and connected system to participate effortlessly. That means enabling easy digital access, creating a seamless journey across all our solutions, offering out-of-the-box integrations, ensuring our tools adapt to local, regional and global requirements. We will drive these developments in close cooperation with our clients to ensure the platform evolves in line with their needs.
Scaling is not just about more users. It is about deeper usage, broader touchpoints and higher-value interactions. With our platform approach, we can add new modules, expand data flows and develop services that respond to market needs quickly. And the more interoperable the ecosystem becomes, the faster adoption and usage will grow.
Finally, what is your personal vision for TecCom’s future role in the global aftermarket?
Bryan Marschall: I see TecAlliance becoming the trusted industry hub, the central place where data, intelligence and transactions come together to create value. A place where artificial intelligence not only supports processes but anticipates needs, where interoperability enables seamless cooperation, and where every participant in the supply chain benefits from reliable, connected and real time information. TecCom will be at the heart of this, driving the process data that makes it all work.
Our role is to help move the aftermarket from a collection of individual interactions to a truly connected digital ecosystem. The past years were about building the digital foundation the industry needed. Right now, we are reshaping how we work to take the next step. The years ahead will be about unlocking our full joint potential, evolving from isolated systems into an environment that continuously learns, adapts and improves.
Reaching our 25-year milestone makes this especially meaningful. It shows how far we have come, together as an industry, and strengthens our joint commitment to lead the aftermarket into a smarter, more connected and more resilient future.
I could not be more excited about the journey ahead.
Thank you very much Bryan.
While we look ahead to an exciting future, take one last look back at the milestones that brought us here.