In today’s competitive automotive aftermarket, staying ahead of market trends and understanding your position is crucial. That’s why we’re excited to bring you an exclusive interview with Tanja Zipperer, the Product Owner of TecDoc PMA (Product Management Analytics). Tanja shares how TecDoc PMA empowers data suppliers with comprehensive market analysis, competitor insights, and strategic decision-making tools. Discover how this innovative solution can transform your business by identifying product gaps, optimizing market strategies, and ultimately boosting sales.
Join us as we delve into the capabilities and success stories of TecDoc PMA, and learn how it stands out in the crowded field of data analysis solutions.
Tanja, thank you for joining us today. To start, can you give us a brief overview of what TecDoc PMA (Product Management Analytics) is and its primary purpose?
Thank you for having me. TecDoc PMA is a comprehensive data analysis solution for TecDoc data suppliers. Its primary purpose is to provide a detailed market analysis based on competitor data and Vehicles in Operation (VIO) data. It helps our customers to understand their market positions. They can identify gaps in their product range, portfolio and TecDoc Catalogue Data. Based on Vehicles in Operation (VIO) data and TecDoc usage data, they can prioritise their follow-up activities and tackle the most important gaps first. Overall, TecDoc PMA enables our customers to make informed decisions to enhance their product offerings and strategies. Having analysed gaps with the tool, they can increase sales by optimising the presentation of their products in TecDoc-based catalogue systems.
More and more customers are using TecDoc PMA. How does TecDoc PMA specifically help them?
TecDoc PMA helps by providing a structured, analytical approach to target specific markets and product groups. It allows users to analyse relevant products for specific vehicle types and model series. This helps them to stay competitive and efficiently meet market demands.
Let me give you an example. In previous years, some customers faced a loss of sales in Western Europe. These customers used TecDoc PMA to develop a structured market approach. They compensated for the loss in Western Europe by analysing market-specific opportunities in Eastern Europe. By identifying relevant vehicle types and market trends, they were able to focus their efforts on areas with higher potential, thus mitigating the impact of the sales decline.
Which specific features or reports within TecDoc PMA do customers find most valuable in their daily operations?
Customers find several reports particularly beneficial. To give you some examples:
- Report No. 1: Provides an overview of all vehicle types in our database, if applicable with their vehicle populations for a selected market. For products of the customer’s brand portfolio, it shows competitors and their products’ vehicle applications.
- Report No. 3: Proposes possibly fitting part numbers for application gaps in the customer’s data and gives an indication of the likelihood of part fits. Gaps can be prioritised by their impacts on VIO coverage in the markets selected. It reduces the effort to analyse additional application options. However, technical verification of proposed applications to provide valid TecDoc Catalogue Data remains the agreed responsibility and duty of the respective TecDoc data supplier.
- Report No. 4: Displays TecDoc usage data based on OE number requests to the TecDoc Webservice. This is an indicator of market importance for given OE cross-references. Besides OE cross-reference gaps, missing IAM cross-references can be identified.
- Reports No. 5/6 and 9: Enable TecDoc PMA customers to track efforts and success of product and data maintenance activities e.g. by showing coverage within selected markets. These make it possible to create “before and after” reports. Users can also see a history of data maintenance compared to competitors during the previous four quarters.
How does PMA compare to other data analysis solutions available in the market?
TecDoc PMA stands out due to its intuitive interface and predefined analysis types. These are particularly useful to customers lacking resources, tools, and relevant expertise. Unlike other solutions, TecDoc PMA integrates extensive data to provide tailored analyses that comprehensively address specific customer needs.
Has TecDoc PMA been effective in supporting sales teams with coverage and marketing information?
Yes, when applied, TecDoc PMA can significantly support sales teams by providing detailed coverage and marketing information. It can also help them to find competitive advantages like unique applications and develop selling points for their customer communication such as an improved vehicle coverage percentage in certain markets for specific products for example.
Thank you for sharing these insights, Tanja. Could you tell us about the future goals for TecDoc PMA?
We strive to improve PMA as our customers’ needs evolve. Our goal is to continuously support our customers in achieving their business goals!
Additionally, I would like to invite all TecDoc data suppliers to join us at Automechanika in Frankfurt. The TecDoc PMA presentation will take place at the TecAlliance booth on September 11th. If you would like to schedule an individual meeting, please send me an email at
dm-product-marketing@tecalliance.net.
It will be a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase what TecDoc PMA can do to enhance your business strategies. We look forward to seeing you there!
