With ACES 3.0 released, the legacy make/model format Sunset Date looming at the end of 2012 and the massive product attribute project underway, the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA) is now turning its attention to revamping the othermotive category data, accelerating the publication of vehicle data and re-evaluating the Qualifier Database (QDB).
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According to Scott Luckett, AAIA vice president of technology standards, all of this work is directed at "finishing" the ACES standard so that more than 98 percent of suppliers' total applications can be expressed in ACES, regardless of vehicle class; medium and heavy duty vehicle configurations are supported in the Vehicle Configuration database (VCdb) for 30 years or more; and othermotive is "substantially complete and mappable for 30 years or more."
This spring, the AAIA technology standards committee has worked on determining othermotive data field requirements by segment (farm/ag, lawn/garden, power sports, etc.). From May to July, the othermotive data will be removed from the current data tables while the information is collected in the new format.
"We have incomplete, inconsistent data for heavy trucks, lawn/garden, farm/ag and other categories," Luckett says. "Blending that with what was already published would be a nightmare." The data will be consolidated and normalized in the fall, and published in November.
At the same time, AAIA is taking another look at the current state of the coded qualifiers database (QDB), which Luckett says is growing unwieldy. "We have today a database of statements that includes 25,000 records," he says. "If we put in every qualifier note for every item, I'm scared to think how many we'd have."
The group wants to make the database more efficient and more useful.
"Do we want every imaginable coded qualifier? What value to the industry is this coding?" Luckett says. One proposal would use more Boolean data parameters to help make the system work better.
VCdb efficiency speeds data
Next to the ongoing product attribute project (which has been in the works since last fall), the VCdb Efficiency initiative is one of AAIA's most significant undertakings. Using a four-stage release schedule, coded vehicle data could be available as much as six months sooner than is currently possible.
Data will be loaded into the database in four phases, with the first stage including the base engine data and any other available attributes. Stage 2 will include remaining engine attributes and source data. Stage 3 includes remaining non-engine attributes, and Stage 4 includes all attributes and the full vehicle configuration.
"Starting in June you will start to see vehicles in multiple stages," says Marian Maashoff, vice president of product management at MOTOR Information Systems.
Having vehicle information sooner can lead to more sales for distributors and retailers. "In the aftermarket, the competition for the first sale after that vehicle is released, having that information faster is one of the most important areas for us to focus our energies," Luckett says.
There will also be new business rule validation processes so that data that doesn't abide by those rules can't be loaded into the data set, and AAIA and MOTOR have launched a "sandbox" testing environment that is being used to test third-party vehicle data prior to publication.
New approach for multi-function parts
There are also changes underway for the Parts Categorization database (PCdb) in terms of how that database handles multi-function party types—an issue that has been forced by the parts attribute project.
According to Luckett, there needs to be a way to code records so that they can serve both the ACES catalog files and PIES, which is used to send information about non-application products. "The terminology can vary depending on the application," Luckett says.
Categorizing a part for ACES requires a label that describes what an item does (i.e., a dome light or back-up light), versus the PIES product information file, which wants to know what the item is (for example, a miniature lamp). The PCdb, however, has never differentiated. The leading suggestion to fix this issue right now is to add a column to the terminology table to designate whether terminology is appropriate for ACES, PIES or both uses.
Finally, AAIA is updating its standards licensing agreement terms for the first time in more than a decade. "The actual terms of use are getting obsolete," Luckett says.
Luckett says that the license is being updated to protect access to the data, and control distribution in order to protect the intellectual property in the VCdb.
"When companies get their annual renewal bill, they'll see new terms," Luckett says. "There's nothing that should harm or impact how anybody uses the system. We're closing loopholes that threaten our revenue stream and the intellectual property."
