CHICAGO, May 20, 2014—MAHLE Aftermarket Inc. and Auto-Wares Group Inc. were named as the winners of the 2014 Polk Inventory Efficiency Awards in a presentation made Tuesday on the first day of the Global Automotive Aftermarket Symposium (GAAS) 2014 at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare near Chicago.
IHS Automotive presented the awards, which recognized one manufacturer, MAHLE, and one retailer/distributor, Auto-Wares, for using innovative new strategies to efficiently manage their respective inventory levels.
Before announcing the winners, Mike Gingell, vice president of market analysis solutions at IHS Automotive, said MAHLE and Auto-Wares are “two companies hoping to reinvent the way the aftermarket conducts business through analytics.”
Michigan-based Auto-Wares has more than 160 company-owned stores and 13 distribution centers across five states. The company serves 101 service centers. The company revamped its inventory management system and implemented a new same-day parts delivery program. The results led to a 15 percent sales increase without an increase in inventory levels in the company’s stores.
MAHLE improved its pick efficiency by 30 percent and increased supplier delivery performance by 10 percent, while reducing inventory by 25 percent since 2010.
