Activant Solutions, Inc. and R.L. Polk & Co. are collaborating in the development of the aftermarket industry's first parts demand intelligence solution featuring vehicle data integrated with daily electronic catalog transactions.

The new Activant Vista Replacement Rate Analysis will be available beginning this fall to aftermarket businesses seeking to optimize the efficiency of their manufacturing, marketing, inventory and sales practices.

The companies will integrate Polk's National Vehicle Population Profile (NVPP) and Trucking Industry Profile (TIPNet) data for class 1 through 6 vehicles with the Web-based Activant Vista market intelligence solution, which captures and analyzes an extensive nationwide database of daily electronic catalog lookups by part number and vehicle platform. The new Activant Vista Replacement Rate Analysis will be the industry's first indepenent solution offering detailed regional and national views on parts consumption within a given application and corresponding vehicle population.

"A distributor or jobber using this new solution will be able to make stocking decisions taking into consideration not only which parts are being loked up and sold in their market area, but also the size of the sales opportunity given the number of corresponding vehicles registered within their market," says Tom Aliotti, senior vice president of the Activant automotive business. "This solution helps users make fact-based inventory decisions rather than educated guesses before deploying precious capital."

Manufacturers using the new Activant Vista solution will be able to more readily identify emerging parts replacement trends, enhance coverage efficiency and increase their abililty to fulfill their customers' needs, according to Mark Seng, vice president, aftermarket sales and client services, R.L. Polk & Co. "This new solution will help enhance supply chain efficiency at every level of the industry," Seng says. "Manufacturers and their customers will be able to make faster, smarter decisions about which parts to offer, and in which quantities, to help increase their share of the market."

R. L. Polk & Co. is the premier provider of automotive information and marketing solutions. Polk collects and interprets global data, and provides extensive automotive business expertise to help customers understand their market position, identify trends, build brand loyalty, conquest new business and gain a competitive advantage. Polk helps automotive manufacturers and dealers, automotive aftermarket companies, finance and insurance companies, advertising agencies, media companies, consulting organizations, government agencies and market research firms make good business decisions. A privately held global firm, Polk is based in Southfield, Mich., with operations in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Activant Solutions Inc. is a leading technology provider of business management solutions serving small and medium-sized distributors and specialty retailers. Activant provides customers with industry-specific software, professional services, content, supply chain connectivity, and analytics. Over 30,000 customer locations use Activant to manage their day-to-day operations, in both USA and Canada. Activant’s systems are designed to help customers increase sales, boost productivity, operate more cost-efficiently, improve inventory turns, and enhance trading partner relationships. Headquartered in Livermore, Calif., Activant has operations in Texas, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.