The company's software works in conjunction with a distributor's business system, Buchanan explains, to generate recommended replenishment orders.

"One of the challenges associated with VMI is the fact that there are lots of different business systems (or inventory management systems) in the community, and each of them tends to report slightly different data in their own unique way," he states. "Working with different data sources can be overwhelming for a supplier and often results in extended and sometimes abandoned VMI implementations."

Buchanan adds that Datalliance takes responsibility for mapping the various data formats into one standard database, resulting in easy-to-understand data for suppliers.

Bryan Murphy, president and CEO of WHI Solutions, says some industry members choose to use WHI's products in conjunction with their own. For instance, Virtual Inventory, an e-commerce solution WHI recently introduced, allows more than 60,000 parts buyers to search parts availability from warehouses, jobbers and now the inventory of a manufacturer's DC.

"Tying in the manufacturer, who has hundreds of thousands of SKUs in their distribution centers, has a huge impact on the sales of the distributor and jobber," Murphy explains.

Technology provider Activant Solutions Inc. currently is building components that will participate in a VMI framework, says Rod Bayless, product director.

"We haven't seen a lot of it happen yet in the traditional aftermarket," he says. "Distributors see themselves as key middlemen in the aftermarket, supporting a high level of service to the professional parts installer. Their role in the industry is placing the right inventory in the right place at the right time — not just replenishing it," meaning some are hesitant to hand over inventory practices to an outside service.

Other retailers like hardware stores and Wal-Mart are less leery, adds Bayless.

"Category management is big in our industry right now, and I think that will help VMI in the long run," Bayless offers. "It will help manufacturers and distributors sit down, look at data and actually make plans together. We need a better loop of communication over inventory. That's really the first step."

With today's technology and the common use of the Internet, distributors regularly capture point-of-sale data and manage their inventory levels with software solutions. However, Bayless says, some are hesitant to hand the role of ordering product over to manufacturers completely.

Although there appears to be a fear in the aftermarket of sharing personal business information with competitors, Hansen at Page Brake Warehouse says the "open-systems" approach has actually been positive for the distributor.

"As a distributor, you tend to wear multiple hats," he adds. "If anything, using this system just frees up time to do what we do best. It's been a very positive experience."