Electronic Parts Catalog for FORD

Ford Motor Company Expands Enigma Relationship

Enigma Inc., the leading software company for aftermarket parts and service systems in the automotive and heavy equipment industries, today announced that Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) has extended and upgraded its Enigma 3C Electronic Parts Catalog (EPC) implementation. The Ford EPC delivers updated parts and service information to Ford’s dealer network and improves service bay productivity at Ford dealerships.

“[FCA] makes life a lot easier and can make you money in the long run. This system probably saves me an hour a day.”

The Ford-Enigma relationship dates back to 2005 with Clifford Thames, a provider of outsourced aftermarket services for the automotive industry. Since then, Ford has enrolled more than 1,800 dealerships in North America to provide up-to-date parts information for Ford, Lincoln and Mercury passenger cars and light trucks, Ford medium duty trucks and Blue Diamond-built trucks. Enigma’s browser-based EPC sits at the heart of Ford Catalog Advantage (FCA), Ford Motor Company’s Genuine Parts Catalog. As part of this partnership extension, Clifford Thames will continue to provide dealer sales and support for FCA. 

Ford Catalog Advantage is an interactive EPC that allows dealership parts managers to enter a vehicle identification number (VIN), Ford Service number, Motorcraft number, or other key identifier such as model, model-year and trim package to view a parts catalog that is tailor-made for the customer vehicle being serviced. Drawing from more than 20GB of VIN and parts information, for all passenger and light truck models from the 1980s forward, FCA shows dealers any closely-related parts, parts kits and supersessions, ensuring that parts managers and technicians have complete information for service and repairs. 

FCA is linked into the Ford Customer Service Division (FCSD) applications including the Dealer-to-Dealer (D2D) parts location solution. This allows a dealer’s parts managers to track the latest part requirements and to check inventory availability. In addition, FCA integrates with dozens of Dealer Management Systems (DMS) allowing users the ability to view inventory, pricing and transmit parts orders directly to the DMS without leaving the parts catalog. 

Ford Catalog Advantage is part of the Ford plan to help dealerships improve efficiency and accelerate parts counter and service bay activities. Enigma’s technology allows FCA to be updated quickly, providing significant cost-reductions, faster notifications and improved accuracy. 

“During the first five years of operation the Enigma EPC significantly improved data accuracy in FCA, which decreased incorrect part orders and improved procurement and inventory processes for dealers,” said Calvin Barnett, Chief Executive, Parts Cataloguing at Clifford Thames. “One of the key elements of the upgrade is the integration of FCA with Ford’s PTS service information system, which connects the dealership service bay and parts manager desk. This enables dealerships to not only improve the parts requisition process but also increase service bay productivity,” said Barnett. 

Ford anticipates that FCA will help increase service parts sales, and made the decision to renew the Enigma contract based on feedback from dealers, who reported fewer parts mis-orders, faster service and increased customer satisfaction. Ford received the following testimonials from some of its dealers:
“[FCA] is one of the best tools I’ve seen come out in a long time. It really is beneficial to the dealership for customer satisfaction.” — Tim Worthington, General Service Director, Hines Park Lincoln
“The integration [of FCA and Ford's Workshop Manuals] has in fact helped the relationship between our parts department and technicians… As our technicians use this tool more often their efficiency will improve by eliminating any wasted time looking at pictures in the parts department; they will be able to spend more time in their stalls working on vehicles!” — Paul Cole, Service Director, Santa Margarita Ford 

“[With FCA] parts are scrubbed against the VIN number, so we don’t have as many returned parts, and the technician doesn’t end up waiting for a part that may be wrong. It saves us time, it saves the technician time, and ultimately it saves the customer time.” — Dan Barr, Parts Manager, Hines Park Lincoln 

“[FCA] makes life a lot easier and can make you money in the long run. This system probably saves me an hour a day.” — Scott Stern, Drivability Technician, Hines Park Lincoln 

The Enigma-Ford application is available via the Web, LAN and as a standalone/laptop application, with full print-on-demand capability. Other features include visual navigation tools, customizable user settings for access control and user management, bi-directional linking of parts and illustrations and advanced shopping cart functionality. 

“With this integrated EPC, Ford sets the standard as an industry role model for aftermarket processes,” said Jonathan Yaron, chairman and CEO of Enigma.“We are delighted that Enigma technology is a pivotal part of Ford’s strategy to improve dealer support, customer experience and overall brand perception,” added Yaron.