SHW, Pioneer Of Ventilated Brake Discs, Joins Tecdoc As New Data Supplier

SHW, PIONEER OF VENTILATED BRAKE DISCS, JOINS TECDOC AS NEW DATA SUPPLIER

SHW has become a TecDoc data supplier and now presents its more than 290 high-performance brake discs in the TecDoc Catalogue. In this interview, Matthias Reckziegel, Key Account Manager at SHW, talks about their aftermarket ambitions and how an industry standard like TecDoc supports them.

As a traditional German industrial company, SHW has built a prestigious reputation in three business areas: pumps & engine components, powder metallurgy and brake discs. SHW serves manufacturers of automobiles, commercial vehicles, agricultural machines, and construction machines, as well as other automotive suppliers. SHW is a global leader with a turnover of 393 million euros in 2020.

The special division SHW Brake Systems develops and manufactures high-performance brake discs. These lightweight composite brake discs set the industry standard in terms of weight and performance.

With the newly launched aftermarket brand SHW Performance, SHW is now present in the TecDoc catalogue with more than 290 brake disc types for the high-performance segment. SHW delivers parts for cars like the Porsche 911 GT3, BMW M models and Audi RS models, including the R8 with the wave disc SHW developed.

We spoke with Matthias Reckziegel, Key Account Manager for SHW, about SHW’s aftermarket ambitions and how an industry standard like TecDoc supports them.

He sees the focus on the independent aftermarket in Europe and the USA. His main priorities are to establish SHW Performance as a new brand in the IAM, expand its portfolio in the high-performance segment, and address aftermarket customers’ needs in the OE-driven SHW organization.

 

Why IAM? Until now, SHW has operated exclusively as an OE manufacturer.

Under the new SHW Performance brand, a product range identical to the one for OEMs is being introduced to the international IAM, focusing on lightweight compound brake discs for the European and the US market.

 

Why to be present in the IAM?

• It is about growth: We consider the independent aftermarket to be an important growth segment for SHW. We will work on it continuously in parallel with our ongoing OE business activities.
• It is about stability: Demand for aftermarket products, despite seasonalities, can contribute to more stable utilisation of production capacities considering the increasing volatility in the OEM world. Vehicle maintenance is required regardless of OE production volumes.
• And finally, it is about the customer: The presence in the IAM increases customer loyalty. Successfully delivering aftermarket services requires nurturing customer relationships and a deep understanding of customer needs. Staying in close dialogue with the customer yields valuable insights for further product development and product performance.

Matthias Reckziegel, Key Account Manager SHW

 

We have embarked on the aftermarket journey.

We have recognised a demand in the market to which we can cater – we regularly get direct calls from customers who want to buy parts directly from us. This is driven by the fact that no one else in the aftermarket today offers OE-identical brake discs for many high-performance applications. These brake discs are currently offered only by the OEMs themselves.

Therefore, we have started setting up an aftermarket organizational structure and analysing customers needs. We have created a product range to satisfy different customer segments and built a supply chain for the aftermarket.

And now we consider the best way to distribute our products in the aftermarket, taking into account the shift to e-commerce platforms.

The decision was made last year, and work is still going on. This is a new experience for us, but we are all set on keeping the momentum going to offer the best-in-class products to our customers!

 

Why TecDoc? The TecDoc catalogue is the industry standard in the IAM.

We have started talking to European distribution players. Easy onboarding, data quality, product availability and on-time delivery are the key expectations from their side.

TecDoc will help them sell, offering the ideal end-to-end system for accurate part identification to vehicles. With TecDoc, the onboarding of our product into distributors’ own systems will be easier to manage. TecDoc enables smooth cooperation among parts manufacturers, traders and workshops. That’s why TecDoc is a vital factor for distributors – they are no longer able to handle and manage offline suppliers.

We believe that if you are not present in TecDoc, you are not present in the independent aftermarket. It is important for us to introduce our brand and product range in a way that our customers can easily find everything in the best possible and standardized way.

Thanks to TecAlliance’s onboarding training, we submitted the product data for our full range of brake discs into the TecDoc Catalogue quite quickly. Linking to the standardised product descriptions and the conversion to the TecDoc Standard went smoothly. As a result, our products can now be found by distributors and end customers in the TecDoc Solutions!

By building on TecDoc’s extensive industry knowledge and technical expertise, we can showcase our product portfolio to the entire aftermarket network (including part numbers, product and maintenance descriptions) for best-in-class visibility and sales.

And this is the magic of TecDoc!