Ford does it. Volvo does it. Bobcat does it. Why doesn’t everybody do it? What is the “it?”

Electronic parts catalogs.

At Enigma we are the leaders in providing the technology that enables OEMs to create, publish and distribute their parts and service information, and frankly, we are amazed that everybody doesn’t do more of it. (After all, you probably thought the “it” we were talking about was something else that you’d like to do more of, but I digress.)

Obviously, we would like to sell more electronic parts catalog software, but that’s not the point. We’re making life easier for OEMs and their dealers/customers by providing critical information so that people can fix machines better, faster.

We know there’s demand for this kind of information. This week I got a call from a guy in Saskatchewan who asked me for a catalog, but Enigma doesn’t have the data, the OEM does. And it got me to thinking about how that OEM could sell a lot more parts if only they had the information online for people like that guy. He’s not the only one who pings us in a quest for that kind of info; I get calls like that all the time.

So if you’re an OEM and you’re wondering how to make your aftermarket service and parts business grow in 2008, check out our white paper on electronic parts catalogs.

Have a happy holiday season!

It’s a great question, right? People are often asked if they have thought some task through or if they have the proper instructions to accomplish a task. “Purpose before action” and “make sure you have a plan” are common phrases we hear all the time as reminders to not waste time and resources hacking away at a problem.

Take, for example, the need to get the right part to a mechanic at exactly the right time (we know something about that as the leader in EPC). It’s crucial for many obvious reasons. But we also think that making sure the mechanic knows what to do with that part is equally important. For us, it’s the combination of the right parts and the right instructions — specific to that machine, plane or industrial vehicle — that delivers real savings, reduced downtime and improved safety. And many people today are focused on the first part and never think about the follow-through in terms of instructions.

Now you know why we call our new blog the “Uptime blog”. This blog is about more than Enigma’s technology and capabilities to make complex maintenance simple. We are going to talk here about our view of this world, developed by working with some of the largest and most complex maintenance operations in the world. And why we believe we have something to contribute to uptime around the world, across industries.

And we aren’t going to be afraid to call it like we see it. If we’re a little “cheeky” now and then, we hope that’ll amuse you. Or make you mad. Or get you to participate in the discussion by commenting on your blog, leaving a comment here or emailing us at editor@uptimeblog.com.