Corteco is one of the first companies certified as "Premier Data Supplier" (PDS) by TecAlliance for its exemplary data quality. TecAlliance is Europe's leading information, service and communication platform for all suppliers in the independent automotive spare parts and repair market.

When people talk about quality, the conversation quickly focuses on first-class materials and products. Service criteria such as on-time delivery or speed come to mind as well. These quality characteristics are indispensable to Corteco in the independent aftermarket or IAM. But data quality is another key aspect crucial for business success, especially in Europe. During the summer, Corteco, a Freudenberg Sealing Technologies subsidiary, set a standard – and did so emphatically: TecAlliance certified Corteco as a “Premier Data Supplier,” or PDS.

TecAlliance is an important player in the independent European automotive aftermarket: If you want to deliver or order replacement parts, there is no way around the electronic TecDoc catalog from TecAlliance. The ordering platform lists nearly all the important replacement parts providers, and TecAlliance uses it to set data standards for the European independent aftermarket. Only suppliers with items listed in the catalog will be visible in the market and receive a significant number of orders. That makes it even more important for the product data in the catalog to be reliable in order to enable the independent auto workshops to identify the right replacement parts at the first try.

“We don’t just need products offering original quality. The market will also assess the quality of our products by the quality of our data. The better our data, the higher our sales. We can only sell in Europe if we are cleanly catalogued at TecAlliance,” said Sebastian Timmer, Director, Category Management VC & Market Intelligence.

Corteco has been a TecAlliance “certified data supplier,” or CDS, for many years. This year, the platform raised the bar even higher and set tighter rules for data quality. The move mainly involves further standardization so customers can identify what they need in the catalog even more clearly and reliably.

In June, TecAlliance created a new award level for all the suppliers that have met the new TecDoc standard. Corteco was one of the few to reach these heights. That gives Corteco products a golden signet in the catalog for all to see. It is a seal of approval for high-quality, reliable data. “This creates trust in the Corteco brand.

Wrong data lead to complaints and wasted time during repairs and maintenance work. High data quality produces brand awareness. That means it boosts the reputation and recognition of the Corteco brand,” Timmer said. A great deal of work went into the certification. Corteco’s Category Management and Data Management departments, that is, product and data specialists, pulled together. They teamed up to rework and adapt many thousands of data sets. The PDS status will need to be defended with every new data delivery to the TecDoc catalog.

“Our work isn’t over. We have to be on the ball since TecAlliance keeps raising the bar for its catalog data a bit higher by adding new performance characteristics, the so-called KPIs, and our data have to meet these standards during each of our monthly data deliveries,” said Arnaud Portalez, Data Manager. In this case, quality is the product of a love for detail.