The Automotive Parts Group’s NAPA AUTO PARTS and Mitchell Repair Information Company, a subsidiary of Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE: SNA) have teamed up to deliver a selection of software applications that will streamline processes in the automotive service and repair industry. The two companies are combining complementary technologies into a single offering that will enable automotive service professionals to more efficiently quote repair estimates, procure the necessary parts, and access the technical information needed to perform any automotive repair. NAPA’s QuickWriter and Mitchell’s On-Demand and Labor Estimating Database all come together to create an attractive combination of applications that will lead the automotive service and repair industry in the future.
Operating on Microsoft Windows, NAPA’s QuickWriter combines NAPA’s estimating software and comprehensive parts catalog, Mitchell’s labor estimating database, and NAPA ACCESS – an electronic interface to the local NAPA AUTO PARTS Store. Mitchell’s On-Demand product provides today’s technicians the most thorough automotive repair information by offering comprehensive procedures, clear illustrations, accurate specifications and complete diagnostics in order to service increasingly sophisticated vehicles.
Service writers can provide repair estimates to consumers using the QuickWriter technology and Mitchell’s comprehensive database of labor hours required to perform any automotive repair. Once the consumer approves the service, QuickWriter electronically accesses the nearest NAPA AUTO PARTS Store, checks real time inventory availability, and orders the part, all with the click of a mouse.
Once the repair process is underway, technicians can access over 100,000 pages of information, diagrams and illustrations from Mitchell’s On-Demand database.
GPC’s U. S. Automotive Parts Group president, Bob McKenna, says: We think the combination of these technologies will enable professional service writers and technicians to increase bay turnover, thereby increasing their effectiveness and profitability. Ultimately the consumer benefits by having the right services performed in the most efficient means possible – using the most trusted name in parts, NAPA.
This announcement is the first in a series of anticipated business-to-business e-commerce initiatives between Genuine Parts Company and Mitchell Repair Information Company since the two companies formed a strategic alliance in January 2000.
Mitchell Repair Information Company, headquartered in San Diego, California, has been the leading provider of information to the automotive industry for nearly eighty years. In 1918, Service Engineering Corporation, later purchased by Mitchell, introduced the industry’s first series of comprehensive automotive electrical repair manuals. Today Mitchell has evolved into a leading industry resource, providing information in several media – print and electronic.
