TigerLogic Customer Success Story

Automotive parts supplier credits success and future growth to powerful web-based catalogue built using TigerLogic's D3 database

The highly competitive automotive parts market in the UK generates several hundred million pounds revenue annually. To succeed in this market, suppliers need a large and comprehensive range of high quality products, very competitive pricing, and an extremely fast and efficient supply chain and delivery service to meet customer demands for fast fulfillment. Access to accurate, detailed and timely information about the entire product range is crucial to the operating performance and success of automotive parts suppliers. One UK supplier, Brakes International, relies heavily on its web-based catalogue database solution ("the system") built using TigerLogic's D3 database system, and views it as an essential factor in its plans for future growth.

Established in 1989, Brakes International owes a large part of its success to the flexible D3 Pick system-based application. The company was one of the first to integrate a parts catalogue into a sales order system, a strategy that has proven to be very successful and one that well positions the company for future growth. Originally written in AP Pick, the system has changed to SCO, then to Windows NT and is now running very efficiently on a Windows 64-bit platform. The original idea behind the system was to make a reasonably capable parts person into an expert in the field of braking systems and parts by providing access to detailed information to satisfy very exacting customers. This strategy has earned Brakes International a reputation in the industry as 'the' brake experts.

"The system has made us very 'people efficient' and this has been the key to our success in what is a very tough market. For the foreseeable future we don't see ourselves branching into other markets, but we do see the potential for increasing our market share, and our system will be essential in those plans," said Richard Bowen, Managing Director of Brakes International. "The system has become a trusted member of staff in its own right and allows our staff to be more responsive to customer needs."

The comprehensive parts catalogue database provides both staff and customers with the most up to date and accurate parts information available. With over 37,000 part numbers (that's a lot of brake parts), correct parts selection is vital to providing customers with the right parts the first time. Available at www.brakeparts.co.uk, Brakes International's unique parts catalogue gives them a true advantage in the highly competitive automotive parts marketplace. In addition, Brakes International has developed several critical business applications using other TigerLogic development tools such as FlashCONNECT for real-time access to data online. These systems are maintained and enhanced in-house, but the company also relies on the technical help and consultancy provided by the TigerLogic's support teams.