We slowly sum up the past year and think about the plans for 2021. Motofaktor.pl asks the aftermarket industry representatives how they assess the past twelve months of 2020, what changes have occurred in their companies and what challenges are ahead of the industry in the coming 2021.

Adam Kapek, Vice President of the Management Board of Moto-Profil, answers the questions.

At the beginning of the year, during a meeting with ProfiAuto partners, we talked about the fact that we live in times described by scientists as VUCA. This theory says that the modern world is characterised by: volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. The times require from businesses a great deal of agility and the so-called “anti-fragility” which enables quickly adapting to the changing surroundings. Back then, we did not assume that the events changing our lives in every dimension would come so quickly, and the organisation readiness would be verified in terms of coping with such situations.

During the first pandemic wave, there were radically different reactions to the new reality on the market. For example, we observed simultaneously that some of the partners made increased orders (in fear of limited availability from manufacturers), while others decided to substantially reduce them – fearing that the demand would drop. There were arguments in favour of both of these scenarios which seemed likely, but no one was able to clearly specify what the future would be like.

We decided that during this period it would be crucial for Moto-Profil to ensure the continuity of supply, as well as keeping stable commercial conditions for our partners. Together, we have maintained the routes and financial terms for our partner mechanics. Once, again, we have seen for ourselves that by acting as a group – a network of stores and warehouses, ProfiAuto and ProfiAuto Serwis – we better handle challenges in difficult times. The pandemic has affected particular areas of our operation to a varying degree, however, in hindsight, the general sales result turned out very good and this is encouraging.

It is surely encouraging that the aftermarket industry is still – and now maybe even more – strongly needed, that the current turbulations on the economic market do not affect negatively the demand for our services.

We are heading towards something new

We are an organisation with a long history, many experiences and achievements. It does not mean, however, that we do not notice the need to change. Last year, we began with analysing the effectiveness of all areas of our operations. This analysis was multidimensional and concerned both our internal environment and the relationship between Moto-Profil and the market.

We have translated the results into actions. This is, among others, how the “Moto-Profil through the customer’s eyes” survey was created, conducted in the second half of this year, through which we thoroughly examined the customer opinions on cooperation. The conclusions drawn from the survey constitute a sort of a guidance for changes that we will implement in 2021.

The dynamic development of own ProfiPower brand

At the beginning of this year, ProfiPower, so far associated with batteries, expanded its offer by introducing new products such as brakes and filters. The market success of the new product categories started the works on another ones which will be implemented in the coming year.

IT and technology – Agile methodology

IT and technology have always been an important pillar at Moto-Profil, accounting for business development. At the same time, it is a matter where at some scale of operations, the so-called silo management style, that is, a vertical one, is no longer effective. Therefore, in IT we have implemented the Agile work methodology, that is, an agile approach to operations, involving a faster verification of effects. Thanks to this change, our systems will be modified faster, and their functionalities will meet the real market needs.

ProfiAuto catalogue, ProfiBiznes warehouse management system, software for PAS24 mechanics and an application for drivers become a single, coherent ecosystem. An example of the implemented innovations may be the ProfiAuto Pay service, which allows drivers to pay for repairs performed in the workshop or spread the payment over instalments in the application. This is a state-of-the-art solution, available for workshops affiliated in the ProfiAuto Serwis network.

For some time, it will still be to continue to function in the currently developed model and further effective actions, despite difficulties and restrictions. We already know how to do it and we are convinced that we can maintain the business effectiveness, so it will be easier in this respect.

In the long-term, not only for our industry, but for all sectors, the biggest challenge will be to return to standard operations. Although the world will never be the same, we all would like to have a chance to meet in person in a bigger group, to discuss plans and strategies for the future, but also to simply smile to each other and shake hands, and ask “what’s up?”.

Teams conferences will surely stay with us and make a lot of processes easier, however, when it is again possible to meet, have live trainings and conferences, we all will be back on track and continue to develop the cooperation as dynamically as we would expect it – these are my wishes to us, to our partners and to the entire industry.