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MIC-developed business program coming online – August 14, 2006

A new digital business communication system developed by the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) is working its way into the industry.
A couple of dealers have successfully used the system, which simplifies the way dealers do business with their suppliers by creating an industry-wide digital communications standard.
“The good news is it’s really happening now,” Pat Murphy, MIC’s vice president of research and technology standards, said of Powersports Standard Protocol (PSP), which enables a dealer using a PSP-enabled dealership management system (DMS) to conduct a transaction entirely within that DMS.
“We’ve had these years of getting consensus from the industry, agreeing how to do these things, getting them into specifications and writing code and testing it and doing all this stuff,” Murphy said. “Now it’s out there and people are using it.”
How many dealers and suppliers use it in the near future depends on when each company’s PSP testing wraps up.
Murphy of the MIC said C-Systems Software is now online with it as is Kawasaki. MIC Systems Software is currently testing it. Other companies that plan to adopt it, Murphy said, are Honda, Suzuki, Global Motorsports Group and Southern Motorcycle Supply.
Scott Robinson, marketing manager for ADP Lightspeed, said ADP is currently in beta testing with PSP, but expects it to be available for general release to LightspeedNXT customers in the fall. Dealers can call their ADP Lightspeed sales rep for pricing details, which will vary by the type and number of manufacturers to which the dealer subscribes.
Greg Blackwell, vice president of sales for LeMans Corp., which owns Parts Unlimited and Drag Specialties, said LeMans has made contributions to PSP and currently is monitoring it to see if could fit into the company’s future plans. He gave no timetable for when that could happen.
Gary Nordlund, Tucker Rocky’s CIO, said Tucker Rocky is monitoring it as well, but so far Tucker Rocky’s dealers have not expressed a demand for this service.
Murphy said she isn’t surprised that more distributors and other suppliers are not using it, noting, “I think a lot of people were waiting for things to get into production and have the specifications get solid so we weren’t changing them.”
PSP’s initial phase was limited to parts transactions. Dealers can order parts, check parts pricing and inventories, and track shipments.
Where PSP goes in its next phase was a decision made by a MIC business advisory committee, which is made up of OEMs, aftermarket distributors and dealer service providers. That group, Murphy said, wants PSP users to have access to new vehicle registration and warranty claims.
“That’s where we’re headed next,” Murphy said. psb

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