PIM for the automotive aftermarket

Many brands. Many countries. Every channel.

One parts catalog.

PIM4B keeps parts data as one governed, TecDoc-aligned record and feeds your ERPs, storefronts and marketplaces from a single place - with an AI agent that fills missing attributes by OE number.

30 minutes, no slide deck
Your OE numbers, live
Honest fit check
Product record
Governed
Brake disc · front axle
OE ref. [OE NUMBER] · GenArt [CODE]
Brand A
Private label
PL · DE · CZ · FR
TecDoc
Ready to publish
B2B portal
Ready to publish
ERP
Synced
Amazon · eBay
2 attributes missing
AI agent found 2 missing values
Researched by OE number, with sources. Waiting for analyst approval.
PIM4B product data screen with technical attributes and vehicle applications
390,000
products maintained in one PIM
12
EU countries in product data operations
200+
client apps on one versioned API
20+
years on aftermarket product data
i4B has maintained LKQ Europe's product data platform - 390,000 products across 12 EU countries - for over 20 years.
“

i4B brings strong expertise in the automotive industry and its surrounding data landscape, making them a highly valuable partner for related initiatives. Their domain knowledge enables them to quickly understand complex requirements and deliver meaningful outcomes.

Rebekka Hopp
Product Owner · LKQ Europe
The problem

Why parts catalogs break when you grow?

Growth multiplies data. Without one governed record, every new brand, market and channel becomes another copy to maintain.

Brands

Every brand becomes its own island

Acquire a brand, add a private label, take on a supplier - and inherit another data structure nobody wants to merge.

Countries

Every country adds a copy

The catalog gets duplicated instead of extended - and the copies drift apart within a quarter.

Channels

Every channel wants a different format

TecDoc, B2B portal, Amazon, eBay, distributor feeds - same product, five rule sets, five exports kept by hand.

The costliest line

Technical attributes typed in by hand

Open a supplier PDF, find a dimension, type it into a spreadsheet, hope it was the right OE reference. At scale, the most expensive line in the catalog budget.

How it works

One governed record. Every channel downstream.

1

Collect

ERPs, supplier feeds, spreadsheets and old catalogs into one model - multi-brand and multi-country from day one.

2

Govern

Validation and completeness rules define “ready to publish” per brand, country and channel.

3

Enrich

TecDoc attributes, vehicle applications, images and documents - AI-assisted, analyst-approved.

4

Publish

ERPs, storefronts and marketplaces through one versioned API, already serving 200+ apps.

5

Expand

A new country in weeks, not quarters - the structure was built for it.

AI research agent

Stop typing attributes from supplier PDFs

It works the way your data team already works - just faster. This is the part no spreadsheet and no general-purpose PIM will do for you.

01

Researches by OE number

Give it an OE reference and it queries external sources - manufacturer catalogues and marketplaces - for the missing technical values.

02

Analysts stay in control

Nothing publishes automatically. The agent proposes, an analyst approves.

03

Every value knows its source

Every value is marked as sourced, derived or missing. When a spec is disputed two years later, you show the source and who signed off.

Review proposals
OE ref. [OE NUMBER]
Attribute
Proposed value
Disc diameter
[VALUE] mm
Source: [SUPPLIER DATASHEET] · retrieved [DATE]
Approve
Reject
Disc thickness
[VALUE] mm
Source: [CROSS-REFERENCE] · waiting for analyst
Want to see the agent run on your own OE numbers?

Thirty minutes, your data, no slide deck.

Book a demo
What's inside

Built for parts - not for generic products

Parts catalog structure

Products, groups, base components and bills of materials - repair kits modelled as what they are.

TecDoc you can see

Reference data at a tracked version; GenArt, vehicle data and OE samples in the same system.

Identification & compliance

EAN management and substance search as part of the record, not a side spreadsheet.

Assets next to data

Images and documents managed with their products and published through the same channels.

Daily data-quality loop

Remarks, Compare and completeness rules turn the annual clean-up into a daily process.

Aggregation & enrichment

Values merged from many sources; the AI agent fills gaps by OE number.

Distribution with a paper trail

Every import/export run with status, source file and time - see why a feed failed at 2 a.m.

One public, versioned API

200+ client apps in production, including B2B storefront and admin.

Europe and North America

One catalog, two standards

Taking a European catalog into the US and Mexico normally means a second workflow per market. In PIM4B it is a switch on the same record: TecDoc on one side, ACES and PIES on the other.

Switch any item between views

The same product shows as a TecDoc record or an ACES/PIES record - no separate catalog to keep in sync.

Vehicle mapping that holds up

TecDoc K-type ranges mapped to ACES BaseVehicles per part, including the year-by-year splits where one range becomes several links.

Validated XML exports

PIES 8.0 and ACES 5.0, checked against the current Auto Care schemas before they reach your US and Mexican partners.

Units per market

Imperial for the US, metric for Mexico - every export carries the attributes that market expects.

ACES/PIES output requires your own valid licence to the Auto Care Association databases (VCdb, PCdb, Qdb). We are happy to advise.

Own vs. rent

Own it. Don't rent it.

No licence fee. No lock-in. PIM4B is a mature product implemented for your business - and the result belongs to you. Support afterwards is a retainer you choose, not a toll you pay to keep the system switched on.

 
Typical SaaS PIM
PIM4B
Ownership
Vendor's
Yours
Cost model
Monthly, forever, scaling with growth
Implementation once. Support retainer only if you want it.
Where it runs
The vendor's cloud
Hosted by i4B, or a dedicated instance on your own servers
Customisation
Within the vendor's roadmap
Within yours
To extend it
Request a feature, wait
Build it
To leave
Migration project
Nothing to leave
TecDoc & integrations

Built around TecDoc - not bolted onto it

Most PIM platforms treat TecDoc as one more export plugin. i4B has been integrating it since 2005. Attributes and vehicle applications are structured correctly from the start - not mapped at export time.

No two ERPs are the same

Every parts business runs an ERP shaped around its own catalog, so a ready-made connector is a fiction. PIM4B treats integration as a layer: one adapter per source, built to your data. Prices, stock and master data stay where they belong - the catalog does not try to own them.

2.5M ERP calls a day run through integration adapters in the aftermarket landscapes i4B maintains.

Storefronts & B2B portals

Your storefront and B2B portal read the catalog directly, not a nightly export. Completeness rules run before publication, so a part reaches the shop with its attributes, images and vehicle applications in place - or it does not reach it at all.

Amazon & eBay

Each marketplace gets its own rule set and its own export, generated from one source record. Write a description once and it reaches every channel, instead of being retyped per platform and drifting apart within a season.

200+ client apps

PIM4B exposes a versioned public API, so an integration written today keeps working as the catalog model changes. A new consumer - a portal, a mobile app, a partner feed - connects without a migration project.

70,000 orders a day, 95% answered under 300 ms, in the aftermarket landscapes i4B maintains.
Who it's for

PIM4B earns its place when things start multiplying

Multi-brand parts groups

Running catalogs never designed to coexist.

Distributors crossing borders

Who need a new country to take weeks, not quarters.

Parts manufacturers

Reaching and holding TecDoc data supplier status, or taking a European catalog into ACES/PIES markets.

IT & digital leaders

Who inherited a catalog nobody wants to touch - and own its risk.

Who it isn't for: if you run one brand in one market, you don't need us - and we'll tell you so on the call.
Book a demo

See PIM4B on your own catalog

30 minutes. We look at how your data flows today, show how PIM4B would handle it, and tell you honestly if you don't need us.

1 · You send one email
We reply within 24 business hours to pick a slot.
2 · Bring a few OE numbers
We run the AI agent on them live.
3 · You get a straight answer
Fit or no fit - no sales sequence afterwards.
[PHOTO]
[NAME], [ROLE]
runs every PIM4B demo personally
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
One brand in one market? PIM4B may be more than you need - book anyway and we'll tell you honestly.
One email. One conversation. No sales sequence.

Frequently asked questions

What is a PIM system for the automotive aftermarket?

A PIM (product information management) system for the automotive aftermarket is a central, governed place to store, enrich and distribute parts data - technical attributes, vehicle applications, images, documents and marketing content. Unlike a general-purpose PIM, an aftermarket PIM has to handle vehicle linkage and data standards such as TecDoc, where a single incorrect application means a returned part and a lost garage.

How is PIM4B different from Akeneo or Pimcore?

Three differences. PIM4B is built specifically around automotive parts data and the TecDoc standard. It includes an AI research agent that fills technical attributes by OE number with field-level source traceability. And it is implemented as your own system rather than rented as a subscription - the result belongs to your business, with no recurring licence and no vendor lock-in.

Can PIM4B handle multiple brands and countries in one catalog?

Yes - that is what it was built for. Multi-brand and multi-country structures are part of the data model rather than a workaround, which is why rolling product data into a new country takes weeks instead of quarters.

Does PIM4B support ACES and PIES for the US and Mexico?

Yes. The same record can be viewed and exported as TecDoc or as ACES and PIES, with K-type ranges mapped to ACES BaseVehicles and validated PIES 8.0 and ACES 5.0 XML. Using it requires your own licence to the Auto Care Association databases (VCdb, PCdb, Qdb).

Does the AI agent publish data automatically?

No. The agent researches external sources per OE number and proposes values; your analysts approve them before anything enters the catalog. Every approved value keeps a field-level record of where it came from.

Do we need a PIM if we already have an ERP?

In most cases, yes. An ERP manages transactions - stock, prices, orders. A PIM manages the descriptive and technical data that sells the product and matches it to the right vehicle. They solve different problems and work best connected, which is why PIM4B integrates with ERPs rather than replacing them.

One catalog for every brand, country and channel - yours to own.
Book a demo