CANTON, Ohio — The Timken Co. has announced the expansion of its award-winning Demand Insight system into Canada. The addition of vehicle registration and replacement rate data for Canada gives users all the part-specific predictive capabilities down to the census division level, previously available only to users in the U.S.
 
In addition to the expanded geographic coverage, Timken introduced several other enhancements improving the usability of the system. The Demand Insight system now includes flags to indicate part applicability for potential agriculture, medium-duty or heavy-duty vehicles, allowing users to recognize potential demand beyond automobiles. To further improve forecasting, a new data source helps the system predict new vehicle registrations for the current year and up to two years out.
 
The final usability enhancement involves the system’s ability to retain a previous tab, which allows multiple searches with no loss of information.
 
“Performance is the name of the game. Our customers expect so much more than a quality product. At Timken, we understand that value-add services and training are an important part of being a premium full-line supplier,” said Tom Tecklenburg, director of automotive aftermarket for Timken. “Demand Insight is one of those key differentiators that improves our performance as well as that of our customers by helping them ensure they have the right part at the right place, at the right time.”
 
First introduced in 2010, Timken Demand Insight offers distributors replacement parts data to help optimize sales opportunities. By using a combination of purchased and proprietary data, the service generates product lifecycle and custom market demand analysis, providing granular information for pertinent vehicle purchases in the customer’s target market via a searchable online database.