Leading the Digital Shift in Spare Parts: Lessons From MAHLE’s Kai-Uwe Fischer

Fischer oversees marketing communications, category management, e-commerce, and pricing. His perspective on digital enablement is grounded in both strategy and execution, making his insights especially relevant for companies with long legacies.

Start with honest diagnostics

Transformation begins with a clear view of reality. Fischer emphasised the importance of aligning with company strategy, then testing capabilities against it without glossing over weaknesses.

This approach leads to a few early priorities:

• Listen to both sides: Compare the strategy with what customers actually do.
• Tighten reporting cycles: Move from monthly to weekly and eventually daily.
• Lead by example: Secure buy-in and demonstrate commitment in action.

Digital enablement is not a single initiative. It’s a discipline that must be incorporated into everyday decision-making.

Data and AI as the backbone

Data is what turns ambition into action. For MAHLE, analytics and AI improve forecasting, pricing, and day-to-day decisions across multiple channels. Traditional patterns are less reliable, as events like Black Friday can disrupt expected demand curves.

The lesson is simple. Gather the data, connect it properly, and interpret it in context. AI supports the process by scanning volume at scale, but the value comes from how leaders and teams act on the insights.

A journey from sales to digital

Fischer’s career path from sales into marketing and digital operations shaped his view of change. The aftermarket is full of established organisations with strong traditions. Respect for that legacy is important, but progress requires adopting new disciplines around data and e-commerce.

The sales background helps because it grounds digital initiatives in practical customer realities. It ensures marketing and transformation remain close to the commercial front line.

Cross-functional teams around customers

When asked about alignment across stakeholders, Fischer pointed to cross-functional structures. Major marketplaces, MAHLE brings together full account teams that include pricing, content, SEO, logistics, and customer service.

The principle is clear. Large platforms will not adapt to the supplier. Success depends on adapting to the platform and scaling through continuous learning. The work doesn’t stop after the first transaction. It develops through constant refinement.

Tackling data silos

Legacy systems and fragmented acquisitions create barriers for many. MAHLE’s solution combines industry data standards for product information with a data lake that consolidates broader operational signals. Visualisation tools then present the data in different ways depending on the audience.

The aim is to give everyone a common truth. Even if inputs vary in timing, alignment comes from sharing the same base of information. In the long run, simplifying system landscapes will be necessary, but interim steps have already made progress.

E-commerce as a strategic choice

E-commerce can mean many things. For wholesale customers, it may be as simple as automating orders through a portal. For end users, it can open access to spare parts outside of warranty. For new regions, it can serve as a practical entry model when traditional networks are not in place.

The risk is cannibalisation if the same customer is served in multiple ways with misaligned pricing. That risk disappears when e-commerce is tied to strategy and each model is clearly defined.

Pricing and forecasting in practice

Two areas of technology stand out in Fischer’s experience:

• Forecasting: Collaborative planning with customers, supported by analytics, improves accuracy and service levels. Seasonal products can be linked with external signals, such as weather.
• Pricing: Dedicated software scans the web for end-user prices. This helps ensure that value is shared fairly across the chain and that partners capture healthy margins.

Small adjustments can have a large cumulative effect. A 3% improvement on high-volume lines translates into a major profit shift.

The limits of predictive maintenance

Real-time visibility is often presented as the holy grail. In practice, many automotive parts don’t contain sensors. Replacement is still based on service intervals or customer perception. Access to original equipment data has improved, but interpretation and customer connection remain challenges.

In industrial settings, predictive maintenance is more advanced because equipment fleets are sensorised and duty cycles are known. Electric vehicles also provide more data, although they have fewer moving parts overall. 

The lesson is to match predictive ambitions to the realities of the installed base.

A checklist for the next three to five years

Fischer closed with three focus points for aftermarket leaders.

• Engage end users earlier: Use identifiers and data exchange to capture demand as soon as it forms.
• Support the middleman: Mechanics and installers remain central. Give them tools and information that strengthen their business.
• Commit to change: Companies that fail to transform risk being left behind. Treat mistakes as learning and adapt quickly.

These themes link directly to Copperberg’s pillars of people, process, and technology. 

End-user engagement is as much about people as data. Installer support requires process design. Transformation needs both, with technology as the enabler rather than the headline.

Practical takeaways

The fireside chat provided a grounded view of what digital enablement really means:

• Start with a candid capability review
• Build cross-functional teams around key accounts and channels
• Shorten data cycles and make analytics actionable
• Define e-commerce clearly within your strategy
• Use forecasting and pricing tools where they drive margin and accuracy
• Match predictive goals to the realities of the installed base
• Invest in installers as a core part of the brand experience
• Treat transformation as a continuous discipline

Copperberg Select aims to highlight the practical steps that leaders can act on. Fischer’s guidance shows that the path forward is less about chasing every new tool and more about organising around the customer, connecting the data, and learning to adapt with purpose.