Frequently Asked Questions by Dealers

Dealers that use a participating Business Management System can use PSP.  Today this includes products from ADP Lightspeed, c-Systems Software (both Infinity and Enterprise), Ideal Computer Systems, MIC Systems, and Softpower.

For most dealers using a participating business system, the PSP functionality is already installed.  It just needs to be “activated”.  Activation is different depending on the business system you are using, so please contact the PSP Dealer Hotline at (888) 395-4998 or email psp@mic.org to get started.  If your business system is not yet participating in the PSP program, please let them know your preference that they join.

PSP ensures “interoperability”, meaning that once a supplier becomes PSP-certified, you can do business with them immediately, without needing to install or maintain any new interfaces.  Today, the list of participating manufacturers and suppliers includes Custom Chrome, Ferris, Helmet House, Kawasaki, Simplicity, Snapper, Snapper Pro, and Stihl.  More suppliers will continue to be added, and all suppliers across the four industries of Marine, Outdoor Power Equipment, Powersports, and Recreational Vehicle are encouraged to participate in the PSP program.

PSP allows for dealers to transmit data to their participating suppliers right from within their business system, without having to save files to their computer or manually upload files.  And, with PSP receives the response from the supplier directly into your business system, without having to re-key the response.  This saves dealers significant time and improves data accuracy.

Each dealer stores their user names and password in the business system so that any person who has an authenticated account with a specific manufacturer/supplier can send PSP data to that company, just as you would if you logged in to the company’s web site or dealer communication system. The login information is sumply passed through the business system to the supplier. User accounts are set up with the supplier in the same manner you establish an account today. For most dealers, these accounts are already set up.

Dealers save time in many ways using PSP. Direct communication from within the business system cuts down the time to perform parts inquiries, submit purchase orders, or submit product registrations. Receiving the response directly into the business system also eliminates the redundant data entry. One dealership has said they save 2 hours per day in the peak season, just on their purchase orders. Another has said they save over 10 hours per week just submitting their product registrations. This time savings translates into more time to serve customers and help grow the dealer’s business.

In addition to the time savings at dealerships and the improved data quality, establishing data communications standards leads to more advanced business transactions. It also makes it easier for peripheral companies to join the network, such as insurance companies and state DMVs. The free-flow of data allows more focus on analyzing data for effective decision making rather than simply focusing on just getting data to arrive at its destination.

The PSP Program is administered by the not-for-profit Motorcycle Industry Council. The MIC has been in existence for over 75 years, serving the interests of the Powersports industry. PSP originated at the request of the member companies, seeking a more efficient way to communicate data throughout the industry. PSP has since expanded, and is now either endorsed or implemented in four industries – Marine, Outdoor Power Equipment, Powersports, and Recreational Vehicles – since these industries all follow a similar model of dealers using business systems to communicate with multiple suppliers. A small, dedicated team operates the PSP Program under the guidance of the MIC Board of Directors.

Currently PSP is free to dealers, and will continue to be free until at least October 2012. At some point in the future, the plan is for PSP to recover costs through a planned charge to the Business System Vendors of $20 per dealer per month. The Business System Vendors may recover these costs through a charge to their dealers, perhaps through a direct dealer fee or through some type of bundling for different tiers of service. PSP does not plan to charge the business system vendors until the point where more suppliers are participating, such that the dealers are seeing significant value in performing PSP transactions that always exceed the charge administered.

PSP transactions are enabled through “Business Object Documents” or BODs. Presently an extensive set of BODs relating to the Parts Suite are available which enable inquiries about Parts Availability, Pricing, Location, Ordering, Confirmations, and Shipment Status. Also, Product Registrations and Product Registration lookups are currently available. In the future, a suite of BODs relating to Warranty Claims will be available. Please noted that each business system vendor selects which BODs to implement into their products and not every BOD is currently available for every business system vendor.

PSP is based on Web Services technology used to connect businesses around the world. Suppliers implementing PSP simply allow their implemented Web Services to connect to the PSP Web Services so they can communicate using these standard methods and structured data. The data then moves directly between the dealer’s business management system and the supplier, without being routed through any central location or translation “hub”.