During a press conference at Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week in Dallas, Texas, the company announced an expanded product and service platform that it says is designed to help North American commercial vehicle fleets enhance safety and improve the availability, or uptime, of equipment at every stage of its service lifecycle.

Abe Aon, Wabco North American Aftersales service support leader, says new initiatives from the company demonstrate its commitment to uptime.

Set to launch this March, the new regional platform will enable customers to access all Wabco replacement components and retrofit kits – including braking and stability control systems, air disc brakes, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), air processing and other Wabco-branded products previously distributed by Meritor – through an expanded network of authorized Wabco distributors and certified service partners.

As part of the business expansion, the company upgraded its Hebron, Kentucky, distribution center that was already serving the OE side of the business. “We made a $3 million investment in the Hebron facility including more pallet space, kiting lines and assembly lines to service this market.” The workforce at the facility was also doubled.

“It is our personal commitment and passion to support the customers and that includes the aftermarket team, the engineering team, the project management team, the quality team and the customer care team,” Aon said.

“Being a true partner with customers is who we are and how we operate within Wabco,” said Jon Morrison, president, Wabco Americas. “We are demonstrating our commitment to customers by significantly expanding our aftermarket portfolio, adding new distribution infrastructure and logistics capabilities, and creating an enhanced customer experience team for OE service providers, aftermarket parts distributors and fleets seeking to maximize vehicle uptime.”

To help North American fleets and service providers keep vehicles operating safely and at peak efficiency, Wabco’s enhanced customer experience will also include:

• A new customer portal featuring online ordering for OES and distributor customers, as well as product information and technical support for the larger customer base;

• An expanded regionally-based, multilingual field service team providing both live and virtual technical support; and

• A regional version of Wabco’s comprehensive training platform, Wabco Academy, tailored to the needs of North American customers. This platform will enable access to detailed technical instruction via self-directed online modules and on-site, hands-on clinics, as well as certification programs across the spectrum of OEM and aftermarket solutions for popular commercial vehicle applications.

During the HDAW show, the company unveiled some additional new product and service solutions.

• OnSide ADAS retrofit kits: These kits allow fleets to add blind spot detection technology. The company also offers OnGuardActive and OnLane ADAS retrofit kits for an array of popular vehicle applications.

• Genuine remanufactured air compressors: The line has been expanded to include remanufactured air compressors that are said to provide original equipment equivalent performance. Each unit is fully disassembled, inspected, cleaned, honed, updated with new components, reassembled and tested to the latest OE specifications.

• Subscription-based Toolbox Plus diagnostic software:This is an upgrade to the company’s existing Toolbox software. The new version supports the company’s latest product releases including intelligent anti-lock braking systems for trailers, modular braking system platform for trucks and TailGuard reverse collision avoidance system for trucks and trailers. A new “roll call” feature automatically identifies installed Wabco systems upon connection to the vehicle. In addition, warranty forms are pre-populated with VIN, fault code(s) and other information to help speed the claims process.

• Expanded air dryer and cartridge offerings: Three new ranges of replacement air dryers and cartridges are not available to meet the performance and cost-per-mile requirements at each stage of vehicle ownership. Available air dryers now include System Saver premium OE; Wabco Reman Solutions; and new ProVia aftermarket units. The company’s air dryer cartridge offering now consists of System Saver premium OE; new Wabco Essential mid-range; and ProVia aftermarket cartridges.

“Our promise is to look at customers’ requirements for uptime and support them,” Aon said. “At the end of the day, we are here to be a partner in their success.”