2 minute read
CEO’s message
Human ingenuity has been gradually changing the way we live for millennia. We’re an incredibly intelligent species, inventing all manner of machines to make life easier—or, at least, to make our activities more profitable. For as long as this creativity has been leading to advances in technology, there have also been people falling all over themselves to reject it.
The invention in 1764 of the spinning jenny, a machine to weave cotton, industrialised the textile industry—shifting the making of fabric from homes to factories. Fifty years later, as technology advanced further with the creation of mechanised looms, a group of disgruntled men who called themselves Luddites came along and started smashing up the machines in protest at being displaced from their jobs. For all their destruction, they couldn’t stop progress.
I mention this because our industry stands on the precipice of a revolution of our own. There is huge technological change to come—from the switch to EVs and autonomous driving, to the as-yet-unknown impacts of AI and 3D printing, to great leaps in the capabilities of business automation and advanced diagnostic software.
It would be churlish for an industry created entirely by technology, dedicated to servicing that technology, to somehow resent its advance. As the Luddites discovered, the change is coming anyway—and it’s our job to embrace it and be ready for it.
Instead of worrying that technology is here to steal our jobs, we must look at the positives, the opportunities. Specifically for the automotive aftermarket, an industry wracked by an ongoing skills shortage that is hampering productivity and profitability, technology can play a significant role in improving our business efficiency. Anything that saves time, effort and money should be something for Members to get excited about, rather than to fear.
So, in this edition of Ignition, we take a deep dive into some of the great technological changes that are underway and some that are on the horizon. We look at the opportunities, analyse the perceived threats, and take the time to consider how all of us in the automotive aftermarket can make the most of this brave new digital world. Because that digital future is coming, and the more comfortable we are with it, the better we can thrive.
