For customers who recently became familiar with OEC and the many connections we create across the industry, it may be surprising that our original mandate was singular and direct: Help wholesale dealers sell genuine parts to shops. Why? Back in 2000, the automotive aftersales industry’s biggest challenge was the endless manual processes and inefficiencies needed to sell parts via phone and fax. This challenge ultimately led to the formation of OEC – known then as OEConnection – a joint venture between Ford, GM, Chrysler (now Stellantis), and Bell & Howell (now Snap-on Business Solutions).
Seeing how much we’ve grown over the years, our original mission seems simple. However, more than two decades ago, it was anything but simple and also had never been done before. OEC’s founding led to the development of the first online parts procurement tool designed to help shops order OE parts from dealers: CollisionLink. While the platform itself wasn’t necessarily an overnight success, its growth in the past two decades has created a robust network of 9,000+ dealers and 40,000+ shops with more than 26 manufacturers and 47+ special pricing programs.
Following the launch of CollisionLink, OEC experienced true breakthrough success with our second solution, D2DLink, a dealer-to-dealer parts locator platform, followed shortly by D2D Express, a backorder fulfilment solution. These supply chain platforms made it easier for dealers to find parts they didn’t have on hand or were on backorder. By using the network’s expanded virtual inventory, dealers could now access the parts needed for customer repairs. The newly developed supply chain solutions, paired with the continued CollisionLink expansion, advanced our original mandate and allowed OEC to deliver its promise to help dealers sell more parts.
From there, our growth was driven by product expansion and enhancements with the development of our business intelligence solution, LinkIQ (later evolved into PSXLink). At that point, OEC also expanded into the mechanical market with RepairLink, the mechanical market’s counterpart to CollisionLink. The early and fast-paced innovation at OEC streamlined parts sales for OEMs, making it easier for dealers and shops to buy and sell parts while establishing trusted relationships across the industry.
Prior to the launch of D2DLink, the OEC dealer network only featured a few hundred dealers. Today, that expanded network includes:
- 45+ OEMs
- 30,000+ dealers
- 135,000+ shops
- 100+ parts suppliers
- And growing!
In 2016, the team diversified our product offerings to feature broader solutions and integrated new technologies to further support workflow efficiency and connectivity with our growing network of dealers, fleets, and insurers. From there, we extended our reach globally with major acquisitions in the UK in 2017 and 2018, allowing the value of our core platforms to be realized by customers worldwide.
As the industry continued to evolve in its complexity, OEC made the strategic decision to expand its collision repair service offerings beyond the ordering platforms that make it easier to find parts needed for proper repairs. OEC’s portfolio of collision solutions now includes tools that allow shops to quickly and comprehensively conduct repair planning research and build repair plans with RepairLogic, write and optimize accurate estimates by leveraging EstimateIQ, and enhance business and repair practices through OEM certifications with the Certified Performance Network (US) and Certified Collision Care (Canada).
The move into these categories reflect OEC’s belief that the best way to serve our customers is by building connections across the aftersales industry, supporting efficient repair lifecycles, providing OEM parts and procedure solutions, and driving proper vehicle repair. Collision repairers are now able to further drive profitability, efficiency, consistency, and quality into their operations with a more robust set of offerings to address their most common challenges across the repair lifecycle.
Even as OEC evolved beyond the original mandate to support the dealership wholesale business, the parts aftersales market remained a critical part of our solutions and network. In late 2021, OEC acquired Overall Parts Solutions (OPS) to provide additional parts sourcing and order management options to customers who can, in turn, offer improved customer service to the vehicle owner. The OPSTrax platform, an online parts procurement and order management solution, strengthens the parts supply chain and supports a consistent, accurate flow of all-part types across manufacturers, dealers, shops, and parts suppliers.
Our growth has continued in 2025 with the acquisition of PartsTech, enhancing our support of the mechanical repair market. The PartsTech platform connects auto repair facilities to a network of more than 225 parts and tire suppliers across 30,000 locations. Like RepairLink, PartsTech provides repair shops with access to one of the industry’s most connected, accurate and efficient mechanical parts procurement systems. Together, RepairLink and PartsTech bring industry-leading fitment information to repair facilities, streamlining workflows for quoting and ordering to boost repair efficiency.
While the origins of OEC begin with CollisionLink, a first-of-its-kind platform, 25 years later the OEC story is one about building connections across the parts and repair ecosystem and eliminating the pain in the vehicle repair process for all stakeholders. OEC solutions currently account for more than $14 billion in North American ecommerce transactions, $30 billion in annual trade facilitation, and continue to be the leading platforms for dealers and suppliers, repairers, manufacturers, insurers, and fleets.
The OEC team is thrilled to celebrate 25 years of serving the automotive industry in 2025 – a milestone worth applauding! That said, we are equally excited about the opportunities ahead. We’ve seen firsthand how people across the industry evolve and grow with technology to provide stronger customer service, deliver safe vehicle repairs while adapting to evolving vehicle technology, and stay connected across an ever-expanding parts and repair network. While our 25th anniversary is special for us, it truly speaks to the growth and evolution of the automotive industry.
For more information on OEC or to check out all of our solutions and products, visit the OEC homepage.
