Every manufacturer we talk to has heard “ACES and PIES” mentioned at least once before they know what either one actually does. Here’s the short version.
ACES (Aftermarket Catalog Exchange Standard) maps a part to the exact vehicles it fits — year, make, model, and often engine or trim variant. It’s the data that answers the question “does this part fit my customer’s 2019 Honda Civic?”
PIES (Product Information Exchange Standard) carries everything else: pricing, dimensions, weight, images, descriptions, and product attributes. If ACES answers “does it fit,” PIES answers “what is it, and what does it cost?”
Together, they’re the minimum data format every major U.S. distributor, retailer, and marketplace requires before a part can even appear in a search result — not a nice-to-have, a gate.
Why this trips up first-time exporters
Most manufacturers already have fitment information — it exists somewhere, usually in a spreadsheet built for internal use or for a different export market. The problem is format, not data. ACES and PIES have strict structural requirements, and a spreadsheet that makes sense to your team doesn’t automatically translate.
The three mistakes we see most often:
- Incomplete year ranges. A part gets mapped to “2015–2020” when it actually only fits 2017–2020 — this generates returns and buyer complaints fast.
- Generic product descriptions. PIES data copied from a catalog built for a different market often doesn’t match what U.S. buyers search for.
- No update process. ACES and PIES data isn’t a one-time build — vehicle applications change, and static data goes stale.
If you’re not sure whether your current data would pass a buyer’s compliance check, that’s usually the first thing worth finding out before anything else.