WHI Solutions Launches Nexus, an AI Phone Ordering Tool for Nexpart

How Nexus phone ordering works

According to WHI Solutions, customers call their distributor, speak naturally with an AI agent, ask questions and place orders at any hour, without waiting for the next available counterperson. The company says phone ordering is still the backbone of the parts business, and that pressure on it peaks at predictable times: early-morning rushes, busy counter hours and calls that arrive after closing.

Nexus fits into a distributor's existing call structure and sends orders through the distributor's Nexpart ordering workflow. WHI says this means there is no separate system for staff to manage or for customers to learn. The tool supports multilingual conversations, starting with English and Spanish, with additional languages in development.

The company describes Nexus as already live and rolling out with major parts distributors, with dozens more implementations underway.

Built on catalog data and meant to work with counter staff

WHI argues that the quality of its parts catalog is what makes Nexus work. The company says it has spent years working with parts manufacturers to build what it calls the most comprehensive, highest-quality parts catalog in the industry, and that it also uses AI to enrich that manufacturer data. In its words, AI is only as good as the data behind it, which makes the catalog the foundation for Nexus.

The company positions the tool as support for staff rather than a replacement. Nexus takes on routine, time-sensitive calls so counter staff, inside sales and customer service teams can focus on complex requests, exceptions and customer relationships. "AI can help answer the call, but your people still own the relationship," said Mike Schuurs, General Manager, WHI Solutions.

Distributor reactions

Parts Authority was the first auto parts distributor to deploy Nexus. Tom Hager, Vice President of Corporate Strategy at Parts Authority, said his company worked closely with WHI in the early phases of development and is "extremely impressed with the speed, accuracy and functional capabilities of this amazing technology." He said Parts Authority wants to move beyond its initial test customers to a wider deployment for customers who prefer speaking on the phone to using conventional keyboard-based B2B tools.

Factory Motor Parts is among the next major distributors bringing Nexus to its customers. Annette Miller, Senior Manager, Customer Experience, said the internal team has had great success with it and called Nexus "intuitive, fast to order from, and naturally conversational."

Availability and what comes next

According to WHI, Nexus is included with Nexpart, with a minimal setup fee and little lift for distributors. Because it works within existing call structures and Nexpart ordering workflows, the company says it can get distributors up and running quickly.

WHI describes phone ordering as only the start. The company is building Nexus into the core Nexpart platform and ordering process, with more AI capabilities planned across its products to help buyers and sellers find, order and move parts with less effort. No timeline for those additions was given.

WHI Solutions will demonstrate Nexus at AAPEX 2026, held Nov. 3-5 at the Venetian Expo in Las Vegas, at Booth V838. More information is available at getstarted.nexpart.com/nexus.

For distributors, the pitch is straightforward: calls that would otherwise go unanswered or wait in a queue can be handled automatically and routed into the ordering system they already use, while staff spend their time on harder requests. How well that holds up in daily use is so far described only by WHI and its early customers.