Some companies have long lists of required procedures. These procedures could be internally generated or required by external organizations such as governmental organizations or standards bodies. With complex standards and procedures it is not enough to have simple checklists. Failure to meet one part of a procedure could indicate the need to recertify other elements of the process. Also, different certifications usually have different validity periods. Almost any product or service on offer in the EU has a certification/inspection process.
In every industry there are such procedures. In your industry you can surely imagine the steps you need to go through to bring your products and/or services to market. Some of these procedures are directly related to your products or services, but others are connected with running your business like building inspections, HR procedures, etc.
This is a case study of a car dealership preparing a vehicle for handover. A car dealership needs to deal with multiple sets of requirements: client requirements (model and configuration), governmental (safety inspection, registration), insurance (risk assessment, coverage configuration), financial (type of financing i.e. rent/lease/buy, downpayment status).
This is just a broad outline of the requirements of course, but it is a useful case study because it illustrates the complex interlocking nature of requirements.
For example, to be insured a vehicle must pass inspection. Simple, right? What if the client decides to change the vehicle configuration? Depending on the feature added this might require a new inspection. Maybe the feature would increase/decrease the safety of the vehicle, this could effect the insurance cost.
In our real world case the process was carried out by manually transferring a collection of documents from department to department. Such documents can be lost, have incompatible data, typos, or other problems. (e.g. VIN Vehicle Identification Number, or vehicle specification).
Benefits
The benefits of switching to electronic forms are immediate. By unifying the documents into one document with multiple sections certain sources of error are eliminated. For example, with paper documents you could end up with multiple sets of documents for the same transaction. Or the same data was entered differently on separate documents.
By integrating with the ERP system you can import data into your Amodit process and maintain a coherent set of information. For example, by selecting the order number, data such as: customer data, vehicle data, warranty type, etc. could be downloaded directly. Because you can write rules based on the data in fields in Amodit, the actions that need to be taken could change based on updated data from the ERP system. For example, if the delivery date changed you could send out a message informing the customer of that change.
Solution
The solution uses a form with sections for each type of requirements. For example, the financial section displays the status of the downpayment, and an unfavorable status blocks the vehicle release. The technical department checks to see if all the features are present and that the vehicle passes inspection. Every set of requirements has a section on the form, and the user responsible for each section adds their acceptance signature when their work is complete.
Each user is identified by a name, such as ‘Tech 1’ and a unique ID, and each user can also be a member of a group. For example, if ‘Tech 1’ is busy, the system could automatically assign the next inspection to ‘Tech 2’ or ‘Tech 3’ because they are all members of the same group.
Some stages need to be completed in a specific order, but some stages can be completed at the same time. For example, ‘preparing an insurance offer’ can proceed at the same time as ‘arrange transport from the factory’. Once all the stages have been completed you are ready to hand the vehicle over.
Future solutions: start thinking in cycles
But, why stop there? Maybe your warranty conditions require specific servicing and inspections? The completion of your ‘vehicle handover process’ can trigger a ‘warrant management process’. Maybe your ‘leasing terms’ could trigger a new vehicle offer 6 months before the lease finishes?
But, why begin there? This case study dealt with the handover process, but with Amodit Trust Center e-signatures you could engage the customer in the process even earlier. Your customer could go directly from choosing which model/configuration to signing the contract online.
By engaging in constant helpful contact with your clients you can deepen your business relationships and generate additional revenues. By predicting your customers needs you can provide ‘concierge’ type service; Amodit’s predictive algorithms learn from your interactions and can suggest steps to take.
It’s all up to you and your organization’s needs! If you would like to see how Amodit can help you improve your processes please download our demo version.
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