Deregulation of the automotive industry in Europe in September 2002 is changing the balance of power between automotive manufacturers and independent dealers and altering the structure of the industry. Independent dealers are gaining more power as they moved from small locally or nationally-based businesses to become large pan-European operations, while automotive manufactures are looking to retain control of the market through development of their own dealer networks and standardization of processes across the dealer network, whether tied or independent.
These changes require automotive manufacturers and dealers to develop robust new processes, underpinned by a strong IT infrastructure. A Dealer Management System (DMS) implemented as part of a wider information systems strategy will provide the support automotive manufacturers and independent dealer groups need to deliver on their business strategy in this rapidly changing world.
A DMS can provide improved communication between different parts of the supply chain (supporting moves to build-to-order), better management information, and better support for customer-facing activities in both sales and after-sales services.These benefits apply to both passenger and commercial vehicle dealerships.
A well-chosen, well-implemented and well-maintained DMS can be expected, with enhancements, to serve a dealer group for more than ten years. Choosing the right technology components and the right partner to implement them and provideongoing support is critical.
The technical solution needs to be flexible and open and support easy integration and strong data management capabilities. The implementation and support partner needs to be experienced at handling complex, multi-site, multi-country projects, have a high level of expertise in base technologies such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions and services such as Enterprise Application Integration (EAI).
Atos Origin is ideally placed to help you tackle the challenge of implementing and operating the DMS that will underpin your future competitiveness and success. We have an excellent track record on a wide range of international projects for the automotive industry. Our design-build-operate methodology, which covers the entire system lifecycle, is backed up by robust and proven approaches to project management and change management. All of that is underpinned by extensive experience in key services such as integration and core technologies such as ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning).
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