Newsletters – AutoFacets

Special After-Sales Suite for EV Workshops

autoadmin — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 13:02:51 +0000

This New Solution is an Independent Aftersales Suite for Service Workshops addressing the EVs exclusively. The solution provides an innovative alternative to the legacy systems deployed in the Aftersales workshops, providing a contactless digital experience to the workshop users and end customers. The system comprises software, hardware, and network infrastructure, allowing any workshop to carry out its aftersales service quickly and easily. It also facilitates seamless communication between the service workshops and their end customers via a single point of contact. This makes it easier for customers to benefit from the complete range of available EV Services. Benefits

Connected aftersales journey at workshops
No dependency on legacy systems (DMS/GMS) for smooth user journeys
Automation for optimized productivity
Reduced OPEX
Increased customer satisfaction and brand loyalty

Features

Contactless & digitized service experience
Vehicle status at the user’s fingertips
Round-the-clock service bookings
Paperless operations
Upselling and cross-selling of services
Transparency and Accuracy of Information

Solution The solutions offer the following application modules-

Smart Planner – For complete workshop planning, including all controller modules, e.g., vehicles, customers, appointments, service packages/jobs, skills, efficiencies, etc.
Online Booking – For end customers to make appointments online for their EVs
Service Tracker – For end customers to be notified about their vehicle status, online payments, approvals on additional jobs, etc.
Customer 360 – For customer care agents to get a 360 degree view of customers and vehicles and be able to book appointments and call log management using the application
Digital Service Order – For mechanics to be able to work on the assigned jobs, get instant approvals on additional jobs, clock-in-clock-out, carry out inspections and checks, etc.
Digital Check-In – For the customer to carry out web-based check-in before their appointments, explore extended offers, reach out to workshops, etc.

Accounting, invoicing, and inventory modules with ERP. Business Advantages

Best-suited for the new age EV Service workshops
Convenient appointment bookings at the fingertips
EV exclusive processes and service packages
Value-based offerings for garage chains and new-age EV workshops

The post Special After-Sales Suite for EV Workshops first appeared on AutoFacets.

Embedding Skill Development at the Core

autoadmin — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 11:54:54 +0000

For any organization, its employees are the most valuable assets. At AutoFacets, we understand the impact of knowledge and skills on enhancing work productivity. Learning is a systematic and planned function of improving the overall knowledge, skill, and competency levels. The main objective is to provide our team with the know-how and expertise needed to prosper in their respective fields. Instead of inculcating this culture, we have ‘training’ as part of our yearly transparent appraisal system. Each colleague must undergo at least two training/skill upgrade programs in a year. We’re excited to share with you that in the first quarter of 2023, we’ve spent over 2000 hours of training and upgradation of our teams across all levels. Over 100 team members showed enthusiasm and zest to learn new concepts by indulging themselves in training programs encompassing different technologies/skills and industry-leading practices. These training programs have been designed considering each colleague, keeping the project requirements and their career growth plan in mind. Subject and domain experts within the organization conduct these training sessions, which are categorized as Basic/Intermediate/Expert levels, and each of these has assignments, evaluation, and practical implementations. We also now have a 50-seater dedicated office space, “Upgrade Arena,”, especially for training needs. And yes! We always ensure that our teams have the required skills for all major technologies and are upbeat with the latest trends.

Technology Enhancements

We constantly strive to improve our processes and products. That’s why we’ve made sure that the latest technology, like Azure DevOps and CI/CD, is implemented for new projects. We also have carried out the project migration to Azure DevOps and the CI/CD pipeline implementation for our existing long-term projects. This has reduced errors during the merging and building processes, saving deployment time, thus helping provide quicker releases and responding to enhancement tweaks quickly. We have also focused on functional automation testing implemented in the existing projects to enhance regression testing and reduce testing time.

Growing Along With the Company

As a company, AutoFacets is always ready to take up challenges and provide excellent opportunities to upgrade skills timely to improve work quality while improving employees‘ capabilities. The training and upgrading skillsets are not just restricted to an employee’s role for a given project. We also focus on their professional growth and customize the training and skill upgradation programs.

The post Embedding Skill Development at the Core first appeared on AutoFacets.

Strategic Partnership in Benelux for Dealer Group by Building Bolt-On Platform on DMS

autoadmin — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 11:20:13 +0000

A large Benelux-based car dealer group having a portfolio of luxury and premium new car brands, a used car market, and an automotive parts business has entered a strategic partnership with AutoFacets for its digital solutions and services. This partnership will offer the dealer group a flexible pool of world-class technology consultants with automotive domain expertise. It will help the dealer group to speed up its digital footprint to accelerate growth in a fast-changing automotive retail ecosystem. The Dealer Management System, or DMS, lies at the core of the application system. At AutoFacets, we have expertise in developing bolt-on applications and platforms that seamlessly integrate with the DMS. The development and implementation of these applications are carried out in such a way that it allows the dealer groups to adapt to their customers’ constantly-changing expectations in real time. AutoFacets delivers digital solutions for evolving customer lifecycle journeys that provide them with a competitive edge in terms of both cost and product differentiation. Digitalizing the customer journey allows dealerships to engage more with their customers before and after their visit.

ENGAGEMENT SO FAR

AutoFacets and the dealer group have initiated their early engagement with implementing seamless solutions for digital check-in, service tracking, payment & delivery. AutoFacets has also developed multiple sales and aftersales solutions focused around the core DMS platform. The platform engages with customers by sending thousands of daily notifications for digital experiences on check-in, car intake, and others. Motivated by this success, the dealer group envisions an entire platform of functionalities by leveraging the complete range of AutoFacets capabilities. This has resulted in a multi-year strategic partnership extending across digital engagements. This collaboration has led to the creation of a Center of Excellence that forms the extension of the group’s existing IT departments. AutoFacets’ technologists are embedded with the dealer group’s organization, working as an extension of their IT Teams- building, running, and maintaining digital applications that provide end-customer satisfaction. We strongly believe that the dealer group will get a cutting-edge advantage in an array of areas like customer experience, time-to-market, and efficiency by using the innovative digital solutions from AutoFacets.

The post Strategic Partnership in Benelux for Dealer Group by Building Bolt-On Platform on DMS first appeared on AutoFacets.

What Data Monetization Means for the European Automotive Aftermarket

autoadmin — Sat, 04 Mar 2023 07:11:36 +0000

The automotive aftermarket business is committed to retail, distribution, reprocessing, and installing car components and equipment after selling the vehicle. The European automotive aftermarket business is predicted to grow consistently with the increased production demands. The automotive aftermarket and aftersales industry is a more challenging ballgame. It is multi-faceted and covers diversified segments, covering the complete repair, service, and maintenance spectrum from parts supply to servicing and fitment. The industry is also highly competitive and robust, supporting the network for a large volume of cars, trucks, buses, and vans across the European region.

These vehicles are a rich source of data. Millions of cars that are transported generate voluminous information that automakers identify in how to monetize it. Creating business value out of corresponding vehicle data is a major technical challenge. Technologies like Machine Learning, AI, and data analytics solutions can help the industry solve and proceed with growth. Failure to collect vast data stores from losing value-added for customers might result in loss of revenue and business intelligence.

Market Insights – Automotive Aftermarket EU

The automotive aftermarket is a part of the automotive industry with services and parts businesses. The service businesses are majorly on maintenance and repair of the vehicles, which generate more than 45% of the total aftermarket revenues in Europe. Simultaneously, retail and wholesale vehicle parts make up the remaining 55% of revenue. These businesses are significant in the overall automotive industry and deliver substantial income. Getting into the product side, the aftermarket executives have indicated that nearly half of the revenues come from wear and tear parts, crash-relevant parts, diagnostics products, and services. Due to increased quality, mobility, and price pressures, wear-and-tear parts are anticipated to slow down.

According to an online data forecast by a leading research firm has revealed that the automotive aftermarket was valued at $256 billion in 2021 and is expected to rise to $369.2 billion by 2026, recording a growth CAGR of 3.1%. A report published by Frost and Sullivan has said that the European aftermarket is worth over 100 billion Euros for components from Ireland to Russia, showing a 2.4% yearly growth in overall sales.

Value of Data in Automotive Aftermarket

Apart from the numbers, one major challenge the automotive industry faces is handling silos. There is much data about thousands of vehicles and millions of automotive parts, and you might have encountered the terms ACES and PIES and how businesses solve their data problems.

After checking these words, you might be an independent business in the aftermarket parts if you feel the pressure. It is about more than just the standards; however, many other challenges are also involved. But companies in the automotive aftermarket look for the best solutions available for every problem they’re going through.

Now, first things first…

What are ACES & PIES?

ACES or Aftermarket Catalog Exchange Standard and PIES (Product Information Exchange Standard) are standardized data formats present in the automotive industry. These two standards manage and exchange the data of automotive application fitment and product parts. If you adhere to these standards, managing and handling large data silos will be easy.

However, the truth is that ACES and PIES data are not online tools or master databases of parts or fitment data, and manufacturers don’t use these standards completely.

Challenge with Data Silos

The vehicle parts dealers want a simple eCommerce website that makes it easy for the customers to buy, and businesses expect an automated purchase process. They would also aim to reduce the total returns owing to incompatibility existing in the vehicle parts and fitments, alleviating the problems in customer service.

To get this aligned, businesses need to manage timely, accurate product information about all the parts, vehicles, and parts fitments. The data is the major problem, and the other one is choosing a good eCommerce platform to support large volumes of data and keep good vehicle fitment options for customers. Only when standardization is sorted will businesses face many challenges in cleaning up the data and mapping out different databases and information from various sources.

Quick Snapshot of Data Challenges

Lack of enhanced vehicle information and identification – Merchants are losing revenue due to improper data about the vehicle as customers return them due to lack of fitment. If merchants have this accurate data, they can reap benefits.
Car configuration issues – Data is unorganized and unable to trace the right brand, model, variant, equipment, price, and manufacturer codes in the data set. The lack of good APIs to access accurate data leads to confusion and makes the process very complex.
Inaccurate information for dismantling, damage assessment, and auto parts – management of data about dismantling, lack of good online sources and data leads to warehouse, integration, and market mismanagement.

Solution for Uncovering Data’s Hidden Value

Various comprehensive and leading databases are readily available for purchase. However, they might need to be more important for practical implementation and solutions. Finding the best DaaS provider is the best option for most automotive industry merchants to address data-related challenges.

What Can You Expect from DaaS Providers?

DaaS service providers help you handle a large amount of data in an organized way. For example, it helps you with the spare parts catalogs, market volumes, prices, and technical information. The data sources can be combined and laid as the base for all the analytics is enriched with the information.

Unlocks the Potential Benefits

Provides adequate vehicle management support
Helps in visual damage assessment
Solves the dismantling and used parts data challenges
Simplifies integration and eases handling warehouse management
Intelligent data management and remarketing solutions
Workshop maintenance solution
Insurance handling and more

Trends Disrupting the Automotive Aftermarket

As per McKinsey’s report, the overall global aftermarket industry is expected to grow at 3% per annum till 2030, thus shaping the European region’s new growth.

The following are 6 top trends identified by McKinsey that will change the aftermarket domain-

Easy access to car-generated data
Higher transparency in price and diversity in supply for customers
Enhancing digital channels and interfaces
Aggressive expansion of OEMs into aftermarket
Consolidation of spare parts distributors
Influence of digital intermediaries

Wrapping Up

The European market has a more extensive scope for innovation and growth. Getting the hands ‘dirty’ by blending perfect strategy using data’s value brings significant results. Your organization can embrace its complete potential by changing its aftermarket strategy and connecting the good DaaS services to unlock the data’s potential in a better manner. The hidden value of data is unboxed only if you connect with the right technology solutions for your business which helps you grow beyond the limits.

So, how ready are you to handle challenges related to data? What DaaS or databases are you using, and how well is it working for you?

Well, have a word with AutoFacets’ team of experts about your Data Monetization needs, and we would love to hear about your experiences.

The post What Data Monetization Means for the European Automotive Aftermarket first appeared on AutoFacets.

Exclusive After Sales Suite for EV Workshops

autoadmin — Fri, 18 Nov 2022 10:51:48 +0000

The New Solution offering is an Independent Aftersales Suite for Service Workshops catering to EVs exclusively. The solution offers an innovative alternative to the legacy systems used in the Aftersales workshops, offering a contactless digital experience to workshop users and end customers. The system consists of software, hardware and network infrastructure that allows any workshop to run its aftersales service quickly and easily. It also facilitates seamless communication between service workshops and end customers through a single point of contact. This makes it easier for customers to take advantage of the full range of EV services available. Benefits

Connected Aftersales journey in workshops
No dependence on Legacy systems (DMS/GMS) for elegant user journeys
Automation for optimized productivity
Reduced OPEX
Increased customer satisfaction and brand loyalty

Features

Contactless & Digitized service experience
Vehicle status at the fingertips
24*7 service bookings
Paperless operations
Upsell/Cross selling of services
Transparency & Accuracy of info

Solution The solution encompasses the following application modules:

Brilliant Planner – for complete workshop planning, including all controller modules, e.g. vehicles, customers, appointments, service packages/jobs, skills and efficiencies etc.
Online Booking – for end customers to book appointments online for their EVs.
Service Tracker – for end customers to get notifications for vehicle status, online payments, approvals on additional work etc
Customer 360 – for customer care agents to get a complete view of customers and vehicles and to be able to book appointments, and outgoing/incoming calls through the application
Digital Service Order – for mechanics to be able to work on assigned jobs, get approvals on additional work, clock-in-clock-out, perform checks etc.
Digital Check-in – for the customer to do web-based check-in before their actual appointments, see extended offers, reach out to workshops etc

Accounting, Invoicing and Inventory Modules through ERP (e.g. MS Dynamics) Business Advantages

Ideally suited for new-age EV Service workshops
Convenient – Appointment Bookings at your fingertip
EV exclusive processes and service packages
Value-based offerings for garage chains & new age EV Workshops

The post Exclusive After Sales Suite for EV Workshops first appeared on AutoFacets.

Data Monetisation in European Automotive Aftermarket

autoadmin — Fri, 18 Nov 2022 10:47:04 +0000

The automotive aftermarket business is committed to retailing, distributing, reprocessing, and installing car components and equipment after a vehicle has been sold. The European automotive aftermarket business is predicted to grow consistently with the rise in demand for production. The automotive aftermarket and aftersales industry is not an easy ballgame. It is multifaceted and has diversified segments covering the complete repair, service, and maintenance spectrum from parts supply to servicing and fitment. The industry is highly competitive and robust. It provides a way to support the network for millions of cars, trucks, buses, and vans across the European region. The vehicles serve as a rich data source, and millions of transported vehicles generate swaths of helpful information that automakers figure out how to monetize. Creating the business value from the corresponding vehicle data is a technical challenge that machine learning, AI, and data analytics solutions can help the industry to solve and move ahead with the growth. Failure to get the vast data stores to lose value-added for customers may lose revenue and business intelligence.

Market Insights – Automotive Aftermarket EU

The automotive aftermarket is a part of the automotive industry sector with services and parts businesses. The service businesses are mainly on maintenance and repair of the vehicles, which generates more than 45% of total aftermarket revenues in Europe. At the same time, retail and wholesale vehicle parts are making up the remaining 55% of the revenue. These businesses are significant in the overall automotive industry and deliver substantial income. When we look into the product side, aftermarket executives indicated that about half of the revenues come from wear and tear parts, crash-relevant parts, diagnostics products, and services. It is expected that wear-and-tear parts will slow down due to increased quality, mobility, and price pressures. According to the market data forecast, a leading research firm revealed that the automotive aftermarket industry would be valued at $256 billion in 2021. It is expected to grow to $369.2 billion by 2026 at a CAGR of 3.1%. A report from Frost and Sullivan says that the European the automotive aftermarket is a 100 billion euros sector for components suppliers from Ireland to Russia, with a 2.4% yearly growth in overall sales.

Value of Data in Automotive Aftermarket

Numbers apart, one of the significant challenges in the automotive industry is handling data silos. There is a large amount of data about thousands of vehicles and millions of automotive parts. You may come across the terms ACES and PIES and how businesses solve their data problems. After checking these words, you may be an independent business in the aftermarket parts if you feel the pressure. It’s not just about the standards; many other challenges are involved. But, companies in the automotive aftermarket industry are finding the best solutions available in the market for almost every problem they are going through. First things first, What are ACES and PIES? ACES (Aftermarket Catalog Exchange Standard) and PIES (Product Information Exchange Standard) are standardized data formats in the automotive industry. These two standards manage and exchange the automotive application fitment and product parts data. It will be easy to manage and handle large data silos if you adhere to these standards. However, the truth is that ACES and PIES data are not online tools or some master database of parts or fitment data. Manufacturers are not using these standards completely and have incomplete data. The challenge with Data Silos The vehicle parts dealers are looking into a simple eCommerce website that makes it easy for customers to buy, and businesses expect an automated purchase process. They would also like to reduce the total returns due to incompatibility in the vehicle parts and fitments, which alleviates problems in customer service. To get this in line, businesses must be able to manage timely, accurate product information about all the parts, vehicles, and parts fitments. The data is the major problem, and the other one is choosing a good eCommerce platform to support large volumes of data and keeping good vehicle fitment options for customers. Until this standardization is sorted, businesses will face many challenges in cleaning up the data and mapping out the different databases and the information they have from multiple sources. Quick snapshot of Data challenges

Lack of enhanced vehicle information and vehicle identification – merchants are losing revenue due to improper data about the vehicle as customers return them due to lack of fitment. If merchants have this accurate data, they can reap benefits.
Car configuration issues – data is unorganized and unable to trace the right brand, model, variant, equipment, price, and manufacturer codes in the data set. The lack of good APIs to access accurate data leads to confusion and makes the process very complex.
Inaccurate information for dismantling, damage assessment, and auto parts – management of data about dismantling, lack of good online sources and data leads to warehouse, integration, and market mismanagement.

Solution for uncovering the hidden value of data

Several comprehensive and best databases are available for purchase, but they might not be that important for practical implementation and solutions. Finding the best DaaS provider is the best option that most automotive industry merchants are looking to address their challenges with data.

What can you expect from a DaaS provider

Unlocks the Potential Benefits

Provides adequate vehicle management support
Helps in visual damage assessment
Solves the dismantling and used parts data challenges
Simplifies integration and eases handling warehouse management
Intelligent data management and remarketing solutions
Workshop maintenance solution
Insurance handling and more

Trends disrupting the automotive aftermarket

According to Mckinsey, the overall global aftermarket industry is expected to grow 3% per annum throughout 2030, shaping the European region’s new growth.

Mckinsey’s top 6 trends that will change the Aftermarket domain:

Easy access to car-generated data
Higher transparency in price and diversity in supply for customers
Enhancing digital channels and interfaces
Aggressive expansion of OEMs into aftermarket
Consolidation of spare parts distributors
Influence of digital intermediaries

Wrapping up The European market has a more extensive scope for innovation and growth. Getting your hands dirty with the perfect strategy by using the value of data brings significant results. Your organization can embrace its full potential by changing the aftermarket strategy and connecting with good DaaS services to unlock the potential of the data in a better way. The hidden value of the data is unboxed only if you connect with the right technology solutions for your business which helps you grow beyond the limits. So, how ready are you to handle the data challenges? What DaaS or databases are you using, and how is it working for you? Talk to AutoFacets about your Data Monetisation needs and share your experiences.

The post Data Monetisation in European Automotive Aftermarket first appeared on AutoFacets.

Strategic Partnership in Benelux – Building Bolt-On Platforms on DMS

autoadmin — Fri, 18 Nov 2022 10:35:17 +0000

A large Benelux-based car dealer group, with a portfolio of luxury and premium new car brands, a used car market, and an automotive parts business, has entered into a strategic partnership with AutoFacets for digital solutions & services. This partnership will provide the dealer group with a flexible pool of world-class technology consultants with automotive domain expertise and will help the dealer group speed up its digital footprint to accelerate its growth in a fast-changing automotive retail ecosystem. The Dealer Management System (DMS) exists at the core of the application system. At AutoFacets, we specialize in building ‘bolt-on’ applications & platforms that integrate with the DMS seamlessly. The development and implementation of these applications are carried out in such a way that it enables the dealer group to adapt to their customers‘ ever-changing expectations in real time. AutoFacets delivers digital solutions for evolving customer life cycle journeys that provide a competitive advantage in terms of both cost and product differentiation. The digitalization of the Customer Journey allows the dealership to engage more with their customers prior to and post customer visit.

ENGAGEMENT SO FAR

AutoFacets and the dealer group initiated their early engagement by implementing seamless solutions for digital check-in, service tracking, payment & delivery when the world was reeling under the sudden disruption brought by COVID. AutoFacets developed multiple “sales” and “aftersales” solutions around the core DMS platform. The application engages with customers by sending thousands of daily notifications for digital experiences on check-in, car intake, and others. Encouraged by the success, the dealer group envisioned an entire platform of functionalities by utilizing the full range of AutoFacets capabilities. This resulted in a multi-year strategic partnership that extends across multiple digital engagements. This collaboration has led to the creation of a Center of Excellence that forms an extension of the group’s existing IT department. AutoFacets’ technologists are embedded within the group’s organization, working as an extension of the group’s IT teams – building, running, and maintaining digital applications that provide end-customer delight. We strongly believe that the dealer group will receive a cutting-edge advantage in areas of customer experience, time to market, and efficiency by using innovative digital solutions.

The post Strategic Partnership in Benelux – Building Bolt-On Platforms on DMS first appeared on AutoFacets.

Embedding Skill Development at the Core

autoadmin — Fri, 18 Nov 2022 10:28:54 +0000

Employees are the most valuable assets in the organization. We understand the impact of knowledge & skills to enhance work productivity. We, at AutoFacets, believe that learning is a systematic and planned function of enhancing overall knowledge, skill, and competency levels. The main objective is to empower our team with the know-how and expertise required to excel in their fields. In lieu of inculcating this culture, we have ‚training‘ as part of our yearly transparent appraisal system, wherein each colleague has to undergo at least two training/skill upgrade programs in a year. We are excited to share with you all that in the first two quarters of 2022, we’ve spent over 3,000 hours training and upgrading our teams at all levels. More than 250 team members participated in the training programs for different skills/technologies/best practices like Azure Cloud services, React JS, Application performance and security, SQL with performance optimization, security testing, Docker, Kubernetes, Agile practices, etc. These programs are designed for each colleague, keeping the project requirements and career growth path plan in mind. Experts from the organization conduct these training sessions – which are planned for Basic/Intermediate/Expert levels – each training has assignments, evaluation, and practical implementations. We also have a 50-seat dedicated office space, „Upgrade Arena“, specifically for training needs. And yes! We always ensure that we have sufficient skills always available for all major technologies and our teams are upbeat with the latest trends.

Technology Enhancements

We are constantly striving to improve our processes and our products. That’s why we have made sure that the latest technology like Azure DevOps and CI/CD are implemented for all new projects; however, during the first half, we carried the Migration of projects to Azure DevOps and Implementation of CI/CD pipeline for existing long-term projects. This has resulted in reducing errors during the merging and build process and saving the deployment time, thus helping provide quicker releases and responding faster to the enhancements tweaks. We also focused in the area of functional automation testing which has been implemented in the existing projects to improve regression testing and reduce the testing duration.

Growing along with the company

AutoFacets is always open to challenges and provides an excellent opportunity to upgrade skills timely to enhance the quality of work while improving employees’ individual capabilities. The training and upgrading of skillsets are not just limited to an employee’s role for a particular project but we focus on their professional growth and customize various training and skill upgradation programs.

The post Embedding Skill Development at the Core first appeared on AutoFacets.