Porsche stays on the road to high performance and prestigeCustomer Story Porsche stands for pure innovation, emotion and fascination. The company chose IDS Enterprise Systems to implement a supply chain management system. Company background
Porsche cars have been sold in Australia since 1952. Porsche Cars Australia Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Porsche AG, is responsible for distribution and marketing of all Porsche cars in Australia.
There are 11 Porsche dealers across Australia. The Melbourne dealership is owned by Porsche Cars Australia, all other dealers are owned and operated independently.
Around 750 new Porsche cars are sold in Australia each year across the Boxster and 911 models with total sales in the order of $100 million per annum.
A solution to fit the business
Porsche Cars Australia chose IDS Enterprise Systems to implement a supply chain management business system. As well as covering vehicle importation and spare parts functions, the system has been designed to interface with SAP (a financial system) and the Porsche Warranty System both of which the Porsche Group operate on a global basis.
Gary Tilley, Chief Financial Officer, Porsche Cars Australia says IDS was chosen on its expertise in vehicle and parts importation management systems, and also its recognised skills in system customisation.
“The starting point was an old in-house developed system that was disjointed and reliant on manual processing,” Mr Tilley said. “There was a clear need to reduce manual processing and to move to a system of single data entry.” Mr Tilley said errors, inefficiencies and therefore costs associated with the old system were high.
“Our requirement was a fully integrated system where data flowed automatically between the functional areas of our business, to and from the dealers, and also internationally,” Mr Tilley said.
The Porsche solution is based on IDSe42 which focuses on the key distribution supply chain blocks of inventory purchasing, shipping, customs and receiving, inventory and sales management, financials, warehousing and dispatch, and warranty and service. IDSe42 works to shorten the ‘product to market’ cycle and deliver to customers in full and on time.
Keeping track of business
Accurate unit tracking is a critical component of modern customer relations and service, and it is also important for inventory and cost control.
“The IDS system tracks and monitors all the key movements in vehicles and parts,” Mr Tilley said. “The car is visible on the assembly line, through shipping and unloading, as it passes through customs and duty is paid, as it is road freighted to the dealer, moves into stock and lastly, in the hands of the customer.”
The IDS Unit Tracking module operates on the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).
“If the vehicle is overdue, the system automatically prompts the dealer who can then conduct follow-up and ascertain the reason for delay and advise the customer of a revised delivery date,” Mr Tilley said.
The vehicle is tracked through service, warranty or any spare parts transaction the owner has with a Porsche dealer. In addition the system also tracks changes in car ownership giving a “whole of life view” of the vehicle.
Unit Tracking provides the dealer and Porsche Cars Australia with precise information on vehicle and parts stock levels including the status of all orders.
Working with customers
Porsche is a niche vehicle manufacturer producing just on 50,000 vehicles each year. The average Porsche buyer typically spends about two months working on their purchase before placing an order.
“About half of our customers pre-order a vehicle and further personalise their choice by specifying various vehicle options,” Mr Tilley said. “Once an order and deposit is taken, the customers have the facility to change specifications on their order right up to the time the vehicle is committed to the assembly line.”
The customer simply goes to the dealership, modifies the order and this is communicated directly to the factory through the IDS interface. This is performed through the IDS Unit Tracking module.
Providing a window into the business
IDS has also integrated Cognos PowerPlay®, a PC tool and web portal that provides the reporting and analytical functionality for the IDSe42 business intelligence module.
Every day, new business information across all dealers is stored on the server. Overnight the PowerPlay application extracts data from the system and converts this into business intelligence reports.
“An important use of the business intelligence module is benchmarking the performance of the dealerships,” Mr Tilley said. “By looking at various KPIs, we see how particular dealerships are performing and then use this information to identify better business practices for individual dealers or the group of dealers.”
The Future
Porsche Cars Australia is constantly looking for ways to improve performance across the supply chain.
“We have a rolling two year plan in relation to our business information systems and we schedule modifications and improvements to our systems according to that plan,” Mr Tilley said.
Porsche has turned its attention to streamlining customs and duty payments procedures, which is still reliant on manual extraction of information. Greater automation will reduce multiple human handling, which in the past has led to errors and inefficiencies.
Porsche is also working with IDS to integrate the CRM package Actionwear that will create a system to manage contact with existing Porsche customers and prospective customers.
Mr Tilley said IDS had created a very stable and versatile business system that was integral to the business.
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