North East Audi operate from a network of four dealerships across the North East of England. These prestigious Audi Centres display the latest range of Audi cars allowing customers to view products in relaxing surroundings. The Centres also house dedicated parts and service areas. At Tyne Tunnel a paint, body and mechanical preparation facility supports the group. Croft has worked with the company, formerly known as Colebrook and Burgess, since 1990, initially providing systems support and network infrastructure installation. The advent of an ambitious growth plan to become the North East’s principal Audi group also necessitated consideration of the role that IT had in it’s business.
The challenge we addressed
At that time, managing IT within Colebrook’s was difficult and did not appear to be delivering real value. There was a strong desire to use technology to make information sharing across the business easier and the delivery of customer service more efficient. In addition, Industry compliance controls imposed by manufacturers added to an increasingly complex business. The plans for growth would see further pressure placed on the business.
The approach we took
Having earned respect as trusted partners with a great working relationship, we were invited to work with NE Audi to help develop plans to move the use of IT forward. This commenced with gaining a thorough understanding of the principal processes through discussion with key staff members. We focused specifically on the resolution of gaps in existing systems to provide better visibility on the area of After Sales. This involved the Investigation of the existing applications, consideration of alternative approaches, and research into standard applications. It became clear that there was no viable alternative, so a design brief was developed for a specific application to cater for the need. While this investigation was being undertaken, planning took place to consider the wider IT capability.
This involved determining the status of the network infrastructure and existing systems, the development of systems requirements, and implementation of common technology to acquired dealerships. This saw amongst other projects, the innovative use of wireless network technology. There was a need to connect Tyneside Audi offices to the new paint and body centre, some two miles away, which were not in line-of-sight of each other, but close enough to not want to use expensive leased circuits.
By using radio frequency technology, a signal was ‘bounced’ from a receiver /transmitter positioned in an elevated position on the centrally positioned Atmel (microprocessor manufacturer) building, thus delivering high performance network links with low annual costs. Alongside this, we reviewed the existing support arrangements, matching them against current and anticipated needs. We also introduced pro-active support methods and assisted with helpdesk processes to improve the efficiency of North East Audi’s support capability. The development of the After Sales application resulted in the development of a suite of automotive-specific software called exsto.
This internet based software assists in making information held within a dealership more easily visible. This has now made web based service appointment booking a reality for the first time within the industry. This system is now installed across the country in many dealerships and has received numerous industry and trade plaudits. We found that the strong mutually beneficial partnership allowed us to work closely as a joint force.
This saw Croft working in a managed services capacity assisting with: planning, project management, assessment and consultation. We have assisted with the development of training plans and the introduction of performance measures, which is the new area of focus to ensure that the best use of these systems is made.
The customer's view
- "We are in a market leading position, we now have the potential to deliver consistent customer service"
- "We are about to launch a "world first" in the industry – web appointments"
- "We have an IT infrastructure and systems which are the envy of our competitors"
- "We have a relationship that means we are not alone in making IT decisions – we continually work together closely"
