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Reliable Automotive is one of the nation’s largest wholesale distributors of automotive parts and supplies. They provide products to hundreds of automotive shops and resellers throughout the United States.
Key Benefits
- Brought control to endless scattered versions of corporate documents
- Offered access to critical customer data from virtually any location within the dealer network
- Stopped money lost to inaccurate discounting
- Improved efficiency of dealers working with customers
- Improved customer service offered by Reliable to its dealers
- Augmented the quality of available data and analysis
- Streamlined decision-making processes
- Shortened training cycle for new employees
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Managing paper-based data for thousands of customers and orders from distributors and dealers was an overwhelming task. In addition, the Reliable distribution channel did not always have access to up-to-date pricing sheets and discounting schedules. Now, with PaperFlow™ for scanning and PaperVision® Enterprise for management and retrieval, this critical business information is available from any Reliable Automotive office, including partners’ offices, in an instant.
The Situation
With annual revenues in excess of $125 million, and over 300 employees, Reliable Automotive is a leading distributor of specialty automotive parts and supplies in North America. From their founding in 1922, they have expanded their network to include nine warehouses and seven regional showrooms in 2005. They have twice been honored as the No. 1 Specialty Equipment Distributor in the US by the Specialty Equipment Marketing Association (SEMA).
A privately held company with headquarters offices located in Overland Park, Kansas, Reliable Automotive had two primary areas of concern that prompted them to investigate an electronic document management solution: sales/channel management and customer service/account management.
With their nationwide network of showrooms and warehouses, Reliable Automotive needed to share pricing sheets, discount schedules and pricing agreements in a hurry. Although email provided a means to distribute this information, countless scattered versions were stored and used on individual computers confusing the process and resulting in inaccurate discounting and inefficient order fulfillment. They needed a way to house these critical documents in a central location while providing rapid, secure access to appropriate personnel.
Customer data and order histories were also difficult to locate. Traditionally collected on paper forms, these documents were filed and stored at the headquarters location. When a request for information came in, a runner would look up the information, make a copy, re-file the original, and mail the document to the requestor—a process that sometimes took more than a week. Reliable Automotive was looking for a system that would allow them to track customer information, including their order history, in a central location that could be accessed by salespeople at satellite offices as well as from the road via the internet.
The Solution
In September 2003, Select Imaging, a Digitech Systems reseller, installed PaperFlow and PaperVision Enterprise (PVE) to provide a complete electronic document management
system for Reliable Automotive. The system was installed in phases, department by department, and is now saving time and money for virtually all areas of the company.
PaperFlow is used to scan paper documents including customer profiles, order forms, and pricing schedules, into an electronic format. These documents are then matched against a SQL database of customer information to automatically populate the index fields, which are later used for searching and retrieval.
PaperVision Enterprise is available over the company’s LAN allowing employees in any company location to access any file or document in an instant. Salespeople can even access this information securely from the road using the internet.
Recognized benefits
PaperFlow and PaperVision Enterprise have created significant changes in the way Reliable does business, resulting in more efficient processes and time and cost savings. The new system has streamlined their customer service and order fulfillment processes by placing account data at the fingertips of dealers eliminating confusion regarding order histories and pricing. In addition, dealers no longer wait while someone at corporate tracks down the customer data, it is available at their desktops in an instant.
Reliable Automotive now has a handle on the money previously lost to inappropriate discounts applied from old and incorrect pricing schedules. An up-to-date version of the pricing schedules is available to all sales people using the PaperVision Enterprise system. The system also maintains an electronic record of older versions for record-keeping purposes.
Electronic document management is also improving the efficiency of headquarters processes by minimizing the need for physical storage of paper files. Employees are now able to focus on core business processes that directly impact the bottom line rather than spending time maintaining paper files.
Dawn Murphy, a Staff Accountant with Reliable Automotive comments, “Everyone who needs secure access to information has it. The PaperVision Enterprise solution has really increased efficiencies in all of our departments. It is improving our relationship with our distribution channel and our customers. With the additional functionality and integration options available, we will continue to expand our use of the software.”
“PaperFlow and PaperVision Enterprise are very robust solutions,” commented Matt Neuerburg, President of Select Imaging. “Digitech’s products are the right tool for the job in so many applications. The ease of use and open architecture give us the flexibility to address the immediate and future needs of our customers. The products were easy to deploy and have resulted in real savings of time and money for Reliable Automotive.”
About Select Imaging
A Digitech Systems reseller since 2003, Select Imaging is helping customers in the Lenexa, KS area improve business efficiency and increase profit margins through the use of electronic document and content management systems. Through a consultative sales approach, they offer document scanners and accessories and the imaging software to use them in addition to complete document management solutions. With an emphasis on reliable and easy to use products, Select Imaging designs electronic filing systems people want to use.
To learn more about Select Imaging, visit their website at www.selectimaging.com or call (913) 825-0867.
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