Automotive companies are becoming more Digital. Continue the Journey with Automation
Another lockdown…. but does it give us time to look at other things? Here we are again. Heading into another lockdown, hopefully only for 1 month (but potentially longer).The Digital Automotive Journey, A lot of organisations have had to put business on ice again which brings many challenges. During the last lockdown, after the initial impact, some companies were able to pivot and spend the “spare” time on improving the running of the business. This time around, the lockdown is still severe but there has been slightly more flexibility built in to allow some companies to keep trading and working. The Digital Automotive Journey is one of those. Centelli works with different customers in the sector who have either started or continued their journeys with UiPath’s Robotic Process Automation tool. In order to thrive in this new environment, automotive companies have to work smarter. They must focus their staff on engaging the customer and creating a truly differentiated experience. The best way to achieve that is by handing over repetitive, administrative tasks to a Digital Worker. Digital workers can work across different applications without needing RPA Solutions for the Automotive Sector Centelli works with Dealerships, Leasing companies & Vehicle Remarketing firms automating processes across the business. This ranges from pricing analysis to managing vehicle inventory to carrying out administrative tasks that must be done but the customer will not care the effort involved. The goals range from anything to saving time on administrative tasks, improving the job satisfaction of the staff, or sheerly growing the bottom line. We’ll leave those up to you.
Never a better time than NOW to think of Digital Workforce Optimization
Future of Digital Workforce is NOW! It’s even more critical to be productive with newly created remote workforces and various work locations. This is the perfect opportunity to explore RPA and how to keep your company performing with maximum efficiency through the pandemic and beyond. Human workers often miss shifts due to illness, vacation, etc. while digital workers are always performing behind the scenes, 24×7, and without any breaks to get those repetitive tasks done. Numerous surveys reveal the need to increase process efficiency which includes factors like speed, quality, continuity and especially cost. In addition the optimization of Digital Workforce through automation allows for focus on more valuable tasks as employers look for more current and lasting operating models. Prior to the pandemic, the push for more knowledge-based, value-added services from humans set the foundation for many automation plans. Offshore options used to be cheaper, but Digital Workforce has changed the way companies can become more efficient in-house. Automation is able to take over for mundane repetitive tasks driving efficiency and productivity 15-20X that of human powered tasks. RPA (Robotic Process Automation) or as we call it “Digital Workers” is the latest mega trend in technology. Automating repetitive tasks allows valuable employees to focus on more meaningful projects. Digital workers are always on the task, working error free, 24/7 to maximize productivity for operations. No coffee breaks required. Digital Workers are simply intelligent software that works with your existing systems!
Expedite Decision-making on Loans and Car Finance
RPA within Leasing & Automotive Robotic Process Automation has been used for the typical back offices processes for some time. The kind of processes where they are partially automated through computer applications (ERP/PMS/Payroll), but where there has still been an element of human control. Back in 2019, Audi started using software robots/Digital Assistants to aide their employees and help them complete tasks quicker. Slow route to decisions for car finance One area where Digital Workers are being used to help within the sector is within financing decisions. Think of a typical process for when a customer is applying for car finance: Customer chooses vehicle they want Determines the term/loan details they would like Input personal information and financial documentation The customer has to wait, but there are a multitude of tasks that happen behind the scenes for the customer to get their decision and finalise the sale of the vehicle. These tasks are usually repetitive, routine, and carried out manually which is why the customer is left waiting. Introduce RPA to speed up the route to sale This is where RPA can help. RPA is an automation system that automates these repetitive tedious tasks and expedites them quicker than we are able to as humans. It also carried them out more accurately as unfortunately we are prone to mistakes, but a Digital Worker will do exactly as you tell it to. The benefit to this is for the bulk of the applications, a decision is reached quicker. For those that have been accepted, the sale is processed sooner and generating revenue for the company. For rejections, even though it is not that answer the customer wanted to hear they are not left waiting. And for the applications that need intervention or a human eye to help make the decision……fortunately we now have our employees who now are not constrained by churning the bulk, and can apply their brains to the more cognitive cases and focus their energies there. WIN WIN. Customer wins, Company wins. To find out more, please contact sales@centelli.com
Automation and Automobiles
Everyone can imagine how Automation have been used in the automotive sector. One quick look at a vehicle production line, and you will see swathes of industrial robots pulling together the various components that make up the cars we drive today. It has been this way since the 60s & 70s. Robots can build the vehicles quicker, for longer periods of time without fatigue, and with less errors than the staff who were previously on the production line. The staff who would have building the cars manually have transitioned their skills into supporting, maintaining, and repairing the robots so they can do their job. RPA is no different in the 21st century Robotic Process Automation in Automotive sector is the modern-day equivalent of steam engines and industrial robots. UiPath software robots pick up the repetitive, computer based processes that human staff used to do. But these robots are not constrained by the same limitations that we are. We are only able to execute a certain number of tasks in our 8/9 hour day, but we need to also be doing the rest of our day jobs (because the repetitive tasks are generally the distractions). The automotive sector has already undergone this secondary revolution using robots, just this time around its been with software robots. We have clients within leasing, dealerships, vehicle remarketing and even automotive data organisations who already use RPA. There are countless back office processes that can be picked up by robots (AP within Finance, onboarding & offboarding within HR, and even tasks like returns processing within Supply Chain functions). Automotive specific use case However, the biggest benefit gainers and savings have been linked to front office and have a direct impact on the success of the business. Within one automotive group we have developed an automation where the robots calculate the prices of available leases from across 5 different applications, and then posts the best price. Because a robot does not take holidays, coffee breaks, works midnight-midnight and not 9-5, and does not make human error and need to go back for rework, the benefits have been massive. The amount of prices they have been able to post each month has increased by a factor of 10x. This directly results in increased revenue for the company. Chances are, there will be repetitive, routine processes that consume the time of your staff and a lot of the time, keep them away from dealing directly with customers or stakeholders. If you want to look under the hood at your operations and see where you can use software robots to help your operation, get in touch at sales@Centelli.com.
Automotive Sector – Boost Sales using Digital Employees
Automotive Challenge Businesses across the board have been affected one way or another by Covid-19. We work with organizations in the automotive sector who saw a complete halt on operations a few months ago. They now have the rapid need to generate as much revenue going forward as economies try and open, with the possibility they may lock down again. Major fundamental changes within the industry are anticipated that will affect everything from production, electric vehicle demand and supply chains. Suppliers’ margins were already being pinched during the downturn in global economic activity before Covid-19, the ongoing uncertainty and volatility will only make things worse. Showrooms & Dealerships at the front line Covid-19 has exposed the lack of digitization across automotive sales and marketing with the absence of access to dealers in the new digital environment, where customers are immersed in e-commerce across all aspects of their lives. The existing Single-channel operational strategies are old hat and not the way that people now want to consume products and services. Flexible approaches to multichannel selling and the total support for automotive sales will be crucial to future success Agility and flexibility will be key, especially when considering a possible second or third wave of the pandemic. The limitations of availability and the way that staff can work in dealerships needs also to be thrown into the mix. Going forward having information at the fingertips of the people dealing with customers is going to be imperative. Being able to turn around deals, transactions and having highly efficient, effective and adaptive back office operations will become a key differentiator. RPA – Robotic Process Automation can be highly effective in this space, using RPA Digital Workers to drive down transaction times by streamlining the marshalling of information from many disparate sources to support vehicle sales process cycle. It releases people from undertaking transactional wasteful back office functions, accessing multiple systems to release them to be customer facing, supporting/integrating multi channel sales efforts. The outcomes from a Digital Worker can be put directly into the hands of dealership staff or used to support customers directly through an online platform, where speed of information is of the essence. The best part is that these robots interact with computing applications just like humans and as a result are non-intrusive, but can be deployed within a matter of days. Using a flexible resource like a Digital Worker to match constantly changing circumstances without having to resort to massive investments in source system reconfigurations can make all the difference and keep you agile.