MOBIS Parts Australia Pty Ltd.

After realizing Kia’s existing BI system didn’t meet all its functionality requirements, the MPAU IT team set out to find a better, more scalable analytics solution with broader functionality that would support the company’s ultimate goal: to operate more efficiently, boosting its competitive advantage within the aggressive automobile market.

“The automotive industry has ongoing competitive challenges, with other brands coming up with new products, new sales strategies and new pricing methodologies,” explained Subodh Patil, IT manager at MOBIS Parts Australia Pty Ltd. “As a result, we have to ensure that we have adequate systems and technologies in place and are always looking at how we can make our product better.”

This meant MPAU needed to make its operations more agile, reacting more quickly to changing demands or competitors’ offerings. To achieve that, the company needed a new business intelligence system that would support real-time inventory and dealer network reporting, monitor sales performance and pricing offers from vendors, and offer analytical capabilities to predict future sales and inventory requirements.

“We were looking for dashboards and reporting and analytical capabilities in a presentable, user-friendly format. This was our criteria when we began our search for the right technology,” Patil said.

A successful test drive

Robust functionality was only the start. Ease of use was a key factor to ensure end users would take to the system naturally and the solution would ultimately integrate seamlessly and intuitively into the day-to-day operations of approximately 140 to 160 users and dealers. The MPAU team compared several BI and analytics solutions, including an open source alternative, giving power users the chance to “test drive” and offer feedback on each one.

“You can easily put in a new system that has all the bells and whistles,” Patil said. “But what we wanted to see first was how good it was from an ease-of-use perspective for the end user.”

After testing several systems, MPAU ultimately chose OpenText™ Magellan™ Analytics Suite. “From all angles, OpenText Magellan Analytics Suite really stood out,” Patil said. “In terms of cost, features and the business operations, it was all available.”

OpenText could integrate with data sources throughout the MPAU operations and dealer network with dashboards that offered each department, from inventory and warehousing through to sales and logistics, a snapshot into their daily activities. The analytics capabilities allowed the company a true advantage, with the ability to not only view historical sales and inventory but to forecast future needs as well. Finally, the intuitive drag-and-drop format was easy for users to master.

Full speed ahead

Choosing the right solution was just the first step. Extremely tight timelines from the MOBIS HQ meant that MPAU needed to implement Magellan Analytics Suite in record time. Patil and his team had only four and a half months once the selection process was completed. What’s more, the implementation would take place during a complicated business integration that saw MPAU taking over purchasing and distribution operations from Kia. They had to stay on point with Kia’s own business structure and rules, while simultaneously incorporating changes MPAU’s own leadership required. To make that all happen, and ensure the tight deadlines could be met, Patil planned the implementation to the last detail beforehand, giving his IT team members a necessary blueprint on how to proceed.

“Every area needed to be perfect to get it right,” Patil said. “Because if you got something wrong you needed to basically spend more time, and the time wasn’t there.” Despite the short time frame, Patil and his team were able to meet the go-live timeline from MOBIS HQ, Kia and MPAU, completing the initial implementation within the allotted four and a half months. Impressed with the logistics and efficiency of the project, MOBIS’ international head office recognized the MPAU Logistics team with a commendation.

Even while the implementation was ongoing, Patil was able to demonstrate value from Magellan Analytics Suite almost immediately. Sophisticated reporting provided the first sign of changes ahead by replacing the company’s old system and impressing senior management with aesthetically pleasing reports emailed daily. “Practically speaking, it went live from the first day,” Patil said.

Seamless integration

Today, MPAU’s goal of having BI integrated seamlessly into the day-to-day workflow of Kia Australia and its own internal users has come to fruition, and the competitive advantage it was looking to achieve is evident in the new practices in place. OpenText accesses data from throughout MOBIS’ operations, as well as dealer databases for a customer perspective, connecting every part of the business.

At the warehouse level, Magellan Analytics Suite is linked directly to MPAU’s scanning and manifest system, tracking parts coming in and out of the warehouse so that users are able to see, on a daily basis, the status of current stock and back orders, and do business analysis for better visibility into operations. Analysts also have a clear view on how long each task takes their employees, allowing them to create realistic time management measures and goals— something they could only estimate before.

For the sales team, detailed pricing information is accessible in just 10 minutes. This is a breakthrough compared to the slow and laborious processes in place before OpenText was introduced. Previously, users tried to wrangle massive amounts of data into Microsoft Excel, often crashing the program in their attempts due to huge volume of data download. Moreover, the old system had trouble incorporating real-time data, so predictions were based solely on high level historical information.

Now, instead of relying on a cumbersome reporting process and often inaccurate predictions, users can compare historical data to current sales information in close to real time, and project future sales as needed, changing criteria on the fly. “It will continue to give historical information seamlessly and efficiently without much time delay,” Patil said.

The result is a more efficient business environment with informed decision-making that allows users to access and interact with data more reliably, using that data both to manage their day-to-day roles more effectively and to react better in times of crisis.

MPAU had the opportunity to test that out in 2015 when one of its warehouses collapsed. Magellan Analytics Suite offered MPAU the competitive advantage it needed. Put into crisis mode, the company set up a temporary warehouse while awaiting construction on a new building. By using the new inventory system created through OpenText, MPAU was able to continue seamlessly without its normal infrastructure in place, tracking parts as efficiently as it would have in its former warehouse and continuing without delay until the new space was built.

The next step for Patil and his team is to integrate the OpenText platform even further into warehouse operations and continue to analyze available data for a clearer view of the competitive market. “Big data, and how the system will handle it and how we will continuously improve it, those will be our next challenges,” he concluded.