Toyota

Toyota saves the time of 1.5 employee for manual entry

Toyota Danmark A/S develops an EDI based business model for intercompany invoicing on the aftermarket together with Evenex. The business model enables negotiators to service end clients even better and lies end to end with Toyota's targeted focus on customer satisfaction. The solution saves Toyota for the time equal to 1.5 employee for manual entry.

When, for instance, a Toyota customer needs an engine heater, a trailer hitch, an autopilot or four new tyres installed on his Toyota, the dealer orders using Toyota Denmark's intercompany invoicing solution. The supplier then generates an invoice, which automatically and immediately is sent via EDI to Toyota Denmark, at once forwarding the invoice to the dealer on Toyota Denmark's stationery.

Initially, Toyota was introduced in Denmark in 1963 by Erla Autoimport, and Denmark was hereby the first European country to show off the exciting new Japanese models. A lot has happened since, and today Toyota is sold in all European countries.

One of the reasons for Toyota's success is the Toyota Production System, which has inspired thousands of companies all over the world in the form of Lean Production. One of the central elements of Lean Production is the carefully integrated quality control, ensuring the customer a reliable and dependable product.
Since the end of the eighties, Toyota dealers and Toyota Danmark A/S have co-operated determinedly on building a service culture among all employees with the sole purpose of making "superior quality" cars and having satisfied customers. The endeavour has been very successful, and today Toyota is the car make with the most satisfied and loyal customers.

A matter of core qualifications

The business model and associated IT support was developed in co-operation between Toyota and Evenex.
"Our core qualifications are car manufacturing and sales. Evenex's core qualifications are professional integration of business communication, and therefore we asked Evenex for expert help to develop this business model with associated IT support. Evenex's consultant visited all of our suppliers and introduced them to the new solution," says Peder Lorentzen, Project Manager at Toyota Denmark. He adds:
"The collaboration has been working perfectly. We have spent a lot of time preparing thoroughly, and PROGRATOR|gatetrade have been excellent in understanding our needs and stepping into a role where the consultant practically was working as a part of our organisation."

Rapid ROI

The new business model provides business advantages for all parties. The investment of the suppliers in the solution is recouped relatively quickly due to the digitization of invoice management. Various calculations show the cost of handling a printed invoice is DKK 38 to 70. The cost of the suppliers electronic invoice is approx. DKK 1, so depending on the number of invoices, the investment is recouped in 0 to 2 years. But the important advantage for the supplier is that the business model means the supplier is recognized as a permanent supplier to the Toyota dealer network, securing the supplier with a large, stable and long-term customer.

"We emphasize permanent partnerships, and once we have established an agreement with a supplier, we are very loyal. We believe close co-operation is the best and most profitable for all," Peder Lorentzen tells.

Peder Lorentzen points at data safety as one of the most significant advantages of the business model.
"The electronic invoicing means there is no manual entry after the supplier has generated the invoice. That means fewer error sources, which is essential for our goal to reach gold quality and complete customer satisfaction. At the same time, we also save the time equal to about 1.5 employee for data entry," he says.
"The next step in our integration of the value chain will be to establish an EDI based integration between Toyota Danmark A/S and the dealers. We believe the dealers have now reached a size where such a solution would be a benefit for them, and above all a major business advantage," Peder Lorentzen says.
 

2010-06-02