Reynasa, a distributor of automotive replacement parts in Spain, has been using the Order Manager for many years. CIO David Valerio speaks about current challenges in the Spanish automotive aftermarket and explains why they decided to use the Order Manager Online Portal and how the B2B platform helps them to increase customer satisfaction.
Reynasa was founded in 1970 in Madrid and since then has been distributing replacement parts for passenger cars and industrial vehicles. The company is part of Serca Automoción, one of the main spare parts distribution groups in Spain and Portugal, which is also a founding member of Nexus Automotive International. Reynasa has currently nine branch offices in the Community of Madrid and Guadalajara, all with a warehouse and a point of sale, a fleet of more than 110 delivery vehicles and a team of 300 people specialised in the sector.
“We have always been committed to our customers. We want to deliver high-quality goods and offer the best-possible service”, says David Valerio, Chief Information Officer at Reynasa. “And we always strive for technological innovation and develop our own systems to be always up-to-date and meet the requirements of our customers and suppliers.”
“We have always been committed to our customers. We want to deliver high-quality goods and offer the best-possible service”
David Valerio, Chief Information Officer, Reynasa
Tackling challenges in the Spanish automotive aftermarket
The automotive aftermarket is changing rapidly, everywhere in the world and also in Spain. Customer expectations are evolving, technological innovation is accelerating and industry consolidation is leading to shifts in competitive power. David Valerio describes three major developments that distributors in Spain are currently facing:
“First, there is the drop in registrations which triggers a lower number of cars in the market. So far, there has been a 10.7% decline in national registrations in Spain in 2019.
The second big issue is the ageing of the fleet. This means that there are less and older cars in our market, causing not only a commercial problem, but also a serious problem for the environment.
And third, there are so many new distribution models. Every day, new players appear in the market, such as dealers and large distribution centres. All these developments are challenging us to implement innovative solutions to adapt our business and to look for reliable partners to help us in this task”, says David Valerio.
Quick and easy improvement of the ordering processes
A major step in this development process was the decision for the Order Manager many years ago. The B2B platform allows the distributor to communicate with all connected business partners – irrespective of the format requirements and the technical connection. Today, around 280 of the major parts manufacturers and 25,000 buyers worldwide are using the Order Manager.
“We used to communicate with our suppliers in many different ways – by telephone, e-mail or fax. Each step in the ordering process was manual, time consuming and had a high error potential. The B2B platform allows us to handle all processes with our most important suppliers in a standardised, automated manner”, remembers David Valerio.
The journal function of the Order Manager Online Portal is also very important for Reynasa. It provides a quick and efficient overview of all orders and order processing information, including order confirmations, delivery notifications and invoices. “The electronic reverse messages sent by our suppliers are very important for us. I would even say that for us, receiving reverse messages via the Order Manager is just as important as to place orders. The electronic delivery notes speed up the logistics and goods receipt processes and the invoice allows faster financial processes, both payments and collection of receivables. The online portal provides us with a centralised management of all the documents exchanged with our suppliers”, explains David Valerio.
Boosting sales with happy customers
“We decided to cooperate with TecAlliance due to their market penetration in the automotive sector and because we thought this would be the fastest way for us to improve our ordering processes. And in fact, today more than 60 percent of our purchases are made through the Order Manager Online Portal. Almost 190,000 transactions, i.e. price and availability requests, stock orders and express orders, were transmitted via the portal in 2018. This means that our purchasing staff can dedicate more time to other productive tasks and not just administration”, says David Valerio.
The automation and digitisation of the ordering processes helped Reynasa to reduce the error rate and to save time, which is now being invested in better service. Both factors are important to increase customer satisfaction and thus ultimately boost sales. “Our customers are definitely more satisfied. You can tell that by the drastic decrease in support cases”, explains David Valerio. “And the tool enables us to react so quickly to our customers’ requests and deliver the parts in only 40 minutes. They don’t even have time to ask our competitors about the parts and they know that they can trust in our service. In the end, this means that in addition to happier customers we are also increasing our sales.”
ERP integration simplifies the daily work
After so many years of successful cooperation, Reynasa is now planning the next step. They are going to integrate the Order Manager functionality into their ERP system. “By integrating the Order Manager into our ERP system, we will be able to centrally manage both the creation of purchasing documents and the sending of delivery notes and invoices. This will further improve our daily administrative processes. And this means that our employees can perform tasks that have a greater added value for the company”, says David Valerio.
