The Danish parts manufacturer Triscan uses the Order Manager module CMD (Collaborative Managed Data) to optimally support their customers with high-quality and up-to-date data. With CMD, they provide wholesalers in the automotive aftermarket with standardised information about prices, availability and detailed product information like dimensions, weight etc. Automated processes minimise the effort for data rework and significantly shorten the time to market. With the introduction of CMD, Triscan underscores its outstanding position as an e-commerce pioneer in Scandinavia.
TecAlliance has been supporting Triscan for more than 20 years with a range of digital solutions to optimise their processes and expand their market position in Europe. The Danish manufacturer of a wide variety of spare parts for the automotive and industrial sectors has gained a strong position in the Scandinavian market and sharply increased sales in the rest of Europe. Triscan distributes their products to 45 markets in Europe, with more than 100 employees in Denmark, France, Sweden and Germany.
”CMD brings benefits to the entire supply chain by improving and speeding up the processes of parts manufacturers, wholesale dealers and workshops.”
Morten Hallum, Supply Chain & IT Director, Triscan
Excellent data for optimum service
All products of the TecAlliance Certified Data Supplier are listed in the TecDoc Catalogue and are available worldwide. The outstanding quality of Triscan’s product information and the comprehensive vehicle linkages help wholesalers, parts dealers and workshops to identify the correct replacement part quickly and easily. Our premium data management solution CCU supports Triscan in meeting their primary goal of always delivering 100-percent correct data.
“It is very important for us to lead by example and support the automotive aftermarket with product information that is as perfect as possible,” explains Morten Hallum, Supply Chain & IT Director at Triscan. “Alongside data quality, process optimisation is the second major topic to optimally position ourselves in the market. We have always been a pioneer in e-commerce in Scandinavia. In our line of business, we were the first to offer our own e-commerce system in Denmark. And we have also been part of TecAlliance’s B2B platform Order Manager since 2005. Today, we receive around 85 percent of our orders electronically and send electronic delivery notes and invoices to our customers, which makes work much easier both for us and for them,” he says.
At beginning of 2020, one of Triscan’s customers from Finland asked them if they could use the Order Manager module CMD to provide them with detailed product information and reference data, prices and availability. “Our customer uses CMD to receive data updates for their individual product range. For them it is crucial to receive the data in this standardised, automated way via CMD from as many of their suppliers as possible, as this minimises the effort needed for the manual reworking of data, thus reducing their time to market,” says Morten Hallum. “We understood the relevance for future success. And since the satisfaction of our customers is very important to us, we have contacted TecAlliance to see how we can meet this request.”
Reaching the goal in record time, despite Corona
After several discussions with Manfred Lechner, Senior Business Consultant for our Order Manager solution, and our Sales Manager Jörg Schröder, Morten Hallum and Triscan’s IT Manager Bo Mangor decided to implement CMD. Unfortunately, the start of the project collided with the outbreak of the Corona pandemic, which made a workshop or meeting on site impossible.
“There was no ready-to-use interface available to integrate CMD in our ERP system MS Axapta. However, Manfred Lechner provided us with the interface description and all the information we needed for the implementation via email, and of course they supported us during the whole project whenever we had any questions,” remembers Bo Mangor. “We handled the whole implementation project in-house, which was a big advantage. The instructions by TecAlliance were really helpful and after only a few weeks we could proudly say that we had completed the project. We were able to deliver all the data in the correct standard format.”
Today, everything is up and running so that Triscan sends daily updates on products, prices and availabilities in an automated process. “At the moment, we are delivering this data to only one pilot customer. But we already have a list of other customers that we might connect. And the system allows us to do this very quickly, in only a few minutes,” explains Bo Mangor.
“We are very happy with how TecAlliance supported us during the project,” says Morten Hallum. “Whenever we had questions or forwarded feedback from our customer, we could rely on fast and competent help. Minor changes were implemented within a few hours. That was excellent service!”
A “win-win-win-win” situation
For Triscan, optimum data quality and optimised, automated business processes are not ends in themselves but the basis for future success in the automotive aftermarket. “We have only been using CMD for a few months, so it is too early to quantify its impact on our business success. But we are very satisfied with how the business relationship with our customer is developing. After an initial decline in sales at the beginning of the Corona pandemic, the sales development is now very positive. And CMD is certainly contributing to this”, explains Morten Hallum.
“If the wholesale dealer has access to all relevant product and price information in a structured format and also knows the availability, he can in turn offer his customers better service. Both can react faster and give 100% correct feedback. This avoids loss of sales and increases their customers’ satisfaction. CMD brings benefits to the entire supply chain by improving and speeding up the processes of parts manufacturers, wholesale dealers and workshops. And it ultimately benefits the end customer, who gets his car back from the workshop more quickly”, he says.
