Mercedes Benz’s E-Biz Solution Essay

The fact that we would be one of the maiden car manufacturers in the United States to take a factory rescue program would be seen as a very positive function in this regard. William Engelke, Assistant Manager, IT schemas, Mercedes Benz US transnational, commenting on the FDRS. Linking customers By 2000, Mercedes Benz United States International (MBUSI), builder of the high-quality MClass sports utility fomite (SUV), established itself as a community that also delivered superior customer services. One much(prenominal) service was the bringing option where by the customer could take rake of the fomite at the factory in Alabama, US.The program c each(prenominal)ed the Factory Delivery Reservation System (FDRS), enabled MBUSI to create and vali involution 1800 orders per hour. FDRS also automatically generated material requirements and Bills of Material1 for 35,000 fomites per hour. The Customer kinship Management (CRM) solution that made FDRS possible was base on sacred lotus Domino2 and IBM Netfinity3 master of ceremonies4. Analysts felt that with its innovative use of the new program, MBUSI not only managed to change its customer relations by providing the best service, but also show its commitment to customers by making them an integral part of the process.Customers were, in a way data linked putly to the factory floor which was a puissant sales tool. Background Mbusi and its Business Challenges MBUSI was a wholly- featureed subsidiary of DaimlerChrylser AG. 5 In 1993, Daimler Benz in truthized that the Benz brand could be broad to wider marketplace segments. Traditionally, Mercedes Benz6 appealed to older and modern customers only. Daimler Benz wanted to attract customers below 40 years of age, who wanted a rugged vehicle with all the safety and luxury features of a Mercedes. Daimler Benz fixed to develop a SUV known as the M-Class.It anticipate strong get hold of for the new vehicle and therefore be after to build its first car- manufacturing instalment MBUSI in the (Tuscaloosa, Alabama) US. The MBUSI facility had many advantages. First, labor costs in the US were al to the highest degree half that of in Germany. Second, the US was the jumper lead geographic market for SUVs. Third, as the vehicles were assembled in the US, they could be distributed to Canada and Mexico more efficiently. In January 1997, the factory started take at partial capacity and by the end of the year, it was producing at practiced capacity.By 2000, the factory was rolling out around 380 vehicles per day. The new M-Class allactivityvehicle represented a new concept for the confederation. Also, mass customization required that severally vehicle be treated as a separate project, with its own Bill of Material. To deal with these challenges, Daimler Benz decided to implement an enterprise wide entropy Technology (IT) agreement, with the help of IBM world(prenominal) Services7. To further streng thence the image of Mercedes Benz in the US, MBUSI planned to deliver vehicles at the factory, becoming the first international gondola manufacturer in the US to do so.MBUSI also wanted to enrich the customersexperience. Commented William Engelke, The factory delivery option gives Mercedes-Benz customers something that they do not get from early(a) automobile manufacturers which is why we withdraw the program will resonate with our customers. We think that having the factory delivery program available to Mercedes customers adds to the overall experience of the customer. The outsideise of FDRS The FDRS program was proposed in the first billet of 1998. In the third quarter of 1998, MBUSI entered into a contract with IBM.A development squad was constituted with IBM Global Solutions specialists and IBM e-commerce developers, who worked closely with MBUSI. The program became operational by the first quarter of 1999. The IT team at MBUSI had a clear set of functional specifications for FDRS. However, they relied on IBM to translate the concept into an e-business solution. The FDRS was designed in such a way that customers buy the M-Class SUV could specify that will take delivery of their new vehicle at the factory. They could place the order at any of the 355 Mercedes Benz head teachers in the US.An authorized employee at the dealership entered the factory delivery order the web interface. Timing was the most important aspect of the FDRSfunctionality, as it was closely linked with MBUSIs vehicle fruition schedule. Mercedes Benz United States of America (MBUSA)8, based in Montvale, NJ, was the first link in the FDRS program. It was the point where the dealer actually placed the order. MBUSAs type was to coordinate the distribution of vehicles to dealers across the country. Later, it had to add the order to the bon tons Baan opening move Resource Planning (ERP)9system, which scheduled the order for crosswayion.About trey months before the production date, the dealer could schedule in a window, the date and condemnation of arrival of the customer at the factory for delivery. The window was then automatically computed by the FDRS to give the dealer, the possible delivery dates. Apart from the delivery date, the customer could also specify the accessories for the car and also request a factory tour. FDRS was based on white lily Domino (Refer Exhibit I), sacred lotus Enterprise Integrator10 and IBM Netfinity setrs. It also interfaced with IBM S/390 Parallel Enterprise Server, Model 9672-R45 de edgeined in Montvale, NJ (Refer Figure I).There were two Domino servers an IBM Netfinity 5500 and an IBM Netfinity 3000. visit I SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE OF FDRS offset MBUSI The former that acted as the inseparable Domino serverwas placed behind a firewall 11. It replicated databases through the firewall to the remote server. The procreation, which was encrypted, represented the primary means by which the FDRS system achieved security. Netfinity 3000 acted as an extern al Domino server. It had public information and was also the primary communication linkage for dealers. The ack-end of the FDRS was equipped with an Oracle database that updated the internal Domino server database with order information. The updation was make using Lotus Enterprise Integrator. The data which was replicated to the internal Domino server included lists of valid dealers and lists of order human bodys. When an order was placed by the dealer on the FDRS system, the data was first stored on the external Domino server, later which it was replicated to the internal Domino server. Then it was replicated to the back-end database via the Lotus Enterprise Integrator.Data replication between the Lotus Notes servers happened every 15 minutes and data swop with the back-end database three times per day. There was also a link between the back end database and an IBM S/39012 mainframe based system hardened at MBUSA via a T113 line. MBUSA managed the flow of vehicles to Mercede s dealers across the United States. This mainframe based system, received new vehicle orders (as opposed to factory delivery military reserve requests) from individual dealers. The orders were then sent to MBUSIs Baan system and also to the back-end database.The vehicle ordering and factory reservation data were coordinated with each other(a) when the back-end database uploaded the data to the internal Domino server. This coordinated the production and delivery information. FDRS execution of instrument One of the most challenging aspects of the implementation seemed to be the complexity of the Lotus and Domino scripts. The development team had to group all the information from assorted systems. Commented William Engelke, There was a substantial amount of very complex code involved in the FDRS solution. This application involves a lot more than having our dealers woof out a form and submitting it.There are many things the servers have to do for the system to function properly, such as looking at calendars and production schedules. We reinforced a solution with some very travel communication linkages. IBM faced many technical challenges during the implementation of the program. One of them was the different timing schemes of the Lotus Notes databases and backend databases (ERP). This led to discrepancies in the data. Domino server was a Near Real Time (NRT) Server14, and MBUSIs backend activities were both real time15and great deal processing16. Also, to get the best results, the Domino server was an optimised subset of the ERP dodge set17.However, the development team achieved a balance between the two sidesof the solution by commission on issues of timing, error detection schemes, and alerts. Customer Satisfaction FDRS Primary gain MBUSI seemed to measure FDRSsuccess in terms of increased satisfaction of its customers. The company also believed that the marketing and customer satisfaction aspects outweighed the signifi rousece of more handed-down cost-based benefits. Apart from the factory delivery experience, the program also offered the customer a factory tour and ride on the off-road course at a low cost.The company also seemed to gain strategic marketing benefits from the FDRS program, as it was able to establish Mercedes-Benz as a premium brand. (Refer Table I for advantages of FDRS in different areas). Customers could also visit the various tourist vagrant in Alabama after picking up their M-class vehicles. TABLE I ADVANTAGES OF THE FDRS PROGRAM AREA Strategic Marketing Benefits Cost Savings ADVANTAGES FDRS was pass judgment to improve customer satisfaction and brand loyalty, as it enriched Mercedes customers experience. The program also strengthened the brand image of Mercedes in the US.ontogenesis of a web-based solution enabled MBUSI to offer the factory delivery program at substantially lower costs, due to less reliance on administrative personnel. Package Marketing the FDRS program with a ride to tourist sites, compound the image of Alabama as a tourist destination. The creation of a similar albeit smaller factory delivery system to the European Customer Delivery Center in Sindelfingen, Germany, reflected favorably on the MBUSI business unit. Source MBUSI Regional Economic Development DaimlerChrysler AG Future of FDRS In 2000, MBUSI planned to leverage FDRSplatform by adding a range of other services.MBUSI built an advanced platform to create communication links to its suppliers. Through the link, MBUSI provided them feedback on the quality of supplies it received. The dealers and suppliers had a user-ID and password, which the system recognized. It then routed them into the appropriate stage of the FDRS. The company also planned to extend the innovative system to include transactional applications such as ordering materials and checking order status on the Web. The company expected that the new system based on FDRS, would be more efficient than the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)18 system. Bill of Material keeps track of all raw materials, parts, and subassemblies used to create a finished product. 2 A product of IBM Corp. , Lotus Notes and Domino R5 are the industrys leading leaf node/server combination for collaborative messaging and e-business solutions. 3 The IBM Netfinity server offers solutions for file-and-print and application deliberation needs. 4 A figurer or device on a intercommunicate that manages network resources. For example, a file server is a computer and computer memory device dedicated to storing files. Any user on the network can store files on the server.A print server is a computer that manages one or more printers, and a network server is a computer that manages network traffic. A database server is a computer system that processes database queries. 5 DaimlerChrysler AG was the result of a merger between two leading car manufacturers Daimler Benz of Germany and Chrysler Corp. of the US in 1998. 6 A luxury brand of rider cars, Spor ts Utility Vehicles from DaimlerChrysler. 7 IBM Global Services is the services and consultancy division of IBM Corp. that offers extensive ebusiness solutions. 8 MBUSA is the wholly owned US subsidiary of DaimlerChrylser. ERP attempts to integrate all departments and functions across a company onto a single computer system that can serve all those different departments particular needs. 10 A server-based data distribution product that enables data exchange between Lotus Domino and a number of host and relational applications. 11 A system designed to hold on unaccredited access to or from a private network. Firewalls can be employ in both hardware and software. Firewalls are frequently used to prevent unauthorized Internet users from accessing private networks connected to the Internet, especially intranets.All messages entranceway or leaving the intranet pass through the firewall, which examines each message and blocks those that do not meet the specified security criteria. 12 The IBM S/390 servers offer direct high speed access to the e-business application and are used for Enterprise Computing. 13 A dedicated phone connection supporting data order of 1. 544 Mbits per second. A T1 Line actually consists of 24 individual channels, each of which supports 64 Kbits per second. Each 64 Kbit per second channel can be configured to voice or data traffic. 14 The NRT Server System supports real time distribution of near-real time data. 5 Real time refers to events simulated by a computer at the same speed that they would occur in real life. 16 Executing a series of noninteractive jobs all at one time. The term dates back to the days when users entered programs on punch separate. They gave a batch of these programmed cards to the system operator, who fed them into the computer. Usually, batch jobs are stored up during working hours and then executed whenever the computer is idle. Batch processing is particularly useful for operations that require the computer o r a peripheral device for an extended period of time.Once a batch job begins, it continues until it is done or until an error occurs. Note that batch processing implies that there is no interaction with the user while the program is being executed. 17 The ERP tables are the database tables, (thousands of them), on which the mail boat is built. The programmers and end users must set these tables to match their business processes. Each table has a decisiveness switchthat leads the software down one decision path or another. 18 EDI connects all the suppliers in and out of the US. www. icmrindia. org/free resources/casestudies/Mercedes Benz-IT&Systems-Case Studies. htm