Is the 100% paperless dealership now a reality?

In the quest to become more streamlined and efficient, many dealerships are looking to cut ties with traditional paper-based ways of working. Mounting pressures in recent times has spurred on initiatives to improve the bottom line by:
- optimising warrant claims, revenue and other income
- accelerating cash flow with more timely, accurate invoicing, more rapid sales and improved throughput
- reducing the burden of administration by freeing up time and headcount
- avoiding penalities through non conformance
To do this, many have realised that paper does not get the job done.
Whilst electronic document management has been around for decades, more forward thinking dealerships did not start to talk with specialists like Arena Group until the mid 2000s. Arena's mstore platform is more than a scan to store system, it helps convert a daily activity such as car sales into a digitised process, replacing volumous deal files with an electronic version.
With ongoing collaboration and development with dealerships, OEMs and software houses such as dealer management systems, there are now tools in place to manage operations end to end fully paperless in sales, aftersales, warranty, HR and finance.
The paperless workshop is one of the latest on the digitisation roadmap with flexible job management for the workshop controller and technicians remaining car side to receive and complete jobs including capture of diagnostic reports. Improvements to throughput and warranty revenue are the key benefits to this.
The emergence of fresh challenges with Covid 19 has put centralised adminstration teams already digitised at an advantage with completion of sales and warranty work happening by whoever is available and wherever they are based. Similarly, those dealerships already managing compliance with electronic files were able to continue to stay on track as remote working was something already practiced pre-pandemic
Subject to the manufacturer agreement to receive digital submissions such as electronic job cards as evidence of work done, becoming a 100% paperless dealership in key operations is now a reality with the mstore platform.
But dealers are advised not to turn away from paper all together. Sometimes the most efficient way of working is with paper such as for note taking of gathering of adhoc information. The right digitisation partner can not only deliver the right tools , but also provide the right advice on process design and where best returns are gained to deliver the productivity, efficiency and ultimately ROI gains a dealership is looking for.
Find out more at AM Live in January where Arena's Director of Technology, Neil Maude, is hosting a dealership case study speaker session in the virtual event stage with real life dealership insights from those already well into their digitisation journey and reaping the benefits.
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