Sales Order Processing System Revs Up Autodata Efficiency Levels
ROCC Computers – IT Partners to Autodata
July 20 2007

In a bid to rev up efficiency and delivery, Autodata, Europe’s leading publisher and supplier of technical information for automotive professionals has commissioned ROCC to produce an integrated ecommerce IT system across all areas of their business.

The system has been developed in a number of distinct phases covering sales order processing (SOP), sales and purchase ledger through to managing registrations and linking customer databases.

Lisa Sheil, UK Sales Office Manager at Autodata, said: “ROCC ensured that they understood our requirements and business needs. We have worked in partnership to develop a system that will enable our business to keep at the forefront of our marketplace, maintain efficiency and offer an ever improving service to our customers.”

The Solution
Phase 1 includes SOP, invoicing, monthly and year-end sales reporting, warehousing and stock control, and has gone live this year. The SOP is able to raise and manage many different types of orders, register how payment has been made into the credit control system with immediate verification, allocate an order from stock and control the despatch system as well.
Phase 2 will provide a sales and purchase ledger.
Phase 3 will manage registrations – linking customer databases. This will make a significant difference to the business as registrations and purchases are currently two separate systems with no integration.

The Benefits
The benefits that Phase 1 of this new system has given to Autodata are:

• More user-friendly
• Easier access to information
• Much quicker to use
• Improved efficiency
• Field sales team now able to access data
• Easier to manage payments
• Will accommodate huge growth

The Future
The real value an ecommerce system brings, is that it enables an organisation to be agile enough to take advantage of new market opportunities and resilient enough to successfully manage growth. This system has been designed to accommodate future developments to keep up with the growth of the business. The next planned addition will be a comprehensive Knowledge Base – enabling a help desk to provide a technical support service with easy access to data. After that an e-commerce solution will be introduced to enable on-line ordering.
As Lisa Sheil concluded: “IT has become an increasingly important business tool to Autodata. It is vital we ensure that we get the most out of this system by continually reviewing our progress and using the system proactively.”

Autodata
Established in 1975 Autodata is a privately owned company based in Maidenhead and is Europe’s leading supplier of technical information for the automotive aftermarket through printed and electronic media. Researched directly from the vehicle manufacturer, Autodata prints information on a variety of service and repair subjects including technical data, engine management systems, repair times, wiring diagrams, timing belts, service schedules and much more. It directly employs over 120 people in four countries of whom over forty five are industry trained automotive technicians. Its primary market is Europe where it has established itself as the market leader; its other major markets are the USA where it operates a wholly owned subsidiary and Australia where a successful collaboration with a local publisher has led to another subsidiary being established.