2 7 F O C U S Photos: AVL/Gerhard Langusch & Peter Riedler art search methods, there are now much better ways to identify spare parts in a matter of a few steps. Customers can additionally draw from an extensive collection of documents and image material,“ Thomas Hüttner, the responsible project manager of AVL eSpares plus™, said. It was necessary to make several profound optimizations in the background to ensure the webshop‘s technical capability. „For example, we made some substantial improvements to the master data on our eCl@ss platform,“ explained Peter Pucher, AVL Portfolio Manager, Services for Hardware. „Apart from that, we updated and complemented operation manuals, highresolution images and descriptions. By implementing these measures, we were able to make spare parts identification a much simpler process, as desired by our customers. The research requirements are now far lower than they were with the previous webshop.“ AVL eSpares plus™ is a fundamental pillar of AVL‘s customer portal management. Its single sign-on feature allows users to access the entire digital world of AVL by entering their access details only once. Further functionalities will be added successively, which are all seamlessly integrated into the portal. In a next step, these will include tracking options for hotline cases and repairs. In an initial stage, customers can use AVL eSpares plus™ to send inquiries to AVL, which are then processed by the responsible staff on AVL eCase™, AVL‘s case management platform. „To improve the desired traceability for our customers, we have made spare parts procurement processing much more transparent by adding an optimized track & trace function,“ Peter Pucher explained. ENHANCED EFFICIENCY THROUGH PROCESS DIGITALIZATION As ordering and delivering spare parts is frequently only one part of restoring equipment and test facility availability, the designers of AVL eSpares plus™ paid particular attention to linking all service processes and the necessary tools. This is a vital step toward ensur- > Jens Poggenburg, Director Global Customer Services. ing that AVL service staff and customers – whether they are on site or in the back office – are provided with relevant information on the equipment status and the ordered services at any given time. „Digitalizing our processes has three key benefits,“ Jens Poggenburg, Director of Global Customer Services at AVL, added. „On the one hand, we obtain a virtual image of our customers‘ environment, which improves safety and reliability in test bed operation. On the other, our employees are able to process services much more efficiently because they have access to consistent information. As a further result, we can continue to increase the firsttime right rate. Lastly, there are many other ways to interact with our customers, which we intend to make use of, in order to contribute to their success.“ < > Thomas Hüttner (li.), Project Manager Global Standards and Tools, and Peter Pucher (re.), Portfolio Manager Services for Hardware.
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