IMD
Improving Customer Service (and
profitability)
"The
objective was to streamline our operations
to increase efficiency and to improve
our service to customers."
Established
in Holland in 1989
Turnover
in excess of £10 million a year
Part
of Hagemeyer NV, World-wide leader in business
to business services
Specialising
in the office, banking and security sector
Originally
a third party maintenance organisation,
IMD Computer Services was established
in Holland in 1989. The ISO 9002 quality
accredited company specialises
in the maintenance and repair of a wide
range of IT equipment and has
expanded its activities to include money
handling systems and equipment.
Turning over more than £10 million a
year, the firm employs 250 people.
In 1994, IMD was acquired by Borsu Systema,
part of the Royal Borsumij Wehry NV
group - an international trading organisation
active in consumer goods, office
equipment and industrial products. In
1997, the Borsumij Wehry Group was acquired
by Hagemeyer NV, a worldwide leader
in business to business services. IMD
now forms part of Hagemeyer.
IMD specialises in the office, banking
and security sector - developing
and supplying a range of money handling
equipment, systems and software
to government and the financial, commercial,
services and transport sectors.
Following
the acquisition of IMD by Borsu Systema,
the service and maintenance activities of
both companies were closely integrated -
substantially extending the breadth
and depth of service to customers - and
significantly widening the market in which
the new, combined company is operating.
The business focuses on providing total
customer solutions.
"We needed an integrated service system
that provided a complete solution to all
our needs," said IMD quality manager
Adrie Kreder. "These needs encompassed
a huge range of core business functions
including logistics, service call receipt,
call handling, planning, stock control,
contracts, warranty entitlement, purchasing
and sales order processing. We evaluated
a variety of prospective solutions - with
the key qualification that the selected
system would handle literally everything,
including invoicing. The objective was to
streamline our operations to increase efficiency
and, most importantly, to improve our service
to customers."
In
order to facilitate company-wide information
exchange, Interchange adapted an enterprise-wide
software package able to support virtually
all aspects of the company's business -
from sales to workshop operations, planning
and contracts. This was integrated with
the company's existing proprietary accounting
system.
Under the agreement between the two companies
- signed in 1994 and continuing on a rolling
basis - Interchange provides full software
maintenance and support, upgrades, help
desk functions, general consultancy
and problem solving.
"The
Interchange solution plays a key role in all our core
business operations," said Kreder. "The
emphasis is very much on integrating business information.
Initially, this involved introducing and exploiting
a very high level of system functionality and redefining
our business processes to streamline operations,
particularly in the areas of logistics and call handling.
The new processes are easier to operate, control and
maintain."
"For example, under the new regime a maintenance
or repair call into the system enables allocation
of the necessary stock items required. Information
is recorded instantly in all appropriate databases
- so that everyone in the company can see stock item
commitment. Logistics personnel can drill down
into service call reports and check original contract
fine detail to ensure that we are meeting commitments
to our customers, which has enabled us to demonstrate
both our responsiveness and our enthusiasm for satisfying
customer needs."
Overall, the Interchange solution has had a dramatic
impact on helping IMD develop its customer relationships:
"These have improved significantly over the last
few years," said Kreder. "We have around 200
main direct customers, over 800 dealers and approximately
9,000 end users at the smaller end of the market."
"We
are currently redefining our target marketplace - focusing
on the top 500 companies, of which we already handle
around 200. Interchange's solution has helped us
segment our market more effectively, enabling us to record
all relevant information more easily and access it faster.
This means, for example, that when we approach a prospective
new customer we are fully armed with all the relevant
information. The bottom line is sharper competitive edge
- both in winning new business and in keeping and growing
business from existing customers."
There have also been significant gains in operational
performance: "I'd estimate an improvement of between
30 and 40 percent in terms of response time,"
said Kreder. "We have better control of spare parts
availability and over suppliers. The engineers are not
working any faster but everything around them is.
This means better, faster service - and getting
things right first time."
The business process gains have also had a positive knock-on
effect. "Because our information is better, we trust
it more," said Kreder. "This means that
we can take a more aggressive stance in sales and
marketing, for example, in setting price and service levels
- calculated carefully against competitive threat."
"Because
our information is better, we trust it more"
Interchange's
work for IMD demonstrates how close service support
in a key business process area can pay handsome
dividends in improving customer relationship management.
Based originally on product provision, that relationship
has blossomed into a full-blown service and support
working partnership in which both supplier
and customer share the same goals.
"Relations with Interchange are good,"
says Kreder. "If we have a problem we ring
the call centre and get an immediate response
- usually within the hour or a time for a problem-fix.
We can discuss problems directly with Interchange
programmers and have direct access to second level
technical support. The company evidently understands
the importance of good customer service and the
positive effect it can have on a company's profitability."
Copyright
2001 - 2008 Interchange Group Limited - All Rights Reserved
Copyright
2001 - 2008 Interchange Group Limited - All Rights Reserved
