ANDERSEN MOTORS - SUZUKI BILIMPORT DANMARK

December 2, 2019

Digital arrival registration saves time and money at Andersen Motors

Andersen Motors (Suzuki Bilimport Danmark A/S) imports 10-12,000 Suzuki cars annually to the dealer network in Denmark. All cars are equipped with a barcode and a digital barcode solution helps keep track of the entire car process – from arrival to delivery. This results in faster and better workflows at the car importer.

At the head office in Køge, 48 employees at Andersen Motors handle the import of Suzuki cars to the dealer network in Denmark. The Suzuki cars are imported from four countries – Japan, India, Hungary and Thailand. With the preparation of up to 12,000 cars annually, there is a great need to follow the car’s progress from arrival to delivery. This is a crucial factor for the support and service to the Danish dealers.

CONTROL THE PROGRESS OF THE CARS

Back in 2011, Andersen Motors chose to switch from paper to digital registration of a car’s progress using a barcode solution from Delfi Technologies A/S. The barcode solution makes it possible to control and very accurately follow all cars from arrival to delivery. To ensure a constant overview of both available and occupied parking spaces for the cars, a large monitor is placed in the preparation department where employees can get a quick overview of the entire parking lot via a clear dashboard.

– When the cars come through the preparation process, they are all assigned a unique parking space. “We have a lot of cars going through the system, so we need a good overview of all the cars. On the screen, we can quickly get an overview of the available spaces – they are marked in green. Similarly, the occupied spaces are marked in red. This gives us the overview we need,” explains Lars Nielsson, preparation man at Andersen Motors.

"There are a lot of opportunities for streamlining workflows using barcodes and scanner solutions. We really want to be prepared for the future and it was a huge step for us when we replaced paper with a digital solution."

Erik Jensen, System Administrator, Andersen Motors.

NEW PLATFORM BOOSTS EFFICIENCY

The technological development has moved significantly since 2011 when Andersen Motors replaced paper with a digital solution. In 2018, Andersen Motors made the decision to increase efficiency. It was now time to upgrade the existing barcode solution to a newer and more future-proof platform.

– There are a lot of opportunities for streamlining workflows using barcodes and scanner solutions. We really want to be prepared for the future and it was a huge step for us when we replaced paper with a digital solution. Now we are taking another step forward and have chosen to upgrade our barcode solution to a newer solution where we are always online using new barcode scanners that work like a SmartPhone with a SIM card,” says Erik Jensen, System Administrator at Andersen Motors.

Lars Nielsson adds:

– We were looking for a solution where we could include the whole space. With the new scanners and SIM card solution, we have constant coverage and can instantly update the status of a car. When we receive cars from overseas inside Freeport, we can now make a registration directly on site. In principle, we could do this before, but we were dependent on WiFi coverage to send the information. Now that all the barcode scanners have SIM cards, we can avoid wasted time and update the system immediately.

When the cars arrive at Andersen Motors from the car manufacturers, the barcodes can be blurred or damaged after the long transportation, where the cars may have been on a ship in all kinds of weather. The new barcode scanners are much better and can scan even damaged barcodes, says Lars Nielsson:

– Our new barcode scanners are of better quality and are much more efficient. Even if the barcode is of poor quality or damaged, we can scan it. In addition, we can also scan barcodes through the windows of the cars, where the paper with the car details and a unique barcode is placed.

FROM SUPPLIER TO TRUSTED PARTNER

For Andersen Motors, it has always been necessary to have the right sparring about the project, daily challenges and development of the right barcode solution. Therefore, it was natural that the collaboration between Andersen Motors and Delfi Technologies A/S quickly evolved from the traditional customer/supplier relationship to sparring between two partners.

– It’s important that everything works for us. Our dealers depend on us. The collaboration with Delfi Technologies gives us peace of mind. They are there if anything should happen,” Lars Nielsson concludes.

ABOUT ANDERSEN MOTORS

Andersen Motors is an importer of Suzuki cars for the Danish dealer network, consisting of 78 dealers. At the head office in Køge, 48 employees are responsible for the daily operation and preparation of cars. In addition to a large preparation facility, the facilities also include a large spare parts warehouse and a service department with technicians and specialists. Annually, between 10,000 and 12,000 cars go through the preparation process.