Problem identification and context
Challenges and opportunities in 02D process in Scania Argentina
Scania's commercial department evolves to face new challenges and opportunities.
Scania receives orders for new vehicles from customers across the country, which are coordinated and delivered to each region through its network of dealerships. The Order to Delivery (O2D) process begins with the receipt of the order, continues with the manufacturing request to Scania Brazil, and ends with the logistics of delivering the vehicle to the customer. This process takes between 3 and 6 months. Each customer specifies around 700 different configurations per unit, such as color, fuel type, transmission, axles, power, tires, and more.
Additionally, local regulations are constantly changing, and keeping up with these rules required managing orders and deliveries through emails, spreadsheets, various applications, and a significant amount of paperwork. Analyzing the status of orders takes a considerable effort from many members of the department.
The company's commercial team is sometimes disjointed and faces the constant challenge of aligning operations with local requirements while attempting to meet growing customer demand for fast and customized deliveries.
This combination of regulations and expectations has made it clear that the company needs to innovate and continuously adapt. As such, the O2D process has become a continuous pursuit of efficiency, using advanced technology to solve the logistical puzzle and stay competitive in a world where agility and compliance are essential for success.
To address this, Scania defined the following work areas to make the O2D process more effective and strategically aligned:
To bring this vision to life, EDSA professionals worked with Scania to identify each action within the process, along with its reasons and consequences.
The conclusion was a process involving 130 steps and the participation of 11 key players, including the company, dealerships, third parties, and government entities.
The initial focus was on launching the digitalization program with the creation of the BITS platform (Scania Business Integrated Tracking System), which required the ability to integrate all information in one place, interacting with various internal applications (manufacturing, services, finance), suppliers (border dealerships), third parties (Scania Credits), and government agencies (customs, tax collection, and vehicle registration); aiming for a first-class customer experience and automating all possible processes.
“In 2019, we began a journey of organizational transformation that has been reflected in a series of improvements. As we at Scania always seek continuous improvement, we identified the need to optimize our processes and commercial resources. We needed a tool that works for the business, not the business for the tool, which is why BITS was born.”
Solution evaluation
The Efficiency of a Centralized Solution
EDSA worked with local, regional, and global teams at Scania to define the appropriate approach for the digital transformation of its O2D process.
The strategy would promote exceptional user experience (UX) and employee experience (EX) driven by top-class technology. This would enhance the outcomes of pre-existing solutions and make the current status of the process accessible to all stakeholders, which was previously scattered across different applications, spreadsheets, emails, and paper documents.
The solution to be designed would require careful data management, special consideration of legal and tax requirements, and continuous testing.
From a technological standpoint, the solution needed to be scalable and secure; therefore, it was decided to work on a cloud infrastructure hosted on Amazon.
“We have excellent products and services, but sometimes the processes become bureaucratic and sluggish. That’s why we decided to create BITS to integrate and digitalize the sales process, improving not only the customer experience but also that of our team.”
Additionally, the BITS platform had to maintain seamless communication with Scania solutions approved by the parent company, local solutions, and third-party solutions hosted on various local or cloud infrastructures. To achieve this, EDSA utilized a centralized Data Hub containing the necessary architecture to centralize all business information.
Resolving a common issue, such as an employee or a dealership needing to access different portals without combining data, results in a poor user experience. Ensuring that BITS facilitates management for all stakeholders—corporate users, employees, and the entire Scania network—poses an interdisciplinary challenge with various operational and technological obstacles.
Achieving this reality required extremely constructive collaboration that fosters a reciprocal and enriching learning cycle.
Generated Value
How has BITS improved Scania?
After the BITS platform was implemented, Scania has achieved:
Efficiency: The BITS platform developed by EDSA has optimized processes, reducing the time and resources needed for all activities. This has allowed teams to focus more on strategic initiatives.
Employee Experience: The new approach has improved the experience for employees, who can monitor and take action on the process anytime and from anywhere.
Elimination of Manual Tasks: Users no longer have to struggle to find detailed information in emails, spreadsheets, various systems, or paper documents. They can quickly find the necessary information in one place.
24/7 Information Visibility: Information is available at all times and without intermediaries.
Error Reduction: By eliminating processes managed through emails, spreadsheets, interactions between different portals, or paper forms, the error rate has significantly decreased, which previously caused delays and costs in the process.
These improvements are proof of the benefits of adopting an agile and collaborative approach. It is an excellent example of how digital transformation can drive operational efficiency and enhance employee experience. It is undoubtedly necessary to have customized practices and the technological knowledge that EDSA can provide to these organizations.
“BITS is a solution that allows us to fully integrate and visualize the entire sales process of a brand-new vehicle, from receiving the purchase order to delivering the unit to the customer. BITS enables us to digitize, optimize, and streamline the business flow. By using it, we not only eliminate errors and rework but also achieve greater synergy across all business areas, thus enhancing our management and governance capabilities in the process and allowing us to focus on the customer rather than on routine tasks that do not add value."