DMS (Dealer Management System)

Having to discuss on a lot of topic lately related to MIS, has generate a lot of interest among my classmate lately. Therefore, I would want to share the ideas with my fellow friend in regard to our MIS in my organization in VW.

Already industry for almost 6 years has provided me with a lot of view in regards to automotive industry. Is vibrant, energetic compared to other industry. I must say that working in the industry has provided me with added advantages so far, with better exposure and different from the rest.

 

 

DMS

A dealership management system (DMS) or auto dealership management system is a bundled management information system created specifically for automotive industry car dealerships or large equipment manufacturers, such as the one uses by  Volkswagen Group Malaysia. These systems often contain software that caters to the needs of the finance, sales, parts, inventory and administration components of running the dealership.

DMS in Summary

DMS software typically includes support for all aspects of running a dealership such as:

• Tracking vehicle inventory
• Tracking sales
• Finance and insurance calculations
• Menu selling systems
• Tracking customers (and customer follow up)
• Accounting
• Managing dealer website
• Calculating employee commissions
• Purchase order tracking
• Parts inventory
• Work order management
• Appointment scheduling
• Proper planning
• Follow-up

A typical DMS installation includes a central server which stores all data, allowing multi-user access for as many as 50 or more client computers. Some installations may include thin clients (computer program which depends heavily on some other computer ) Other DMS providers use a centrally-hosted, or software as a services/application service provider model.

A DMS usually offers interfaces with other systems, especially manufacturer systems to enable automatic processing of purchases, warranty claims, price lists and many other data.

The Dealer Management System (DMS) is designed to meet the needs of a modern dealership and help Dealer & Company to work more efficiently,It can provide better management information, and better support for customer-facing activities in both sales and after-sales services.

 

The main components of DMS are shown here:

·         PID Management and Retailing.

·         Items/ Parts Management.

·         Service Management (Job Cards Creation).

·         Warranty Management.

·         Financial transaction between dealer and company.

·         Management Reporting.

 VW Malaysia Building Block

 

 

 

DMS is effectively a "lite" version of the ERP systems which are used by automotive company and their dealers to manage their operations.

Implementing IT systems can be tricky and expensive, yet a well-designed and well-implemented DMS offers a significant return on investment and can provide your business with a key competitive edge. Some of the benefits of DMS are as follows:

Why Dealer Management System ?

·         Improved communication between different branches and with company to provide better support to the customer.

·         It is having a extensive management reporting for tracking daily activities of the dealers and company. Such as based on DO Analysis report company/dealer may find out regularly appearing problems in vehicle.

·         It is having the capacity to migrate all the previous data and the user may start the live work from the day of implementation of DMS.

·         It is completely web based solution so it does not required at software to be installed on different branches and it is accessible from any remote location.

·         A flexible design which will allow you to reconfigure your DMS easily to meet changing business needs.

·         An open architecture which will allow new modules to be introduced quickly and easily as the needs of the business change.