|
 From
the CEO
Market Outlook
The first quarter of the 2008 calendar
year has not been without its challenges. Many of us have seen
negative results in our superannuation funds for the first time in
several years and this together with a share market in free fall and
rising interest rates is setting the scene for a substantial rise in
failed small businesses over the remainder of the 2008 year.
Despite this, Australia continues to
outperform many larger economies in the western world and the
Australian automotive industry has remained relatively immune to the
downturn. The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries recently
reported that with 347,500 vehicles sold so far this year, sales
were up 5.1 per cent on the same period in 2007. FCAI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar was reported recently
as saying that “the FCAI forecast of 1 million vehicle sales this
year remains firm.”
IT Essential for Growing
Companies
Auto-IT is an information technology
company with a mission to deliver and support computer systems that
improve profitability in retail automotive and equipment
dealerships. Information Technology is all about empowering dealers
to meet customers’ expectations and to enhance their experience in
the dealership. A flexible, well integrated and secure computer
environment should hold the key to raising profitability in good
times and bad.
Some business owners in our experience
still subscribe to the outdated notion that the ongoing cost of
supporting dealer software and IT infrastructure is a waste of money
or even worse, a constraint on growth. But those who understand the
value of IT and base dealership processes around known best
practices will be rewarded with greater returns from their
investment in IT systems and more loyal customers as a result.
Dealership Data and Who Controls
Access To It
This brings me to the fraught
question of who owns the data resident in dealers’ systems. If this
question is put to the factories, the dealers, the customers, or the
Dealer System Providers, the answers will be widely divergent and
there is no prize for guessing what the answers will be from each of
these self interested parties.
Auto-IT believes that it is
the dealers who own the data residing
in their own computers. Not to have access and control over this
important property, not only makes the dealer potentially captive to
a single supplier, but also limits the benefit they should be
enjoying from their not inconsiderable investment in computer
technology. We adhere to this belief so strongly that if you so
desire, and if you are a customer of ours, we can give you the
opportunity to install products that ensure nobody (including
Auto-IT) can gain access to your data without your prior knowledge.
Auto-IT now has more than 10,000
licensed users of its software products.
On a final note, Auto-IT continues to
enjoy strong sales both onshore and offshore. Last calendar year our
new software license sales averaged 250 new users per month and we
are on track to exceed these figures this year. Currently as at 1st
May 2008, 10,440 individual users are licensed to use Auto-IT
software products in 8 countries and 400 dealer groups.
I look forward to being able to report
strong growth and a healthy sales result in the next issue of The
Occasional Newsletter shortly after the end of our financial year.
Ken W Fife
| Chief Executive Officer |
Auto-IT Pty Ltd.
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 Auto-IT is pleased to offer its PMDS customers a higher level and
range of services via the newly opened PMDS Business Consulting
Unit. Our goal is to deliver outcomes and efficiencies that, if
measured in terms of additional sales or reduced costs, exceed the
investment in the services provided.
Browsing through the range of services available, you will see that
the focus is on forging additional efficiencies and driving business
advantage through optimisation of your existing investments.
Are
these services just training or support under another name?
No. We'll not just provide training to your staff, we'll provide
solutions directly and organise their implementation once
approved. You are asked to identify and prioritise from the list of
modules and nominate the staff to be involved.
-
If it means writing or modifying reports, we’ll get it done.
-
If it means liaising with other contractors, we’ll get on
the phone.
-
If it means creating a letter, we’ll grab a pen and get it
drafted.
-
If it means training a staff member or group, we’ll run the
course.
“I
have an Accountant who is pretty good with IT”
Yes, but systems are now too big for the Accountant
to oversee every job function.
“We
have a Systems Administrator – IT is his job”
Great – that leaves us free to work on the business in conjunction
with your staff.
We
will assist your staff to turn the technology into greater business
advantage, and at the same time increase their own knowledge and
confidence.
Getting more value from existing technology and systems will
include:
-
GREATER IMPLEMENTATION OF SOFTWARE MODULES
-
DELIVERY OF MORE EFFICIENT WORK PRACTICES
-
REDUCTION OF MANUAL PROCESSES AND BOOK KEEPING
-
EXPLORE ADVANCED FUNCTIONALITY
Hidden beneath various aspects of your dealer system lie
sales and profit opportunities that may not have been explored.
The Business Consulting Unit's range of modules available to focus
on specific activities within dealerships include the following:
Module 1 Dealer’s web site project
Module 2 Used car operations and marketing
Module 3 Benchmarking analysis
Module 4 Advanced deal management
Module 5 Prospecting and lead management
Module 6 Extended warranty administration
Module 7 Advanced data archiving
Module 8 Database marketing review
Module 9 System administration review
Module 10 Service department in focus
Module 11 Admin department tune up
Module 12 Parts (coming soon)
More information on these consulting programs is available from
your Account Manager or call Lucy Kelly on 02 8566 3000.
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Auto-IT
Factory Interfaces
Auto-IT has and will continue to write all available Factory
Interfaces. Many of these interfaces can assist in making
your business more efficient and effective. Don't miss out
on giving your business a competitive edge! To find out more
about how these interfaces can benefit your business and how
to set these interfaces up please speak to your Account
Manager or Aaran Newman on
anewman@autoit.com.au
or 0418 253 368.
Recent Factory Interfaces
include:
Nissan Warranty claim submission,
parts customer sales & pre-retail advice record and
upgrades to
existing interfaces
Nissan Inventory and Vehicle Spec
and Pricing
Holden interfaces
- New EBXML
communications method (coming later in 2008)
Mitsubishi Interface with Contact
Tracker
Honda Interface
with Contact Tracker including import of Honda leads.
(WIP)
Toyota Showroom Direct Interface
Toyota Taipan - Parts (on
hold)
Mazda Address Validation, RDA
submissions, Vehicle orders & Inventory, vehicle specs and
pricing
VW Egoodmanners
interface
(WIP)
New Holland Parts Locator
Infomedia Super Service
Menu additions - 3rd QTR 2008
(Subaru, Chrysler, Dodge, Suzuki for QLD
dealers)
Mercedes - Recall campaign file
Alfa Stock order interface
Citroen Stock order interface
Kia Stock order interface
Deloitte's Profit focus updates
(Hyundai / Kia / Peugeot / VW)
VW Parts Locator
(WIP)
Volvo Parts Locator (WIP)
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PMDS™ GUI -
Graphical Menu System
Enjoy all
the benefits of a graphical look and feel menu without
compromising the speed of the back-end character-based
system.
The latest
version of the Accuterm emulator has allowed for an
enhancement within PMDS™ that allows users to view menus in
a graphical format. All users with Release 5.5 can try this
graphical menu system provided they have the latest version
of Accuterm. This can be evaluated for free for 30 days!
From this:
To this, in just 3 letters:
It doesn’t
have to be one or the other within the dealership – users
can toggle between viewing styles and it automatically
switches between styles depending on the function.
Maintain open
C.Cards in the background without locking the record.
FREE to try for 30 days.
Call your Account Manager for an evaluation copy of Accuterm
today!
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Risk Minimisation - when is the right time to upgrade your
server?
Is it time
to upgrade, or should you hold off for a couple more years?
This question is raised from time to time, and can often mean
the difference between seamless business operation and
catastrophic disaster.
The big
manufacturers - IBM, Fujitsu and HP suggest a 3 year life
span for their servers and have proven that pushing a
machine past this age is increasing the risk of system
failure. The older the
hardware,
the more likely that a failure and loss of productivity will
occur. A company can avoid big expenses by updating its
servers every three years. If it waits five years, then
there's a greater risk
of having to upgrade a failed server in a disorderly and
manic fashion.
Apart from the age of your server, here are
some signs that it may be time to upgrade:
-
It takes
up valuable time i.e. you are constantly spending more
precious time dealing with server related issues and
complications than you are willing to commit (eg.
defragmenting the data, backup failures, etc.).
-
It’s noisy. The older your server, the
noisier the fans and hard drives are going to become.
This is due to the mechanical nature of the components
and may be a sign that they are about to fail.
-
It’s out of warranty. If the machine is
greater than three years old, the manufacturer has
stopped supporting your hardware and may no longer carry
replacement parts required in the case of a component
failure.
-
There’s
no more disk
space.
As businesses grow, so do their databases and storage
requirements. Depending on the age of the server, it is
typically not financially viable to simply increase the
storage capacity of the existing server.
-
Disaster
strikes. History shows that it is far easier and less
stressful
to upgrade a server in a planned and orderly manner,
rather than scrambling at the last minute to resolve a
crisis. Think
what all your staff would do if there was no computer
system available for a day and the associated cost
versus the cost of a server every three years.
Consider the impact!
Have you
considered the full impact of a server crash or hardware
failure on your business? Consider the scenario where your
server is out of warranty and has a fatal hardware crash.
Even if you can isolate the issue and source a
replacement part or component it could be at least one or
two full business days before it arrives and more time for a
technician to install and configure.
How will
your staff manage without the computer system for what
could be anything up to several days? Consider the parts
department and its inability to accurately manage
stock levels and pricing. Consider frustrated customers in
the service department, consider the morale and
frustration of staff members and the reduction
in productivity.
What
overall affect does this have on your business? Whilst it is
possible that hardware issues can still be encountered on
newer machines, you can
minimise
the risk by upgrading as per manufacturer recommendations,
which provides the peace of mind that comes with a
manufacturer warranty and the latest technology. Maybe its
time to check how old your current server is....and maybe
it’s time to upgrade before disaster strikes!
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PMDS™ Technical Tips
Servers fail.
They break down; hard disks seize up, memory chips burn out. And it
always happens an hour before the big sale or service rush! Then of
course there are other potential disasters that can affect servers
such as fire, flooding, burglary and lightning strike.
We
all know that server backups are essential, and all run a system
backup of some sort to either tape, hard drive or remote storage
device, but do you take the time to check the backup logs and run
test system restores to ensure that the backups are actually
working?
Backup logs should be checked on a daily basis, and test
restores should be run every few months.
For Linux servers,
i.e. PMDS customers, the backup logs are printed to the system’s EOD
printer on a daily basis and should be checked along with the EOD
reports.
System restores can be carried out by Auto-IT to ensure that your
database backups are working correctly. Please contact your Account
Manager for further information.
Submitted by Lachlan Rothheudt – Systems
Engineer, Auto-IT.
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PMDS™ FAQs
Question:
How do you change a Cash Receipt or make a Bank Statement
reversal?
Answer:
Occasionally, you may need to reverse either a Cash Receipt or
Bank Statement entry that has been previously entered and updated to
your General Ledger. For example, an entry keyed in with the
incorrect date or accounting period.
While the General Ledger Audit Reverse/Repost (F.422) program is
wonderful for reversing normal ledger entries, it MUST NOT be used
to rectify Cash Receipts or Bank Statement issues. This is because
this process purely reverses the ledger entries and does NOT update
the Bank Reconciliation.
Should either a Cash Receipt (Banking) or Bank Statement entry need
to be reversed, you must ALWAYS rekey them in reverse as at the
incorrect date (i.e. rekey debits as credits and vice versa) and
then rekey them again at the correct date. This will ensure the
integrity of your Bank Reconciliation.
Submitted by Trish Molyneux – Senior
Support Consultant, Auto-IT.
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Auto-IT Pty Ltd
ABN: 57 091 383 854
Suite 2 / Level 1, 333 Drummond St,
Carlton VIC 3053,
Australia
Ph: (03) 9349 3062 :: Fax: (03) 9349 3067
www.auto-it.com.au
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