The European e-Business Report 2004 - Berlecon Research GmbH

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The European E-Business Report 2004ResultsThe primary objective of the project – creation of a complete information base oncompany’s customers – was successfully fulfilled. Currently, every entitledemployee is able to immediately obtain a profile of every company’s customer,which includes contact data, list of employees responsible for the relationship, and arecord of dealings with the customer. This feature enables employees, who havenot dealt with a particular business partner before, to immediately get an overviewof past transactions and, if necessary, to prepare an ad-hoc business meeting.Thus, having this information at hand, employees can primarily concentrate oncustomer support and not on information search. Apart from the basic informationon a company’s customers, the system allows real-time access to the strategicinformation on sales plans and developments broken down by separate customers.This enables more time and resources to be devoted to the most profitablecustomers.MASTERFORM (POLAND)BackgroundActivitiesResultsMasterform is a small family-owned company specialising in metal processing andmanufacturing of machine parts and devices. Based in Poland, the firm takesadvantage of the growing trend of outsourcing production work to Central Europe. Inorder to increase competitiveness and meet high quality standards, Masterform hasadopted various e-business solutions. Although successful in adopting IT systemsto support internal processes, the firm finds it difficult to choose a system for dataexchange with its customers. The variety of applications used by Masterform’scustomers prevents the company from adopting one particular solution.• Implementation of a document management system to meet the qualitystandards of ISO 9001:2000 and other IT systems.• Considers further adoption of IT solutions to support data exchange withexternal organisations. However, due to its many partners and customersrepresenting different industry groups, Masterform finds it difficult to choose anapplication that would enable it to conduct business with every partner.Masterform’s customers in the automotive industry already use a variety ofstandards such as EDIFACT, VDA and ODETTE. Additional standards are usedby Masterform’s customers in other industries, for example shipbuilding.• The firm uses various IT and e-business solutions to adapt to the new marketconditions and follows industry trends.• Masterform still hesitates, however, to adopt any system for external communicationand data exchange. The lack of a common system in most industries, togetherwith considerable up-front costs for implementing the systems, stillhinder the implementation of a data exchange standard by small firms.BLAUPUNKT (GERMANY)BackgroundBlaupunkt, one of the world’s leading and most innovative producers of carinfotainment equipment implements various e-commerce applications to improve itsperformance. For example, in order to optimise procurement activities, the firm hasparticipated in industry initiatives such as SupplyOn. Furthermore, since the mid90’s Blaupunkt has successfully operated its online retail channel – Extr@Net.Designed for online sales, the platform has significantly reduced operating costsand improved the quality of relationships with Blaupunkt’s customers.117
The European E-Business Report 2004Activities • Internet presence since 1996• A company specific online sales solution, called Extr@Net, was launched in1998. At first, the platform was limited to Blaupunkt’s partners located in Germany.Due to the high level of acceptance, the application was successivelyextended to other countries and geographical regions. Since 2003 Extr@Netcan be used worldwide and, in addition, it can also be used by field sales staff.• Using Extr@net, Blaupunkt distributes all relevant information about its productsincluding photos, text, and technical drawings for spare parts and enables 24/7access to products and services for its business partners.• Despite the general success of the sales platform, the company does notconsider allowing end-users to purchase products directly from Blaupunkt. Thecompany believes that, due to a high level of product complexity, it is notdesirable to omit the resellers who have the experience and knowledge aboutproducts and are thus able to professionally advise the final user on Blaupunkt’scar equipment.Results• Thanks to Extr@Net, Blaupunkt is able to commit more resources to valueaddedactivities in marketing and sales such as consulting, customer care,service, and acquisition of new customers.• The implementation of the e-commerce solution considerably simplified orderprocessing and increased convenience for customers. The platform enabled a24/7 access to Blaupunkt’s products and services. This, together with otherfeatures, increased the intensity and quality of the interactions between the firmand its business partners.• Blaupunkt benefits from more accurate and consistent information about thepartners.2.4.4 Conclusions: e-business opportunities and challengesExhibit 2.4-7: Overview of e-business related opportunities and challengesfor firms from the transport equipment industriesOpportunities• Enabling innovations and strategic changes via:o Cost savingso Greater speed and efficiency ofstandardized procedureso Improvement of relationship withcustomers and supplierso Transparencyo Reduced overhead – unleashing additionalresources for value-added tasks• Proven strategy to accompany enterprisegrowthChallenges• Initial uncertainty about ROI 65 :o Implementation risko Acceptanceo Opportunity costs• Potential lock-in to a specific technology,standard, or industry-groupSource: e-Business W@tch (2004)65 ROI: Return on Investment118
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