Abdul Latif Jameel Motors

Through the unique relationship with Toyota Motor Company, Abdul Latif Jameel Motors has grown continuously over the years to become one of the leading entities in the automotive sector in the Saudi Arabia, and one of the leading independent Toyota distributors in the world.

Client

Scope

deployment of a WTY module in the Fiori technology

Challenge

modernization and simplification of the warranty system, ensuring easier access to warranty applications

Go-live and rollout WTY Fiori Portal

Due to the need to change the old software for submitting and handling car warranty claims, the company decided to deploy a portal based on the SAP Fiori technology. Its launch went well and proved to be a great success for both parties of the project.

months of work on the project

people working intensively on the Hicron side

01 Case study

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The need for innovative change

The aim of the project was to introduce a portal for wholesalers who retail ALJ vehicles. As the importer is responsible for warranty repairs and handling recalls, they must provide wholesalers with the ability to handle warranty requests.

Until now this purpose was served by an old system based on the AS/400 platform, which required a different infrastructure and software as well as different knowledge and competencies on the part of its operators. Hence there was a need to prepare a consistent solution in SAP. The choice fell on the Fiori technology and the latest recommended environment – Cloud Foundry.

The application is intended to help wholesalers perform two types of operations on their side. Firstly, it is to inform the ALJ distributor that the car has been sold. Secondly, it is to provide all the information about the warranty‑related (or even preparatory) work performed on the car, the funds for which will be reimbursed by the manufacturer. Payments are settled using the automated process and warranty documents.

Hicron – supplier of quality

In order to be able to carry out the implementation of the portal, Hicron had to be selected in a tender procedure. Due to our previous cooperation, Hicron was well acquainted with the client’s processes from the get‑go and was able to respond quickly to the client’s needs and requirements at the stage of the tender procedure. This showed the client that Hicron employed people who would be able to provide the service efficiently. It is also worth mentioning that the price of the service was competitive, while the high quality of the results was guaranteed.

Our team had the opportunity to implement the semi-agile mode of work. The idea turned out to be very successful and brought surprisingly positive results.

The challenge of the project was working in a semi-agile model. As we approached the project, we decided to leave the concept phase open. This allowed us to establish the tasks one by one, without confronting assumptions. The palpable ‘team spirit’ guaranteed flexibility and satisfaction for us and the client.

Filip Stankowski

Automotive Solution Architect, Senior Technology Consultant

The biggest benefits of the implementation:

The most significant benefits for the client resulting from the solution’s implementation include:

simplification of the process – claim submissions can now be created by wholesalers in the SAP system,
integration in the SAP system, allowing the client to dispense with the AS/400 system, which translates into real savings,
the ability to track what happens with warranty claims throughout their processing within a single, integrated system,
the ability to search for data, filter them, create reports, or export them to Excel or pdf format,
an easier to use interface, which allows the system to be used on a variety of desktop and mobile devices,
improved handling of requests by the finance team.

Semi-agile is an approach that we have not used before for managing our projects. The implementation was swift, and the approach was not only consciously applied but proved to work perfectly. This clearly shows that it is worthwhile to follow this direction instead of rigidly clinging to the assumed objectives and methods of implementation from the very start of preparing project assumptions.

Krzysztof Oszmiańczuk

Project Manager

Rollout

The portal, which was under construction, was initially launched for one, then for two entities. Claims were submitted through the warranty portal, although the accounting and work settlement methods differed slightly from one another.

The solution prepared by Hicron was not launched at all dealers at the same time – if it turned out that there were big problems with its operation, they would have to be solved over 50 times. This way, the incidents that did occur were isolated and easily controlled.

We can consider it a success that errors during the rollout occurred very sporadically and resulted mainly from the specificity of the individual entities. We solved them together with the client, and none of the incidents had a significant impact on the implementation process.

Filip Stankowski

Automotive Solution Architect, Senior Technology Consultant

After 2-3 weeks from launching the system for the first users, the client started a series of training sessions on the use of the portal for other entities and their systematic activation in the production system.

The time from introducing the first wholesaler into the system to the inclusion of everyone was less than two months. The solution was designed so that once Hicron has completely handed over the reins to the client, they would be able to add new entities themselves. The solution has been successfully implemented in over 50 centers and all external ALJ partners are already settling warranty claims via the portal.