ILINX Report Injection Service Provides Suzuki with Imaging Solution for COLD Reports

"ImageSource® had the experience and technical expertise to bail us out of the mess we were in. They quickly provided a detailed plan to complete the integration of IPM, and delivered—Big Time! Their ILINX technology provided a rock solid solution."

– Gary Sparr, IT Systems Service Manager, American Suzuki Motor Corporation

American Suzuki Motor Corporation (ASMC) was founded in 1985 by parent company Suzuki Motor Corporation. ASMC currently markets vehicles in the United States through a network of approximately 500 automotive dealerships throughout 49 states. Suzuki recognized that in order to provide good service to their dealers, they would need to respond quickly to requests for automotive invoices, parts invoices, credit and debit memos, AR statements and warranty claims.

Access & Utilization of COLD Data Limited
As part of the imaging process, these documents are scanned and the data, or COLD reports, uploaded to an FTP site by a third party service provider, making it available to Suzuki. Prior to partnering with ImageSource, the standing document imaging system provided functionality that was limited, at best. When data from a document had to be viewed by an ASMC employee, locating and retrieving the information was difficult. Another set of problems stemmed from a client-server application that had to be individually installed and maintained on each desktop. When dealers requested a copy of an invoice, they required it to be an exact replica of the original. Because ASMC archived data from invoices as COLD reports, the outdated imaging system was unable to reproduce invoices and forms that looked like original documents. Instead, Suzuki IT staff was required to rerun and reprocess copies of invoices through the AP system. This required them to locate back-up files, pull the data, and reproduce the requested form—just like the original—off the main frame computer. Once the image had been recreated, the system would not allow the document to be automatically e-mailed or faxed to business partners and dealers. Consequently, Suzuki had many IT man-hours dedicated to retrieving data, recreating documents, printing and manually faxing or mailing requested invoices.

Web-Based Solution Selected for Scalability & Functionality
As dealers demanded faster access to documents, Suzuki realized that their system was not scalable to meet future requirements. Since Suzuki had been successfully using Oracle Universal Content Management (UCM) to provide dealers with access to ever-changing content over their extranet, they chose to replace their outdated document imaging system with Oracle Image & Process Management (IPM). The IPM architecture would replace the fat client, allowing employees to access information over a web-based platform. Moving forward, the complexities of integrating the COLD reports with IPM created insurmountable challenges for the vendor that attempted the original implementation. “The project soon began to show signs of failure and our implementation planned go-live date was delayed again and again,” said Gary Sparr, IT Systems Service Manager, ASMC. “Unfortunately, ImageSource was not one of the integrators we originally asked to bid on implementing IPM.”

ImageSource Creates Original Solution
After the unsuccessful attempt to accomplish the initiative Suzuki discovered ImageSource, a premier integrator of the Oracle ECM suite of products, who proceeded with the implementation. “We met ImageSource, and based on their expertise, quickly decided to make them a business partner,” continues Sparr. “Within three months of their first on site visit, they had our system up, and in production.” As Suzuki’s new partner, ImageSource initially provided a thorough analysis of their system. They reinstalled IPM and architecturally reconfigured the hardware.

"This project has increased staff productivity, reduced paper, faxing and mailing costs, and better utilizes our IT resources."

– Gary Sparr, IT Systems Service Manager American Suzuki Motor Corporation

In the discovery phase, ImageSource concentrated on the complexity of the Suzuki COLD system. Up to18 different types of reports were to be released to the IPM system. Although the data on the various reports remained consistent, the location of the data was not. Each report had test strings or line formatting adjustments that needed to be made prior to processing. ImageSource answered this common problem for COLD reports with an innovative solution. The usual approach would have involved the creation of 18 separate custom preprocessors, leaving Suzuki IT with a maintenance burden. Instead, ImageSource developed the ILINX Report Injection Service. This highly configurable preprocessor allows Suzuki to define requirements through a user interface. It necessitates monitoring of only one program, rather than multiple applications. A single customizable tool, ILINX Report Injection Service allows Suzuki to effectively handle all 18 reports—and any additional reports they may have in the future. Because a developer is not required to configure the application, Suzuki now has more control over changes and updates.

New and Efficient Business Process
With Oracle IPM in place and operating smoothly, Suzuki no longer has to commit IT man hours to simply retrieve documents. Search capabilities have greatly exceeded that of their previous system and the overlay capabilities available in IPM produce documents that look identical to those that are generated by the main frame printer. Huge efficiency gains have also been realized with the ability to fax and e-mail documents directly to dealers through automation provided by the IPM system. With improved access to documents and the ability to distribute information to dealers, Suzuki has changed the way they do business. Processes for accessing warranty claims, credit and debit memos, AR statements, vehicle invoices, parts invoices, and more, have been significantly streamlined.

Technology Infrastructure Sets the Foundation for New Initiatives
ASMC’s investment in Oracle Enterprise Content Management suite of products will allow expanded functionality in the future. Plans are in place to utilize IPM and UCM together to make copies of invoices directly available to the dealer network electronically, via the extranet. Essential to this solution will be ImageSource’s ILINX technology. Suzuki’s return on investment will continue to accrue as they will almost completely eliminate the need for hard copies, postage, faxes and the man hours needed to process requests.