In-house Enterprise Inventory Management Solution

Client

The US distributor of one of the world’s leading manufacturers of luxury and commercial vehicles

Industry

Automotive

Services

Software Development/Data Migration

Tech

NDA

Challenge

Our client, the US distributor of a leading automotive corporation in the world, was struggling with a third-party Enterprise Inventory Management System (EIMS). This system, managing new and used vehicles sold through dozens of dealerships in the US, fell short of their needs. Reliance on an external provider and the incumbent system's limited functions impacted their work efficiency and decision-making. The client needed an in-house tailor-made solution for enterprise inventory management that could update real-time availability of vehicles for their certified partners. Moreover, they wanted a system that would provide precise vehicle data for other listing sites while empowering advanced analytics. Faced with these challenges, they sought the expertise of ITRex to architect a solution that would not just meet their needs but also unleash the power of their data.

Our task was to:

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Conduct in-depth analysis of the current inventory management ecosystem, including digital platforms used by the client and dealers, data flows, the process of data augmentation by PIE, the source of vehicle model data, reporting capabilities, and security protocols

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Develop a new solution for enterprise inventory management to equip the client with near-real-time data flow capabilities and a robust data warehouse that could store, organize, and analyze vast amounts of inventory information efficiently

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Deploy a cutting-edge tech platform and seamlessly transition all existing data assets into the new system, ensuring continuity and minimizing disruption to ongoing operations

Solution

We've crafted a bespoke in-house EIMS solution that captures various types of data, including encrypted information, sourced from dealers in near-real time. This data is then enhanced for sharing up-to-date inventory details with the client's partners, third-party listing platforms, analytics systems, and the sales team. As part of our solution, we performed seamless data migration with no business disruption or data loss, thanks to a backup channel that supported ongoing operations. This backup channel was eventually phased out as vendors gradually transitioned to the new channel. Our solution had the following components:

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Robust data warehouse

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Efficient process to gather and process inventory data and images from dealers, converting it into a usable format for various stakeholders

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Validation process to cross-check the collected data with the factories' databases

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Image replacement to substitute dealers' images with branded photographs for partners’ platforms, enhancing brand consistency

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Universal search engine with extensive filtering capabilities

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Subscription API to facilitate automated updates of inventory data