Over 41 years of operation Pentana Solutions has experienced the automotive industry transform many times, sometimes as an onlooker, other times as a supporter, this time as a driver.
This year Pentana Solutions, a leading automotive innovation company, has started a transformation campaign. The objective of this campaign is to change the way Australian Dealers store the 18 million pieces of paper their service departments create each year.
The Current Situation
Presently all franchises require that Dealers store repair orders (ROs) created for warranty work for at least five years. Dealerships that are ahead of the curve and already using digital archiving software must still keep paper copies in order to satisfy their dealership agreement. In some cases Dealers have experienced significant financial detriment from non-compliance in warranty documentation when manufacturers have carried out forensic audits.
‘I have seen a lot of dealerships storing paperwork in boxes on their mezzanine floors, out in the yard somewhere or in shipping containers they own or, in some cases, externally in a warehouse,’ says Rick Pinto, Pentana Solutions Executive (Australia and New Zealand).
Pentana Solutions are taking the position that ROs need not be stored in a hard copy and would like to help the industry move to a digital method of record keeping. Rick Pinto adds, ‘the ATO and government both accept digital documents for audit and tax purposes, so it’s a norm that many would think the manufacturers would be open to adopting’.
The Action Plan
To make this change a reality Pentana Solutions has contacted every dealership in Australia to ask them to sign a digital or written petition stating their support for the move to digital record keeping. Once critical mass is reached Pentana Solutions’ Franchise Engagement Team will work closely with each car-maker to make a change to dealership agreements.
When asked about the campaign Rick Pinto told us, ‘it’s not just our voice, it’s the voice of the entire Dealer body in the Australian market. The change itself doesn’t benefit us in any way; we are investing time in this initiative because we want to change the industry for the better. We’re here to support the industry that supports us.’
Pentana Solutions:
This business is an Australian owned and operated innovation specialist with a rich history in Dealer management systems (DMS), CRM software and services, business intelligence and electronic document management. With a firm focus on the automotive industry Pentana Solutions seeks to be an innovation leader transforming the way dealerships, allied partners and distributors operate.
Kristen Richardson
Global Marketing Manager,
Pentana Solutions