Case study 3: Driving Ari Fleet Management with Real-Time Analytics

Answer 1

Reasons why data management was an issue at ARI

Automotive Resources International (ARI) is globally recognized for its vehicle fleet management services. This means that the company attracts numerous customers due to its brand name. The company dealt with collecting all the information on fuel usage, licensing maintenance and compliance for more than a million cars in different regions. These cars are for owners across the United States, Europe, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. While this is quite a huge task, at least six call centres in North America work around the clock to ensure that various customer needs are met. The most common customer requests entail helping in repairs, emergency responses, maintenance, amongst other recurring customer demands. If users needed information, a report was made within five days based on the client’s requests. If there were any problems in the report, the user notified the authorities who diligently made adjustments. All this data collection and analysis processes were quite heavy hence creating issues of managing all the information effectively

Answer 2

ARI’s capabilities for data analysis

ARI was initially able to gather information and evaluate it for any car with more than 14000 units of data. This information was carefully analyzed to give an accurate report to its users. Since the company had only six call centres only in North America for all the various countries, this meant they had to do a lot of manual work which was time-consuming. If the report had any errors, more time was needed to make adjustments; hence a lot of time was wasted. It was approximated that at least 10000 vehicles were operating simultaneously globally. The increase in the number of cars with the demand for information on each led to the provision of minimal information about an owner’s car

Effects on the business

Due to the increasing number of cars across the various targeted regions, data collection and evaluation became hectic; this affected ARI’s performance and led to extreme delays in the data analysis process. Since data analysis was delayed, providing information to users became difficult, and the process took too long. With the teams working around the clock to ensure they cover statistics on all vehicles, it became impossible to notice any fads and make suggestions. The company’s information system was not sufficient enough to benchmark various customer fleets and differentiate them.

 Answer 3

SAP HANA as a solution for ARI

I think SAP HANA was an excellent solution for the company due to its efficiency in use. SAP HANA was an in-memory computing platform that can be deployed on the premise appliance or in the cloud. This automation in the company’s activities improved its performance and productivity. SAP HANA was majorly incorporate to provide real-time analytics and provide updated transactions. It could also provide accurate figures and costs of various input items hence more useful to clients. It also gave updated feedback on things like the company’s past expenditure. This fast response made it easier for the call centres which handled transactions and cost issues since they were able to provide their customers with accurate answers over a shorter period as compared to before the use of the system.

Storage of information shifted from flash storage or hard disks to the random access memory, which made it easier to access and use data.  HANA made it easier for the company to actively involve and engage their clients in the procedures that the management was undertaking. It made the company to get a higher competitive advantage in the fleet management business hence attracting more clients and sales.

Answer 4

Business changes caused by integrating HANA

The incorporation of HANA, into the company’s operations, increased the speed of getting responses in like 3 seconds. Initially, clients had to wait for five days to get a report on their requests. Since the system relies on data stored in the random access memory, it can easily give precise information which is also easily accessible by the team. HANA reduced the call duration across all its call centres by 5% therefore making it more fast and efficient. This also made the company save costs since the call centre accounted for almost 40% of the direct costs incurred by the company.

The business was able to accommodate more clients since it could efficiently handle large numbers within less time. The company can be able to assess market trends based on predictions, and past activities therefore produce accurate and reliable forecasts using HANA. ARI aims to utilize real-time reporting applications on mobile phones to instantly approve some of its operations and make it easier for clients to get insights on their flight management procedures.  HANA also aids in conducting vast operations entailing careful examination of numerous vehicles. These processes, in turn, generate accurate and detailed information to car owners who can understand all aspects of their cars.

Case study 4: ZAPPOS

Answer 1

Supply Chain Management (SCM) and its benefits to Zappos

Supply chain management (SCM) involves the movement of raw materials from the source to the final consumption point; it associates various channels to ensure that the consumer gets the desired goods. For Zappos, SCM would be beneficial to ensure that it can reach customer’s orders on time and deliver the goods as agreed. A sufficient supply chain will aid Zappos to increase its website displays to offer more products apart from the ones in its warehouse. This would ultimately increase customer’s selection to a variety of goods as well as increase the production and procurement processes in the company.

Answer 2

Customer Relations Management (CRM) and its benefits to Zappos

Customer Relations Management (CRM) are the schemes and actions undertaken by various companies to regulate their customer engagement and consumer information to improve the quality of services provided to clients. Adoption of CRM in Zappos would aid the company to manage its customer’s data such as their various purchased items to gauge the demand as well as forecast future market needs. They would also benefit from customer feedback and get better suggestions on how to improve their products and services. Since Zappos greatly encourages customer communication, the incorporation of CRM would aid in fostering good client relationships.

Answer 3

Reasons for implementing SCM, CRM and ERP in Zappos

The Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is software that is used in managing the various business processes as well as office functions. Zappos aims to increase its trading capacity globally due to its partnership with Amazon Company hence the need to incorporate all business operations. The integration of the supply chain systems to meet customer requirements globally will necessitate the development of the proper market and business strategies. With the use of ERP, the company will be able to establish ways to gain a higher competitive advantage against the numerous competitors in the online platform. The incorporation of ERP, SCM and CRM makes it easier for Zappos to utilize its capacity in business growth optimally.

Answer 4

Analysis of the merger between Zappos and Amazon

For Zappos, cooperation with Amazon will provide numerous opportunities for the company to grow on a global scale. It will also succumb to a higher competitive frame from other global suppliers; hence necessitate the company to adopt better strategies to increase sales and revenue. However, Zappos will be required to utilize Amazon’s organizational structure, thereby losing its unique appeal to its initial clients. For Amazon, this will generate more revenue by attracting previous Zappos’ clients as well as providing to its existing clientele more goods and services.

Answer 5

Zappos plans to increase sales using Amazon

The vast network offered by Amazon as a global online store puts Zappos at an added advantage to sell more of its products. Since Amazon has a reputable supply chain system and massive warehouses for its goods, Zappos will be able to afford the production and operation processes more cheaply. Due to Zappos first limitation in storage, it could only handle specific products and therefore was operating on a limited capacity. The new merger between Zappos and Amazon, thus makes it easier for both companies to increase sales and revenues.