Volvo Motor Graders, located in Goderich, Ontario, Canada, is a division of Volvo Construction Equipment that produces motor graders used in applications throughout the world. With customers and other Volvo Group companies located around the world, it is imperative that they can effectively communicate with all of these partners promptly. The Volvo group’s core values are Quality, Safety, and the Care of the Environment. The SysConnect product allows them to address two of these three areas.
Volvo Motor Graders uses SAP to manage all aspects of the company's business, from purchasing to account management. One of the key documents that Volvo Motor Graders uses to communicate with other Volvo Group companies and customers is the “Customer Account Statement.” With a mandate of constant improvement, SysConnect software was entrusted with improving communications and becoming more productive and efficient.
In the legacy process of generating and sending out customer statements, an accounting clerk would first print hard copies of the statements generated by SAP. Then the statements were sorted and grouped by hand to make scanning and sending them easier. The clerk would follow this by taking the sorted statements to a networked photocopier, scanning every statement page, and e-mailing the resulting PDF file back to their own e-mail account. After completing these tasks, the clerk would then return to his/her desk to review and forward each statement to the appropriate customer via e-mail. As one could imagine, this was a very time-consuming and laborious process – all in all, a costly solution.
Volvo Motor Graders implemented the SysConnect package to assist in distributing the customer account statements, and the process changed dramatically. Now, the accounting clerk simply has to print the customer statements to a new print queue set up in SAP, and the job is finished. All sorting, processing, and e-mailing are handled in the background by SysConnect, unattended by the user. Using a conservative estimate, the total process is reduced to 5 to 10 minutes in duration instead of approximately 3 hours using the old process. Using these numbers, the labor cost is reduced by more than 90%.
Key Benefits To Volvo Motor Graders In This Application:
- The company saves more than 90% of the cost of labor.
- This frees the accounting clerk’s time to perform other tasks.
- Previously, if the pages were scanned incorrectly or the statements were unintentionally mixed up, the resulting PDF file would not look as professional as it could be. This addresses one of Volvo’s core values – Quality.
- With simple instructions, any accounting clerk can now complete the task. Again, this addresses the core value of Quality.
- Reduction in the cost/usage of paper and toner. This is the second of Volvo’s core values addressed – Care for the Environment.
Volvo Construction Equipment is a major international company developing, manufacturing, and marketing equipment for construction and related industries. Its products, leaders in many world markets, include a comprehensive range of wheel loaders, hydraulic excavators, articulated haulers, motor graders, compact equipment, and backhoe and skid steer loaders. Volvo Construction Equipment is part of the Volvo Group, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of trucks, buses, construction equipment, drive systems for marine and industrial applications, aerospace components, and services. The Group also provides complete solutions for financing and service. The Volvo Group, a publicly held company headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, had sales in 2005 of approximately $31 billion. In the United States, Volvo shares are listed on NASDAQ and are traded as ADRs (symbol: Volv).