Partnering with the Best in Class

Kia Deutschland was looking in the market for a vendor with:

  • A system with a modern layout
  • Stellar customer service
  • The service to add enhancements at a reasonable price
  • SKR51 Expertise

In order to improve the performance of the Business Management program Kia Deutschland, along with other Kia Markets in Europe, was working to implement Optimum’s AMOS Business Management system. The decision was made by a team of Kia NSCs in Europe in coordination with Kia Europe.

One of the key challenges for Optimum was that it was new to Europe and Germany and had to develop a new module to support the unique accounting requirements of Germany.

In Germany, the automotive industry uses a unique Standard Chart of Account called SKR51 that is implemented as a standard for automotive dealers in Germany. SKR51 is a generalized and a very comprehensive chart of accounting structure that factors in all possible combination of brands, locations, account, cost drivers and cost elements into a generalized structure. For a new entrant, it is difficult to fully understand the accounts and convert them into a readable financial report.

Ultimately, Kia Deutschland & Optimum teams were successfully able to handle the complexity of Kia’s SKR51 with its unique feature to handle all special Kia requirements for SKR51.

Optimum implemented a powerful and user-friendly process to link accounts (Linking Scheme) and enhanced it to streamline the mappings with the components of the SKR51 accounting structure. The SKR51 feature that automatically identifies all unmapped accounts and allows the distribution of these accounts after Kia approves of them.

The unique SKR51 feature’s automation capability which ensures that the dealer individual mapping changes will not be overwritten by an update of the SKR51 Standard. This provides a guarantee that Kia Deutschland’s standard remains applicable while the dealers can identify their results within the system.

Additionally, AMOS now manages to cover dealer files with 16 and 19 (with engine) digits in one go since the beginning of the year. This permits reporting on an engine level for sales as well as aftersales.

These enhancements led to a solution which is intuitive, powerful and easy to use for admin users as well as dealer accountants.

Blue quotation marksIt appears that the way Optimum is handling the SKR51 is indeed Best in Class in Deutschland,Blue quotation marks stated Robert S., Business Management Manager for Kia Deutschland.

Flexible Features and A Successful Transition

Kia Deutschland immediately recognized the intuitiveness, state of the art design and flexibility of AMOS and specifically the Linking Scheme, which was their initial concern. They were also very impressed by the customer centric and service oriented culture that Optimum team demonstrated consistently.

Robert emphasized, Blue quotation marksOne key element is Optimum Info’s highly experienced and professional Helpdesk personnel who are always available.Blue quotation marks

Over and above SKR51 based Linking Scheme, a few key features that Kia Deutschland is enthusiastic about include:

  • Report Query Tool: The feature helps users easily choose amongst various KPIs to create a custom report in seconds. Kia Deutschland has a high requirement for additional financial and performance analytics as well as risk monitoring. The Report Query allows Kia Deutschland to provide these analytics quickly.
  • Validation Process: Configurable validation rules with immediate effectiveness allows for real time data validations and to respond rapidly to changes. Kia Deutschland was impressed by how the validation and dealer follow up process is handled in the system.
  • Submission Process: Kia Deutschland received consistent and positive feedback from dealers who found the financial statement submission process to be intuitive and transparent.

Kia Deutschland’s dealers were able to adapt to the new system quickly due to ease of use and Optimum Info’s attentive helpdesk support. The dealers found AMOS highly intuitive.

Robert remarked, Blue quotation marksThe key to success for the transition was that Optimum Info prepared the initial system experience for the dealers as smoothly and as satisfactorily as possible.Blue quotation marks

Key Benefits for Kia Deutschland

Some key benefits Kia Deutschland realized after launching AMOS include:

  • Optimums Customer Centricity and professional Helpdesk
  • Saving money in the long run as Optimum Info does enhancements as part of on-going services. In addition, Optimum Info stays on top of change requests, ensuring they are carried out in a quarterly cycle.
  • The automation of monthly manual work to provide reports to Kia Headquarters. This has cut down reporting time by several hours per month.
  • Handling of the SKR51 complexity with a best in class Linking Scheme process.

Future with Optimum Info

Kia Deutschland has plans to work with Optimum Info in the future to further develop their existing Risk Module to fully reflect all requirements, including integration of external data, risk forecasting and action planning.

Satisfied with Optimum Info’s solution and service, Kia Deutschland has decided to implement PRISM, Optimum Info’s Audit solution as well as recommended APEX, Optimum Info’s Dealer Package Management System, to another one of their departments.

Blue quotation marksWe are immensely happy and would recommend Optimum Info as long as their services remain the same,Blue quotation marks Robert concluded.

Diana Lieu

Diana Lieu

Senior Marketing Associate

Diana is a Senior Marketing Associate at Optimum Info, a global business solutions company providing tailored software solutions for manufacturers to improve franchise network development and after-sales operations. Utilizing her experience in client engagement, Diana strives to create interesting and insightful articles to engage and inform OEMs.

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