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Overview

Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A. (KMC) is a leading distributor of powersports products, encompassing motorcycles, ATVs, side-by-sides, and personal watercraft, with a vast network of over 1000 dealers. The company faced significant challenges with their manual processes for managing dealer documentation and packages related to franchise development actions such as approving buy/sells, appointing new dealers, and approving ownership changes.

Challenges: Enhance Timeliness, Quality, and Efficiency

Establish and centralize a consistent process across the network.

With a large network and ongoing activities, the dealer development team faced time constraints in completing and approving various dealer actions.

Reduce paper consumption, storage space, shipping costs and associated delays.

KMC’s paper-based processes incurred additional costs related to shipping and retrieving documents from archives.

Dramatically optimize the administration and processing of dealer documents.

The predominantly paper-based processes were not only time-consuming and labor-intensive but also required substantial follow-ups with dealers to ensure the accuracy of information submitted.

Enhance the timeliness and quality of submissions from dealers through improved tracking and collaboration.

The above challenges resulted in prolonged approval timelines, typically spanning six to nine months for completing dealer actions, including new dealer appointments and buy-sells.

Solution: Streamlining Dealer Package and Contract Lifecycle Management

Kawasaki Motors Corp U.S.A. implemented APEX, Optimum's Dealer Package Management System, a fully digital and cloud-based solution, to streamline their dealer package processing and contract lifecycle management.


With APEX, Kawasaki Motors Corp U.S.A. achieved the following:


APEX dealer package management system dashboard package submission progress
  • Enhanced Timeliness and Collaboration APEX improved the timeliness and quality of dealer submissions through better tracking and collaboration. The system offered a comprehensive approach, addressing the entire cycle of managing dealer packages and contract lifecycle management, including generating electronic agreements and facilitating electronic signatures.
  • Optimized Administration and Processing APEX integrated dealers into the process, allowing them to submit documents conveniently through an online interface. The fully digital and cloud-based solution significantly optimized the administration and processing of dealer documents.
  • Establishing Consistency and Centralization Kawasaki centralized and established a consistent process across its network, ensuring standardized procedures for managing dealer packages. The system also provides full visibility to the KMC users as to the status of the package and helps them communicate with the dealers through the system itself, eliminating the need for tiresome follow-ups and phone calls.
  • Streamlined Submissions with Package Templates The system utilized package templates for easy creation, customization, and initiation of dealer packages, streamlining their workflow. Using a series of data validations and business rules, the system ensures that all key information is provided, and documentation is complete before the packages can be submitted by the dealers to KMC. Therefore, by the time the KMC staff receives the documentation from dealers the package is largely complete and has all the key information required for KMC’s internal review.
  • Ensuring Comprehensive and Complete Packages Utilizing data validations and business rules, APEX ensured that all key information was provided, and documentation was complete before dealer packages could be submitted to Kawasaki Motors Corp. As a result, the packages received were mostly complete and contained all necessary information for internal review.

Results: Accelerated Processing Time and Reduced Costs

Kawasaki Motors Corp U.S.A. dramatically reduced dealer package processing time from an average of 6-9 months down to 2-4 months.
Kawasaki Kawasaki reduced dealer package processing time from 6-9 months to 2-4 months

This accelerated the activation of new dealers, enabling KMC to meet crucial fiscal deadlines that would have been missed without the system.

APEX eliminated paper-based shipping expenses and document archiving fees.

Additionally, the system significantly reduced shipping costs associated with packages and documents by eliminating the need for printing and shipping paper copies to dealers and internally. KMC no longer had to pay the document archiving company for retrieving old documents, as the system provided an easily searchable repository of dealer packages and documents, ensuring the full history was readily accessible.

With the adoption of APEX, Kawasaki Motors Corp U.S.A. not only streamlined their processes but also enhanced their customer experience and achieved substantial cost savings.


Blue quotation marksOut of all the OEM packages, Kawasaki was easiest to use and fill out. Blue quotation marks – A multi-franchised dealer surveyed by Kawasaki
Jerry Ciolino

Jerry Ciolino

Vice President - Business Development, Marketing and HR

Jerry is the Vice President of Business Development, Marketing and HR at Optimum Info, a global business solutions company providing tailored software solutions for Manufacturers to improve franchise network development, dealer profitability, field operations, and after-sales processes. Jerry has extensive experience working for solutions providers servicing the Automotive industry.

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