ADP and Fujitsu Drive Automobile Service Customer Satisfaction to New Heights
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — October 21, 1996 — Fujitsu Personal Systems, Inc. and ADP Dealer Services, a leading supplier of computer solutions to auto and truck dealers worldwide, are celebrating the first anniversary of SuperAdvisor(TM), the first wireless mobile service system available to automobile dealers.
Based on the Fujitsu Stylistic 500 pen computer and software from ADP Dealer Services, SuperAdvisor offers auto dealers a comprehensive service program designed to improve customer relations, make service proactive, and ensure compliance with automobile manufacturers' policies and procedures.
Traditionally, service advisors complete a repair order by hand and then enter the information into the dealer's database. Other attempts to automate this procedure required customers to stand in line in front of a stationary terminal, waiting their turn to describe their vehicles' problems. Now equipped with wireless Fujitsu pen tablets and ADP software, the service advisor has the mobility to inspect the vehicle with the customer.
Wireless communication to the host system gives the service advisor access to vital data, such as cost of parts and labor, and eliminates the need for redundant data entry. The service advisor checks the vehicle's service history on the dealer database and notes any and all existing damage, giving the customer the opportunity to purchase other maintenance and repair services.
The service advisor uses the stylus to quickly navigate through the comprehensive diagnostic menus. This process captures data consistently and accurately, helping dealers maintain strict compliance with manufacturers' requirements and ensuring that all repair orders are completed properly. Detailed descriptions of the vehicle's symptoms give the repair technician the information required to repair the car in an accurate and timely manner. Once the customer signs on-screen to authorize the repair, the order is transmitted to the file server, printed for the customer, and automatically entered into the main computer.
"We were interested in this product to ensure the consistent write-up of repair orders," stated Jim Rathmann, president of Jim Rathmann Auto Group. "SuperAdvisor accomplishes this for us by requiring our service advisors to go through our custom sales presentation and all of the diagnostic trees. Our customers get the opportunity to purchase maintenance service and the technicians receive all the information they need to fix the car right the first time. SuperAdvisor was the only product that could help us accomplish this goal."
"Now automobile service center managers no longer have to sacrifice personal customer service in order to streamline the repair order process. The Stylistic 500 with a wireless LAN connection combines face-to-face customer communication with the power and efficiency of a computer," said Iain Smith, senior director of product marketing at ADP Dealer Services. "The Fujitsu tablet is as easy to use as a clipboard and pencil, giving service advisors a level of mobility that was previously impossible even with a laptop computer. Using a pen to enter information frees the service advisor to do more active listening, rather than hunting for keys on a keyboard."
"The Stylistic 500 is an industry-standard, Windows(R)-compatible handheld computer that interfaces seamlessly with most dealers' in-house computers, supplying the three main ingredients to meet customer service system objectives: mobility, access to the dealer database, and ease of use," said Geoff Walker, vice president of marketing at Fujitsu Personal Systems. "Businesses choose tablet computers for their ability to put a powerful information tool to work wherever it's needed in this case, in the hands of a mobile service advisor."
The SuperAdvisor configuration consists of a Stylistic 500 with 12 MB RAM, a 170 MB PCMCIA hard disk drive, a PCMCIA RF adapter, and a harsh environment case. Future versions of SuperAdvisor will use the Stylistic 1000 featuring a color screen and a 100 MHz processor.
Measuring 7.2" x 10.7" x 1.5", the Stylistic 500 is a 2.6-pound tablet computer designed for mobile workers running high-end decision support applications in such industries as insurance, utilities, sales automation, market surveys and healthcare.
Powered by an Intel 486 DX2-50, the system features RAM expandable to 20 MB; a 170 MB, 260 MB or 340 MB PCMCIA hard disk drive; one Type III or two Type II PCMCIA version 2.0 slots; and an 8- inch transmissive, backlit, 64-level VGA screen. The computer operates on standard Lithium-ion (Li-ion) camcorder batteries which are sold in most consumer electronic retail outlets.
ADP Dealer Services provides turnkey systems to over 15,000 auto and truck dealers in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and Latin America. ADP helps its clients improve their business performance by providing computerized transaction processing, data communications, information and consulting services.
Dealer Services, the third largest business unit of ADP, Inc., is a leading supplier of computer services and solutions to automobile, heavy truck and equipment dealerships. With over $ 3 billion in revenues annually and more than 350,000 clients worldwide, ADP is one of the largest computing services firms in the world.
Fujitsu Personal Systems, Inc. is a market-leading supplier of lightweight handheld tablet computers that run Microsoft Windows(R) 95. Fujitsu's powerful portable computers use a pen instead of a keyboard and mouse to navigate and input data. Insurance, sales force automation, healthcare, utilities and market research firms leverage these "clipboard computers" to bring enterprise-wide computing to a highly mobile work force.
The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujitsu, Ltd., with headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif. 408/982-9500 and sales offices throughout North America, Europe and Australia. Product information is available at 800/831-3183 or http://www.fpsi.fujitsu.com.
CONTACT:
Fujitsu Personal Systems, Inc.
Wendy Olver/Mark Deneen, 408/982-9500
wendy_olver@fpsi.com or mark_deneen@fpsi.com
or
ADP Dealer Services
Iain Smith, 503/221-4077
Kristen Hill, 847/397-1700 x7007
or
Walt & Company Communications
Jenn Knudsen/Dean Rodgers, 408/496-0900
jknudsen@walt.com or drodgers@walt.com