Introduction Extranet move to yield IT savings To further speed up order-processing and cut support costs Massey Ferguson is transferring its electronic product catalogue from a proprietary system to a extranet. Kim Thomas reports. It is now about to move from that system to an Internet-based one which will enable it to provide the same service more cheaply and efficiently. The company's dealers all supply parts directly to farmers. Although the dealers hold a certain amount of stock, they rely on Massey Ferguson to supply them with anything they are short of.
Timely delivery is essential, particularly during peak times such as harvest.
Until five years ago, dealers ordered new parts by phoning customer service representatives. This system also lets dealers order parts, and check on the status of their orders. Provided an order is placed between 8am and midnight, next-day delivery is guaranteed. Dealers are also issued with the parts catalogue on CD, which is updated every six months. The dealer just fires up the electronic catalogue, browses through the diagrams, finds the part that he wants, clicks on it, and effectively creates an electronic order on the parts catalogue system.