PORTICA raises its profile in the automotive industry
(Kempen) PORTICA is ramping up its activity in the international automobile industry with two new projects.
In one project, the marketing support specialists are now assisting one of their long-term customers – one of the strongest automobile brands in the European Union – with a new centralised promotional material programme in Eastern Europe. In the other project, they are helping another world-leading automobile manufacturer with efficient logistics for promotional materials for retailers and end customers in Germany.
“We are very pleased to further increase our national and international presence in the automobile sector with these two new projects”, said Martin Wielens, joint head of sales at PORTICA . The project for the process service provider’s long-term customer will allow automobile retailers across a number of eastern European countries to easily order promotional material through a shared-access web shop. To make this possible, PORTICA is developing a B2B shop. Based on the ecommerce solution OXID eShop Enterprise, the shop can be expanded and updated at any time and is planned to first go live in Hungary in April. It uses an English-language interface, adheres to the automobile manufacturer’s corporate identity, and supports a wide range of currencies. It also interfaces with the modular enterprise resource planning system PORTICA erp, through which incoming orders for printed material and promotional gifts will be handed over for further processing. All orders are automatically consolidated, cost-effectively packing orders for the same retailer together before shipping them to the customers’ own retailer-specified staging points in various countries.
In the second project, an internationally-active new customer is relying on the flexibility of PORTICA erp for a promotional logistics project targeting Germany. The PORTICA specialists’ expertise in the automobile sector was a critical factor in the customer’s decision to allow PORTICA to warehouse hundreds of different types of promotional material, including catalogues and price lists, and to make use of the company’s shipping services. Preparations are currently underway in order for the project to go live in just a few weeks. “Our ERP system receives the orders as individual files – either through customer support, receiving incoming orders from retailers via telephone, fax and email, or through an end-customer program for interested parties and existing customers, all of whom can order marketing material from the manufacturer’s website”, explained Norbert Haab, the head of PORTICA’s professional services department. By transferring orders to PORTICA erp as individual files, the consignment and shipping process is further streamlined. In order to guarantee that the warehouse will always hold sufficient material to meet demand, PORTICA erp’s customised reporting system generates notifications when stocks reach a minimum level and need to be replenished. Partners receive promotional material promptly and the automobile manufacturer satisfies its need to support its partners with reliable on-site assistance in order to build and maintain lasting customer relationships.
