The Italian company RHIAG S.p.A., the leading automotive replacement part distributor in Italy, has been working together with TecCom for almost ten years on the continuous optimisation of its ordering and stocking processes. With great success: RHIAG saves time and money through efficient work procedures using TecCom solutions. Not to mention that better part availability and faster delivery times provide higher sales and satisfied customers.		Company headquarters in Pero near Milan, Italy (all photos: RHIAG S.p.A.)
Succes story “Made in Italy” The Milan company RHIAG S.p.A. has been active in the automotive replacement part market for almost fifty years. In Italy it can claim the position of market leader. RHIAG S.p.A. is part of the RHIAG Group consisting of twelve companies that is represented in Switzerland and several Eastern European countries. With 1,500 employees, the group has gross sales of 450 million euros. The Italian sister companies RHIAG S.p.A. and Bertolotti S.r.l., the number two of Italian automotive part distributors, together generate more than 75 percent of the total sales of the RHIAG Group.
With two central warehouses (one for crash parts) and 32 RHIAG and Bertolotti branches in all of Italy, RHIAG guarantees fast delivery to more than 4,000 local and regional part dealers. The complete product line, the high-value parts in OEM quality and the competent and fast service ensure the success of the company. This makes it clear why the wholesaler decided to use TecCom in order to get the full benefits from electronic ordering and stock management.		Large selection and high availability: customer service is very important to RHIAG

Faster, easier – electronic!

At the end of 2001 RHIAG started the first tests of the TecCom ordering platform. Since January 2002 the solution for electronic order processing is in full-scale use at RHIAG and since the beginning of 2004 at Bertolotti. Three years later, in winter of 2006, the number of inquiries and orders processed by RHIAG and Bertolotti with the TecOrder solution have reached 27,000 per month. Today the two companies use the system for inquiries and orders from more than 50 suppliers; 90 to 93 percent of the business volume is sent electronically through the TecCom ordering platform.

Express and stock orders are generated directly from the ERP system and forwarded electronically to the suppliers through an interface. This efficient work flow saves a lot of time and makes manual in-between steps unnecessary. The reverse messages received electronically from suppliers through the ordering system are also of great benefit. This way, wholesalers can receive information such as the exact contents of a delivery, down to the individual pallet, before the goods reach the receiving dock.

Warehouse costs down, product availability and service up

RHIAG offers its customers the largest product line in the entire Italian market: 130 product families and 100.000 references are in the RHIAG catalogue. The Bertolotti product line includes 65.000 article numbers from 55 product lines. In the last ten years the number of article numbers has grown by almost 170 percent. In order to provide customers high product availability and fast delivery while sinking warehouse costs at the same time, even with constantly changing product lines, RHIAG decided in 2005 to introduce the TecCMI solution. TecCMI stands for “Collaborative Managed Inventory;” it makes it possible for supplies and traders to manage their stock jointly, raising the efficiency of the logistic chain.

Warehouse in RHIAG's Milan location

“Already in the first presentation by TecCom it was clear to us that TecCMI was the right solution to reach the necessary level of cooperation and transparency between wholesaler and supplier,” remembers Walter Coletta, Supply Chain & Logistics Vice President of the RHIAG Group.

After the successful conclusion of the pilot phase with the supplier MAHLE, first RHIAG and then Bertolotti decided to expand the service to additional suppliers. Both companies were convinced that the common view of order quantities, order times and sales were the key to successful stock and purchasing management.

And these expectations were confirmed: From historical data and new daily inventory data TecCMI calculates reliable forecasts for order quantities, times and sales. This high planning security makes it possible to automate a large part of the ordering. Already a few months after the introduction of the system, RHIAG and Bertolotti could more than double their order frequency without increasing the work for their staff. Only exceptions and special orders are still processed by hand.

Already in the first year the stock management improved substantially: stock turn rate was increased and stock reduced, and with this the stocking costs dropped. Delivery bottlenecks due to long supplier delivery times or increased demand at the peaks now belong to the past, thanks to the reliable forecasts from TecCMI.

Today purchasing and stock planning for 78 percent of the total purchasing volume are realised with the TecCMI solution. Walter Coletta is very happy with this development. He says, “With the combination of the TecOrder solution for electronic orders and TecCMI for stock management, we have created optimal conditions. For us and our suppliers, TecCMI has become the main instrument to share important information and schedule orders. In order to take full advantage of the solution’s benefits we want to use TecCMI with ten more suppliers in the next two years.”

In the future RHIAG is counting on continuing its cooperation with TecCom. “After the successful restructuring of our purchasing processes we want to consequently continue our dynamic e-business strategy – with TecCom at our side. For our next step we are planning to introduce the TecInvoice solution. We are looking forward to handling the invoice traffic with our most important suppliers electronically and taking advantage of the savings potential here,” is how Walter Coletta summarises RHIAG's plans for the future.

You can find out more about RHIAG on the Web site www.rhiag.com. If you have any questions please contact Fabrizio Giannelli (fabrizio.giannelli@teccom.eu).