Combined Motor Holdings has signed with Motoronline to create a multi-service Internet portal for its dealers.
The Combined Motor Holdings Group (CMH) has signed with Motoronline to kick start the creation of a multi-service Internet portal for its dealers.
This follows closely on the heels of the Retail Motor Industry Organisation commissioning an Enterprise Portal from Motoronline to make its unique benefits available to the full spectrum of its members. The CMH portal provides a secure communication platform, which becomes the central point of an "extranet" for the group and its dealerships.
Paul Hutton, chief operating officer of Motoronline, said: "The environment enables documents to be uploaded on a real time basis for viewing by dealers and employees. The access is permissions-based which enhances security as a feature of the platform and, depending on one’s username and ID, it automatically determines what one will have access to view.
"With the introduction of the CMH portal it will no longer be necessary for the CMH Group to be hassled by poor communication within its organisation. The portal makes it possible to upload vital documents and information while giving an audit trail so that you know exactly who read the document and when. This can benefit the company in that it will not have to spend time using traditional forms of communication – like the fax, the phone, and the now resource-intensive email network – to transmit commonly accessed documents."
Examples of the documents in frequent use will include policies and procedures, letters of employment, as well as marketing and advertising templates.
Already the CMH dealers will find they have access to a suite of generic business tools that complement the day-to-day running of a dealership.
Among the services offered to the franchisees online are:
A vehicle locator: A facility where dealers can view and search other dealers within the same group for stockholding situations – especially useful in the current stock shortage being experienced by motor dealers.
A parts locator: A facility where excess or obsolete parts stock can be listed for viewing by other dealers with a view to purchase, or a place where dealers can list parts they require which might be difficult to locate through the normal channels.
A careers portal: Here the bigger companies and individual dealers can list staff vacancies at a nominal cost for 30 days and take advantage of exposure through links to eight other leading portals (such as the Sunday Times Careers supplement), and numerous search engines.
Credit checking: The ability to do online HPI and ITC checks and to qualify for a rebate for doing these checks online through the portal.
Online registration processes: Motoronline is in a pilot phase with an online registration application for vehicles. This service will be available to dealers in future through the portal – no more will the registration process be a lengthy and laborious one.
Mibco: The portal gives access to the motor industry Main Agreement and other important motor industry Bargaining Council information and documents. Ultimately, monthly online return processing for employees’ pension, provident and medical aid funds, will also be possible through this link.
Industry links: The portal allows access to online financial applications, insurance companies and other vital motor industry websites (including RMI, Naamsa and Naacam).
A travel agency: Complete booking and travel services for destinations anywhere in the world are available through the portal 24 hours a day seven days a week, 365 days a year through a network of travel agencies recommended by the CMH Group.
"We are committed to ensuring that the CMH Group remains at the cutting edge of state of the art communication technology and the activation of the CMH portal is a fitting demonstration of our resolve to do so and to derive the maximum cost-efficiency for our business operations by streamlining the day to day business processes of our dealer network," said Jebb McIntosh MD of the CMH Group.