Fendt-Caravan offers caravans for every taste and every budget. Recently, all dealers throughout Germany have been using signotec signature pads and software for the electronic signature of service documents. Advantage for the customer: High convenience and even better service quality. In the medium term, the introduction of signotec solutions is also planned for international dealers.
The trend is clearly visible: the market for mobile travel is booming, registrations for caravans are rising steadily. Fendt-Caravan is also benefiting from this trend. Business is flourishing and more and more customers are opting for a caravan from the traditional Mertinger company. The capacity utilisation of Fendt-Caravan dealers is correspondingly high. Over 60 active caravan dealers throughout Germany are responsible for sales and service of the popular caravans. Since the beginning of 2019, Fendt-Caravan dealers have been using signotec solutions for secure electronic signatures to optimise processes and increase service quality.
In concrete terms, the documents are signed by the dealers and customers using the signotec Gamma signature pad and the signoSign/Universal software. The signotec Gamma is an ultra-flat signature pad which, with its 12.5 cm colour display, is ideally suited for the precise capture of signatures at the paperless point of sale. The used software signoSign/Universal can be used as a web-based product both stationary and mobile. The generated advanced electronic signatures meet all requirements of the eIDAS regulation and offer additional ISO conformity.
The procedure for signing the documents is very convenient for Fendt-Caravan dealers. After selecting the form to be signed in the online partner centre, the dealer enters the end customer data and vehicle information. As an additional security level, the data entered is automatically validated by the system before the PDF form is created. Once this has been done, the document is created and opened for signature in the signoSign/Universal software in the web browser.
Two different documents are currently being electronically signed: On the one hand the service registration and on the other hand the leakage inspection. The service registration is classically the document for handing over a newly purchased Fendt-Caravan to the customer. In addition to typical information such as vehicle, customer and dealer data, this also includes consent to the processing of personal and contract-related data for the proper processing of the contractual relationship in connection with workshop orders and warranty questions as well as optional consent to the use of the data for marketing purposes. This request is made separately again on the leakage inspection form, so that even long-standing customers can be addressed here again. The latter form is the basis for ensuring a quality feature of the Fendt-Caravan brand: the twelve-year tightness guarantee of the vehicles. In order to maintain this guarantee for the entire duration, customers only have to have an annual inspection carried out by one of the Fendt-Caravan authorised dealers. The guarantee periods for the tightness can be traced correctly and seamlessly by means of an electronic signature and immediate recording and storage of the data. Conversely, for the customer this means not only more security for the fulfilment of the services to which he is entitled, but also a significantly higher quality of service. The company has also had signotec set a further convenience for the customer directly when signing on the signature pad: The customer can read the query on the data protection declaration on the pad and tick it immediately.
Once the documents have been signed, the retailer files them in the online partner centre. The contents are then automatically checked again for completeness and are being released afterwards. Only then are the contents processed further in the workflow and stored in the merchant's own database. The documents are also stored in the online form administration and can be found quickly and easily in the overview.
Stephan Anlauf, head of the IT/Organisation department at Fendt-Caravan, is delighted: "In return for the procedure maintained in the past, in which all data had to be entered manually, we are now benefiting from a clear acceleration of the process and an almost complete exclusion of error susceptibility. With around 10,000 caravans sold each year, the high paper cost savings of around 20,000 signed documents also have an effect. Accordingly, the downstream workload for manual scanning, indexing and transfer to the electronic data archive is completely eliminated".
When introducing the electronic signature for the documents, five test dealers were initially selected to test the functionality, process flow, handling and reliability of the application over a period of two months. Corresponding suggestions were directly taken into account during the implementation of the systems at the other dealers. All dealers have been connected to the system since mid-January 2019. The result is impressive: 2,750 forms were signed electronically in just three months.
Philip Kotter from the software development department at Fendt-Caravan points out: "The decision in favour of signotec proved to be the right one. In addition to first-class support, signotec also handled the entire logistics and shipping to the dealers. For us, this was an absolute added value, since this would not have been possible internally logistically in the short time frame."
The German market is not the end of the story either: the company plans to use signotec solutions for the European market as well. In this step, up to another 300 international dealers would be added.
The trend is clearly visible: the market for mobile travel is booming, registrations for caravans are rising steadily. Fendt-Caravan is also benefiting from this trend. Business is flourishing and more and more customers are opting for a caravan from the traditional Mertinger company. The capacity utilisation of Fendt-Caravan dealers is correspondingly high. Over 60 active caravan dealers throughout Germany are responsible for sales and service of the popular caravans. Since the beginning of 2019, Fendt-Caravan dealers have been using signotec solutions for secure electronic signatures to optimise processes and increase service quality.
In concrete terms, the documents are signed by the dealers and customers using the signotec Gamma signature pad and the signoSign/Universal software. The signotec Gamma is an ultra-flat signature pad which, with its 12.5 cm colour display, is ideally suited for the precise capture of signatures at the paperless point of sale. The used software signoSign/Universal can be used as a web-based product both stationary and mobile. The generated advanced electronic signatures meet all requirements of the eIDAS regulation and offer additional ISO conformity.
The procedure for signing the documents is very convenient for Fendt-Caravan dealers. After selecting the form to be signed in the online partner centre, the dealer enters the end customer data and vehicle information. As an additional security level, the data entered is automatically validated by the system before the PDF form is created. Once this has been done, the document is created and opened for signature in the signoSign/Universal software in the web browser.
Two different documents are currently being electronically signed: On the one hand the service registration and on the other hand the leakage inspection. The service registration is classically the document for handing over a newly purchased Fendt-Caravan to the customer. In addition to typical information such as vehicle, customer and dealer data, this also includes consent to the processing of personal and contract-related data for the proper processing of the contractual relationship in connection with workshop orders and warranty questions as well as optional consent to the use of the data for marketing purposes. This request is made separately again on the leakage inspection form, so that even long-standing customers can be addressed here again. The latter form is the basis for ensuring a quality feature of the Fendt-Caravan brand: the twelve-year tightness guarantee of the vehicles. In order to maintain this guarantee for the entire duration, customers only have to have an annual inspection carried out by one of the Fendt-Caravan authorised dealers. The guarantee periods for the tightness can be traced correctly and seamlessly by means of an electronic signature and immediate recording and storage of the data. Conversely, for the customer this means not only more security for the fulfilment of the services to which he is entitled, but also a significantly higher quality of service. The company has also had signotec set a further convenience for the customer directly when signing on the signature pad: The customer can read the query on the data protection declaration on the pad and tick it immediately.
Once the documents have been signed, the retailer files them in the online partner centre. The contents are then automatically checked again for completeness and are being released afterwards. Only then are the contents processed further in the workflow and stored in the merchant's own database. The documents are also stored in the online form administration and can be found quickly and easily in the overview.
Stephan Anlauf, head of the IT/Organisation department at Fendt-Caravan, is delighted: "In return for the procedure maintained in the past, in which all data had to be entered manually, we are now benefiting from a clear acceleration of the process and an almost complete exclusion of error susceptibility. With around 10,000 caravans sold each year, the high paper cost savings of around 20,000 signed documents also have an effect. Accordingly, the downstream workload for manual scanning, indexing and transfer to the electronic data archive is completely eliminated".
When introducing the electronic signature for the documents, five test dealers were initially selected to test the functionality, process flow, handling and reliability of the application over a period of two months. Corresponding suggestions were directly taken into account during the implementation of the systems at the other dealers. All dealers have been connected to the system since mid-January 2019. The result is impressive: 2,750 forms were signed electronically in just three months.
Philip Kotter from the software development department at Fendt-Caravan points out: "The decision in favour of signotec proved to be the right one. In addition to first-class support, signotec also handled the entire logistics and shipping to the dealers. For us, this was an absolute added value, since this would not have been possible internally logistically in the short time frame."
The German market is not the end of the story either: the company plans to use signotec solutions for the European market as well. In this step, up to another 300 international dealers would be added.
