Complaints process management in real time with BinMan®
ZF Friedrichshafen AG is a leading global technology group specializing in the development and production of driveline and chassis technologies. The company was founded in 1915 and is headquartered in Friedrichshafen, Germany.
The project
In the course of the growing complexity of supply chains and the constantly increasing manual effort for account reconciliation, ZF Friedrichshafen AG was looking for an application to monitor container stocks and manage the complaints process in real time. For this purpose, the standard solution of the cloud-based BinMan® container management system was tailored to the customer’s individual requirements profile and integrated into ZF Friedrichshafen AG’s existing processes.
Consistent customer orientation is clearly part of LOGSOL’s philosophy. The support and cooperation during the entire project was so outstanding and uncomplicated that you get the feeling that your personal account manager is sitting in the office next door.
Christian Kubiak,
Project management, ZF Friedrichshafen AG
The implementation
Specification and structuring phase
Based on the specifications provided and a joint specification workshop, LOGSOL created a detailed software specification with a defined target process flow. The customer’s focus here was on the necessary interfaces to the ERP system and the mapping of special processes relating to pool container handling.
Realization phase
The BinMan® processing masks could largely be used as standard. The main adaptations included the individual interface solution for automatic data transfer between BinMan® and the existing SAP system landscape of ZF Friedrichshafen AG. In addition to the data transfer from SAP, the suppliers’ EDI files are also used for the automatic posting of container movements. The manual effort on the part of the suppliers can thus also be reduced to a minimum.
Further focal points in software development:
- Range calculation based on historical container movements for scheduling
- Customer-specific adaptation of the complaints process
- Extension of the booking masks for account partners
Test phase
- Provision of a QA test system
- Automated, browser-based test runs
- Model-driven software development
- Function and interface tests
All software developments were extensively tested for full functionality/usability by the project managers at ZF Friedrichshafen AG and LOGSOL in the QA system provided and approved by the client
ZF Friedrichshafen AG consistently works on highly efficient supply chains in a culture of partnership and cooperation with suppliers. That’s why we weren’t just looking for a product to record container movements in the cloud, but a fully integrated system to avoid container costs along the entire supply chain instead of shifting them upstream. We were also impressed by the overall package consisting of a very user-friendly interface despite a wide range of functions, the lean workflow and, last but not least, the more than fair pricing.
Christian Kubiak ,
Project management, ZF Friedrichshafen AG
The results
Implementation phase and go-live
Once the customized software was completed, the data migration was carried out using CSV imports and manual entries. This included the creation of user data and the fine-tuning of company data and container cycles. Due to the intuitive and user-friendly interface of BinMan®, the gradual integration and training of the account partners will be carried out by ZF Friedrichshafen AG itself.
What fascinates and pleases me the most is that BinMan® is often perceived as a hip tool compared to static ERP systems. Creating clean bookings that are not complained about by the partner has almost become a sport for many. This is no coincidence, but is due to the special architecture of the system, which deliberately makes full use of the strengths of networked collaboration in the cloud.
Christian Kubiak ,
Project management, ZF Friedrichshafen AG
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