The Star
Sunday, March 5, 2000Changing ways of doing business
HAVING worked in a multinational company
for many years, Low Cheng Guan understood that the future of business--big or small--can
be significantly transformed with the onset of information technology.
It was with this in mind that Low began implementing PC-based management system into
his present company, Bintang Car Care Group, a car mechanic shop that provides car
grooming services, specialising in Mercedes Benzs.
There are three centres and a head office, all situated in the Klang Valley.
"Our business runs on timeliness and efficiency in customer care services to build
loyalty. It was necessary for us to have an up-to-date customer service database
accessible by all of our service centres," said Low.
Bintang also wanted to cut costs by encouraging sharing of printers and files and
creating business efficiencies by improving internal communications and remote access to
the head office.
"We needed a solution to enable us to better manage the activities of staff,
clients and suppliers. We wanted to be able to process customers and suppliers, orders,
monitor schedules, insurance and tax renewals and call-up inventory updates, online with
real-time information," Low said.
Benjamin Foo, business manager at Business Network Solutions had the answer: "We
installed a Local Area Network (LAN) by connecting 10 IBM PCs at the various service
locations to a central PC server at the head office. The server holds the system's
programs and databases, and directs the sharing of printers and fax machines."
Foo also implemented an accounting application to manage Bintang's existing and
potential client database, keeping track of stock, spare parts, invoices and purchase
orders, staff payrolls, billings, debtors and suppliers.
"Now when a customer calls, he only has to wait a few seconds to find out the last
time he had sent his car in for service or which parts have been changed," Low
explained.
"The LAN connection also allows us to access each branch's database. Therefore, a
customer can take his car to our nearest branch and the staff there will have all the
necessary information."
With PCs, less time is spent on administration and more is focused on getting the
servicing job done. There is more time for customer relations development--promotional
flyers and warning message for tax renewal and spare parts warranty can be distributed by
e-mail.
Electrical Marketing Sdn Bhd is a local distribution and marketing company specialising
in industrial electrical products, including those related to factory automation, sensors,
cable support systems and thermoplastic enclosures.
Set up in Pudu in 1976 in a two-storey shop lot, Electrical Marketing has since
expanded to include a branch in Johor Baru.
The company's managing director, Y.K. Foo, had always believed it necessary to tap into
new technology to keep abreast with his competitors.
More importantly, he believed in reliability and chose branded computers from the very
start.
Yet information technology seemed to be ever-changing. Soon, he was falling behind and
before he knew it, his 486 desktops were obsolete.
Another critical factor was that the existing PCs kept breaking down almost immediately
after their three-year warranty period.
"My business has come to the point where it runs entirely on computers,"
explained Foo. "Can you imagine the catastrophe if the server were to crash?
Everything would come to a stand-still.
"I wouldn't be able to communicate with my suppliers. My customers wouldn't be
able to communicate with me. We wouldn't be able to keep track of our billings and
accounts for that period."
The last straw was the Y2K problem--his machines were not compliant.
Help appeared in the form of an IBM Netfinity PC server advertisement, which included a
call centre number that handled end-user customers or potentials and try to match them
with the right IBM business partner should they need more information.
"At first, I was hesitant. I thought IBM only provided machines for multinational
conglomerates and I run a small business with only 25 staff," Foo explained.
"Besides, I had talked with 'larger' vendors before and none of them could
recommend a satisfactory solution. Some thought that my business was too small. Others
only wanted to sell what they wanted and not what was going to help us."
Nonetheless, Foo called the hotline anyway: "I explained my problems and within
five minutes, he sorted out my needs and provided me with the number of one of IBM's
business partners."
The next day, Foo spoke to Gerald Toh, a systems engineer with Business Network
Solutions.
Electrical Marketing installed a LAN by connecting 14 IBM desktops to a central
Netfinity 3000 PC server. Their existing software application was also upgraded, easing
their billings, inventory, supplier, client and spare parts tracking.
In addition, the company can now conduct analysis of sales and purchases and customer
care.
Business Network Solutions also installed an ISDN dial-up connection to the Internet on
an "on-demand" basis.
"With the Internet, we can now have realtime link to our suppliers," Foo
said. "We already have a connection to one of our suppliers in Singapore. We are
scouting for opportunities to connect to more suppliers once they have compatible
systems."
Toh now offers Electrical Marketing ongoing consulting and break/fix services.
Consulting was a critical part of the solution for Electrical Marketing.
"Foo was looking for somebody who would listen to him and come up with the
necessary solution," Toh explained.
"We can now do in a few minutes what use to take us a week." Foo said, adding
that he is now free to concentrate on developing other aspects of the business like
building his customer-base and implementing more effective marketing strategies.
It was a different challenge for Malaysian Current Law Journal Sdn Bhd (MCLJ), a
joint-venture between the Malaysian Law Journal Sdn Bhd and Peremba Technologies Sdn Bhd.
MCLJ provides the IT infrastructure for CLJ Legal Network (www.cljlaw.com), the
first comprehensive and interactive information database on Malaysia's legal system.
Legal Network offers a complete collection of Malaysian Legislation, Case Laws,
Tariffs, Procedures, Directories, Law Reports, Commonwealth Cases, Court Articles, Court
Notices and even some court forms.
Legal Network offers a powerful search engine that speeds up work, locates necessary
information without spending hours at numerous libraries, is readily accessible from any
computer and allows for extensive sharing of information, all at a minimal cost.
This service is available through subscription, and to date, has registered over 1,000
individual subscribers and 85 organisations such as the KLSE and Genting Bhd.
When the idea to create such a vast database was mooted, managing director Abdul Latiff
realised that MCLJ will have to undertake a strategic policy structure to ensure that all
business operations conducted over the Internet were secure and interoperable.
"Initially, I was like any other businessman, looking to save cost in any possible
way and was prepared to invest some money in an inferior quality server. However, I began
to realised the consequences when I heard horror stories of servers crashing and
businesses having difficulties in getting after-sales service from regular clone
suppliers."
"My main concern was that once a lawyer gets comfortable with Legal Network, it
will be difficult for him to go back to manual research through books."
It was therefore crucial that lawyers were able to access the Legal Network whenever
they needed to. A reliable server was essential.
"To run Legal Network effectively, I was going to have to pay for quality without
compromise and after careful consideration and consultation, I decided to invest in IBM's
hardware.
"In Legal Network, I now use IBM's PC704 servers as the primary server and
secondary server. Legal Network has achieved virtually no downtime since we purchased the
servers back in 1997.
"In the long run, our investment in the IBM servers have proven its value, as
there has been no interruption to the on-line business functions of Legal Network, as both
servers have been performing optimally."