Improved pricing process
Bizzomate’s Avola Rule Engine increases pricing accuracy and flexibility at Carglass Belgium
Increasingly complex calculations required for correct invoice
Carglass Belgium guarantees superfast repair of car glass damage. Then the correct amount should be passed on to the customer. With an increasing number of cameras in the car, this is sometimes quite a complex process. Carglass Belgium therefore engaged Bizzomate to use the Avola Rule Engine to quickly and effectively determine the correct invoice amount.
- Increased complexity
The increase in sensors and cameras makes calculating the cost of windshield replacement increasingly complex - Need for greater flexibility
Making price adjustments without programming
Faster customization without IT knowledge
After repairing a car window, the sensors in a car must be recalibrated. Functions such as lane assist, or speed sign recognition only then function optimally again. This is an important task for the mechanics at Carglass Belgium because the safety of the driver always comes first. In recent years, however, more and more cameras were added in cars, making this process increasingly complex. This presented operational challenges, but it also became increasingly difficult to calculate the right price for recalibration.
Roland Henrard, Enterprise architect at Carglass: “Ensuring that the correct price for recalibration ends up on a receipt is quite complex. This is because the price depends on several factors. Sometimes the car can be recalibrated based on signs. In other cases, it really needs to be driven around. Also, the number of cameras per car often varies considerably which again affects the price. As a result, it was a regular occurrence that there was not the correct price on the receipt, and it took the administration department a lot of time to resolve this.”
Carglass Belgium therefore initiated a project to optimize the processes surrounding recalibration. Improving price calculations was an important part of this. Carglass Belgium decided to look for a solution that decoupled pricing from the base software system, in this case the ERP. This was to avoid the need for unnecessary software development and to always be able to switch quickly in the event of price fluctuations, even by employees without IT knowledge.
Flying start with Avola Rule Engine
When she was at Carglass Belgium pondering how to solve this challenge, a staff member recalled that he had once taken a short training course on using rule engines. A rule engine makes it possible to execute rules in a production environment based on preset parameters without directly modifying the software code.
They saw this as a good solution to this problem and contacted Bizzomate, the designer of the Avola Rule Engine. Fortunately, there was an immediate click with the people at Bizzomate. Barbara Delvoye, insights manager at Carglass Belgium and responsible for reporting, forecasting and pricing: “What we really liked is that we immediately sat down with the people who were actually going to carry out the project with the Avola Rule Engine. The feeling with them was good right away. This allowed us to get a flying start on the project.”
Alexander Brinkhuis, consultant at Bizzomate and responsible for this project: “At Carglass Belgium they quickly had a clear idea of how the Avola Rule Engine could be used for pricing. After a few joint sessions, the model with all the rules in Avola was easily created.”
This is how we work
Full flexibility
Meanwhile, the rule engine has been in use at Carglass Belgium for several months. Barbara: “With the Avola Rule Engine, we chose the least complex solution to improve pricing around recalibration. There was no need to write complex software code for our back office system. And because the pricing for recalibration is now decoupled from our software systems thanks to the rule engine, we now have complete flexibility if we ever want to switch to another system.”
The correct price on the receipt
“Most importantly, however, we haven’t had to perform a single re-billing since using the Avola Rule Engine. The prices are always right now. As a result, we save time on administration, we no longer miss out on sales, and what is much more crucial, it makes an important contribution to our reliability towards customers.”
Moreover, when the rule engine was ready, Bizzomate organized training for Carglass Belgium in the use of Avola. Therefore, Carglass Belgium’s pricing specialist coming out of the business can now make their own adjustments or modify components on the Avola Rule Engine.
An additional advantage is also that Carglass Belgium can now run simulations of the consequences of a new pricing strategy even before it actually goes live. With complex algorithms around pricing, this is very nice. Because hundreds of scenarios can now be tested first, it is virtually certain that everything will function properly after going live, and so far it has consistently proved to be so.
Avola now key pillar of IT architecture at Carglass Belgium
More solutions with the Avola Rule Engine may be built in the future. Roland: “The IT architecture of Carglass Belgium is built on a number of pillars, and thanks to this successful journey, Avola Rule Engine is now an integral part of it. The rule engine has completely proved its worth. We certainly expect more projects in the near future where we will use the Avola Rule Engine.”
Related services
- Full flexibility
Pricing decoupled from back office for optimal future-proofing - Pre-testing adjustments
Simulations clarify impact of price changes - Suitable for use by business specialists
Without IT knowledge always up to date
Challenge us!
Looking for a partner who understands your organization and translates it into digital solutions with results?
Discover
Define
Design
Do
