DaimlerChrysler's new e-business company

By N. N. Sachitanand

BANGALORE, OCT. 15. DaimlerChrysler has consolidated all its existing and future e-business investments and holdings in a newly founded subsidiary, DCX NET Holding, which has been launched with start-up capital of $500 million. The name DCX NET is derived from the DaimlerChrysler stock symbol and has been selected in order to emphasise the group-wide performance of fully networking every aspect of its activities.

``The new company will forge alliances, enter into joint ventures and invest to promote the company's e-business activities,'' says Mr. Eckhard Cordes, DaimlerChrysler board of management member with responsibility for corporate development and IT management.

DaimlerChrysler has already secured critical knowhow intelligence and crucial, innovative technologies in this field by investing more than $290 million in the acquisition of shares in companies such as Powerway Inc. (B2B) and The Cobalt group (B2C). DCX NET Holding will maintain offices in New York, Detroit, Tokyo, Palo Alto and Stuttgart. The wide range of locations is intended to facilitate collaboration with e-business development partners. The holding company will also oversee DaimlerChrysler's interest in Venturepark, a pan-European e-business ``incubator'', in which Bertelsmann and Goldman Sachs are also investors.

DCX NET Holding is to be headed by Mr. John Stellman, (Vice President, mergers & acquisitions) and Mr. Olaf Koch (Vice President, corporate e-business). The Bangalore lab of DaimlerChrysler Research is already one of the most important ``e-innovation'' centres for the company. Along with the other labs at Berlin and Palo Alto the Bangalore centre will provide the new holding company with support and advice on questions relating to scientific and research issues.

DaimlerChrysler Venture Capital Funds - in consultation with the DCX NET Initiative - will invest in start-up ventures relevant to the interests of DaimlerChrysler. Investment capital in the fund was increased by $100 million a few months ago.

The DCX NET Initiative covers B2B (business-to-business), B2C (business-to-customer), B2E (business-to-employee) activities and telematics. In a move to exploit the full potential of B2B, DaimlerChrysler is reviewing the full range of processes, all the way from purchasing and development to production and sales. This process reengineering will optimise operations and thereby reduce costs.

``We are not only talking about web-enabling, that is, converting our processes over to Internet technology,'' says Mr. Cordes. ``The other major aspect here is that we are replacing old processes and using comprehensive networking between processes to save time and money.''

Initial projects in this area are already under way. ``FastCar,'' for example, a project being launched in August in the U.S., involves the use of a revolutionary Internet-based development and production system that enables all partners to collaborate in real time. The project marks the first time ever in the automotive industry that departments for design, development, production, finance, procurement and logistics have been linked in real time. FastCar's integrated and rapid provision of information will greatly shorten the product development process. In another pilot project, which also involves orders, use of ``eCAPs'' - an intranet tool developed by DaimlerChrysler - has led to reductions of up to 70 per cent in throughput times.

Following approval by antitrust authorities in Germany and the U.S., DaimlerChrysler, Ford, GM and Renault/Nissan have now launched one of the most important B2B platforms ever - ``Covisint''. The largest Internet marketplace in the world, Covisint is designed to create a universal and unified network with suppliers to the automotive industry. Procurement departments of Daimler and Chrysler in Stuttgart and Auburn Hills have completed the necessary internal preparations and have already conducted comprehensive test transactions. The organizational structure and management team for Covisint will be announced over the next few weeks.

In the realm of B2C, DaimlerChrysler has made the first moves to harness the Internet as a sales channel and make better use of it to gain new customers and boost customer loyalty. Just a few days ago, DaimlerChrysler began online sales of new Mercedes-Benz vehicles in Europe. The German company Westfalia Van Conversion also just recently launched an online program for sales of Mercedes-Benz camper vans.

DaimlerChrysler has been playing a pioneering role in the field of B2C for some time now. Back in December 1999, the ``Smart'' car became the first vehicle that customers could configure and order online. And in Europe, the Mercedes-Benz used vehicle exchange features a total of 50,000 vehicles from seven countries, all of which can be called up and ordered online.

In the future, DaimlerChrysler will be looking to exploit Web- based technology to improve the efficiency of its entire sales and marketing operation. Company web sites are to be upgraded with a range of innovative features, thereby providing customers with much more rapid access to products, services and information.

In the U.S., the Chrysler Group has established a network of its best dealers - the so-called five star dealers - which provides both customers and dealers with direct access to relevant information on products and services.

When it comes to competitiveness, networking within the company itself also plays a vital role. With this in mind, DaimlerChrysler has widened the scope of its B2E (business to employee ) activities. Today, almost every company employee can be contacted via the Internet. At the same time, employees can use the DaimlerChrysler Intranet to access over a million pages of services and information in the company's ``Knowledge Base''. Services featured include insurance plans, vehicle reservations and travel packages.

Telematics, the use of computer and telecommunications technology to provide intelligent transportation management systems, will generate a whole new range of services for passenger cars as well as significantly improving those already on offer. DaimlerChrysler has been setting the technological standards in the field of telematics for quite a number of years now. Examples of company milestones in this sector include the creation of the world's first ever comprehensive transport management system - ITGS (intelligent traffic guidance system) in Tokyo - and DynAPS (Dynamic Autopilot System) for the German autobahn network.

Networking also has immense potential in the commercial vehicle sector - in areas such as fleet management, remote maintenance and intelligent logistics. Fleetboard, a fleet-management systems already available in Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles, is enjoying a high level of customer acceptance and is helping the company take on a leading role in this sector.

At DaimlerChrysler, Internet access in the vehicle is a reality. In the U.S., for example, every new Mercedes-Benz passenger car will be provided with access to selected information from the Internet as a standard feature next year. The vehicles will also be equipped with services such as roadside assistance, the ``e- Call'' emergency response system, concierge services, stolen vehicle theft tracking and web based information services.

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