Dealer Daily: Toyota's Communication Pipeline

Computerworld - For Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. CIO Barbra Cooper, the goal was simple: to build a new communications system to help dealers sell more cars and trucks.
Cooper's goal became a reality earlier this year when Torrance, Calif.-based Toyota Motor Sales formally introduced Dealer Daily, its Web-based dealer communications system. Its cost was not disclosed.
The new system, which replaces a legacy IBM AS/400 mainframe system, was developed over the past four years by Toyota's IT division, which is led by Cooper, in partnership with Microsoft Consulting Services, Dell Computer Corp. and WorldCom Inc. It was introduced and implemented over the last six months of 2001.
A Toyota spokeswoman said there has been no disruption in service since WorldCom declared bankruptcy, nor does the company expect to see any.
"The truth is that the bankruptcy filing will allow WorldCom to protect its assets and continue current services while it reorganizes its debt," said the spokeswoman. "While we have developed contingency plans, we are optimistic that Toyota Motor Sales will not experience any loss in phone calls or data transfers. We are monitoring the situation closely."
Before last year, "we had a dealer system that supported our Toyota and Lexus dealers that was developed over 20 years ago and had fundamentally not changed a lot over the years," Cooper says.
The old system handled basic factory communications between headquarters and dealerships for things like parts ordering and warranty claims. But everything else had to be done through regular mail, fax and telephone, Cooper says.
So Cooper decided she needed to enhance the company's ability to deliver and receive valuable information.
Enter Dealer Daily.
Designed to improve communications between the automaker and its 1,100 Toyota and Lexus dealers, the Internet portal has increased dealer productivity by nearly 70%, according to Toyota. Because of the new system, dealers spend less time at their computers and more time selling vehicles, Cooper says.
Toyota's Dealer Daily is a large, Windows-based virtual private network (VPN) that links the dealers' management systems to Toyota headquarters or to other business units around the clock. Dealer Daily lets dealers order parts, download sales and other company information, file warranty claims and manage financing and insurance for customers online, saving millions in printing and distribution costs, Cooper says.
And with the new system, dealers don't have to waste time keying the same information into their systems and then into Toyota's corporate communications system, Cooper said.
In order to integrate the retail side of the business with the corporate, Toyota turned