ŠKODA AUTO

CATALOGcreator® in Rally Sport

Thanks to CATALOGcreator®, the software for electronic spare parts catalogs, ŠKODA Fabia R5 rally cars now hit the road much faster even after an unscheduled pit stop. With the new spare parts catalog, ŠKODA AUTO offers both easy spare part identification or ordering and extensive assembly and repair instructions.

Company

ŠKODA is one of the oldest carmakers in the world. The company, founded as early as 1895, is now a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG. ŠKODA has 20,000 employees in its Czech main production plant in Mladá Boleslav near Prague. The little Bohemian town is also home to ŠKODA's central administration.

ŠKODA – Winner in Rally Sport

ŠKODA's rally history looks back on over 115 years of success. It was the early models still manufactured by Laurin & Klement, a carmaker later to become ŠKODA AUTO, that first started at car races on dirt roads at the beginning of the 20^th century. In 1936, the first ŠKODA car took part in the Monte Carlo Rally and immediately made it to the podium in its class. In 1977, the ŠKODA 130 RS made a spectacular double win at the Monte Carlo Rally in the 1,300cc class. In the four-wheel drive class, ŠKODA has won close to 50 international and national titles, including consecutive wins of the FIA Asia-Pacific World Rally Championship (APRC) and the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC). The latest title won on a ŠKODA by Team Fabian Kreim & Frank Christian in 2017 was that of the German Champion at the German Rally (DRM).

Initial Situation

Since the previous project for the Fabia S2000 racing car only included a PDF spare parts catalog, customers had to write down all part numbers and article names and send them to ŠKODA. The ŠKODA Fabia S2000 is the further development of the road car. This model made its debut race at the Monte Carlo Rally in 2009.

Requirements

For the Fabia R5 rally car, the successor of the Fabia S2000, ŠKODA wanted to provide a completely new and much more comfortable solution for spare part orders. It was particularly important for ŠKODA to have an interactive and customizable new spare parts catalog with more information that would offer the best service for part identification and orders to their customers.

Solution

At the end of 2014, ŠKODA AUTO decided in favor of the CATALOGcreator® solution. With the software, the company creates an extensive spare parts catalog that can also be used as an assembly instruction. This offers customers the huge benefit that they know exactly how to exchange the ordered spare parts and can apply numerous changes and settings to the car themselves. The catalog also includes the necessary documents and manuals with further important information on the racing car. The first version of this service information system for the Fabia R5 was made available to the customers in March 2016. The customer catalog is updated on a monthly basis.

Experience and Outlook

Yet it is not only customers who use the service information system but also some internal departments already benefit from access to central information. For instance, linking CATALOGcreator® to internal systems significantly streamlined the supply of parts from the warehouse for the construction of rally cars. The next goal is to integrate the catalog deeper with the production process. Production will then also benefit from easy access to the manifold information available in the catalog.

Conclusion

Collaboration with TID Informatik has been outstanding. TID has reacted fast and flexible to the change requests regarding the application. CATALOGcreator®'s definite benefits include streamlined spare parts ordering and faster order processing for the customers and an accelerated spare part supply from the warehouse. On the whole, ŠKODA are extremely satisfied with the project.