Pre-Delivery Inspection (PDI) – A one-stop Solution
Formel D uses structured concepts for pre-delivery inspections to support manufacturers with their upstream fleet management. At specially equipped sites, the service provider processes vehicles for internal delivery. This ensures that they are in perfect technical and optical condition at all times while taking the manufacturer’s guidelines into account.
Within the Aftersales product division, Formel D develops individual solutions as part of vehicle management and implements them, partly in the form of PDI concepts. As a competent partner with long years of experience, Formel D is also responsible for tasks such as the processing of new vehicles for internal delivery with precisely scheduled deadlines. Besides the passenger automobiles leased by employees, this also includes the fleet vehicles and the transporting of them to their destination as part of vehicle logistics.
- Comprehensive support & transparent documentation
Implementation of the PDI Concept
To be able to provide the customers with the capacities they need directly on site, Formel D reacts quickly, for example providing project-specific teams made up of highly qualified personnel and also supplying the necessary areas if required. In this way, the service provider routinely implements international quality standards as part of PDI. The concept includes numerous spaces in which Formel D carries out the pre-delivery inspection of the vehicles according to a standardized and well-structured procedure. In addition, PDI areas possess complex equipment that includes tailor-made systems enabling the quality inspectors to carry out detailed pre-delivery inspection. Also, in coordination with the customer, expanded scopes of work such as the installation of accessories are carried out as part of sophisticated individualization measures.
Formel D uses the kanban method from the field of inventory management to control the processes. This makes it possible to adapt the procedures used in vehicle inspection to meet the specifications of the manufacturer. One of the fundamental elements of kanban is flexible warehousing with free spaces alongside production to actively prevent bottlenecks. “These alternative areas for a large number of vehicles correspond with a lead time of over half a week” is how Stefan Herrmann, project employee at Formel D, describes the peculiarities of the method. In contrast to the procedure followed by centrally controlled systems, the experts do not define the inventory beforehand here, instead realizing the project through flexible handling that meets the demand on the basis of sound process structures.
- The customer is able to follow the progress of our work at all times.
Intelligent Synergies & Transparant Documentation
At the same time, the system enables large volumes to be realized while complying with consistently high quality standards. On arrival, the vehicles are given an order card enabling the online-based system to register the status at each station, update data records automatically every 30 seconds and constantly reflect the progress of the work. By means of the user-friendly interface, authorized persons such as vehicle fleet managers on the customer side as well as the Formel D employees involved in the project access the network to gain information on the current state of processing of the vehicle in question.
“The customer is able to follow the progress of our work at all times. All those involved therefore have the same level of knowledge, allowing more transparency and improving communication,” says Heiko Amma, Project Manager at Formel D, explaining the added value for the customer that results from the kanban method. The high safety standards of the software reliably safeguard the sensitive data involved.
Formel D contributes a wide range of know-how from different product segments to this project. In addition to their expertise in technical documentation, vehicle technology and logistics, the experts make use of their experience in the fields of training and quality assurance. The dense network of Formel D sites leads to synergy effects allowing a flexible exchange of competence and material. “It is important for us to only work with qualified expert personnel such as mechanics, car body builders and automotive body painters,” Stefan Hermann explains. “This tried-and-tested procedure maintains our high quality standard throughout all processes and responsibilities.” The experts accompany all work steps, receiving the vehicles, carrying out a detailed electrical and mechanical check and mounting attachments and accessories. After the technical pre-delivery inspection and prior to final acceptance, one last external inspection takes place in which the paint is expertly reconditioned. After this, the experts hand over the vehicles according to the just-in-time method in order that lean processes can generate free capacities for the customers.