When one talks about a DMS, people usually think about a document management system, a data management system, or even a destroyer mine sweeper. But very few people know that it’s also the acronym for “dealership management system,” which is a product or package of several products which is created specifically for the automotive industry.
The core of any DMS is a system similar to enterprise resource planning (ERP), with, however, specific characteristics for car manufacturing, distribution, spare parts inventory, and work order management. DMS packages often also include customer relationship management (CRM) and business intelligence (BI) solutions.
Two of the most important players in the DMS market started doing business toward the end of the nineteenth century: 1886 for Reynolds and Reynolds in the US and 1896 for Kalamazoo in the UK. Both started as printing companies and later turned to the automotive industry (Reynolds and Reynolds in 1927 and Kalamazoo in 1960).
In parallel, some dealerships tried to create their own management systems. I have exchanged e-mails with one such dealer, Tom Mautner. In the 70s, Mautner retained the services of a bright programmer, and created something that would help businesses overcome the disadvantages of existing solutions, which were often adaptations of existing software and not designed for the car retail industry. In addition, they only worked on very expensive and difficult-to-maintain computers.
After six months of hard work and testing, Mautner and his partner tried to sell the software to other dealers, without much success. Finally they decided to sell it to a company called VISitronic. Over the years, they continued developing the product as consultants, and in the 80s their product was one of the first PC-based DMSs available in Europe.
VISitronic was later acquired by Kalamazoo, which is now part of the Reynolds and Reynolds group—one of the biggest DMS providers in the world.
A major step in the evolution of DMS systems was the Block Exemption Regulation (BER), adopted by the European Union in 2002. Its main goal was to deregulate relationships between dealers and car manufacturers and to allow dealerships to freely market their services and reach customers in different geographic areas. As a result of the BER, the DMS market also became free, and therefore more competitive—diminishing the power of the few vendors that were controlling it.
The core of any DMS is a system similar to enterprise resource planning (ERP), with, however, specific characteristics for car manufacturing, distribution, spare parts inventory, and work order management. DMS packages often also include customer relationship management (CRM) and business intelligence (BI) solutions.
Two of the most important players in the DMS market started doing business toward the end of the nineteenth century: 1886 for Reynolds and Reynolds in the US and 1896 for Kalamazoo in the UK. Both started as printing companies and later turned to the automotive industry (Reynolds and Reynolds in 1927 and Kalamazoo in 1960).
In parallel, some dealerships tried to create their own management systems. I have exchanged e-mails with one such dealer, Tom Mautner. In the 70s, Mautner retained the services of a bright programmer, and created something that would help businesses overcome the disadvantages of existing solutions, which were often adaptations of existing software and not designed for the car retail industry. In addition, they only worked on very expensive and difficult-to-maintain computers.
After six months of hard work and testing, Mautner and his partner tried to sell the software to other dealers, without much success. Finally they decided to sell it to a company called VISitronic. Over the years, they continued developing the product as consultants, and in the 80s their product was one of the first PC-based DMSs available in Europe.
VISitronic was later acquired by Kalamazoo, which is now part of the Reynolds and Reynolds group—one of the biggest DMS providers in the world.
A major step in the evolution of DMS systems was the Block Exemption Regulation (BER), adopted by the European Union in 2002. Its main goal was to deregulate relationships between dealers and car manufacturers and to allow dealerships to freely market their services and reach customers in different geographic areas. As a result of the BER, the DMS market also became free, and therefore more competitive—diminishing the power of the few vendors that were controlling it.
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