Quality and environmental initiatives at the Swedish Volvo and Renault stakeholder organizations were in need of improvement and the existing IT platform was out of date. “Had we not found a partner who could provide both an IT platform and training at the same time, our journey wouldn’t have been nearly as successful,” says Quality and Environmental Manager at Volvohandlarförreningen, John Nolebring.
The organizations comprise a nationwide network of dealers, with about 240 dealerships and just over 270 service workshops that sell, service and repair passenger cars, transport vehicles, trucks and buses from the brands Volvo, Renault and Dacia. The dealerships are independent companies that collaborate through Svensk Volvohandel and Svensk Renaulthandel, the Swedish Volvo and Renault stakeholder organizations.
“We are the interface between the company shareholders, intermediaries and other stakeholders. This results in financial savings and economies of scale for our member companies”, says John Nolebring, Quality and Environmental Manager at Svensk Volvohandel.
Group certification for environmental and quality initiatives, ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, is also key for Svensk Volvohandel and Svensk Renaulthandel. In addition to the many non-statutory supervisory bodies, the member companies must comply with numerous binding requirements from government agencies, intermediaries and insurance companies.
In need of a new platform
When John Nolebring was hired to head up the quality and environmental initiatives, he noticed that the existing IT solution lacked the functionality expected of a complete management system.
CANEA was selected as the new supplier. The partnership launched in January 2017, when the new CANEA ONE platform was implemented and configured for each dealership’s business. This coordination produced major gains in efficiency and finances. With a common system, none of the member companies have to invest in their own system support or administration, and they can share information with one another. A common management system has also improved the cost efficiency of audits, which are now faster and require less preparation.
“We chose CANEA ONE because the platform is scalable and adaptable. We use all of the modules and we have named the platform ‘Revolve:s’, to symbolize revolving around the strategy.”
A comprehensive training initiative
The common management system is used by around 50 different organizations/member companies, with over 230 locations and 7,700 users under one shared multisite certificate.
When the new system was introduced, a comprehensive training initiative was carried out and supplied entirely by CANEA. The training programs were all adapted to some extent to the business’ work with the management system for ISO 9001/14001, their other environmental initiatives, and their change management initiatives.
“CANEA helped us train everyone in our Group and company management. We’ve also trained all of the companies’ quality and environmental coordinators, as well as the internal auditors,” explains John Nolebring, adding,
“It’s been incredibly important for us to have a strong partner for training. Each dealership is an autonomous, entrepreneurial organization; it isn’t possible to say that precisely the same process needs to be carried out everywhere. When it comes to training, communication and developing support, we have to work together.”
Outcomes and factors for success
John Nolebring notes that key factors for success include having strong partners who you trust, and connecting with the right partners at every step of the development process. Another important factor for success is having a certification body with business-minded auditors. At the moment, that partner is C1 Certification.
“We’re incredibly pleased with CANEA. Had we not found a partner who could provide both modern IT support and training at the same time, our journey wouldn’t have been nearly as successful,” he says.
Common quality and environmental certification, quality and environmental coordination and a shared management tool have made the Volvo and Renault stakeholder organizations stronger, with improved cost efficiency.
“It’s much easier to share information and experiences with a common management system under a common group certificate. In addition, the conditions for ensuring sustainable development are much better,” concludes John Nolebring.
About Svensk Volvohandel
Volvohandlarföreningen is a stakeholder organization for around 50 Swedish Volvo, Renault and Dacia dealerships.
