François Chung, Ph.D.

Tag: fleet management

Miles configuration training

Miles configuration training

Sofico training, Belgium (2016). This internal classroom training consists in a four-week (15 days) session that focuses on the most common configuration aspects of Miles, which is a scalable, adaptive and flexible end-to-end software for automotive finance, leasing, fleet and mobility management. The training focuses on the hands-on aspects of configuring a Miles environment and attempts to closely match a real life Miles implementation by means of several use cases.

Week 1

Main topics:

  • Recurring configuration items;
  • Vehicle management;
  • Products and pricing.

Week 2

Main topics:

  • Products and pricing;
  • Relation management;
  • Quoting;
  • Workflow.

Week 3

Main topics:

  • Contract management;
  • Vehicle ordering and delivery;
  • Third party service management;
  • Accounting and invoicing;
  • Incident management;
  • Short-term rental.

Week 4

Main topics:

  • Repair, maintenance and tires;
  • Contract modification;
  • Contract termination;
  • Vehicle sale;
  • Document management.

References

Related articles

Miles software (Sofico project)
Miles functional training (Sofico training)

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VWFS México

VWFS México

Sofico project @Puebla, Mexico (2015). In this project, we are gathering and analyzing both business processes and requirements expressed by Volkswagen Financial Services (VWFS) México for the implementation of Miles, which is a flexible software for automotive finance, leasing, fleet and mobility management. This requirement gathering and analysis (RGA) phase is a necessary step to determine the needs, or conditions to meet, for a customized implementation of Miles in Mexico.

In practice, the RGA phase consists in workshops in which both gaps and possible conflicting requirements of the various stakeholders are taken into account, analyzing, documenting, validating and managing business requirements. At VWFS México, main stakeholders are the different departments (e.g. pricing, IT, cash collection and accounting), as well as Volkswagen headquarters. As for the requirements, they are not only driven by stakeholders, but also by market needs and legal aspects specific to Mexico.

During the workshops, Sofico and Volkswagen met to discuss business processes in various functional domains, such as:

  • Accounting;
  • Contract management;
  • Credit scoring;
  • Incident management;
  • Invoicing;
  • Products and pricing;
  • Quoting;
  • Relation management;
  • Repair, maintenance and tires;
  • Vehicle ordering and delivery.

Within the team of software implementation consultants, my role consists in discussing, clarifying and taking note of the requirements expressed during the workshops by the various stakeholders with respect to their business processes. These requirements are then analyzed and documented at the office and finally validated through video conference with the stakeholders.

References

Related article

Miles software (Sofico project)

Learn more

Miles
VWFS México – Volkswagen Financial Services
Sofico

Miles functional training

Miles functional training

Sofico training, Belgium (2015). This internal classroom training consists in a five-day session that focuses on the main functional procedures in Miles, which is a scalable, adaptive and flexible end-to-end software for automotive finance, leasing, fleet and mobility management. This training given to new Miles users explains how to manage the entire lifecycle of contracts and provides high-level information about the major functional domains by combining theory and exercises.

Day 1

Main topics:

  • Introduction;
  • Relation management.

Day 2

Main topics:

  • Relation management;
  • Quotations.

Day 3

Main topics:

  • Vehicle order and delivery;
  • Contract activation;
  • Third-party services;
  • Incident management.

Day 4

Main topics:

  • Short-term rental;
  • Maintenance and periodic servicing;
  • Incoming invoicing;
  • Customer billing;
  • Payment management;
  • Contract modification.

Day 5

Main topics:

  • Contract termination;
  • Vehicle sale;
  • Business process (workflow);
  • Document management.

References

Related articles

Miles software (Sofico project)
Miles configuration training (Sofico training)

Learn more

Miles software

Miles software

Sofico project @Ghent, Belgium (2015). Miles is a flexible end-to-end software for automotive finance, leasing, fleet and mobility management provided by Sofico. Main customers are leasing companies, car brands and banks. Software delivery projects consist of several phases: preparation, definition (i.e. analysis of the requirements), implementation (i.e. translation of requirements into a solution), system integration and user acceptance testings, go-live and post go-live.

In practice, Miles handles complex business processes and activities, as well as particular and often unique requirements in terms of workflow, functionality and data exchange with other systems. Miles also offers frameworks for mobile use (Miles Mobile) and online use (Miles Web), as well as a business intelligence system (Miles BI).

Here are some of the lease industry-specific functionalities:

  • flexible product range (e.g. financial products, services, flex matrix);
  • on-board vehicle data, through an automated interface;
  • underwriting capabilities (e.g. credit scoring, self-funding, third-party funding);
  • contract management (e.g. dull contract history, mileage-based costing capability);
  • end of contract, with settlement options specific to the various products;
  • accounting (e.g. analytical follow-up, general ledger accounting, asset management);
  • fleet operator (e.g. price lists, flexible invoice rules, exceptions reporting);
  • car policy support, capturing the rules and budgets of the different fleet operators;
  • brokerage and commissions in case of indirect sales;
  • third-party service management.

As a Consultant in Software Implementation, my main tasks are related to both business consulting (e.g. functional analysis and reporting) and the technical aspects of Miles implementation (e.g. batch processing, interface, security, data mapping, testing).

References

Related articles

VWFS México (Sofico project)
Miles configuration training (Sofico training)
Miles functional training (Sofico training)

Learn more