Toyota Motor Europe improves the process to manage quality concerns through developing a new PAN-E system

Ensuring the best vehicle quality is at the centre of Toyota DNA. Hence, in Toyota they are constantly striving for new Kaizens / improvements to their processes to apply rapid vehicle quality improvements to concerns raised from the customers.

Due to the many markets involved in Europe, Toyota needed to create a central system taking into account some market needs like local languages, vehicle data, and their dealership structures.

Cegeka was selected to implement the new system in record time with the combination of a low-code platform and an agile approach to the project. Nabeel Sakkaf, IT Manager at Toyota Motor Europe, tells us more about the impact of the project.

Time for a central system to raise quality concerns and seek support

As Nabeel explains: “Previously the markets would escalate problems they couldn’t solve to us, this system was less efficient from market perspective because each one used its own system to manage quality concerns locally. We knew that if all could use a central system, we would have a more accurate understanding of some of the problems and minimise duplication. We also realized this would allow us to significantly reduce the time needed to solve problems and address customer issues faster. That’s how we came up with the idea of developing the Central Quality System (CQS) – a system designed to improve the process to manage quality concerns from the markets.”

The Toyota project team started conceptualizing the system and decided to develop it in a low-code platform. Nabeel explains: “We realized that we needed a case management system with flexible and visual workflow capability. It required integrations to different existing TME systems to retrieve information and make it available to the case handlers. The Outsystems low code platform ticked all the boxes and allowed easy access to digital experiences for web and mobile usage.”

Toyota contacted for the proposal & quotation multiple IT vendors. Cegeka was selected for their emphasis on quality in their software development process. 

PAN-E solution for our European markets and dealerships

The implementation of CQS in OutSystems began in August 2021 and finished in February 2022. Nabeel looks back on the project with satisfaction: “From my perspective as IT manager, the project was executed successfully on time and budget. Working together with Cegeka was at times intense but easy at the same time. We were in close contact throughout with their management to ensure risks and concerns are addressed. Cegeka’s business analysts and developers were experienced and they supported us as part of a close-knit Agile team. The solution architect was excellent at designing the right solution, and the Cegeka project manager did an outstanding job of monitoring risks.”

The new application was rolled out in two pilot markets in March of 2022. As a result, the old application was then phased out in those markets. Nabeel explains: “Now the engineers at the dealerships can enter any issues they encounter on their mobile devices, eliminating the need to physically return to their desks to do so. We learned a lot from the introduction of CQS in the pilot markets, and we are now in the process of launching the full rollout in other countries. We aim to have switched to CQS in 10 markets by March 2023. Ultimately, the application is expected to interconnect all our European countries.”

"Ultimately, the application is expected to interconnect all our European countries."

Nabeel Sakkaf, IT Manager at Toyota Motor Europe

Doing more with less

Cegeka followed an agile approach to software development to enable the team to work quickly and flexibly. Because a low-code platform like OutSystems enables even faster software development, the team needed to fine-tune the agile processes. Nabeel notes: “The Cegeka team was noticeably smaller than a more conventional development team, which is a good example of one of the many advantages of a low-code platform. Delivery happened quickly as part of this agile approach.”