Peugeot Speeds Ahead With IBM ServiceAfterSales For Improved Customer Service And Reduced Warranty Costs

New Diagnostics Zoom In On Case Histories For Every Auto Tested

NEW ORLEANS, LA -- (INTERNET WIRE) -- 01/29/2002 -- NADA TRADE SHOW -- IBM, the world’s largest computer company, and Peugeot, the second-largest European car maker, today announced the launch of a next-generation Internet-based remote diagnostic solution. The server-based, call-center technology breaks new ground by enabling accurate diagnostics that use precise engineering content and bill-of- material knowledge against each vehicle’s individual case history.



The e-diagnostics solution from IBM ServiceAfterSales* and Peugeot allows up-to-the-minute, complete diagnostics performance with pinpoint accuracy. Customers worldwide will be able to drive into any Peugeot dealership and have their individual vehicles accurately diagnosed in moments, thus reducing warranty costs and improving customer satisfaction.



Developed by IBM’s Global Services, IBM Product Lifecycle Management and Peugeot teams, this solution, e-diagnostics and Tele-Assistance, uses the latest advances in Internet technology, telephony and off-board servers to diagnose and repair vehicles efficiently and accurately.



Since 1999, the Tele-Assistance solution, jointly developed and implemented between IBM and Peugeot, has allowed Peugeot to diagnose and repair 90% of their cars within four hours, and 80% of their cars within a day, rather than days. Presently, the Tele-Assistance solution is supporting a multiplexed vehicle population of 1.5 Million worldwide.



“This system is placing Peugeot in the lead for multiplexed and complex vehicle diagnostics. As a result, Peugeot’s dealership network is under stable service quality and control. Our production of multiplexed cars is at 8,000 per day, causing this vehicle population to increase rapidly. e-diagnostics will allow us to keep vehicle service in control worldwide,” said Jean-Philippe Fournier, Technical Director, Parts and Service for Peugeot. “We want our customers to come to us to service their vehicles, and, when they do, we want to provide the highest level of customer satisfaction that is attainable.”



The e-diagnostics solution is straightforward. Peugeot technicians connect the customer’s vehicle to the central diagnostics server via the Internet, a connection that communicates with the vehicle’s individual Intelligent Command Gateway, under the French acronym “BSI”. The server can then automatically determine the cause of the problem or lead the technician through an optimized list of tests to run. The solution also takes a data "snapshot" of the vehicle and creates a record of the fault codes and symptoms observed as well as the steps taken to repair them. Should the problem reappear anywhere else in the world, the rules and case-based reasoning solution self-learns and provides a fix automatically.



Today, Peugeot cars use a central gateway “BSI”, three local area networks and up to 30 programmable controllers. e-diagnostics has become the only option to diagnose and reprogram such systems.



e-diagnostics enhances the value of the Tele-Assistance center, which supports Peugeot dealers worldwide in more than 25 languages with systematic remote control of a vehicle.



"IBM is the only company in the world that can provide solutions to manage a product's lifecycle from initial design throughout maintenance and operation,” said Alan A. Chakra, Director, IBM ServiceAfterSales Solutions. “Also, this capability will be critical for many more complex products, such as trucks, heavy equipment and aircraft, which often have lifecycles of more than 50 years.”



IBM ServiceAfterSales solutions have attractive payoffs for manufacturers. Actual results achieved by manufacturers with these solutions include double-digit reduction in warranty expenses, significant reductions in labor costs, double-digit increases in parts and service business after warranty and significant reductions in the time needed to solve complex repair problems.



The Peugeot Tele-Assistance solution won the Gold Award for innovation at the Equip’Auto show in Paris. This award was based on votes from the show committee, members of the media and those in attendance for the solution’s innovative, first-of-a kind qualities.



About IBM

IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with more than 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. IBM creates, develops and manufactures the industry's most advanced information technologies, including computer systems, software, networking systems, storage devices and microelectronics. The fastest way to get more information about IBM is through the IBM home page, at www.ibm.com.

About PSA

PSA Peugeot Citroen is the world’s sixth-largest automobile manufacturer, with more than 5.4 % of the global market and the strongest growth of any broadline carmaker in 2001. For more information, please visit PSA’s home page at www.psa.fr.

* IBM and IBM ServiceAfterSales are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. IBM ServiceAfterSales solutions integrate design, engineering and production with service and after sales business processes.