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As one of the leading manufactu rers of industrial off-road machinery and vehicles in the

world, Komatsu’s operations are vast, spanning multiple continents and divisions. Komatsu

Europe International (KEISA) manages operations and sales for Komatsu’s construction and

mining interests in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. About 90 percent of Komatsu’s

production takes place on a bu ilt-to-order basis, which makes high-performance IT c apable

of su pporting mac hine orders, parts distribu tion and warranty administration worldwide an

However, the 15-year-old mainframe-based warranty application that supported three of the

com pany ’s four European fac tories had reached the end of its life c ycle. So KEISA set ou t in

searc h of a robust new warranty and claims solu tion that could enhance the acc uracy and

quality of data gathered during the claims process while strengthening collaboration across

Komatsu’s various divisions. The existing m ainframe application was only available to KEISA’s

internal users so business with external dealers, distributors and suppliers had to be handled

manu ally. The company mailed/faxed c laims to data-entry c ompanies who then entered this

information into the system , a time-consuming process that often left dealers and

distributors unsatisfied. Clearly , KEISA needed to modernize its laborious paper claims

processes. This would ensure m ore efficient and reliable claims entry and approval proc esses,

resulting in lower costs associated with human error and inefficiencies. To make it happen,

the earthmoving equipment leader made its m ove to EDS.

To develop a centralized, streamlined applic ation for the After Sales & Warranty group, KEIS A

service managers across all four European factories had to agree on a common set of business

processes. EDS then conduc ted an arc hitecture study to help define the requirements for the

Strengthening distributor satisfaction via

Innovative .NET architecture helps cut costs and power productivity

A new claims and warranty system relying on .NET architecture helped one of the world’s leading construction equipment companies

complete its transition from an outdated mainframe infrastructure to a next-generation enterprise environment.

complicated task of implement ing busines s

so lut ion as the front-end system fo r the

migratio n. ED S also integrated Microsoft’s

Biztalk 2004 business rule engine into t he

Driven by KEISA’s cost-cutting v ision and need for greater functionality, EDS

recommended implementing the new application using Microsoft .NET

technology . When designing the new architecture, EDS customized a reusable set

of components specifically to KEISA’s needs, enhancing the best that was already

available in EDS’ proven portfolio. The team chose a phased approach to

application development and implemented the solution in four six-week phases.

This allowed key users the opportunity to test the application at each stage and

make recommendations in order to ensure optimum usability.

With user bu y-in sec ured, EDS installed the new warranty application on

Komatsu’s central servers, transitioning all four fac tories and the entire

Komatsu operation from an aging mainframe environment to a next-generation

“It is a big step to move from a mainframe screen to a .NET screen,” says Chris

Borremans, general manager of Eu ropean IT at KEISA. Indeed, a one-week

training program to acclimate independent distributors convinced KEISA service

managers that the applic ation was fool-proof, and with that, the application went

“We shut down the mainframe in Vilvoorde on February 1, 2005,” continu es Chris

Borremans. “In the meantime we hav e also completed the data conversion and

Although the rollout to dealers and distributors is ongoing, many can already

access and process claims in the warranty application fast and flawlessly from

anywhere at any time. In addition, every thing from machine delivery and

inspection to dam aged part return and claims collection is stream lined and

centralized. As a result, the company has been able to significantly increase

supplier recharge for damaged parts and better evaluate the validity of

claims – both of whic h contribute direc tly to K EISA’s bottom line.

What’s more, better quality claims data provide an important resource for service

improvement that was not possible with the mainframe solution.

Today, the best-in-class application supports sales and distribu tion for more than

150,000 machines, 2 million parts and 300,0 00 claims, not to mention more than

300 dealers and distributors who will soon enjoy effortless access to KEISA’s

systems – ultimately strengthening Komatsu ’s relationship with this market and

ED S a n d th e ED S l o g o a re r e g is te r e d tr a d e m ar k s o f E l ec t ro n i c Da t a Sy st e m s Co r p o r a t io n . A l l o t h e r b r an d o r p r o d u ct n a m e s a re t r ad e m a r k s

o r re g i st e r ed m a r k s o f t h e i r r e sp e ct i ve o wn e rs. ED S is an e q u a l o p p o r tu n i t y e m p l oy e r a n d va l u e s th e d i ve r si ty o f i ts pe o p l e . Co p y r ig h t © 2 0 06

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