Asia PacificOne certification engine for five dealer-quality programmes across Asia-Pacific
The regional HQ's dealer certification ran on Excel macros on one staff member's PC, so every new programme, market or Office update put it at risk. We compared the options, designed for the people who would run it, and replaced the macros with a serverless cloud service. It now issues certificates, sends reminders and produces reports automatically, and has run under a managed-service SLA for more than three years.
programmes on one engine
Dealers across around 10 distributor markets in scope
- Client
- Regional HQ of a Japanese automotive OEM
- Users
- Regional HQ, distributors in around 10 markets, 1,000+ dealers
- Scope
- Process redesign · Build · Go-live · Managed service
- Timeline
- 2022 proposal → 2023 go-live → Run & Kaizen 2024–
- Team
- Consultants, bilingual bridge engineers, AWS engineers
Re-certification cycle tracked with automatic reminders and expiry notices
Local installations: no dependence on PC, OS or Office versions
In continuous operation under a managed-service SLA
Certification depended on one laptop and a handful of macros
The regional HQ runs several programmes that check whether dealers meet the brand's standards for service quality and body & paint work. Distributors in each market send in evaluation sheets. The regional HQ combines them, issues certificates to the dealers that pass, and reports to its global headquarters.
All of this ran on three Excel macro tools on one staff member's PC: one combined the sheets, one wrote the emails, one created the certificates. As more programmes and more markets were added, the setup became fragile. And the three-year re-certification cycle had not started for most programmes.
Fragile environment
Every Windows or Office update, and every new PC, put the tools at risk.
Vendor for every change
A new dealer, a new signature or a new evaluation item each needed manual changes to the macros.
Errors nobody could trace
Problems depended on the local machine, so they were hard to reproduce and slow to fix.
Compare the options honestly, then build for the people who will run it
We started by setting out what would change over the next few years: new dealers, new signatories, new evaluation items, staff turnover and PC replacements. We then scored three options against those changes before choosing one.
| Criteria | Cloud managed service | Excel macro | Macro + RPA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maintainability (dealers, e-signatures, staff handover) | ●●● | ● | ● |
| Operational constraints on staff PCs | ●● | ●● | ● |
| Manual effort and speed of fixing errors | ●●● | ● | ●● |
| Predictable recurring cost | ●● | ? | ? |
Fit-Gap
- Reverse-engineered the macro logic
- Mapped 5 programmes × cert / re-cert
- Compared options and ROI
Redesign
- Standardised evaluation sheets with built-in validation
- Certificate and email templates
- Data model and microservice flow
Build & go-live
- Serverless pipeline on AWS
- Migration and user acceptance testing
- Upload SOP and regional HQ training
Managed run
- SLA-based support log
- Kaizen: automated dealer code changes
- Planned runtime upgrades
From something that keeps people up at night to a service they rarely think about
The goal was never just to automate certificates. We wanted the regional HQ to own a process that keeps working when people, PCs and programmes change.
From certificate engine to an end-to-end evaluation platform
With the engine stable, we are now working with the regional HQ on the next stage, running the whole cycle in one app, from the dealer's self-assessment to regional KPIs. The existing certificate engine stays as it is, which keeps the cost and risk of the change low.
Dealer self-assessment
Mobile checklists with photo evidence, saved drafts and automatic tagging by quarter.
Review and approval
Distributor review, send-back and regional HQ approval, all recorded in an audit trail.
Certify and visualise
The existing engine issues certificates. The data feeds regional KPI dashboards in Power BI.
How we can help with a similar problem
Business Applications
Applications for processes that still run on spreadsheets and email, such as certification, warranty and approvals, built once and shared across the region.
ExploreManaged Services
SLA-based operation, monitoring and modernisation, so the platforms your region depends on keep delivering long after go-live.
ExploreRelated work
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