Across all industries, organisations are faced with constant pressure to increase efficiency in order to compete in today's high standards. Insights and reporting play a key role in optimising processes by monitoring performance, holding accountability and finding paths for improvement.

However, creating a report usually requires managers to track down data from various sources, manually input it in a spreadsheet and run the necessary analyses before presenting the results in an easy-to-understand format.

For fleet- and claim managers who already have their hands full with their day-to-day activities, reporting is often a pain point: 59% of managers believe it takes them too much time, according to a survey by OnePoll. In addition to being inefficient and needing constant upkeep from the manager, this approach is error-prone as small input mistakes along the way can affect the data’s accuracy. It also offers no real-time insights into the repair process, limiting the manager’s control when something goes wrong.

Joining a digital ecosystem not only helps address the aforementioned issues, but also elevates data and reporting to a whole new level. By bringing together all the parties in car damage repair handling into one cohesive environment, a digital ecosystem centralises data from different sources into a platform, offers real-time insights into the repair process and allows for automated report creation. According to a McKinsey report, 46% of European insurers believe that becoming part of an ecosystem is a high priority.

What is an ecosystem?

Simply put, an ecosystem is a collection of services and channels working together towards a seamless experience. It is based on a holistic, user-centric approach that places the customer journey at the centre of the process.  A digital repair ecosystem brings together drivers, fleet- or claim managers and body repair shops in a digital environment that streamlines interactions between them.

How can a digital repair ecosystem improve data and reporting?

By streamlining interactions and enabling easy sharing of data between stakeholders, a digital repair ecosystem considerably improves managers’ access to data and the ease of creating reports. Specifically, it does so by centralising data collection, offering easy real-time updates and automating the reporting process.

Centralised data collection

One of the main benefits of a repair ecosystem is to centralise data from various stakeholders into one place. For example, once the driver uploads damage data, it is automatically shared with fleet- and claim managers as well as body repair shops, eliminating the need for repeated manual communication requesting the same information.

An ecosystem greatly improves access to external data. According to a report by Deloitte, 92% of professionals agree that their firms need to use more external data. By leveraging data from body repair shops and drivers in a digital ecosystem, managers can gain insights into aspects of repair handling that were previously difficult to measure within their organisation. For example, managers can now view the performance of individual body repair shops within the network and compare it to other repairers based on criteria such as average repair duration, cost or rating. This brings an added layer of intelligence and transparency to decision making.

Overall, a digital repair ecosystem expands the scope of the data available to each party and streamlines the data collection process by centralising information. As a result, the available data is more accurate and up-to-date, enabling fleet- and claim managers to make more informed decisions.

Real-time overview

Because data is centralised and updates are visible in real-time, a digital ecosystem offers a comprehensive overview of an organisation’s entire repair handling process. Previously, stakeholders had to reach out to one another manually to get updates about the repair. Now, an ecosystem eliminates the need for such coordination. For example, a body repair shop can notify drivers and managers that a vehicle is delayed in one click by updating its status in an online dashboard. Using that information, the fleet- or claim manager can adjust their handling of the repair accordingly, while the driver has a clear expectation of when their vehicle will be returned.

Not only does being part of an ecosystem free up stakeholders’ time by eliminating unnecessary calls and emails, it can also reduce costs and cycle times by empowering managers to intervene quickly whenever something needs their attention.

Further, keeping drivers up-to-date can help increase their satisfaction: a study by Mitchell International has shown that a customer who receives their vehicle a day late but is kept informed will be more satisfied than a customer who received it on time but was not updated during the process.

Automated reporting

By taking advantage of a repair ecosystem, fleet- and claim managers no longer have to manually log repair data in an Excel sheet. Instead, leading repair KPIs like cost and cycle time are automatically recorded for each repair and can be effortlessly presented in an easy-to-use digital dashboard. Compared to spreadsheets and PowerPoints, the data is dynamic, always up-to-date and can be customised to answer specific questions. For example, it can be filtered to focus on repair costs, cycle times, driver satisfaction or highlight individual body repair shop performance.

Because of the broad scope and large scale of the data, managers can see the big picture and make more informed decisions about their organisation’s repair handling, helping optimise costs, reduce cycle times and boost driver satisfaction. According to MIT Sloan, companies within an ecosystem experienced 27% higher revenue growth and 20% higher profit margins than their industry average.

Ecosystems reshape data and reporting

By centralising data, offering real-time insights and automating reporting, a digital repair ecosystem improves data analysis and reporting from every angle. Because data is shared, stakeholders can leverage each others’ input to enhance every step of the repair process. Errors are reduced by minimising manual data entry and analysis, and because information is updated in real-time, stakeholders get an immediate overview of the entire repair handling process. As a result, managers can intervene at a moment’s notice and adjust the process as needed, while drivers are kept informed about their vehicle’s repair thanks to automated notifications. Finally, reporting can be done with the click of a button, offering actionable insights to enable managers to make transparent, informed decisions.

Fixico offers managers the possibility to join a repair handling ecosystem that connects managers, drivers and body repair shops in entirely new ways. In 2020, companies taking part in Fixico’s repair ecosystem were able to decrease repair costs by 29% and cycle times by 33%.

Request a free demo and unlock the potential of digital ecosystems for your business!