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Key and Fleet Management
in Automotive Industry

ecos expertise in Key and Fleet Management for Automotive

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ecos key 80 at the award-winning Mercedes-Benz dealership in Moscow

ecos systems is a leading global manufacturer of electronic key cabinets and asset management systems. We support our customers in managing their assets securely, efficiently, and in a traceable manner.

From many years of experience with car dealerships, car manufacturers, and mobility providers worldwide, we know what matters to someone in the automotive industry. Essentially, ecos systems can support you, in the following three application areas, to make your processes more efficient and secure:

  1. For vehicle keys of new and used cars in car dealerships/ sales.
  2. For tools and work equipment in production/ development.
  3. For rental vehicles in car-sharing concepts

Our intelligent key management systems and motorised object management systems are already in use at over 200 automotive customers worldwide. In addition, to having worked with renowned car dealerships and development centers, we also serve car-sharing experts at international mobility hubs.

Key management for New and Used cars

In a car dealership, you are responsible for various tasks to maintain high-quality services. This goes hand in hand with a huge amount of organisational work: you have to accept new vehicles, plan tours and maintenance of demo and test cars, service customer vehicles when needed, and issue cars that have been successfully sold. This results in the accumulation of a large number of keys, almost similar in appearance, which makes its management even more challenging.

With intelligent key management systems from ecos, we support you in making your vehicle management simple, automatic, and absolutely traceable. You benefit on several levels: Your organisation becomes streamlined, your sales department is relieved, and your customer satisfaction is sustainably improved.

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This is how our key management supports your car dealership

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Gain Peace of Mind

At the organizational level, you benefit from a complete overview of all vehicle keys in one software. Seamlessly traceable key movements increase your employees’ sense of responsibility. Furthermore, you save costs by reducing the number of keys lost.

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Gain Time & Focus

Your sales team spends less time searching for keys and performing administrative tasks. Your employees focus entirely on customer service and increasing the quantity and quality of sales.
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Increase Sales & Profit

Customers always enjoy shorter waiting times for test drives or to get the best advice. With our key management solution, you can easily achieve this and build long-term, high-quality relationships with your customers, and thus more sales.

Functions of our key management that relieve your sales processes:

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History and Alarm overview via Web and App

Our user-friendly ecos Webman system software provides you with a complete history of all key movements in real-time. Accessible via the key cabinet, the web, or the app, it provides a complete overview of the inventory and activity in your vehicle fleet.

Irrespective of the time and place, your sales staff can always check who took which car key at what time, directly on their smartphone. The appropriate colleagues can be quickly and easily contacted and can better coordinate the vehicles needed at short notice.

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Intelligent identification of Vehicle Locations

In the large parking areas of your dealership, you always need to keep track of the locations of countless new, used, demo, and customer cars.

With the intelligent localization function of our electronic key cabinets, you get the exact location of your vehicle directly on the system when you remove the associated key. This saves you inconvenient search times during your customer meetings.

Our cloud-based web application also allows you to view the whereabouts of your vehicles autonomously. This way, you can manage the entire fleet of your car dealership with just one software.

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Insurance – compatible access for every Employee

Vehicles such as demo cars driven by employees or customers must be covered by your insurance policy. Sometimes this may even be required by law.

To do this, you must ensure that only insured employees can remove the vehicle keys for test and demo cars. You can implement this centrally and easily using our group-based access rights assignment in our web software.

The system logs the duration of the removal as well as the current user. For example, in the case of parking tickets, you can immediately track which employee was driving the car at the time in question. This also increases your employees’ sense of responsibility towards test drives.

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Interactive Screen Prompt on Return

Ideally, your dealership’s demo cars should be fully fueled, clean, and without defects before each test drive. However, because of the stress of everyday life, where one drive follows the next, the essential tasks are sometimes missed.

The interactive screen of our systems prompts your employees to enter vehicle-relevant data directly into the system when they return their keys. Tank fillings, mileage or even damages can be entered for vehicles and is then always available for overview.

Before booking a new test drive, you can view the current status of the desired vehicle in the web and app at any time and, if necessary, schedule a time for cleaning. You impress your customers by ensuring that your test vehicles are not only ready for use but are always available on time and in perfect condition.

Optimise workflow at the car dealership

The overall customer experience at your dealership contributes significantly to greater and better customer loyalty in the long term. For this, one thing counts above all: excellent and professional personal support.

You can improve this even further by digitizing and automating your recurring administrative processes. With the intelligent functions of our systems, you relieve your employees so that they can focus entirely on providing intensive advice to your customers.

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Automated Reception for Customer Service

As a vehicle expert, you are the trusted contact for your customers. We provide you with the latest technologies for the acceptance and return of vehicles that need servicing.

With our visitor terminal (and the ecos reception module), you enable your customers to drop off or pick up their vehicles for service purposes even outside your business hours.

To do this, your customer will only need to park his vehicle in your yard, deposit the key in the system and convey all the necessary data to you. You can even have your customers sign important documents directly on the touch display.

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Book Test Vehicles in the Outlook Calendar

Our booking system with Outlook integration allows you to reserve required vehicles quickly and easily. To do this, your employees simply create a new event in their usual calendar. When inviting your customers to a test drive, they directly book the corresponding vehicle.

The explicit reservation of vehicles prevents clashes between appointment bookings and ensures that the required vehicle is actually available. If appointments are postponed, the reservation is automatically moved to the new time.

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Integration with your DMS system

To simplify their workflow regarding data management, many car dealerships use DMS systems to automatically register new vehicles, license plates, etc. The web software of our electronic key cabinets and compartment systems can be easily integrated with well-known providers of such systems. By default, we use SOAP and REST protocols to implement integrations according to your individual wishes.

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Automated Reporting

Since you manage all-important fleet data in one place in our Webman, you can also automate reporting and evaluations. In freely definable time periods, you get all relevant data conveniently sent to you by e-mail. In addition, you can manually export all evaluations in various formats from the software at any time.

Stylish, elegant, highly secure – key management for all departments

Our burglar-proof systems are mostly made of high-quality, polished stainless steel. Visually, our key cabinets set noble highlights that discreetly and elegantly fit into the high-quality ambiance of your showroom.

With scratch-resistant and dirt-repellent material properties, our compact cabinets are also ideal for use in workshops and delivery areas.

ecos systems products are suitable for use in all departments of your dealership

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In Showroom

  • Elegant + High Quality Appearance
  • Customize with your logo
  • Transparent key removal in front of your customers
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In Workshop

  • Robust and scratch resistant
  • Dirt repellent material
  • Cross-system plug-in latches
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In Delivery Area

  • Space efficient – Ideal for narrow aisles
  • Burglar and theft-proof
  • Easily installations with just one cable

Object management for your production facility

As an important operation in the supply chain for vehicle production, you need to manage a variety of important work materials. In addition to the analog test documentation and records, this also includes laptops, tablets, radios, or smaller tools.

For these work materials, we offer automatically closing ecos drawer and depots. These can be equipped with weight, ID, or RFID recognition and an integrated charging function.

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Tools in an electronic locker

Tools and spare parts – Multi RFID recognition

Multiple RFID recognition in our compact ecos drawers is ideal for managing tools required for testing, measuring, etc. With this, up to four items can be recognized with 99% certainty in the same compartment. Since you do not have to pay attention to special markings, this method guarantees fast removal and return of the tools.

Multiple RFID detection can also be combined with weight detection. This is particularly suitable for the joint management of tools and similar spare parts such as screws or sockets. Optionally, individual foam inserts can also be made for special protection of your sensitive tools.

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Analog and Digital documents – ecos depot

In your development center, you need to manage highly sensitive documents in a way that is secure and protected from access. Our spacious ecos depots offer you the opportunity to store both analog and digital vehicle documents and test documentation in a traceable manner. The individual assignment of access rights ensures that only authorized employees have access to the various documents.

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Electronic devices – Charging Function

To ensure that your electronic devices are always ready for use, our ecos drawer and depots can be equipped with individual power connections. Different voltages of 5 V, 12 V, and 230 V offer the right connection for every device, from smartphones to radios.

When not in use, your data carriers and small devices are charged in the compartment and are available again the next day, fully ready for use. Integrated LED lights on the outside of the compartment show you the current charging status of the device even when the compartment is closed.

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Radio equipment and drill machine in ecos depot 1M with charging function
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Vehicle key with RFID tag in ecos drawer 1m/4
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Data carrier in ecos drawer 1m/2 with charging function

Integrated Key and Object Management

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The pictures of our customer show clearly how easy it is to combine ecos key management and asset management systems with each other. Since, both are managed together in one software, there is no additional administrative effort required.

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The compartment system is connected directly to the key cabinet via connector. Both systems are controlled via the common display.

Key Management for Car Sharing Providers

As a provider of rental cars, you are an expert in the shared use of vehicles in the sense of (corporate) car sharing. With our autonomous systems designed for intuitive handling, you enhance your customer experience to a new level.

Our asset management systems in combination with high-capacity communication terminals automate your issuing of vehicle keys and documents in public areas. We can even configure the number and size of individual compartments to meet your individual needs.

 Person removing the key from the electronic locker
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Elegant Design

The first impression is everything. That’s why our hardware systems are made of high-quality stainless steel with a premium look. Even the latest technologies such as 5 MP cameras, as well as microphones and speakers for the video chat options, are already smartly integrated into the burglar-proof design. This allows you to showcase your technological expertise at a very first glance.

With the interactive touch display, your customers can not only sign contracts but also enter relevant data. In standby mode, the screen can also be used individually to display your logo, explanatory video files, or images.

ecos visitor terminal in AVIS

Proven Usage in Public Areas

To create the best possible user experience for every customer, our systems are designed for ease of use and comprehension. Combined with state-of-the-art technologies such as interactive touch displays, they create a pleasant interaction with your customers.

The material quality of the systems also ensures long-term use in the public sector. Stainless steel resistant to scratches and viruses combines the highest functionality with premium design.

To ensure the security of the deposited vehicle keys, we have had our systems tested in accordance with DIN EN 1627 Burglar resistance. We have also deliberately avoided points of attack such as handles on the outside in order to prevent open or break attempts of our systems.

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Motorised compartments with RFID detection and external LED

The motorised drawer of our ecos specialist systems offers your customers a premium interaction experience with digital expertise. Acoustic and visual signals communicate every object’s movement to the user (in real-time).

Perfectly matched to the size of a vehicle key, the space-saving drawer offers a secure process for issuing reserved vehicle keys. The trays closes automatically after a predefined period of time, e.g. 5, 10 or 30 seconds. Thus, even if a user forgets to close the drawer, access by third parties to the stored vehicle keys is effectively prevented.

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QR code scan + Driver’s License check as Access Medium

Various authentication options ensure the safe and access-protected storage of your vehicle keys in our ecos compartment systems.

Via an integrated QR code reader in all our systems, your customer simply scans his/ her booking confirmation directly at the system. He/ her then enter important data on the interactive touch display and signs for the receipt of the key. The compartment system then automatically opens the compartment containing the vehicle key deposited for this customer.

By integrating a driver’s license check, you can also set up your locker system so that a valid driver’s license must be presented in order to open a locker. This way, you can always be sure that all your customers have a valid driver’s license before they start their journey.

Some of our Automotive Customers

AVIS – Digital Reservation

ecos drawer from ecos systems are used at several international airports for a globally operated vehicle rental company – AVIS. Our fully automated issuing system was connected to the existing reservation system of the company. The integration of the required bar code reader into our terminal also enabled bidirectional data transfer via SOAP.

Postnord – Mandatory Alcohol Testing

This customer in the logistics sector was looking for a uniform fleet management system for over 900 stations spread across the country. By connecting the mandatory alcohol test to all the systems, it became possible. Also, in this way, the company reliably complied with national safety regulations. All users now have up-to-date proof of their ability to drive at all times.

Contact us to Know More

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