A Lancashire-based car dealer group is spearheading an environmental drive to make all its processes paperless; and has already eliminated all but 95% of its paper transactions and communications.
Family-owned Bowker Motor Group’s paperless mission was pioneered by the group’s sales team in their BMW and MINI centres in Blackburn and Preston. The company’s aftersales department has now followed their lead in going completely paperless. The remaining departments will soon follow suit.
The paper-free changes means that the customer experience at Bowker is now completely digital – using computer screens and tablets to share information. The information is then stored securely and digitally instead of as physical documents.
Stewart Rose, Bowker Group service manager, said: “With the introduction of paperless processes, we all learned to adapt the way we work. It didn’t take long for the benefits to all staff and customers to become clear. Digitised documents are much easier to search for and find. It’s speeding all our processes up, too. All our transactions are now completed on tablets.”
Bowker Motor Group has partnered with Keyloop to introduce new paperless processes. Keyloop provides dealer management systems in over 90 countries. Its technology connects over 250,000 product users and 18,000 retail sites. The secure open platform links retailers, manufacturers, partners, and customers to provide a seamless automotive retail and service experience.
In addition to the improved customer experience Bowker’s paperless drive is delivering other business benefits too. Digital storage saves space and time, boosts security and helps the environment. Manufacturing paper products produce greenhouse gases, causing deforestation and global warming.
Stewart Rose adds: ““Our new paperless processes help continue our company’s commitment to the environment. We also monitor how we recycle packaging and waste; conserve energy and use more electric vehicles – it all adds up! The energy crisis and Global climate emergency has encouraged us to focus on what all businesses need to do to make a difference.”
Bowker Motor Group’s long-held environmental focus began more than 15 years ago when they recycled glass, cardboard and even rubber tyres to be reconstituted for re-use including flooring for children’s playgrounds.
10 years ago Bowker BMW in Blackburn installed 206 new solar panels on the roof of the dealership. Since the five-figure installation, the panels have delivered CO2 savings estimated at almost 500 tonnes. That amount is equivalent to the amount of carbon sequestered by 80,000 trees grown from seedlings during the same time.
