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Letter to the Editor

BASF VisionPLUS OnLine Business Consulting Now Available Across North America

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. -- VisionPLUS OnLine, BASF's Web-based business analysis toolset, has completed comprehensive field testing and will now be available to BASF customers throughout North America at VisionPLUS.

VisionPLUS OnLine is the newest component of BASF's "eBusiness Toolbox" to be made commercially available to the collision repair industry. It follows the introduction, in March 2000, of bodyshopmall.com, the industry's first transactional eCommerce website, and the release of BASF's Web-enabled SmartTrak2 color management system in the spring of 2001. ColorSourceMall.com, offering on-line services for customers of BASF ColorSource jobbers, went live this September. A new microsite provides information on these industry-leading BASF eBusiness tools, including VisionPLUS OnLine.

"This is the first-and only-personalized business consulting tool of its kind in the industry," explained Guy Bargnes, Director of Marketing for BASF's Automotive Refinish Regional Business Unit. "With VisionPLUS OnLine, you can enter your shop's data and explore hundreds of benchmarking options, best practices, and planning tools, all customized to your own operation," said Bargnes. "It's a set of professional tools that a shop can use every day to measure and improve its operations and plan long-term financial strategies."

VisionPLUS OnLine gives shop owners and managers a wide array of functions and business analysis resources. The "FirstStep Profile", for example, provides the shop owner with an instant "snapshot" of the shop's profitability situation, and recommends "early win" improvements. The "Management Checklists" section provides nearly 200 "Industry Best Practices" in eleven shop management categories. The "Monthly Reports" section uses the shop's monthly financial data to generate analyses, progress reports, industry comparisons, and key performance indicators.

The "Cycle Time Analysis and Reduction Program" (CTARP) has been greatly enhanced as a result of field trials, and now enables daily tracking of each vehicle in the shop. At the end of every business day, the shop owner can simply point-and-click to see the status of each vehicle, including the reasons for any delays. "This ability to spot specific bottlenecks is an extremely powerful tool", said Bargnes. "It allows a shop owner to correct problems and speed up cycle times in ways that were never possible before." The CTARP function is one of a dozen features included in BASF's business patent application for the VisionPLUS OnLine system.

Despite its advanced features, VisionPLUS OnLine has been designed for easy use. "If you can use a computer mouse, you can use VisionPLUS OnLine to improve your operation," said Bargnes. Another important element of the entire VisionPLUS program is the expertise of BASF's Business Development Managers (BDMs), who support users of VisionPLUS OnLine with on-site and on-line business consulting services.

Rich Leenstra, Director of Sales for BASF's Automotive Refinish Regional Business Unit, sees VisionPLUS OnLine as a value-added tool that benefits BASF as well as its shop customers. "The more successful our BASF shop customers are, the more paint BASF sells," observed Leenstra. "VisionPLUS OnLine gives every shop the potential to realize immediate improvements in its productivity and profitability, and that's clearly in the best interest of both parties."

According to Bargnes, VisionPLUS OnLine is a vital element in BASF's eBusiness strategy. "We are committed to leading the industry in leveraging Internet technology to help collision repair businesses be more profitable," said Bargnes. "VisionPLUS OnLine is perhaps our most powerful and important eBusiness innovation to date, and it represents substantial added value to any shop that uses our refinish systems."

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