Collaborative platform drives Mitsubishi's goals

Mitsubishi Automotive Engineering (MAE) was among the first companies in Japan to recognize the benefits of a collaborative knowledge management solution.

With an annual turnover of $335 million, MAE delivers products to the automotive, engineering and heavy-duty machinery industries, as well as to parts manufacturers around the world. Based in Tokyo, it's a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Motors.

Like all companies in the automotive industry, MAE faces huge information challenges, particularly regarding records management and regulatory compliance. The company wanted to find a new electronic system that would help not only manage its corporate knowledge but also facilitate its ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certification. ISO 9001 is a quality assurance model for manufacturers, and ISO 14001 relates to environmental management standards.

With the help of a Web-based collaborative e-business application, Livelink, from Open Text, MAE achieved ISO 9001 certification in 1999 and became ISO 14001-certified this year.

The new intranet solution enables MAE to access information that is created, compiled and ready-to-use online from a single browser. With its deployment enterprisewide, authorized users at nine locations throughout Japan can obtain corporate knowledge without leaving their desktops. With geographic barriers eliminated, employees can connect online in projects as virtual teams, promoting efficiency and innovation.

Through the use of the collaborative platform, MAE also has developed a process management system that documents procedures and coordinates the review of customer contracts. To ensure consistent quality, each project incorporates identical procedures for planning, review, amendment, verification and delivery.

Moving to electronic process management has enabled MAE to avoid the cost of more than 700,000 sheets of paper per year--at a savings of $190,000--as well as the time and resources necessary for making copies.

Livelink is Internet-based, and MAE’s knowledge is stored in accessible repositories online. The company was able to achieve paperless-enterprise-level ISO 9001 accreditation in 1999.

With competition at an all-time high, it's technology that drives the automobile industry, and ultimately it's technology that determines profitability.