We have been working with Bentley Motors since 2018 and are delighted with the way in which they have embraced the DeGould automated vehicle imaging solutions that we offer.

DeGould Auto-scan allows Bentley to determine exactly whether any damage or defect was present before each and every vehicle the manufacturer leaves the plant, or whether the damage was caused in the supply chain.

‘We are privileged to be associated with such an iconic British brand. The Bentley team have shown real forward-thinking and innovation to adopt the DeGould Auto-scan at their plant handover point and connect to the growing network of port and terminal systems we’re installing’ Ed Jones – Managing Director, DeGould.

Bentley understands the importance of having a consistent, evidential and objective inspection at each point in the FVL supply chain, that is both fast, connected and reliable.

Paul Allen is Bentley’s Vehicle Distribution Manager. Paul comments, “DeGould solutions give us absolute confidence in the condition of the car prior to it leaving the factory. So, if an incident does happen along the journey, we are able to pinpoint where that incident happened, what kind of damage happened and we can do some root cause analysis, allowing us to identify any trends before a car reaches an importer.”

Commenting on the DeGould Auto-scan solution Paul Allen continues “This technology is being installed in all the ports along the journey, currently we have a photo booth in Crewe, the next stage will be having them put into the ports in the UK and overseas. So, our cars will pass through an Auto-Booth as they leave Crewe, and again at the port of export and the port of entry. This then gives us a photographic digital stamp of the condition of that car, complete digital vector mapping throughout the entire supply chain.”

In a recent article for the Automotive Purchasing supply chain, Allen shares Bentley’s aspirations to digitalise the entire supply chain. The plan for Bentley is to gain complete real-time reporting in relation to inspections and trend analysis, offering the ability to put problem resolutions into areas before the cars reach customers.

One common objective:

As DeGould’s technology goes into automotive ports all around the world it will offer OEMs the opportunity to utilise the technology and put their cars through the same inspection standard, gaining standardisation throughout the supply chain. Allen agrees that the best way forward is for OEMs to share these facilities, “I think one thing that is good about logistics and good about other OEMs is that we all have the same objectives. The competition is not in logistics. Where we can share best practices and ideas, we have one common objective and that is to get the car to the customer in the same first-class condition that it leaves our factories.

Embrace technology, embrace change:

Allen explains what he would like to see next, “I think we are going through a significant technological change, we have gone through a transformation from where we were ten years ago to where we are now. Connected car technology will bring many opportunities for the industry, for logistics, supply chain; I think that will bring us a lot more transparency and a lot more real-time reporting which is good for the industry.”

In conclusion, Allen adds, “We need to embrace technology, embrace change, and have collective quality standards, look to simplify what we do and not to over-engineer, as if we do that – we overcomplicate, add complexity and create unnecessary problems. It is about having a collaborative, open approach to how we distribute cars around the world.” (Read the full article here)

DeGould is working closely with Bentley and its partners to fully integrate the Auto-scan solution to maximise efficiencies, increase quality and decrease damage costs.

So far this includes the Auto-scan Booths and also the DeGould Vector Mapping App. at retailers across the world. As we move into automatic notifications for dents, damages and non-conformances in real-time DeGould are looking to provide additional quality measures and solutions further up the value stream on the Bentley assembly line.