Honored as one of top ten suppliers for strategic partnership with Daimler to support digitalization
Thoughtworks, a global software development and digital consulting company, has been recognized with the Daimler Supplier Award 2017 in the category innovation. The awards for the ten most distinguished suppliers were presented by the members of the Daimler Board of Management and Heads of Procurement at the 10th Daimler Supplier Award ceremony at the Mercedes-Benz Customer Center in Sindelfingen. Thoughtworks has received the award for its out-of-the-box approaches in the area of app and software development.
The yearly Daimler Supplier Award recognizes extraordinary performance and partnership collaboration in three categories: Quality, Partnership and Innovation. Performance is measured in terms of quality, costs, delivery reliability and innovation power.
"We are incredibly proud and feel deeply honored to have been selected for this prestigious award", said Guo Xiao, Chief Executive Officer, Thoughtworks. "It has been very exciting and rewarding to work alongside the Daimler teams in China and to support the digital solutions to this iconic brand. The partnership with Daimler delivered stellar results because both their and our teams are driven by ambitious goals."
Thoughtworks partnered with Daimler in China in altogether 14 digital transformation projects over the last two years, with 120 consultants at the clients' site. The two major initiatives were One Touch Retail (OTR), a one-stop mobile tool for front-line dealers, and the ecommerce platform Mercedes-Benz Ecommerce (MBE).
"For the development of new apps and systems, you always find 'out-of-the-box'-approaches. You are the benchmark for agile development and truly a trendsetting partner. This is why you win the innovation category," stated Andreas Burkhart, Head of International Procurement Services at Daimler AG.
The OTR dealer solution covers the whole sales process from lead management, offer and order management to digital delivery of the car. Thoughtworks designed and delivered OTR within six months. The solution is now being used by all dealers in China.
Another major initiative in the digital transformation of Daimler China is the e-commerce platform MBE. It is one of the first e-commerce platforms in China's luxury car industry. MBE allows customers to explore and configure their Mercedes-Benz car online, find a dealer and place an order. Thoughtworks designed MBE in collaboration with customers and dealers using design thinking methodology and launched the platform in seven months. MBE provides a new direct channel to interact with customers and to generate high quality leads for dealers.
Besides these major initiatives, Thoughtworks supported Daimler China in 12 other projects.
Daimler at a glance
Daimler AG is one of the world's most successful automotive companies. With its pisions Mercedes-Benz Cars, Daimler Trucks, Mercedes-Benz Vans, Daimler Buses and Daimler Financial Services, the Daimler Group is one of the biggest producers of premium cars and the world's biggest manufacturer of commercial vehicles with a global reach. Daimler Financial Services provides financing, leasing, fleet management, insurance, financial investments, credit cards, and innovative mobility services. The company's founders, Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz, made history with the invention of the automobile in the year 1886. As a pioneer of automotive engineering, it is a motivation and commitment of Daimler to shape safely and sustainably the future of mobility: Its current brand portfolio includes, in addition to the world's most valuable premium automotive brand, Mercedes-Benz (source: Interbrand study "The Anatomy of Growth," October 5, 2016), as well as Mercedes-AMG, Mercedes-Maybach and Mercedes me, the brands smart, EQ, Freightliner, Western Star, BharatBenz, FUSO, Setra and Thomas Built Buses, and Daimler Financial Services' brands: Mercedes-Benz Bank, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services, Daimler Truck Financial, moovel, car2go and mytaxi.