Traka’s Intelligent Key Management System Helps Unbeatable Car Keep Track Of Hundreds Of Keys

Traka’s solution helps to track and monitor vehicles moving between different locations of the business

Traka, the intelligent key management specialist, has helped a large car Supermarket save money by implementing a solution that helps the company keep track of the location of hundreds of keys.

Unbeatable Car, a large car supermarket, operates across two sites in Portsmouth and Crawley and were finding their previous system to be slow and inefficient. The size of Unbeatable Car operations, with 160 staff and several hundred cars always in stock at each site, meant that keeping track of where keys were and specifically at which site they were located, was a difficult process. Misplaced keys would sometimes result in loss of sales and the high standards of customer service were compromised.

Traka’s solution was to install an intelligent key management system with ‘Random Return to Multiple Systems’ (RRMS) functionality. This means that vehicles can now be effortlessly tracked and monitored when moving between different locations of the business.

The installation of a Traka system at both sites has meant that sales and management know where each set of keys are at any time. The staff simply have to type the registration number into the software and the user can see if the keys are in the Crawley or Portsmouth branch and in which cabinet and position. If the keys are out of the system the software will identify who is using the keys and what time they took them.

The system has been so effective that Mark Sopp, Sales Director for Unbeatable Car, has reported that the Traka system was able to pay for itself and provide a ROI in a few months. This figure was based upon potential sales that would have previously been lost due to misplaced keys.

Patrick Short, General Manager for Unbeatable Car said, “Time is a very precious commodity for our customers so we need to operate efficiently and be able to quickly locate the required vehicle keys. Our integrated Traka system allows us to know the location of the keys for the vehicle that the customer expresses an interest in, and to start a test drive very quickly. This provides for high levels of customer satisfaction and enforces our professional ethos.”

The registration number is entered into the system using Traka’s bespoke software installed on the company’s computer system

So just how does Traka key management and RRMS work?

Let’s take a look at how UnbeatableCars.com locate a car for a customer using the system and monitor the vehicles movement from one location to another.

At the Portsmouth facility, a customer wishes to test drive a car, so the sales assistant needs to locate the vehicle and the key. The registration number is entered into the system using Traka’s bespoke software installed on the company’s computer system which then ascertains that the key is in a cabinet at the Crawley facility.

A short phone call later, and a member of staff at the Crawley location is scanning her fingerprint into the appropriate cabinet to access the key.

After driving the vehicle to Portsmouth, she can then scan her fingerprint at any cabinet and deposit the key in any empty position.

The system registers where every key is, which cabinet and the position in the cabinet, thanks to a microchip in the iFob attached to every key and associated with that vehicle’s license plate number. The microchip relays location information through the system, and with the biometric technology controlling access to every cabinet, the system can keep accurate records of who has any key now and who had the key in the past.

Traka’s solution makes the whole process smooth and easy, resulting in a successful sale and a happy customer.