Cougar Direct - First Bodyshop With AudaEnterprise Luton-based independent bodyshop, Cougar Direct is the first to go live with the new AudaEnterprise estimating and claims fulfilment solution from Audatex. The company is one of a series of bodyshops taking part in the pilot programme prior to general release of the software. The implementation has been so successful that the company's five strong team of customer service engineers will now be using AudaEnterprise as their core estimating platform. Cougar Direct's managing director Gary Cohen said: "As a multi-user site, it was clear to us from the outset that the centralised, web-based structure of AudaEnterprise was going to provide a much more efficient and manageable estimating solution. We certainly haven't been disappointed. Indeed the installation and use of AudaEnterprise has been very smooth from day one." Since its inception some 27 years ago, independent bodyshop Cougar Direct has built a highly-successful business based on investing in the people and the tools necessary to deliver the highest quality service and repair standards. The implementation of AudaEnterprise is part of a new investment phase for the company and reflects the fact the vast majority of its work providers now specify Audatex assessments. Cougar Direct is realising many benefits from the use of AudaEnterprise, particularly in the form of process efficiencies resulting from the improved visibility and management of estimate workflow. The ability to calculate and re-calculate estimates in seconds rather than minutes is also proving to be a key time saver, whilst improving quality. Estimate approval lead-times have improved dramatically thanks to the instant availability of data and images enabled through a permanent 1MB Broadband connection from Cougar Direct to the central Audatex-based server. Where the work provider also has AudaEnterprise installed, such as Hastings Direct, traditional dial-up connections have been eliminated completely. "Our work with Hastings Direct demonstrates the true benefits of the AudaEnterprise system," explained Gary Cohen. "We've seen much faster turnaround of estimate authorisations since AudaEnterprise was installed. With both parties using the same estimating platform we can communicate extremely quickly with no delays. We look forward to the day when all our work providers have AudaEnterprise in place." Paul Tucker, managing director, Audatex UK said: "Cougar Direct is very focussed on achieving business efficiency and the highest quality service standards. We've worked extremely closely with their customer service engineering and IT teams throughout this pilot project and their support and feedback has been invaluable. We are confident that the benefits that they are already seeing from the system will grow and grow."