AGMC introduces Azure-powered Pulses.ai solution to locate cars in seconds

For over 47 years, AGMC has remained dedicated to its customers as the exclusive importer for the BMW Group in Dubai, Sharjah, and the Northern Emirates. Today, the company is firmly established as a market leader in the region’s automotive sector. “In the main branch, we have three workshops, 76 work bays, 78 technicians, 16 service advisors, and many more people involved in customer service. It's a massive operation—we receive and deliver between 120 and 140 cars daily," shares Mohammed Shaaban, Service Manager at AGMC.

Running such a vast operation required optimization, as AGMC wanted to cut time wasted on tedious tasks. "At any given time, we have a large number of cars on the premises spread across more than 10 parking zones, including those on display. So, manually locating cars was a big waste of time for employees,” explains Arvind Munshi, After-sales Director at AGMC. 

At that time, there was no solution readily available in the market. “That’s why we partnered with Pulses.ai to build an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven smart solution,” adds Munshi.

Efficient car tracking

Together with Pulses.ai, AGMC launched Sphere 360, an AI-driven recognition solution built on Microsoft Azure. “Pulses.ai really helped us establish the system we needed by understanding our operations,” says Munshi.

Sphere 360 is capable of tracking cars using 56 specialized AI cameras across the service center. Each camera has five AI models running continuously to ensure efficient image capture and is trained with a million labelled car data points to guarantee accuracy. Azure Cognitive Services is used for license plate recognition and all the captured data is stored on an Azure Data Lake Storage. “The solution can track fast-moving cars using cognitive vision technology similar to speed trap radars. That means it can read license plates in 100 milliseconds, in extreme heat and humidity conditions,” explains Remon Shenoda, CEO of Pulses.ai. 

The Pulses.ai Sphere 360 solution was a game changer for AGMC, enabling employees to track down customers’ cars faster, even during peak hours “Customers typically collect their cars between four and six o’clock in the afternoon. That was a stressful time with everyone rushing to find cars, which could take quite some time,” says Shaaban. “With this technology, we can locate any car in a few seconds on our mobile phones. That’s a significant time saving for our employees."

Being able to locate cars quicker also means customers don’t waste time when they come to collect their serviced car. In the past, customer complaints about long waiting times were weighing down AGMC’s customer satisfaction rating. “We have gone down to zero complaints from our customers about having to wait for their cars,” says Munshi. “We’re also able to give customers more accurate information on when their vehicles will be ready, so they can trust what we say. I believe that gives us a lot more credibility,” says Munshi.

AGMC has also gained a better overview of its capacity with Sphere 360, including the number of cars handled per day, the length of time each car stays within a designated area, and more. By integrating the system with Microsoft 365, staff members can also receive information about the car’s repair stage and movement via Microsoft Teams, with login securely handled by Azure Active Directory. “Our supervisors now receive an alert if a car stays in a particular zone longer than expected, so they can follow up and investigate further. So having this system really allows us to better monitor our work in progress,” explains Munshi.

Steering towards success with innovation

The Sphere 360 solution was met with enthusiasm at AGMC. Shaaban says, "The user interface is so simple; everyone can use it without prior knowledge." Moving forward, AGMC and Pulses.ai are looking to incorporate emerging technologies like HoloLens into the solution to gain deeper insights. 

The company hopes to digitize final vehicle inspections so that any problems are sent immediately to the service advisor via a digital form. “That way, we can better track all details of a car’s journey from the moment it arrives to the time it leaves the service center,” shares Shaaban.

AGMC will also leverage data it has gathered from Sphere 360 to uncover pain points. "By understanding why cars get stuck and for what reason, we can work to improve our services,” Munshi sums up. “As the saying goes, the first car is sold by sales, the next one by after-sales."