Service management is integrated into supply chain management

Supply chain management

Supply chain management is the management of a network of interconnected businesses involved in the ultimate provision of product and service packages required by end customers...

 as the joint between the actual sales and the customer. The aim of high performance service management is to optimize the service-intensive supply chains, which are usually more complex than the typical finished-goods supply chain. Most service-intensive supply chains require larger inventories and tighter integration with field service and third parties. They also must accommodate inconsistent and uncertain demand by establishing more advanced information and product flows. Moreover, all processes must be coordinated across numerous service locations with large numbers of parts and multiple levels in the supply chain.

Among typical manufacturers, post-sale services (maintenance, repair and parts) comprise less than 20 percent of revenue. But among the most innovative companies in Service , those same activities often generate more than 50 percent of the profits.

Benefits

The main drivers for a company to establish or optimize its service management practices are varied:

• High service costs can be reduced, i.e. by integrating the service and products supply chain.
• Inventory levels of service parts can be reduced and therefore reduce total inventory costs.
• Customer service or parts/service quality can be optimized.
• Increasing service revenue.
• Reduce obsolescence costs of service parts through improved forecasting.
• Improve customer satisfaction levels.
• Reduce expediting costs - with optimized service parts inventory, there is no need to rush orders to customers.
• Minimize technician visits - if they have the right part in hand, they can fix the problem on the first visit.

Components

Generally, service management comprises six different capabilities that companies should consider for optimization:

• Service strategy and service offerings
  • Service strategy definition
  • Service offerings definition & positioning
  • Go-to-market strategy
  • Service portfolio management

• Spare parts management
  • Parts supply management
  • Inventory management
  • Parts demand management
  • Fulfillment operations & logistics
  • Service parts management

• Returns, repairs, and warranties
  • Warranty & claims management
  • Reverse logistics
    Reverse logistics
    Reverse logistics stands for all operations related to the reuse of products and materials. It is "the process of planning, implementing, and controlling the efficient, cost effective flow of raw materials, in-process inventory, finished goods and related information from the point of consumption...
    
    
  • Returns processing
  • Remanufacturing

• Field service management
  Field Service Management
  Field service management is an attempt to optimize processes and information needed by companies who send technicians or staff "into the field" . Optimization is difficult, since it involves intelligent scheduling and dispatching of multiple technicians to different locations daily, while...
  
   or field force effectiveness
  • Technician enablement
  • Mobility
  • E-learning
  • Activity scheduling
  • Service billing

• Customer management
  • Order management & availability
  • Channel & partner management
  • Customer insight
    Customer insight
    Customer Insight is the collection, deployment and interpretation of information that allows a business to acquire, develop and retain their customers.-Analysis:...
    
    
  • Technical documentation

• Assets, maintenance, task scheduling, event management
  • Remote monitoring
  • Diagnostics & testing
  • Asset management/optimization
  • Configuration management

See also

• Customer service
  Customer service
  Customer service is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase.According to Turban et al. , “Customer service is a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction – that is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customer...
  
  
• Enterprise architecture
  Enterprise architecture
  An enterprise architecture is a rigorous description of the structure of an enterprise, which comprises enterprise components , the externally visible properties of those components, and the relationships between them...
  
  
• Managed services
  Managed services
  Managed services is the practice of transferring day-to-day related management responsibility as a strategic method for improved effective and efficient operations inclusive of Production Support and lifecycle build/maintenance activities...
  
  
• Service (economics)
• Service economy
  Service economy
  Service economy can refer to one or both of two recent economic developments. One is the increased importance of the service sector in industrialized economies. Services account for a higher percentage of US GDP than 20 years ago...
  
  
• Services marketing
  Services marketing
  Services marketing is a sub field of marketing, which can be split into the two main areas of goods marketing and services marketing...
  
  
• Service design
  Service design
  Service design is the activity of planning and organizing people, infrastructure, communication and material components of a service in order to improve its quality and the interaction between service provider and customers....
  
  
• Service provider
  Service provider
  A service provider is an entity that provides services to other entities. Usually, this refers to a business that provides subscription or web service to other businesses or individuals. Examples of these services include Internet access, Mobile phone operators, and web application hosting...
  
  
• Service Science, Management and Engineering
  Service Science, Management and Engineering
  Service science, management, and engineering is a term introduced by IBM to describe service science, an interdisciplinary approach to the study, design, and implementation of services systems – complex systems in which specific arrangements of people and technologies take actions that provide...
  
  
• Service system
  Service system
  A service system is a configuration of technology and organizational networks designed to deliver services that satisfy the needs, wants, or aspirations of customers.- Scope of the term :...
  
  
• Strategic service management
  Strategic Service Management
  Strategic service management is a business strategy that optimizes a company's provided services through the effort of synchronizing: service parts and resources forecasting, service partners, workforce technicians, and service pricing....
  
  
• IT service management
  IT Service Management
  IT service management is a discipline for managing information technology systems, philosophically centered on the customer's perspective of IT's contribution to the business. ITSM stands in deliberate contrast to technology-centered approaches to IT management and business interaction...