Customer Information Driven After Sales Service ... - RePub

1. Introduction
1.3 Scope, Research Contributions, and Research
Methods
The execution of an after sales service job is a complex task requiring close interaction
and coordination between different organizational functions or after sales service operations.
These operations include maintenance service management, spare parts logistics
management, service tool management, and reverse logistics management. Within each
operation, a series of long term, mid term and short term decisions are made for effective
functioning of the after sales service. The configuration of each of these operations is
highly dependent on the service provider’s after sales service strategy. In Chapter 2,
we shall highlight these aspects in greater detail. Consistent with our earlier discussion,
in this thesis, we focus on the after sales service operations that are designed with the
strategic focus of executing the after sales service as a profit center.
1.3.1 Scope
One observes both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) environments
in after sales service. In a B2B environment, an OEM or service provider encounters
its business customers who are using the product (e.g. capital good, or hi-tech
product) as a part of a company’s critical business infrastructure. After sales servicing
of the consumer products is typically observed in a B2C environment. Armistead and
Clark (1991) highlight the characteristics of servicing the B2B sector in terms of a stringent
service response, complex service network, and on-site service delivery. For a B2C
environment, such characteristics are not applicable, since the service requirements for
consumer products are typically not as stringent as B2B market products.
In Section 1.1, we observed that the capital goods, hi-tech, and automotive sectors
lead in profit driven after sales service management. In this thesis, we will focus on the
service operations that match the after sales service strategy for such sectors. As we will
learn from the discussion in Chapter 2, such service operations typically encounter on-site
customer service, a mix of reactive and proactive maintenance policies, an array of service
contract offerings, slow moving demand, and a geographically distributed customer base.
Consistent with this observation, we shall focus on after sales service operations that
match such characteristics.
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