Service management
Service management or service management is a process for optimizing services and, as an area within supply chain management, represents the interface between the sale of a product and the customer.
aims
The aim of service management is to optimize supply chains with a strong focus on services that are usually more complex than so-called finished goods. Supply chains focused on services often require larger warehouses and a stronger involvement of the field service as well as other (external) service providers, because the warehouse calls are more irregular and e.g. B. in the event of a production standstill at the customer, a fast delivery of spare parts must be guaranteed. This is why it is necessary here to compensate for uncertain and fluctuating requirements through sophisticated information technology and coordinated product flows. It is also the aim of service management to coordinate and optimize all service processes across various locations with a large number of product parts and across several levels of the supply chain. The latter is increasingly happening through sophisticated enterprise resource planning software (ERP), with the help of which the entire business process chain is automatically mapped and processed on an electronic platform.
Typically, services that are offered after a product is sold make up less than 20 percent of total sales. For the most innovative companies in the service sector, however, this figure often amounts to more than 50% of the profit. The basic requirements for this are efficient customer management and customer loyalty. Because customers buy primarily when they are satisfied with the additional services. This is the case, for example, when high availability is ensured, spare parts are delivered quickly or help is quickly on site. Service management also includes aspects of customer value management and the planning and design of the services offered. Service management therefore also includes the scheduling of the service personnel. This can be a hotline that is manned around the clock, but also field staff who carry out repairs or maintenance on site.
development
Traditionally seen as a “necessary evil”, innovative service management is becoming an integral part of the strategies of large companies. In order to ensure growth and customer loyalty in a competitive market, leading companies are increasingly realizing the urge to improve their service area and, for example, spare parts management.
Since the increasing improvement of the technical possibilities on the basis of more powerful cellular networks and end devices (notebooks, smartphones and PDAs) so-called “ mobile customer service ” or “mobile service” have become more and more an issue, in which the complete customer service process from the customer call to the on-site deployment of the service technician, the deployment feedback and billing is digitally controlled.
advantages
There are various reasons for companies to establish or improve service management:
- Gain transparency in handling external business processes
- Cost reductions through the integration of service and product logistics
- Reduction of storage costs by reducing the inventory of spare parts
- Optimizing the quality of customer service
- Increase in sales generated through customer service
- Prevention of obsolescence of spare parts through improved predictability of parts demand.
Sub-areas
Service management can be broken down into six different sub-areas that companies should consider:
- Service strategy and offerings
- Definition of the strategy in the service area
- Definition and positioning of the service offers
- "Go-to-Market" strategy
- Portfolio management for the service area
- Spare parts logistics
- Warehouse management
- Demand management
- Spare parts evaluation (which parts are regularly defective)
- Field force effectiveness
- Qualification of technicians
- Scheduling of service orders
- Drive to the customer with subsequent repair / maintenance / service
- Mobile customer service
- Customer management
- Orders and availability
- Clarification of questions
- Technical Documentation
- Invoicing
- Management of fixed assets, task scheduling, event management
- Teleservice
- Diagnostics, testing
- Optimization of fixed assets
IT service management
Service management in information technology is viewed very comprehensively and independently . Comprehensive catalogs such as B. the IT Infrastructure Library have established themselves worldwide as a quasi-standard for IT service management and describe in detail the life cycle and practically all aspects of an IT service.
Digitization and automation
Not to be confused with IT service management is the increasing digitization and automation in service. This affects all sub-areas equally. By using service management software - often in conjunction with ERP and CRM - digitized processes ensure particularly high efficiency and thus high customer satisfaction. Digitization enables, for example, high service level agreements and fast response times , as inquiries can be recorded automatically and processed quickly or assigned via an operations manager. The area of telematics is also playing an increasingly important role - thanks to the operations center's access to the navigation devices in the technicians' vehicles, it is possible to centrally control which customer is next in line. This makes it possible to rectify faults promptly and, if necessary, to postpone less urgent maintenance. Customer service and support also benefit from the fact that customer data can be viewed directly in CRM and customer inquiries can be answered quickly without the need for repeated inquiries. Contract management is also helpful, as it can be used by the back office to see which spare parts and services have already been paid for and which are still to be charged.
Service planning
Service planning includes the planning of service activities. A distinction must be made here between operational and strategic planning.
Operational service planning
Operational service planning is about the optimal use of the available resources for the processing of the upcoming service orders, i.e. the assignment of employees based on skills and experience to the various customers, travel planning of the service employees, the optimization of space utilization in the short term, etc.
Strategic service planning
The strategic service planning serves to coordinate the service activities at the operational level and the strategic goals at the global company level. These include B. also the planning of future personnel requirements, the long-term sales and earnings planning as well as the development of new services within the service engineering .
Service controlling
As part of service controlling, key figures are determined that provide information about the profitability of the service and starting points for further optimization. At car dealerships z. For example, the service has above-average margins compared to the new car business. The development of the key figures over time provides information about the effect of measures taken, e.g. B. in pricing or the effect of advertising. A Benchmarking is possible based on these indicators.
Possible key figures:
- Service Sales by product, period, market
- Service contribution margins
- Service costs and their distribution
- Employee efficiency efficiency
- Spare parts availability, service level and storage costs
- Cost per call e.g. B. in call centers
- Return costs: Inquiries that occur repeatedly or whose solutions lead to further problems
- Service staff productivity
Service costs
Typical types of costs in service are:
- Personnel costs
- Space costs (rent, lease, energy ...)
- Vehicle costs and other travel expenses
- Material costs (spare parts, auxiliary materials such as lubricants)
- Freight costs z. B. for spare parts
Customer satisfaction
- Number of complaints per period
- Guarantee costs per period
- Ratio of customers / devices to malfunctions / complaints (per period)
Key figures
- Room utilization z. B. at language schools, in medical practices or at seminar providers
- Ratio of hours sold to hours worked by staff as a key figure for the efficiency of staff deployment
literature
- VDMA (Ed.): Introduction of service management systems . VDMA-Verlag, Frankfurt 2008, ISBN 978-3-8163-0554-5 .
- Wolfgang Appel: HR service management. Production of personnel services. Munich: Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag 2012, ISBN 978-3-486-58896-5
Web links
- Research Institute for Rationalization (FIR) eV at RWTH Aachen University: Platform for developers
Individual evidence
- ↑ Service Management in Practice , accessed on August 9, 2014.
- ↑ Strategic Service Planning , accessed on August 9, 2014.
- ↑ Service Controlling Cockpit , accessed on August 9, 2014.
- ↑ Listing key figures at NICE Germany , accessed on August 9, 2014.