Member Article

Simplified technology support will redefine the service supply chain

For as long as I can remember, experts have been questioning which is the most important part of the after sales support process. In no particular order, the following are often cited:

• Initial call processing and triage
• Part availability
• Locating the required part
• Shipping logistics
• On-site first time fixes
• Field Engineers
• Base repairers

So which is the most important? In truth, all of the above are vital. Efficient interaction across each stage of the service supply chain is critical to a successful outcome and customer satisfaction.

Despite this, the IT industry has always viewed the engineer as the most critical part of the service supply chain and such a view has been perpetuated over the years, creating systems where field service is the sole process by which customer satisfaction is measured.

I would argue that this thought process is outdated, further highlighting the disjointed thinking which plagues after sales support. It’s almost as if the service supply chain has been designed for the engineer and not the customer, offering a counter-productive system which often fails to understand or take customer requirements into account.

Such thinking ignores each process prior to and responsible for the dispatch of the correctly skilled engineer. The triage of the initial call is the beginning of the customer’s journey and is therefore the most important process within any after sales support model, setting customer expectation levels which must be matched.

Despite this, a typical supply chain with multiple providers relies on each supplier doing what they are contracted to do, independent of the customer. This is precisely why engineers are so heavily relied on to offer issue resolution and creates what I refer to as an assumption supply chain. Each part has no real affinity or connection to a customer, it is simply a process.

Simplified technology support re-defines the supply chain, moving away from this siloed mentality to a flexible, customer first model driven not by multiple processes but by consumer demand.

Traditional thinking is no longer fit for purpose and the time has come for the industry to be challenged.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Mike Heslop .