2021 Prophecy – Part 5
In case you missed our whitepaper “Service Supply Chain Prophecy: 2021 and Beyond” and our webinar of the same name, we want to offer a bit of each of our prophecies here in our blog.
You didn’t think we were going to say service expectations would decline, right? The economic impact of COVID-19 coupled with new technologies continues the acceleration of servitization model adoption (selling an outcome as a service).
This changing service model requires capabilities that don’t exist in traditional supply chains. Spare parts can often hide behind retail characteristics and be planned like finished goods when they’re sold separately. Stockouts are attributed to the challenging nature of low- or intermittent-demand items. When uptime and service level commitments mandate same-day availability, a part that’s out of stock may break a service contract and ultimately a relationship with your customer.
Emerging technologies, specifically the Internet of things (IoT), are enabling this service model. With IoT, we don’t have to wait for a system to break to know it needs service. Internal monitoring systems share asset health status, allowing service teams to proactively perform service at a convenient time. While advanced service models have been present in technology markets for years, scheduling service proactively to reduce the impact of downtime is becoming pervasive in every sector.
Mature organizations will recognize that, in addition to Field Service Management (FSM) solutions to manage their technicians effectively, they’ll require solutions to navigate the unique complexity of service parts. These solutions can help meet customer expectations in the new subscription-based service environment by ensuring parts get to the right place at the right time.
Act Now:
- Work with Field Service leadership to quantify the customer impact of unavailable spare parts.
- Develop voice-of-the-customer programs to gauge interest in an advanced service model.
- Engage with leaders at other companies to learn about their journey to adopting new service models.
