Sales service improvement for an industrial transformer manufacturer

Abstract

This paper defines and integrates after-sales service processes for an industrial manufacturer of power transformers. High priced and highly customized electricity transformers are sold to power generating companies that hold high service expectations througout the product life cycle. The e-integration of business processes for prior sales, ongoing sales, and after sales services are critically important for the transformer manufactuer to overcome well know problems with traditional paper based systems. This research analyses the business processes for transformer sales services and then integrates the best practices into a sales service platform. The study studies the current practices (as-is models) of customer services offered by the company. After identifying problems such as service delays, cost inefficiencies, and inappropriate responses to customers requests and complaints, the improved (to-be) process models are built, analyzed, and structured using the enterprise systems tool INCOME4. The Internet based system incorporating the to-be service processes is implemented to improve customer response as well as enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of after sales services. © 2010 Springer-Verlag London Limited.