The Service Network Optimization Benchmark Report

The Service Network Optimization Benchmark Report Effective Service Outsourcing and Channel Management Strategies March 2006 — Sponsored by — The Service Network Optimization Benchmark Report Executive Summary s best-in-class OEMs continue to lean harder on their service organizations for profits, revenues, and competitive advantage, they are opportunistically seeking A service chain performance spikes by outsourcing parts of their service opera-tions. Although these firms’ rationales differ, they base their outsourcing initiatives on factors such as: • Increasing need for wider geographic service coverage, • Service profitability mandates from executive management, • Escalating field service labor costs, and • Increasing areas of low-density product installations. But firms must be diligent in assembling these extended service networks to ensure per-formance gains are not negated by service provider relationships run amuck. Key Business Value Findings • Fully 78% of best-in-class companies reported that technology would be a criti-cal enabler of better service network management. • Almost one-third of surveyed companies said they planned to leverage third-party logistics providers (3PLs) in the near future for such activities as service parts management, reverse logistics, and depot management. • Telecommunications and utilities companies Aberdeen surveyed lead all other ...