EPSON
Business Objective
The decision was made to outsource the service and repair of printers through a national network. The objective was therefore to find a solution to maintain service levels, visibility and brand image and this is where B2BE came in.
Business Benefits
The solution provided a 67% improvement in productivity – Elapsed printer service time was reduced from 14.8 days to 4.9 days within the first six weeks of implementing the solution.
Epson improved printer service time productivity by 67% in 6-weeks
Epson New Zealand sells a premium range of printers and scanners through a nationwide network of distribution points located throughout the country. Renowned for innovation, leading edge technology and excellence in after-sales service and backup, Epson is a leading supplier of printer and scanner technology.
The Challenge
Due to the distributed nature of Epson’s customer base, the decision was made to outsource the service and repair of printers through a national network of Epson ‘Authorised Service Agents’ or ‘ASA’s’. The community of ASA’s includes small local computer shops as well as some of the larger computer retailers such as Dick Smith Electronics. Epson faced several challenges in establishing and managing this distributed service network:
- How would Epson ensure that all suppliers adhered to service level agreements?
- How would Epson HQ manage customer service and status calls when the service chain was de-centralised?
- How would warranty information be monitored and managed?
- How could Epson protect its brand image while outsourcing a core customer service?
The Solution
The Service Chain Application was developed exclusively for Epson by B2BE (then known as The ECN Group in New Zealand) and it revolutionised the process. The key features of the application were:
- The ability for a central call centre to allocate service jobs based on customer location
- Real time escalation to Epson HQ (following breach of Service Level Agreements)
- Fully integrated parts ordering system for ASA’s
- Pre-approval of warranty claiming via real-time online validation
- Customer service interface – full visibility at HQ of all jobs at all stages for all ASA’s
- Real-time summary reports of KPI’s by product and Service Agent
The Result
- 67% improvement in productivity – Elapsed printer service time was reduced from 14.8 days to 4.9 days within the first six weeks of implementing the solution
- Paper was eliminated from the process
- Service level statistics monitored in real-time
- Bottlenecks easily identified and remedied
- Customer relationships proactively managed with live information
- The Epson management team gained full visibility of the service chain at all times
- ASA’s could be added and removed easily by providing or restricting access via the web
- Integration of the customer help line into the process added another dimension to the service offering