Customer service goals

A formal customer service policy exists, and customers have been segmented along specific groups based on sales volume, market channel or local market criteria, but no process is used to build a fact-driven, customer-focused solution. There is no dedicated customer service structure in place. Commercial area is perceived as the mainly function responsible to deliver the customer service goals. 

The customer service goals were often not deflned precisely, so no one knew how much it cost to provide a given level of service (Walker, 2001, p. 40). 

To operationalise these principles requires an output orientation to costing. In other words, we must first define the desired outputs of the logistics system and then seek to identify the costs associated with providing those outputs. A useful concept here is the idea of mission . In the context of logistics and supply chain management, a mission is a set of customer service goals to be achieved by the system within a specific product/market context. Missions can be defined in terms of the type of market served, by which products and within what constraints of service and cost. A mission by its very nature cuts across traditional company lines. Figure 3.8 illustrates the concept and demonstrates the difference between an output orientation based upon missions and the input orientation based upon functions. 

An electronic mailbox has been created for CCMC on SRS Intranet to allow any employee to send in chemical safety questions it is CCMC s goal to provide answers quickly, usually within a day of receipt of the message. This commimication tool focuses on customer service. 

The first category, customer service, is a primary concern to the warehouse management and upper management. Rating of customer service is based on how well the warehouse performs against its corporate service goals. These goals may include order-to-deUvery cycle, order-to-ship cycle, and out-of-stock occurrences. 

Number of stock outs Evaluates the MRO inventory/materials management process capability to have the on-hand quantities needed for stock items that are normally stocked in the maintenance storeroom. Provides an excellent countermeasure to ensure planned inventory reduction goal is not detrimental to storeroom customer service. Does not measure nonstock items that require requisitioning/purchasing as direct purchases or availability of project-related items. Percent inventory accuracy Maintains accurate fiscal accountability of stocked items to ensure total confidence in current inventory levels and dollar value of MRO inventories. Measures the effectiveness of the cycle-counting process and storeroom control. 

Another issue that needs to be established when working with a DSS is the measures by which the various solutions will be evaluated. Reducing toted cost may be a goal, but in some cases improving customer service level may be more pertinent. DSS interfaces usually allow setting these parameters and indicating the balance required by the user. 

Ultimately, the goal is to understand the trade-off between cost and customer service. Transportation management software strikes a balance between what customers want and what the carriers can deliver (Michel 1997). 

One measure of supply chain performance is the extent to which the company s tmget market(s) are being satisfied, given the firm s goals and objectives. This would include measures of product availability, adequacy of customer service, and strength of brand image. 

For the individual firm, the goal is to find the most efficient way to offer the desired level of customer service (see Figure 8). For the supply chain, the goal is to improve overall efficiency by reallocating functions, and therefore costs, among its members. The level of customer service offered by the individual member firms, for example, will have a significant impact on other members and total supply chain performance. 

The main goal of the model was to understand the impact of capacity changes in the system on the supply chain. The model solution recommended changes in the network—a 20% reduction in the number of distribution centers, an 8% increase in the return on assets, and an improvement in the customer service offered, while decreasing inventory. An interesting component of the model was its ability to quantify the impact of managerial choices on the supply chain that were different from the optimal solution. 

Supply chain design. Design the supply chain based on the expected level of demand and supply variability. Since there is an inverse relationship between variability and cost or customer service, leaders use technology to understand what is possible given the trade-offs. These teams set goals and metrics based on the analysis and the understanding of the supply chain potential. 

The last step of the framework is to develop a supply chain strategy that will allow the company to identify the steps required to become a demand driven supply chain. This development should be performed aligned with the company strategic business planning process, as supply chain is a key enabler of business improvement and can help the company achieve top level business goals like revenue growth, increase asset utilization and profitability, improve customer service, just to name a few examples. 

Customer service management is the process that deals with the administration of the PSAs developed by customer teams as part of the customer relationship management process. Customer service managers monitor the PSAs and proactively intervene on the customer s behalf if there is going to be a problem to deliver the promise that has been made. The goal is to solve problems before they affect the customers. 

Standard multidimensional metrics are used and cover forecast accuracy, customer service, inventory levels and costs, and are aligned with different echelons (e.g., customers) to share performance goals in the supply chain. 

Warehouse is fully oriented towards customer service, meeting expected perfect order goals (greater than 99%) based on original orders. 

Senior management understands the benefits of becoming a demand driven supply and operations management and uses it to improve customer service, reduce supply chain costs and meet business plan goals. 

Company goals in terms of revenue and market share growth, finance performance in EBITDA and market value, customer service performance in customer satisfaction and order fill rate. 

Customer service (e.g., expected service packages, order fill rate goals, customized service requirements for sales and delivery, etc.)... 

The rationale for investing in supply chain management software systems is the same as that required for investment in material requirements planning and enterprise resource planning software systems. The goal is to reduce inventory levels while improving customer service. 

Although we discussed inventory in the earlier JIT section as being the root of evil, inventory is necessary to satisfy the customer. The goal is to be able to hold the minimum amount of inventory necessary and still be able to provide the desired level of customer service. For this reason, inventory management is usually seen as an essential task of materials management. 

Other costs such as transportation may or may not vary with the number of orders. For example, a transportation manager, measured by costs for transportation, will want to get the cheap rates that go with sending full tmcks, referred to as truckload quantities. The full truck is the equivalent of a batch for this manager, and his measure is likely to be total transportation cost or even total supply chain cost of which transport costs are a portion. This measure could have a negative effect on customer service because the full tmck constraint can reduce the frequency of delivery. So, a local optimum overrides a higher goal — and perhaps results in lost business. 

Synchronized supply chain A general vision of having all links in the supply chain producing at the same rate as customer demand. Obstacles include coordination, batch size limitations in production, and inability to share information. However, synchronization is a useful goal as it is likely to provide high levels of customer service at low cost relative to unsynchronized supply chains. The term is somewhat synonymous with a lean supply chain. 

Professional drivers have many priorities. Among them is the combination of being safe and dehvering on time. One way to accomplish this goal is to conduct a thorough pre-trip and post-trip inspection of the commercial motor vehicle s safety-related parts, components, and accessories. By fixing a small problem early, your drivers can avoid accidents and customer service failures due to over-the-road breakdowns. 

---