The after-sales strategy of an industrial equipment manufacturer: evaluation and control
International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management
ISSN: 0265-671X
Article publication date: 8 December 2020
Issue publication date: 16 July 2021
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the after-sales strategy of an industrial equipment manufacturer.
Design/methodology/approach
The research study’s object is the Brazilian operation of a company belonging to a multinational group that designs, manufactures and installs technology-based equipment. The research method is qualitative modeling with a quantitative analysis. A literature review and a focus group with managers organized the after-sales strategy of the company in four constructs measured by 24 indicators. The constructs are technical assistance (TA), reliability management (RM), customer relationships (CRs) and spare part logistics (SL). A total of seven managers evaluated the importance and performance of the indicators.
Findings
TA, RM and CRs are lagging constructs (the importance is greater than the performance), whereas SL is a leading construct (the opposite). The study proposed four strategic actions that change the type of emphasis that the company poses to service: from in-house to field maintenance service, from correction to prevention reliability improvement, from technical- to customer-focused relationships and from direct to integrated logistics service.
Research limitations/implications
The study limits to the case of a technology-based manufacturing company.
Practical implications
The strategic movement reallocates resources from leading indicators to lagging indicators in a sharp, clear movement of forces in the company.
Originality/value
The main contribution is a structured method to evaluate and control the strategic performance of an industrial equipment manufacturer in after-sales activities.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Disclosure statement: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Citation
Sellitto, M.A. (2021), "The after-sales strategy of an industrial equipment manufacturer: evaluation and control", International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 38 No. 7, pp. 1593-1613. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJQRM-11-2019-0339
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited