Field Service Division

Background:

Warranties and Service Contracts:

Service contracts contributed significantly to the corporation's revenues and profits. Warranties or service contracts covered about 80 percent of the emergency maintenance service calls. The other 20 percent were billed to the customer based on "time and material cost" and were very profitable. Service contracts specified that "on average, our response time will be within (x) hours" where "X" was the target response time determined by a list developed several years ago that specified the standards response time by machine and by geographical zone. Zone 1 was a major metropolitan area, Zone 2 was a minor metropolitan area, and Zone 3 was a rural area. All service contracts for a particular model had the same price regardless of the target response time. The typical response time was around four hours.

Question:

Should DMI/FSD consolidate the regional dispatch centers into one location and how could DMI's service be improved?

Answer:

DMI/FSD (Field Service Division) should not consolidate the regional dispatch centers into one location. DMI's Field Service Division employed about 550 field service technicians that covered the continental Unites States. The division also provided service in Western Europe though its European subsidiary. These technicians provided important service for nearly 240,000 DMI machines in North American. Most of the technicians were concentrated in large metropolitan areas.

DMI services could be improved by having a shorter response time rather than taking 4 hours regardless of what zone you are in. Need a separate phone line for people to call. Second line especially for the technicians so they can be able to receive the calls about the customer's problems.

Process Flow