Managing and standardizing a complex industrial service delivery system
Poikonen, Elina (2015)
2015
Tuotantotalouden koulutusohjelma
Talouden ja rakentamisen tiedekunta - Faculty of Business and Built Environment
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2015-11-04
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tty-201510191650
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tty-201510191650
Tiivistelmä
Manufacturing companies need to develop efficient service deliveries in order to be able to operate in multi-customer, multi-equipment environment successfully. Efficient service deliveries require understanding of the service delivery system as a whole and standardization of the system should take place. The objectives of this research are to understand how manufacturing companies can develop their service delivery system towards fleet level, identify how companies manage the system and find out how the service delivery system can be standardized without jeopardizing customer satisfaction.
The research was conducted as a qualitative multiple-case study with three Finnish manufacturing companies. A literature review of previous research was done and 19 interviews were conducted in the companies with manager level employees. The interviews were recorded, transcripts were made and the data was analyzed by categorizing it. Every case company was observed individually and cross-case comparison was made across the companies.
The study reveals the importance of technology, customer participation and standardization in the management and development of the service delivery system. The technology can enable or hinder the development and standardization. Customers cause variation into the service delivery system and companies have to consider their role carefully in order to be able to achieve efficient service deliveries. Standardization is required to some level when developing the service delivery system towards fleet level. It can be achieved by standardizing the various sub systems of the service delivery system.
The results of this study can be used in manufacturing companies to understand and identify important factors in service delivery system that cause variation and require development. The results also arose several topics for future research. The standardization should be research more in the practical level. Also change management and customer participation should be studied more.
The research was conducted as a qualitative multiple-case study with three Finnish manufacturing companies. A literature review of previous research was done and 19 interviews were conducted in the companies with manager level employees. The interviews were recorded, transcripts were made and the data was analyzed by categorizing it. Every case company was observed individually and cross-case comparison was made across the companies.
The study reveals the importance of technology, customer participation and standardization in the management and development of the service delivery system. The technology can enable or hinder the development and standardization. Customers cause variation into the service delivery system and companies have to consider their role carefully in order to be able to achieve efficient service deliveries. Standardization is required to some level when developing the service delivery system towards fleet level. It can be achieved by standardizing the various sub systems of the service delivery system.
The results of this study can be used in manufacturing companies to understand and identify important factors in service delivery system that cause variation and require development. The results also arose several topics for future research. The standardization should be research more in the practical level. Also change management and customer participation should be studied more.