Customer Operations  |  Supply Chain Operations  |  Product Innovation   |  Information Technology  |  Corporate Operations

 

 

Customer Operations

Unleashing the Potential of SRM and CRM

CRM and SRM investments contribute to increased productivity and improved profitability only through efficient order management processes. Taking an enterprise view of CRM and SRM systems, companies must integrate them to capitalize on... opportunities from demand and supply perspectives to increase profits and return on investment.

'Value Delivery Through Customer Integration In The Automotive Supply Chain'

The automotive industry has witnessed frenetic activity on the supply side resulting in path-breaking concepts and processes such as JIT, VMI and collaborative product development. The next wave of activity will focus on customer management on... the demand side. As global consolidation and over-capacity continues in the industry, automotive companies seek to enhance value delivery through innovative and path-breaking customer services. The authors take a look at the emerging possibilities and the trends in this area.

Optimizing the Field Force: Service Territory Management

Companies are targeting CRM as customer satisfaction contributes to the success of a service provider. Consumer-driven companies are automating their mobile workforce to reduce response time, increase first-call effectiveness and retain customers.

Warranty - From Liability to Competitive Advantage

Managing warranty is an enterprise-wide challenge, impacting multiple departments including Quality, Customer Service, Product Development, Finance and Procurement. However, rarely is the required importance accorded to warranty management... . Warranty is not viewed holistically, but as parts and managed in the same fashion.

Spare Parts Management - An Automation Perspective

The critical nature of spare parts management in manufacturing and service operations cannot be understated. Factors such as demand unpredictability, part alternates, parts indigenization and tight control on spare parts inventory coupled with... high service levels, demand decision support to accurately forecast spare part requirements and to optimize inventory. Meeting these objectives helps improve profitability and achieve strategic goals such as customer loyalty. The paper discusses various facets of spares and service management from a maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) perspective. It also examines the industry from an automation perspective and suggests viable solutions.

 

Supply Chain Operations

Creating Supply Chain Flexibility in the Flat World

The ever-flattening world presents supply chain risks. Are companies building flexibility to manage such risks? Infosys experts probe the existing supply chain trends.

Inventory Optimization: A Necessity Turning to Urgency

Greater variability and uncertainty across global supply chains have increased the complexity of manufacturing and distribution. Infosys experts believe that inventory optimization, backed by advanced technology, is the only way out.

Management of Supplier Risks in Global Supply Chains

Supplier risk management has gained prominence in the wake of low-cost country outsourcing, geo-political instability and recurrent natural disasters. Infosys proposes a simple Supplier Risk Management (SRM) framework to mitigate such risks.

Financial Supply Chains: Applying Classical SCM Techniques for Savings

Financial supply chains are full of untapped savings opportunities. Infosys believes that in an increasingly networked environment, systematic and proven techniques can help realize such opportunities.

Procurement: Managing Costs by Leveraging Procurement Information Intelligently

This research paper maintains that a 360° approach to looking at where enterprise spends are being made can help procurement departments manage costs better.

Integration: SOA-Based Integration for Creation of a Collaborative Supply Chain in the Automotive Domain

In the Flat World, the traditional means of point-to-point integration for collaboration in the automotive supply chain are not feasible. Infosys experts make a case for SOA-based integration platform.

Delivering Business Value through Supply Chain Analytics

Supply chain analytics solutions help managers across the enterprise analyze barriers to market entry, respond to competition within well-defined supply tier structures, deal with the threat of product substitutes, continually drive ... product innovation and manage product lifecycles to maximize returns.

Knowledge Applications Enabling Competitiveness for Consumer Electronics Manufacturers through Supply Chain Information Management

Transforming supply chain data to information and further synthesizing information to knowledge for decision-making is imperative for competitiveness and profitability.

Managing the Global Supply Chain and Collaboration are the Biggest Challenges

An overwhelming majority (70%) of supply chain managers indicate that managing the global supply chain is the most challenging factor in new product development and product lifecycle management. These challenges are higher ... in priority than mergers and acquisitions (10%) and overlapping value chain (20%). It confirms the growing tendency for manufacturing companies to become lean and focus on their core competencies, while judiciously sourcing and partnering with alliances across the globe.

Creating the Agile and Responsive High-Tech Manufacturer

For any MES/ enterprise integration effort to be manageable and effective, it must adopt a top-down perspective and use processes as the organizational foundation for a staged implementation of integration.

Turning Returns Management into Competitive Advantage in High-Tech Manufacturing

Return rates on purchases have climbed to 20% and more in some sectors, owing to an increase in low-cost, low-contact distribution channels such as the Web. Consequently, customer uncertainty has a significant impact on the corporate... bottom line. Developing a refined returns management plan can be a vital strategic asset.

 

Product Innovation

Globalization of Product Development: The Inevitable Next Stage - Part 1

High-technology companies are facing mounting pressure on basic R&D and product development operations, due to increasing consumer demand for innovative, feature-rich products accompanied by shrinking product lifecycles and declining... price points. Globalization of product development is the inevitable next stage to enhance the competitiveness of high-technology companies in the Flat World.

Globalization of Product Development: The Inevitable Next Stage- Part 2

High-tech companies achieve success not only when they bring their products to the market quickly, but also when they create and develop, at the right time, products that are well aligned with customer needs.

Single View of the Product for Higher Productivity and Profitability

The Integrated Product Management (IPM) approach must address more than functional improvements in the design phase. It must integrate applications, processes and people across functions and throughout the product lifecycle

Global Engineering: The New Imperative for the Aerospace Industry

The Aerospace industry is interestingly poised as demand is primed to outstrip supply. Efforts to increase supply must contend with higher development costs and increased time to market, caused at least in part by a paucity of... engineering skills. In response, the industry is looking to build a business model that can easily scale up and down in response to the variability and cyclicality in demand. Global product development is a key element of such a flexible, scalable model that offers benefits such as increased speed to market, lower costs and enhanced flexibility. The key to successfully implementing a robust global product development capability lies in taking a modular approach to conceptualizing, building and managing a global model for Engineering.

 

Information Technology

Lean on IT

Lean is a change management methodology that has attracted attention for the enhancements that it has generated. Although at Toyota, Lean is used company-wide, in the United States, it's used primarily on the production.. floor. Little consideration has been given to using Lean in other places, least of all in an IT organization. There are several applications where the Lean methodology can be used including the IT environment.

Managing Data Quality

Statistical techniques are recommended to continuously monitor the quality of data and establish control limits. Multiple checkpoints for data quality verifications must be established in the entire lifecycle Corporate Operations

Complying with Waste of Electrical and Electronics Equipments and Restriction on Use of Hazardous Substance Directives: The Way Forward

Corporate sustainability has become a business reality with the European Union passing two regulations compelling high-tech manufacturers to set up rigorous recycling systems for waste of electronic and electrical equipment.

Related Information

Webinar

Advanced Collaborative Supply Management

Get insights into sourcing and procurement for high-tech and manufacturing. Watch (registration required) an archived webinar that was hosted by AMR Research, Infosys and Microsoft.

 

Watch archived webinar (registration required)

Media Mentions

The flat supply chain: Is visibility a challenge?

- Supply & Demand Chain Executive
November '07

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