This chapter contains the following topics:
Service Management consists of these modules:
Equipment Information Management
Contract Management
Work Order Management
Warranty Claims Management
Supplier Recovery Management
Customer Self-Service Portal
Failure Analysis
The Equipment Information Management module (formerly called Installed Base Management) enables you to enter and manage product registration and product master records. You can create and track current and historical information that is associated with each product or piece of equipment that you manufacture or sell. Information that you can track includes:
Product registration.
Recall management.
Depreciation schedules.
Preventive maintenance scheduling.
Product maintenance history.
Product life analysis and costing.
The Contract Management module enables you to record and manage service and supplier contract agreements. A contract is a written agreement between a customer and a provider (contractor), or between a manufacturer and a supplier. You can configure multiple types of contracts to fit the company's needs.
This module also provides features to accommodate various pricing methods, including advanced pricing, and helps you manage contract renewals by automatically generating new contracts when contracts expire. Primary features of this module include:
Configurable service packages.
Base and extended warranty information.
Contract renewals.
Flexible billing.
Integrated entitlement processing.
Prepayment processing.
Advanced pricing.
The Work Order Management module enables you to create a work order to process customer requests that cannot be resolved over the phone. You can create a work order to request that work be performed at the customer site or at a repair depot. Work orders provide the central database for all service and repair information and events associated with an equipment record, inventory item number, or product model. Primary features of this module include:
Planning for labor, parts, and product maintenance.
Online work order approval process.
Estimating service capability.
Entitlement checking.
Service billing.
Voucher processing
The system also enables you to manage Returned Material Authorizations (RMAs), which are authorizations from the supplier for the customer to return inventory for credit, replacement, or repair.
The Warranty Claims Management module enables service dealers and assessors to enter and manage warranty claims. Features include the assessment, approval, or rejection of claims, as well as the generation of supplier recovery claims from warranty claims.
The Supplier Recovery Management module enables recovery managers to enter and manage supplier recovery claims. Supplier recovery claims are claims made by the manufacturer to the supplier for reimbursement for the warranty-related costs that are associated with a warranty claim or work order when the cause of the defect was a supplied part.
The Customer Self-Service (CSS) portal provides a simplified, configurable front-end to the Service Management system. The portal provides an easy way for customers to view information related to their service contracts, work orders, and equipment. The portal enables you to further increase customer satisfaction, decrease costs, and free up internal resources to work on higher priority activities through providing customers, dealers, and distributors direct access to this information.
The Failure Analysis module (formerly called Knowledge Management) enables you to review and associate failures, analyses, and resolutions with cases and work orders. Primary features of this module include:
Database of problems, research and testing, and solutions.
Reusable units of failure analysis.
Failure analysis transactions, in which you can associate a failure from a case or work order with an analysis and resolution.
Service Management uses these additional features:
Solution Advisor
Branch Scripting
Billing for Service Management
Voucher Processing for Service Management
Returned Material Authorization (RMA)
Preventive Maintenance Cycle
Integration with Intelligent Graphic Solution (IGS)
A properly deployed knowledge base will provide a mechanism to share the most up-to-date answers and information across the enterprise by organizing small and desperate bits of information. This information can then be delivered to customers in the form of solutions to the issues they report. Solution Advisor is a knowledge base application that assembles and classifies a wealth of product-specific information. The information is accessible by customers as well as service and support agents, all of whom have the ability to search the knowledge base for an appropriate solution to a specific issue. Solution Advisor provides these benefits:
Ability to capture and share expertise.
Quicker agent ramp up time and reduced time to agent productivity.
Quicker access to relevant solutions.
Information that is available to all agents to access and use.
"Level Zero" support, which enables customers to search for their own solutions
Ability to evaluate the solution repository and make inactive those solutions that have become obsolete.
You can use either Solution Advisor or Failure Analysis, but not both programs.
Organizations frequently need to gather detailed information about a customer or a customer's problem. This information must be complete and consistent or follow-up interactions with the customer will be required, driving up costs. Designed to assist a contact center agent in resolving issues, Branch Scripting ensures the proper information is captured and stored, thus increasing the probability of success and limiting customer callbacks. Branch Scripting was added as another tool for agents to improve efficiency, effectiveness, consistency and productivity within a contact center. Branch Scripting solution provides these benefits:
Streamlines data capture by agents.
Standardizes information gathering, for greater accuracy and consistency.
Simplifies complex diagnosis, enabling less skilled resources to address complex issues and mirror the abilities of more experienced agents.
Provides repeatable processes, improving productivity.
Personalizes data capture interaction for respondents.
Service Management uses the same billing programs as the Service Billing system.
Before you can complete the billing process, you must generate transactions into the Billing Detail Workfile (F4812), as follows:
For contracts, run the Service Contract Workfile Generation (R1732).
For service orders, run the SWM Work Order Workfile Generation (R1775).
For cases, run the Case Workfile Generation (R17675).
For warranty claims, run the Warranty Claims Workfile Generation (R177701)
For supplier recovery, run the Supplier Recovery Generation (R177701)
The system gathers the corresponding records that are eligible for billing and creates Billing Detail Workfile records (F4812).
You must generate a workfile before you can complete the voucher process, using one of these programs:
SWM Work Order Workfile Generation (R1775)
Warranty Claim/Supplier Recovery Claim Workfile Generator (R177701)
When you run one of these programs, the system gathers the work orders that are eligible for payment from the Work Order Parts List table (F3111), the Parts Extension table (F31171), the Work Order Routing table (F3112), and the Routing Instructions - Extension table (F31172), and then the system creates records in the Billing Workfile table (F4812).
After you generate a workfile, you run the Voucher Generation program (R48122) to group workfile transactions and assign voucher numbers.
A Returned Material Authorization (RMA) is an approval from the supplier for the customer to return inventory for credit, replacement, or repair. The system creates an authorization number for the supplier to track the return of the inventory. This process is also known as Returned Goods Authorization (RGA).
When you create an RMA, you create a purchase order (to receive the old product) and a sales order (to ship a replacement). Or you can create a credit order instead of shipping a replacement product. You can indicate how the system creates purchase orders and sales orders by setting up processing options for versions of the Sales Order Entry program and the Purchase Orders program (P4210 and P4310, respectively) and specifying those versions in the Work with Returned Material Authorization program (P40051).
Service Management utilizes customer and product information that you enter once in order to operate efficient and cost-effective service processes. For example, assume that an equipment record and a base-warranty record were created when you sold a computer monitor to a customer. When the customer calls with an issue, the customer service representative (CSR) is able to resolve the issue based on previous calls with corresponding failures, analyses, and resolutions. If the CSR is unable to resolve the issue, the CSR can create a Returned Materials Authorization, so that the customer can return the faulty monitor and receive a replacement.
Service departments that maintain customer equipment (whether the customer is internal or external) can plan, monitor, and complete routine maintenance operations to minimize equipment breakdowns and unscheduled repairs. When you manage equipment maintenance needs, you define the type and frequency of each maintenance task for each piece of equipment, such as equipment covered under service contracts and warranties.
Intelligent Graphic Solution (IGS) is a third-party product that you can purchase separately. IGS is a graphical tool that can illustrate equipment, buildings, and inventory item assemblies. You can see each item or part in picture format, and in relation to its parents or other components. You can see an entire assembly, select parts from the graphic, and return the item number to the work order parts list in JD Edwards JD Edwards EnterpriseOne.