Service Process Design Singh Auto World

1. The three elements of the service- product bundle for our company is our main focus because it’s what makes our company.  Beginning with tangible service, in other words “what we do for our customers.  In our company we provide top of the line customer service.  Our representatives are entitled to greet the customers as soon as they walk into the dealership, also give the customer time to look around without feeling pressured.  When the customer seems to be looking at one car with interest, one of our representatives would approach them and provide any information needed.  We can determine if a customer is interested in one of our cars because we sell top of the line project cars, which is distinct from other dealerships which can be said manufacture more than one of the same car.  We provide carfax, which include all the information of that car from the day it was manufactured.  Also we allow our customers to test drive the car so they can get a hand on feel of how the car runs.  Second element of the service product-bundle we deal with is the psychological benefits.  We try to handle psychological benefits very delicate because our purpose is to sell our cars.  Majority of the times customers are satisfied with the condition and special attributes of our cars, but one of the issues are the prices.  We try to negotiate an even deal in which the company would make some profit but also the customer would be satisfied with a new vehicle.  The last element of the service-product bundle is the physical goods, which can be described as “what can the customer carry away?”   Well our customers can leave our dealership satisfied with a certified top of the line car.  Also depending on the deal they get, our customers can also leave with certain warranties on the vehicle and maintenance packages. 

2. Singh Auto World falls under the customer routed cell on the serving matrix, because of the high interaction with the customers when they sell cars. The employees receive a unique buying experience from the seller.

3. Employees have contact with the customer when the customers come to look at the cars, as well as when they have to come for further car services. The company incorporates technology by using the website, automated key systems, and technical mechanic tools. The way that the company incorporates focus operations is by having a salesperson do the selling of the cars, the mechanics repair the car, and the finance department handles credit loans. The company supports the employees by offering bonuses for selling cars or specials on cars.

4. What types of service recovery and guarantees do they offer?

When customers are unhappy with service recovery, it often is because the company failed to understand the customers' cost and inconvenience. Along with refunds, credits, repairs and replacements. Singh Auto World’s electronically distributes complaint information gathered at its service center directly to the dealerships responsible for settling the dispute. The same information is also sent to the marketing research and engineering departments, which integrate the complaint data with additional research information.

Research showed that:

• Only 5 to 10 percent of unhappy customers complain after a service failure.

• Most customers are dissatisfied with the way companies resolve their complaints.

• Most companies fail to learn from their mistakes.

 

Singh Autoworld Chapter 4

1. What type of product flow do they use?

We think that batch flow would be the best product flow for our company. There are a lot of customers and each have a unique taste. Batch flow allows the production of cars to be made in lots for variety. Looking to buy a car can be stressful if you are looking for a specific type, color, model, and add ins, but batch flow can make the process very smooth and flexible. Our Singh Auto World company has medium to low volume of products, but it has many different types of cars and colors so people can choose which best fits their needs. The flow of the cars would be jumbled. The market type would be customized. Also, the flexibility and cost is medium so the mid range prices of the cars are affordable and there is a variety of cars with different prices so everyone can be accommodated.

2. What type of customer order do they process?

We can use the Make to Stock customer order process. This produces finished goods and the customer buys from the inventory since they are used cars. Singh Auto World has smooth production and this is its' advantage because the cars are in good shape and we are very flexible with our products. The downside to this is the inventory since we can't fit thousands of cars. Our lot has about 300 cars and we all have different types of models so we have a pretty good variety.

3. Process Selection

     Made to stock- Singh Auto World sells used cars.  The company keeps in mind the market conditions and adjusts their inventory and car deals accordingly. For instance, if the economic conditions are not favorable for new car buyers, Singh Auto World would increase their overall inventory making sure that greater percentage of cars in the inventory will be of cheaper price range. This makes sense because increasing their inventory with more cars with higher price range would limit the choices for those affected by the poor economic/ market conditions, hence, damaging the potential sales figures.

In addition Singh Auto's process selection also depends on the consumer demand (seasonal/ trend change). If they notice that customers are buying one specific car (model and make)  for example Honda Accord they make sure they have more in stock as the demand for that specific car has gone up. Sometimes when the demand for particular model/make falls significantly, Singh Auto will offer better deals and get them off the inventory. Despite low or no demand of such cars, Singh Auto would normally maintain the inventory by certain percentage -- to ensure variety and choices for all.  It is very important for a company to be up to date with the market conditions also which vehicle is more in demand. The company has to make sure that they don’t lose customers because of less or no inventory.

4.Singh Auto world falls into continuous with low volume, multiple products and stock to inventory.

5. Yes, our company could adopt some of the mass customization methods because our varieties of top of the line cars are broad.  Our company specializes on unique cars which allow our customers to have a choice of which top of the line brand to choose.  For example our cars consist of Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and Bentleys.