OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT PROJECT REPORT ON MARUTI SERVICE STATIONS

Submitted By: Joseph Chandy Rishabh Malik Nishtha Garg Ishita Sharma Pankaj Vats

INTRODUCTION
An automobile is a quite unique product. Unlike pure services, it has a component of the product quality which affects the overall experience of the customers and unlike pure products it has a service component which also significantly affects the overall experience of the customers. There are many products today in which there is some component of service which a customer may or may not experience but an automobile is one such product which has a component of Periodic Maintenance Service (PMS.) i.e. the regular service which a customer definitely experiences during the ownership of the product. For a typical automobile, a customer visits the workshop to avail service almost 3 times per year for regular maintenance as well as intermittent repairs. A car is owned by a person for almost 4-5 years on an average. Hence, during the entire lifetime of a car, a customer experiences after-sales service almost 12-15 times while He experiences the sales just once. As the ratio of overall experience is significantly skewed towards after-sales service, hence the service satisfaction has a significant effect on the loyalty of a customer. Maruti service centres understand the importance of this concept implement certain operational methods in order to make it efficient. During our research we came across few interesting concepts applied by Maruti and certain issues that they face due to increasing number of cars every year. In our report we are going to discuss their service process and process flow, the bottlenecks in their system and the recommendations we have for them.

SERVICE PROCESS
The entire service process which a customer undergoes can be brolom down into 4 main stages: 1. Service Initiation 2. In-Service Experience 3. Service Delivery 4. Post-Service Experience

In the following sub-section, we will try to understand what the customer evaluates during each step of the service process. This will help us in designing the entire service experience to take care of potential shortfalls. In each of the steps of interaction, we also try to understand the hygiene factors and the activities which can delight the customer. 1. Service Initiation This is the stage in which a customer gets his vehicle into the service. The convenience and speed with which the customer is able to get his vehicle into the service process determines the satisfaction level of the customer. Usually the customers give their vehicle in the morning before going to the office. Hence, usually time is the essence here. Customers usually feel that as the workshop staff is technically qualified hence the time spent for getting his vehicle into service is of no use. The anxiety level of the customer increases exponentially with the increase in waiting time as he has a time-bound activity planned after that (reaching office on time). The subsequent interaction of the customer is with the Service Advisor of the workshop who is a technical person. His responsibility is to understand the service needs of the customer and understand the exact problems with the vehicle so that the same can be conveyed to the supervisor and technician for necessary rectification. Hence, the Service Advisor is a vital link between the customer (who is facing the problem) and the technician (who will rectify the problem). This is usually the first link of the communication chain. As we know, the strength of the weakest link will decide the strength of the entire hain. The aspects of service which a customer would evaluate in this stage are: 1. When arrived at workshop, the time taken for someone to acknowledge his presence 2. Time spent waiting to speak to the Service Advisor 3. Overall performance of the Service Advisor a. Understanding specific problems with the vehicle b. Asking questions to clarify further needs c. Listening to the customer d. Behaviour (Giving attention and treating with courtesy)

e. Knowledge and expertise 4. Overall opinion of facility a. Convenience of location b. Cleanliness of facility c. Convenience of days and hours of workshop operation If there is a gap in understanding the customer and vehicle service requirements then it leads to a snowballing effect which increase the magnitude of problems during, the delivery of the vehicle the evening. 2. In-Service Experience: This stage is particularly applicable to the customers wait it the workshop premises while the vehicle is being serviced. This is also a critical phase of the overall customer experience as most of the times either his own vehicle or other customers' vehicle is being seen by the customer while it is being serviced. Hence, it has a significant impact on the confidence level of the customer as while giving; the vehicle for service, the customer is entrusting care and safety of the vehicle to the workshop personnel. Time is also the essence here as a customer who is waiting for the service to be completed will generally expect the vehicle to be returned faster than a customer who has given his vehicle for service and gone back to his office/ home. But, whether the customer is waiting or not, he would definitely expect communication from the workshop in case the vehicle requires additional repairs which may either attract additional cost or time or both. The aspects of service which a customer would evaluate in this stage are: 1. Comfort during the waiting period 2. Cleanliness of the waiting area 3. Amenities available in the waiting, area like beverages, TV, magazines etc. 4. Communication in case additional time or cost or both are required If there is a lapse in the communication while the vehicle is in service, then it can also add to the snowballing effect and lead to a bigger problem in the evening during vehicle delivery.

3. Service Delivery: This is the stage when the customer visits the workshop or waits and collects the vehicle after the completion of service. Delivery is an important part of the entire link as it is a crucial opportunity to make it up to the customer in event of any lapse which may have happened while accepting the vehicle for servicing. During the delivery, customer would expect the vehicle to be in a state better than when he left the vehicle for servicing. This is the stage of service when the customer evaluates the fulfilment of all promises made to him i.e. regarding time, cost and work. Here too the time is an important factor, but the customer is not in as much hurry as he is likely to be when he leaves the vehicle for servicing in the morning. But as, the customer makes payment for the services he has availed, he expects the value of service he receives to be worth paying for. Though the customer would be able to realize and evaluate the quality of service completely after using the vehicle for a few days, he can very well evaluate the basic aspects of service during the delivery itself. This is the time when the customer again interactswiith the Service Advisor and gets the opportunity to complete his assessment. The aspects of service which a customer would evaluate in this stage are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Acknowledgement of customer's arrival at workshop Time taken to bring the vehicle after arrival of customer Promptness of having vehicle ready when promised Overall performance of Service Advisor Explanation or work done Explanation of charges/ bill amount Cleanliness of vehicle Fairness of charges Thoroughness of fulfilling requests

10. Availability of parts 11. Overall opinion of facility 12. Dealer taking ownership of service to assure of any problems in future Service Delivery is the last stage of service when physical interaction happens between the customer and the workshop staff'. After this, a physical interaction may be required only in the event of requirement of any service recovery activity. On the other hand, if a customer experiences a lapse in

service at the time of delivery, then the service recovery activity may be required on-the-spot depending on the time required for the activity and the time available with the customer. 4. Post-Service Experience: This is the stage of the service when customer evaluates the quality of service by using the vehicle. Here, there is no physical interaction between the customer and the workshop as the customer is all by himself and may not be able to completely evaluate the service performance. As most of the customers are not technically competent, hence they may not be able to differentiate between product problem and service problem. For a few days after service even if any problem crops up with the vehicle he may not be able to thoroughly evaluate the performance of the vehicle. Hence, it becomes critical to keep track of the customer for few days after service in order to assess the satisfaction of the customer.

PROCESS FLOW

THE BOTTLENECKS
1. Untrained Manpower The automotive aftermarket industry is one of the largest employers of skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workforce in the country, and there is a shortage of skilled workforce. Survival of small workshop is difficult when they do not have trained mechanics. There are groups like Bosch Car Service, are building network of car workshops and helping small workshops by standardizing and providing training. 2. Scarcity of Spare Parts Car manufacturer supplies spare parts to OEM dealers only. Car owners look for spare parts from small garages with same quality. Alternates and unbranded spare parts are available in the market. Car owners are happy getting cheapest spares from the outside market. Few garages claim, they source from OEM dealers or same companies supplies to OEM. Audit spare parts companies to stop supplies in the open market is not easy for OEM when they supplies same parts with different local brands. There is a need to increase supplies of spare parts. Indian auto industry is investing heavily in developing facilities for design and manufacturing of auto spares parts. This investment will attract global auto giants to start outsourcing quality spares at competitive price from India. It is estimated that in next 5/6 years the spares parts industry for automobile will be a $14 billion investment. 3. Monopoly of OEM dealers for warranty car service Globally all OEM dealers are allowed to provide car servicing during warranty period. No other car workshop and service centre can provide that service. It has stopped car manufacturer sharing technical information about car technologies to others. In USA and European countries, garages and small car workshops has filed petition for The Right to Repair. Some of the states have approved it and community is still working on this to get it approved globally. The need for Right to Repair legislation has become a necessity in order to protect the rights of car owners to decide where and how they have their

vehicles serviced, whether at a new car dealer or an independent service facility. Right to Repair ensures that the person who bought the car and not the car company, can decide where that vehicle is repaired and maintained.

RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Dealer Advisory Panel: Presently Gap-1 is measured by JD power for the entire country and Maruti adopts the systems and assigns its focus on the systems in the same order as per the study by JD power. The development of the standards is usually done by the core team of Maruti based on the suggestions given by JD Power and experience of the head-office department staff. The dealers staff, who is in actual touch with the customers are not involved in the development of service standards, therefore, Maruti should form a Dealer Advisory Panel. 2. Segmenting: The analysis of the feedbacks must be done segment wise i.e. dividing the feedbacks according to vehicle model, age of the user/customer etc. in order to understand the needs and expectations of the customers in each segment . 3. Specialised labor according to models : Create groups for handling separate models separately, like few people for aulto,ritzetc and others for sx4 etc. Lady advisor can be put incharge for handling the ladies. This can be helpful in situations like sx4 owner would like to focus on quality while a taxi driver (omni) will be cost conscious. 4. During peak times, separate counters for regular servicing and complaints