Reverse and service logistics - White Paper - 2C4C publication

Erik Willems free publication
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EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS
WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT
AFTERMARKET
…BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK
REVERSE LOGISTICS AND
SERVICE LOGISTICS IN BITE SIZE CHUNKS
Erik Willems
October 2011
Corinthia Hotel,
Budapest, Hungary
BROUGHT TO YOU BY

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
AFTERMARKET
TAKE A SLICE OF THE PIE THAT KEEPS CUSTOMERS LOYAL AND PROFITS HEALTHY
Reverse Logistics, Service Logistics, After Sales Servicing: these may be relatively new phenomena but
that’s no reason to shy away from a market that’s worth some €435 billion each year. Some €66 billion
of this total is spent each year on logistics related services.
Smart businesses these days are doing everything they can to enhance the Customer Experience,
because they understand the importance of loyalty. Good and efficient, friendly service equals happy
and satisfied customers, equals loyalty, retention and recommendation, equals more sales and better
revenues, equals increased profitability. They also understand that the best way to achieve this is by
not just selling their wares in the first place but providing a second-to-none after-sales service that
engages the purchaser for a greater length of time.
Consider yourself as a consumer for a moment. What turns you on about buying a particular product?
That you can try before you buy? That you can return it, if it’s not quite to your taste? That because it’s
under warranty the manufacturer will repair it and lend you an alternative whilst it’s being sorted out?
Or maybe, just maybe, you’re impressed that when this product comes to its natural end of life, you
know that the manufacturer will ensure it is recycled.
Aside from consumers, businesses need to replenish stores and depots of accessorial items, or to return
unwanted stock or unsold products from shops. Or they require emergency time-critical component
parts delivered to field engineers to repair on-site machinery. There are garages repairing cars in need
of spare parts fast and mobile phone or laptop retailers and manufacturers receiving items for repair.
There are also legal and/or regulatory requirements in some markets to ensure products once they
reach their end of life are recycled or re-used in some way.
You see, the AfterMarket is all about servicing products – and highly-expensive permanent installations
– once they’ve been sold to consumers or manufactured and installed in plants. Not only is it already a
crucial business sector for businesses worldwide, it’s getting bigger – and more important - by the
minute. These days it is the after sales service that differentiates good companies from great ones.
Companies spend an enormous amount of money on After Market services. And as the costs for
managing returned products / servicing base installations in the field is increasingly rapidly, there are a
multitude of specialist companies and organisations springing up to offer a wide variety of solutions to
service this market including specialist call centres, extended warranty businesses, guaranteed
response service contactors, recycling companies, re-use product resellers, automotive spare parts
resellers and accessory re-sellers, collection and drop-off points, to personal courier companies, Innight
delivery companies and domestic parcel operators, repair vendors and authorised (multi-vendor)
service providers. And of course there are the classic integrators and logistics service providers.
It’s time to embrace everything there is to know about Reverse Logistics and Service Logistics, to
understand the options available, the challenges faced, and the benefits not only to customers, but to
businesses’ bottom lines.

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PART A.....................................................................................................................5
1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................5
2 AFTER MARKET IS ABOUT END-CUSTOMER’S NEEDS AND ABOUT THE
CHALLENGES FOR COMPANIES TO ADDRESS THESE NEEDS. ......................................6
2.1 ‘Start of Use’ – Return services for un-used products..............................................................6
2.1.1 Returning ‘Try-and-buy’ products ............................................................................................6
2.1.2 Returning unwanted products .................................................................................................7
2.1.3 Returning unsold products.......................................................................................................7
2.1.4 Returning spare parts or excess stock......................................................................................7
2.2 ‘In Use’ – After-Sales services for used products .....................................................................7
2.2.1 Selling accessorial and consumable products ..........................................................................7
2.2.2 Bring-in defective product to local repair shops for servicing (out of warranty) .....................8
2.3 ‘In Use’ – Returns services for defective products ...................................................................8
2.3.1 Returning products that are claimed defective........................................................................8
2.3.2 Replacing a malfunctioning product during warranty..............................................................9
2.3.3 Repairing malfunctioning product while under warranty........................................................9
2.3.4 Receiving a temporary replacement while the original product is in repair............................9
2.4 ‘In Use’ – Field Service Logistics.............................................................................................10
2.4.1 Receiving urgent on-site repair for Vehicle Off Road under a service contracts ...................10
2.4.2 Receiving urgent on-site repair to installed base as part of a service contracts....................10
2.5 ‘End of Use’ – Return service for products that are end-of-life or beyond-economical-repair11
2.5.1 Returning products for refurbishing, recycling or re-use.......................................................11
3 WHOOPS, THAT’S COMPLICATED! LET’S SIMPLIFY IT. ......................................12
3.1 The definitions ......................................................................................................................12
3.2 Why bother? “I see no need in trying to understand better the complex world of Reverse
Logistics”. Wrong answer! ..................................................................................................................13
3.3 Reverse Logistics manages return flows for products at ‘Start-of-Use’, ‘In-Use’ and ‘End-of-
Use’ ..............................................................................................................................................14
3.3.1 Un-used products (‘Start of Use’)...........................................................................................14
3.3.2 Defective Product Returns (‘In-Use’)......................................................................................15
3.3.3 Used products, ‘End of Use’ ...................................................................................................15
3.4 After Market also covers After Sales Logistics and Service Logistics ......................................16
3.4.1 After Sales ..............................................................................................................................16
3.4.2 Field Service Logistics ............................................................................................................17
PART B...................................................................................................................19
4 COMPANIES SPEND AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF MONEY ON AFTERMARKET
AND REVERSE LOGISTICS........................................................................................19
4.1 Costs for managing returned un-wanted products is increasing rapidly ................................19
4.1.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................19

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4.1.2 Why are products returned?..................................................................................................19
4.1.3 Why to promote internet sales knowing so many products are being returned? .................19
4.1.4 The costs involved in un-used product returns......................................................................20
4.2 Contract types in the aftermarket .........................................................................................21
4.3 Costs for managing defective product returns.......................................................................21
4.3.1 Warranty Contracts ................................................................................................................21
4.3.2 Extended Warranty ................................................................................................................21
4.3.3 Out of Warranty Servicing......................................................................................................22
4.4 Costs for providing service to installed base: Field Service Logistics ......................................23
4.4.1 Guaranteed Response Service Contracts ...............................................................................23
4.5 Summary...............................................................................................................................24
5 HOW MUCH MONEY DO COMPANIES SPEND ON THE LOGISTICS SERVICES? ....26
5.1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................................26
5.2 Product return.......................................................................................................................26
5.3 Return to repair / Return to replace......................................................................................27
5.4 Bring in to repair ...................................................................................................................28
5.5 Field based servicing .............................................................................................................28
5.6 Total costs per Logistics Service Model..................................................................................29
5.7 Breakdown of costs per Logistics Service Model ...................................................................29
PART C...................................................................................................................31
6 EXCLUSIVE SERVICES OFFERED BY SPECIALIZED COMPANIES ...........................31
6.1 ‘Start of Use’ – return services for un-used products.............................................................31
6.2 ‘End of Use’ – return service for products that are end-of-life or beyond-economical-repair 32
6.3 ‘In Use’ – Aftersales services for used products.....................................................................33
6.4 ‘In Use’ – Defective products.................................................................................................34
6.5 ‘In Use’ – Field Service Logistics.............................................................................................36
PART D – APPENDIX 1 ............................................................................................40
THE AUTOMOTIVE AFTER MARKET.........................................................................40

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PART A
1 Introduction
In February 2009, John McAvoy of Aberdeen Group wrote: “For six straight quarters, corporate profits
have fallen in the United States. A recession also grips Europe and Japan, where it is expected to linger
for at least another year. To address the challenges of an unstable economy, many managers are drawn
into overly cautious modes of operation, focusing exclusively on cost-reduction measures. Today, astute
managers realise that customer satisfaction and retention directly relate to corporate success. In an
Aberdeen survey of 150 service firms conducted during summer 2008, nearly 80% of industry leaders,
those who have achieved excellence in their operations, indicated that their top goal is to improve
customer satisfaction. These firms know that the concept of satisfying customers supports long-term
profitability.”1
Now, in difficult times, companies realise that servicing end-customers after the initial product sales has
become increasingly important. Providing excellent After Market service keeps end-customers happy so
they don’t buy a product from a competitor. When being serviced beyond expectation, these end-
customers also become your sales men. They will tell their friends, colleagues, family members how
great service they received or how easy it was to return an unwanted or defective product. More than
ever before, After Market services are now considered a key revenue generator. That’s more than
welcome in these difficult times.
Curtis Creve of the Reverse Logistics consulting firm Greve&Davis quotes: “Manufacturers should view
returns as an opportunity to differentiate themselves to their customers”. Obviously, this starts when
closing a deal: “If a sales person can engage the buyer upfront with a proactive approach to deal with
the realities of selling products and dealing with returns, the overall relationship benefits”
2
.
Meeting and exceeding customers’ expectations is a significant marketing tool used to gain and retain
customers. Exceeding expectations in the after-sales sector is a means by which business can enhance
customer loyalty, increase revenues and improve profitability.
This study explains how After Market -Reverse Logistics and Service Logistics- can work. It considers the
needs of the end-customers, the dependencies on the type of product and its value, and the
consequential effects of malfunctioning products. The document presents relevant definitions, and
indicates the potential size of the market per region.
The objective of this document is to share knowledge, enhance awareness, and provide insight into the
After Market. It may as such be used as a valuable tool to share knowledge amongst sales teams and
enhance their capability to approach customers with confidence.
The document presents relevant information, quotes and figures from internet research, some
interviews, customer presentations and white papers. The intention of this document is not to validate
or debate relevant information used (as per the references listed).
1
Recession Battle Plan for Field Service – Jack McAvoy - Aberdeen Group – February 2009. Link.
2
Curtus Greve, Greve&Davis - The Reverse Logistics Experts, December 2009. Link.

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2 After Market is about end-customer’s needs and
about the challenges for companies to address these
needs.
The process of selling finished products to end-customers may be perceived as relatively easy. The
challenges leading up to the “point of sale” are in gaining new customers, promoting the product and
outsmarting the competition, and attaining acceptable sales margins. Of course, one may conclude that
all these activities are already sufficiently complicated.
It gets much more complex, however, only after the point of sale. Original Equipment Manufacturers
(OEMs) are today putting great focus onto the After Market sector. They view the processes that occur
after the point of sale not only as an area of increasing revenues, but also an area where they gain,
retain or loose their valued customers.
Think of yourself as a consumer for a moment. Have you recently bought a new computer? You may
have searched the internet and found an incredible number of brands all of which offer products of a
similar quality making it difficult for you to tell the differences between them. This is actually quite
logical; most OEMs nowadays source components from the same manufacturers and assemble their
end products. If there were differences, you may have found it difficult to explain to a friend or
colleague what these differences would actually entail, or where your preference would be. This being
the case, it is highly likely that you went on to research the brands’ warranty services or to find out how
easy it would be for you to return it if you don’t like it. And you probably did some research on
consumer responses to learn from their experience on either the product itself or on their after-sales
experience. What was their experience after the product turned out not to be working as expected?
You will have considered, examined, compared and evaluated the options before you purchased!
Consumers have become much more demanding. And so have businesses… as a logical consequence.
This section provides some compelling examples of how end-customers might be serviced when they
are considering purchasing a product or after they have purchased a product.
Relevant services may be split as follows:
 ‘Start of Use’ service to return un-used products
 ‘End of Use’ service to return products that are end-of-life or beyond-economical-repair.
 ‘In Use’ service to products that are still in use.
Company names and products in the below sections are just illustrative. Relevant examples apply to all
relevant vertical markets and products.
2.1 ‘Start of Use’ – Return services for un-used products
2.1.1 Returning ‘Try-and-buy’ products
Companies are continuously searching for new ways to improve sales
performance and to find new customers. End-customers can be offered the
option to test a new product and to return the product, free of charge, within a
given period in case they don’t like it. As an example, D-link offers a 30-day free
trial period for its premium switches
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after which the product must be purchased
or returned free of charge.
3 http://www.dlink.com/try

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With an ambition to improve market share, companies nowadays offer their
customers a free trial period, to try and test specific models. This has proved to be a
great marketing tool, despite some logistics implications. Loaned equipment must
be returned in time, so to reduce inventory of loaner units. This requires a well
managed returns control process.
2.1.2 Returning unwanted products
It has become very simple to purchase the latest MP4 player, I-Pod, digital camera,
DVD, book or whatever product in recent years; a few clicks on the internet, secure
internet payment, and receipt of the product the following day.
As simple as it is to buy a product nowadays, companies expect similarly easy-to-
use and hassle- free processes for their end-customers to return the product in
case they don’t want it. Apple for example has very clearly defined processes and policies
4
for
consumers wishing to return unwanted products. Very useful for returning that iPod you bought as a
Christmas present for your 14 year old, that turned out to be an old model as Apple had just released a
newer version.
For e-tailers and re-tailers. the flow of returned consumer products like DVD’s,
books and clothing has significantly increased in recent years as the volume of
internet sales has grown so quickly.
2.1.3 Returning unsold products
Retailers may return unsold end-of-season products back to the manufacturers or
fashion houses. This is especially true in the fashion market where large quantities
of unsold clothes, shoes and accessories are returned by retail shops at the end of
the season.
2.1.4 Returning spare parts or excess stock
Companies may store critical quantities of spare parts close to the point of need.
When relevant spare parts are no longer required (relevant products have reached
end-of-life or are no longer serviced) these spare parts may be moved upwards in
the supply chain. Relevant parts are no longer stored in local warehouses or even
strategic stock locations but are moved to central warehouses. The same would
apply when sales volumes for specific products are gradually reducing. These
products are than moved up the supply chain to reduce inventory carrying costs.
2.2 ‘In Use’ – After-Sales services for used products
2.2.1 Selling accessorial and consumable products
4 Apple Sales and Refund policy. Link

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The automotive sector is a good example of a market with a considerable flow of
consumable products and spare parts. This includes parts or components that
wear off during product usage and are returned after being replaced, for example
tyres and brake plates. These products are then disposed of or recycled.
Toners and ink cartridges are an interesting consumable product for printer
manufacturers. Companies often have higher sales incomes from relevant
consumables than from the printers itself.
2.2.2 Bring-in defective product to local repair shops for servicing (out of warranty)
Consumer electronics, hi-tech products, computers, telecoms equipment and
mobile phones; all these products that may go defective will still require servicing
and/or repair after (extended) warranty has expired. End-customers require
transparent and ease-of-use processes for bringing-in or shipping their product to
a local repairer to get it repaired.
Automotive, Agriculture, Material Handling: The passenger vehicle market
consists of more than 800 million cars worldwide. In 2007, 72 million new
automobiles were sold worldwide, of which 19 million in the US alone. All of
these cars (and also trucks, forklifts, combines, tractors etc) require regular
servicing and maintenance checks. There are over 18,000 car dealers in the US
5
where you can bring your car for servicing, employing some 1.2 million people,
25% of whom work in maintenance and repair
6
. It is needless to say how instrumental the After Market
business is in this sector. Read more about the Automotive After Market in appendix 1.
2.3 ‘In Use’ – Returns services for defective products
2.3.1 Returning products that are claimed defective
End-customers return products even when they THINK it is not working as
expected. According to Tony Sciarrotta, Director of Returns Management at Philips
and Member of the RLA Advisory Board
7
, 4% of consumer electronics products sold
in the US gets returned via the dealers as claimed defective. It is then found that
over 60% of these returned products have no technical fault.
The end-customer is king, however, so companies will never argue with their end-customer. Instead,
they require a seamless returns solution. Some companies have built their strategy around this. Philips
Consumer Electronics for example has concentrated on a seamless Rapid Exchange program direct to
Consumers. This has provided superb after-sales experience to end-customers by shipping a
replacement electronic toothbrush
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.
5
Business Courier, August 2010. Link.
6
United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, December 2009. Link.
7
Tony Sciarrotta, Director of Returns Management at Philips and Member of the Advisory Board of the Reverse Logistics
Association, August 2009.
8
Adam Sherry, Vice President Consumer Care at Philips. Presentation during Reverse Logistics Conference, Amsterdam June 2009,
approved quote.

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2.3.2 Replacing a malfunctioning product during warranty
Guess what. You’ve just bought the car of your dreams - brand new, pearl blue
metallic, 265 kilometres an hour maximum speed - but after just two months, the
exhaust breaks. The car dealer replaces the broken exhaust at no cost; however
you face a negative experience because you had to bring in the car for servicing.
On the positive side, an exhaust is on stock and you’re back on the road within an
hour.
It gets more complicated for expensive automotive parts and for parts which statistically (MTBF, Mean
Time Between Failure) are unlikely to break down during warranty. Relevant parts are stored in central
or regional warehouses to reduce inventory costs. These parts must be available to the car dealer first
thing the next day so the end-customer doesn’t have to wait too long.
In the high-tech market, it’s quite common practice, certainly for products such as
LCD monitors, that the end-customer receives a replacement product (“Like-for-
Like”), be it a new or a refurbished product.
To improve the end-customer experience, they often receive a replacement
before the defective unit is collected (Exchange in Advance) or while the defective
unit is collected (SameTime Swap).
2.3.3 Repairing malfunctioning product while under warranty
Where replacing a malfunctioning product is simply not the most economical
solution, customers have implemented return for repair models. Defective
products are shipped to a repair location and -once repaired- the same product
(“Same-for-Same”) is shipped back to the customer.
The end-customers have a highly negative experience. Their product is broken. It
may have confidential information stored on it, or pictures, videos, music and telephone numbers.
Short turn-around-times are critical as well as keeping the end-customer informed on the progress
being made. From the customers’ point of view, this implicates total transparency and full visibility
during the total reverse loop to keep their end-customer satisfied.
OEM’s however also are cautious over costs. They may call for longer turn-around-times so to reduce
distribution costs and benefit from carrying out repair in low(er)-costs countries.
2.3.4 Receiving a temporary replacement while the original product is in repair
A simple and effective way to minimise the negative effect of a product that is
out for repair is for customers to provide a temporary loan unit to their end-
customers. It is also an ideal way for turning a negative into a positive end-
customer experience, by loaning the newest product hoping they purchase that
next.
Providing temporary replacement units is also a way of taking the heat out of
the repair process. The turn-around-time becomes less of a concern, and therefore may be a way of
reducing distribution costs and repair costs.

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2.4 ‘In Use’ – Field Service Logistics
2.4.1 Receiving urgent on-site repair for Vehicle Off Road under a service contracts
Trucks or agriculture equipment are production assets. Whenever defective, a
stand-still will cost companies money. Volvo sells service contracts to their
corporate customers. For a pre-defined monthly budget, all the necessary
maintenance and repairs of the truck are undertaken by Volvo technicians. Where
possible, this is done in local repair shops (preventative maintenance), and
whenever a vehicle is out or service (Vehicle Off Road or VOR).
When an aircraft “goes AOG” (Aircraft-On-Ground) and no parts are available, technicians and parts
must be despatched on site anywhere around the world to put a grounded aircraft back into operation.
The costs of doing this are often enormous; however the downtime costs can be significantly more.
2.4.2 Receiving urgent on-site repair to installed base as part of a service contracts
Service contracts are very common in the field of machinery, assembly lines and
elevators. Tetra Pak for example provides a full range of Aftermarket services for
food processing and food packaging equipment as part of the Tetra Pak Technical
Services group.
A dedicated team of 3,000 professionals offer a range of services to the end-
customers. Tetra Pak Pre-production Services include installation and start-up services for the food
processing and food packaging equipment. Tetra Pak Production Services ensures the Tetra Pak
equipment runs at desired performance levels. Improvement Services identifies savings and
improvements.
Tetra Pak has got one thing right; they address the end-customer benefits of their aftermarket services.
These benefits include being more competitive and ensuring maximum efficiency of the installed base
which in turn maximizes the availability and performance of equipment. A very interesting document is
available from the link in the footnotes
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.
Diagnostics equipment in the MedTech sector, for example for diagnosing human
tissues or blood samples, is installed in hospitals or laboratories (called ‘installed
base’).
Often these products are heavy and complex systems and
may need to be calibrated when installing. These products
cannot be shipped to a central repair or servicing location and
therefore require a service technician on-site to service the
product. This may either be for preventative maintenance or for a corrective
maintenance event.
Imagine the logistics behind servicing installed bases such as x-ray and MRI-scan
equipment. Patients simply depend on receiving treatment in hospitals; it may be
life-saving. Downtime is not only very costly but it may risk human life.
9
Tetra Pak Technical Service, Link.

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2.5 ‘End of Use’ – Return service for products that are end-of-life or
beyond-economical-repair
2.5.1 Returning products for refurbishing, recycling or re-use
Companies are getting greener. Increasingly, it’s becoming much easier for end-
customers to return used products which have reached their end-of-life, or
where repair is no longer economical. Companies like Nokia provide information
on their website about how to return products. End-customers can even print
return labels, for free of charge postal return of their product
10
.
Defective printers, coffee makers, computers et cetera can nowadays be
returned via the retail shop when you buy a new product. Or you will find a place
where you can return your defective goods to get recycled.
End-customers using Canon printing equipment may return their cartridges
to support the company to care for the environment and to re-use
components and raw-materials for remanufacturing. European customers
may print a postal return label and return the empty cartridge to the local
post office, ready to be shipped to the Canon recycling plant in France.
10 http://www.nokiausa.com/get-support-and-software/repair-and-recycle/recycle

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3 Whoops, that’s complicated! Let’s simplify it.
3.1 The definitions
Companies are continuously struggling to get the definitions right. Only since the founding of the
organisations such as the Reverse Logistics Association
11,
an association of reverse logistics
professionals from Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), Third Party Service Providers (3PSPs) and
Third Party Logistics (3PLs), the market has begun to adopt standard definitions.
Other well respected organisations focus on specific elements of the After Market only, such as the ISLA
(International Service Logistics Association)
12
. ISLA is a network of professionals dedicated to Service
Management and Spare Parts Logistics and is present in 14 European countries, US and China.
This has helped to understand, group and document specific customer and end-customer needs. No-
one will disagree with the fact that OEMs, particularly in the last ten years, have focussed much more
on aftermarket services, rather than just selling their product in the first instance. It is also within this
time frame that the term “Reverse Logistics”
13
was introduced.
As indicated in the examples in section 2, relevant services are grouped in ‘Start of Use’, ‘In Use’ and
‘End of Use’. The breakdown is as follows:
Where defective products are returned under warranty, either for repair or replacement, this service
area is often seen as part as Service Logistics (service is offered to the end-customers). Naturally, these
defective products are to be returned first, hence why the market often sees this as part of Reverse
Logistics.
11
Reverse Logistics Association. Link.
12
International Service Logistics Association. Link.
13
273,000 exact hits on Google

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A clear breakdown as depicted above will allow defining specific requirements and therefore specific
solutions as well as outlining market sizing (€’s) for the relevant areas. Solutions and market size will be
covered in the next sections of this document.
The model also depicts how Reverse Logistics is defined and to which three service groupings it can be
broken down to. Each service grouping to fulfil specific end-customers’ needs.
Next to that, the model outlines the complexities of Reverse Logistics. When comparing the business
processes of Outbound Logistics (selling products into the market) with Reverse Logistics, research
shows that the latter is significantly more complicated; it takes 12 steps to process inbound inventory
through reverse logistics management for every one step required in forward logistics
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.
3.2 Why bother? “I see no need in trying to understand better the
complex world of Reverse Logistics”. Wrong answer!
Although complicated, one cannot simply afford not to understand the world of Reverse Logistics.
Companies failing to invest time and effort in getting to understand this will simply cease to exist, or at
least will significantly loose market share. The key rationale behind the continued development of
Reverse Logistics includes an increasing awareness of corporate social responsibility, economic
developments and increased environmental regulation.
15
 Corporate social responsibility
 Companies generate goodwill amongst their customers and suppliers through
heightened social responsibility. ‘Going Green’ is increasingly seen as an effective
marketing tool.
 Economical developments
 Re-use of commodities and parts. As an example, the market price for refined copper
has increased from €1.68 in 1996 to €5.16 per kg in 2006
16
.
 Companies must excel in providing aftersales services in an increasingly competitive
landscape. Revenue from selling extended warranty services or service contracts is
becoming increasingly important.
 Retaining and protecting brand value. An increasing number of companies require the
return of used products to them, to prevent these products from ending up in the
grey market.
 Re-use of components from end-of-use and end-of-life products. Already an
increasing number of products are designed to the concept of ‘design for
disassembly’.
14
AMR Research, reported by Manufacturing.net, November 2007. Link.
15
Beyond Reverse Logistics, NDL/HIDC, June 2008 (Dutch)
16
US Bureau for Labour Statistics: Producer Price Index - Commodities

14
 Increased regulation
 There is an increase of environmental awareness. We all strive for a reduction of
waste ending up as landfill.
 Governments implement regulation with an ambition to reduce landfill. This applies
to paper, glass, plastics and so on, but also to consumer electronics, such as complete
TV-sets, shavers, fridges, CD-players, mobile phones and so on.
 The European Union implemented the WEEE-act in 2002; Waste Electronic and
Electrical Equipment Directive with the ambition to reduce the amount of landfill.
3.3 Reverse Logistics manages return flows for products at ‘Start-of-
Use’, ‘In-Use’ and ‘End-of-Use’
3.3.1 Un-used products (‘Start of Use’)
This sector is probably the least complicated, although of course more complicated than just selling and
shipping a product. Just to facilitate this service, OEMs and (r)e-tailers have put into operation large
customer service desks or have developed dedicated web-sites to support the process of product
returns. These companies support their end-customers in providing relevant instructions and labels for
return shipping the unwanted product. They must also adapt their financial systems, for example in
providing free-trial periods - only after which invoicing takes place - or in crediting back the initial
invoice amounts.
Also imagine the logistics process that must be implemented to facilitate this returns service; returned
products must be checked and diagnosed. Have the correct products been returned? Are all
components and assessorial products included? Are there un-reported damages etc? Returned
products may need to be re-packaged and re-labelled.
Industrial goods Pulp, paper, carton Metals and metal products
Price Index Commodities
“Succeeding in the increasingly completive retail world requires a returns policy that lets customers buy,
try and then easily return a product, not only when it is defective but simply due to a change of mind”,
says Mark Hewitt, CEO of iForcee. “UK consumers are Europe's biggest online shoppers, spending £38bn
last year, which is 10% of total UK retail sales, and they returned £1.3bn worth of goods”.
Mark Hewitt, CEO at iForcee, September 2010. Link.

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This returns service is very common for low(er) value consumer electronics, and within the fashion,
books and music industry.
3.3.2 Defective Product Returns (‘In-Use’)
This is the market for products claimed to be malfunctioning. These products are returned for repair,
refurbishment, replacement or disposal. The negative effects of malfunctioning products are mainly
that first, end-customers have a negative experience and secondly, there is potential for reduced sales
volumes.
As described in section 2 of this document, there are many variations for defective product returns and
consequently this is a relatively complicated area. Low-end products, often consumer electronics, are
replaced rather than repaired. This is because shipping to repair, diagnosing the defective product to
determine what part or component is malfunctioning and the actual repair may well be more expensive
than just replacing the product.
The dilemma ‘to repair or replace’ has sort of become a science. When do you declare a certain product
beyond-economic-repair? At which point does it become cheaper simply to replace a product rather
than to repair it? One also has to consider the impact on an end-customer’s experience of a failing
product still in warranty when he or she receives a new (or often refurbished) product. A negative
experience is potentially converted into a positive one.
Think of yet another big dilemma; product recalls. Failing products may be a threat to consumer’s well-
being. No-one will argue over the fact that a product recall is devastating to brand loyalty and
consequently to product sales. Whenever there is only a statistical chance that consumer’s well-being is
at risk, companies recall products and replace them or refund the purchase price. Examples are
numerous, such as notebook batteries with a risk of explosion. Or cars with malfunctioning brakes.
17
In summary, this sector of the Reverse Logistics arena is a complicated one. It directly affects end-
customer experience and brand loyalty, sales volumes, operating costs, and… even consumer’s well-
being.
3.3.3 Used products, ‘End of Use’
This sector is also relatively simple from a logistics viewpoint. Returning these products is no longer
time critical and may go in large consolidated shipments. Imagine the quantities of computers, mobile
phones etc that have retired. How many mobile phones and perhaps computers and accessorial
products have you got at home collecting dust?
Although the logistics may be relatively easy, the complexity increases because these products -
especially the high end and more expensive products - must be returned in a controlled way, first to
prevent them from ending up in the grey markets, secondly so that relevant parts or components of
returned products may be refurbished and re-used (as a cost saving measure for producing new
products), and thirdly, because there is increasing complexity from legislation for example the European
WEEE directive for waste electric and electronic equipment.
17
Reported in Reveres Logistics – the least used differentiator, Rodney Moore, UPS Supply Chain Solutions Consulting Services,
2006. Published in the Reverse Logistics Magazine. Link.
Product Recall
Forrester Research notes that aftermarket quality issues have a direct correlation to stock value. “The
very day a manufacturer unveils a product quality issue to Wall Street, its market cap drops almost 10
percent and doesn’t recover for at least three months.” 17

16
The WEEE man, designed by Paul Bonomini, is a huge robotic
figure made of scrap electrical and electronic equipment. It
weighs 3.3 tonnes and stands seven metres tall – representing
the average amount of e-products every single one of us throws
away over a lifetime.
3.4 After Market also covers After Sales Logistics and Service Logistics
After Market Logistics falls into three categories. All three ensure the upkeep of the initial sold product.
Which relevant service applies depends on the product type and relevant market, the product
dimensions and characteristics, its value and – perhaps most importantly - the negative effects of
product failure.
Many definitions can be found for ‘aftermarket’. Probably one of
the more simplistic and generic definition is the following:
The market for parts and accessories used in the upkeep or
enhancement of a previous purchase.
18
3.4.1 After Sales 19
The markets of accessories, consumables and spare parts used in the upkeep of a previous purchase:
 End-customers buy toner cartridges for their printers
 Consumers buy hands-free sets for their mobile phones
 Authorised Service Providers (ASP’s) and Repair Vendors buy spare parts for repairing
malfunctioning products that were shipped in by end-customers
 Automotive dealers require spare parts for servicing passenger vehicles
 End-customers buy spare parts or modules to enhance their product or to replace individual
components. An example is adding RAM memory or replacing batteries in computer
equipment. This is often referred to as CRU (Customer Replaceable Units) or CSR (Customer
Self Repair).
18
http://www.answers.com/topic/after-market-general
19
4,990,000 exact hits on Google
A study by e-waste experts www.weeebuy.co.uk found only 20% of all electrical waste is
recycled.
“Every year people in Britain throw away more than a million tonnes of electrical waste, much
of it ending in landfill and proving hazardous to the environment. Old electronics have a
financial value and it’s up to us to help people extract that. Brits are losing out on £6 billion by
throwing their old electrical gadgets away”.
Chris Rogerson, co-founder at Weeebuy.co.uk, September 2010. Link.

17
This category often only entails processing purchase orders and shipping relevant products and spare
parts to the end-customers, ASPs or dealers. Not very complicated… It is pretty much similar to regular
Forward Logistics where purchase orders are processed and products shipped to end-customers or
retailers.
3.4.2 Field Service Logistics 20
The market of parts used in the upkeep of installed-base. Field Service logistics is apparent in many
different vertical markets, including Telecom, MedTech, Computing, Industrial, Agriculture and
Automotive.
An installed base is often heavy and complex equipment, and simply too expensive to take the
equipment out of production for shipping to repair. ASML’s Nano Lithography Systems, as an example,
with an ASP (Average Selling Price) of €21 million per system in 2011. ASML agrees performance levels
with their end-customers, such as ‘Machine Availability’ and ‘Down Time Waiting for Parts’
21
. That of
course requires an entirely different solution than putting the product in a box and shipping it to repair.
The principle process in field service logistics is to ship out spare parts to remote working Field Service
Engineers. They provide preventative and corrective maintenance to end-customer’s installed base.
Corrective maintenance is probably the most complicated area. End-customers ‘buy’ service contracts,
for example a 2+2 hour service, indicating a service engineer must be on-site (with relevant spare parts)
within 2 hours after the service call and within another 2 hours the failure must have been resolved.
Although OEMs make a huge amount of revenue on selling service contracts (often even higher than
the revenues of product sales itself), the complexity is in reducing costs for spare parts inventory and
costs of highly expensive service engineers.
Next to revenue optimisation and costs reductions in field service logistics, there is the challenge for
OEMs who sell service contracts to reduce the costs and risks of potential penalties due to non-
conformance of relevant service contracts (e.g. if the problem is not resolved within the 2+2 hours).
One of methods for preventing penalties, is to monitor which parts will fail when and why (e.g. after x
days of operation or after y production hours). Defective parts are returned for diagnosis, in order to
understand why the parts have failed. This allows companies to improve on parts quality or to
determine when parts should be replaced as a preventative measure. This therefore reduces the
chance of an unplanned and thus costly corrective maintenance. This is called preventative
maintenance.
Probably one of the most cost effective and efficient mechanisms of reducing corrective maintenance,
is to introduce remote diagnostics. Equipment is connected via telephone lines so companies can
remotely diagnose the equipment and even the components and parts therein. When required, and
engineer is despatched on-site to perform preventative maintenance. The need for corrective
maintenance has been reduced to the max as companies may now better predict when equipment, or
20
167,000 exact hits on google
21
ASML, Yde Weistra, December 2011. Approved quote.
A key challenge for organisations is to find the proper balance between preventative and corrective
maintenance. Too much preventative maintenance costs money as parts that are not yet defect are
being replaced, whereas too little preventative maintenance may lead to corrective maintenance and
thus risk substantial penalties and dissatisfied customers.

18
rather components therein, will fail. Examples of industries that have been very successful in reducing
unplanned product failure can be found in:
 The professional copier and printer industry
 The industrial sector, for example to remotely analyse the status of pumps in pumping
stations or turbines in hydro-electric power stations or wind power plants
22
Improved preventative maintenance schemes and an increase of remote diagnostics will allow
companies to plan more efficiently their service engineers and will reduce corrective maintenance and
inventory stored in forward stock locations.
As a result of this development, companies have been able to introduce entire new concepts into the
market. Rather than merely selling equipment, they also sell productive time and actual product usage
as an alternative. One of the better examples may be Pay-per-Use models. Pay per copy or per print
rather than buying a copier or printer.
22
NVSM, Dutch Institute for Service Management, Magazine Nr 4 2008, pg20.
Cisco has an extensive service logistics network in place. The company has a network of 850 Forward
Stock Locations globally for urgent spare parts deliveries within 2 to 4 hours. In total 12,000 field service
engineers receive spare parts from these FSL’s to service customer installed based. None of the
engineers are on Cisco’s payroll...
In Europe, 225 FSL’s (so-called premium depots), deliver 192,000 parts each year. This sounds like a big
number, but is in fact only 4 parts per day per FSL. The key to success for Cisco is to prevent where
possible from sending an expensive service engineer and from dispatching spare parts to an end-
customer. Cisco’s target is to filter out 80% of customer calls by identifying if there really is a problem (60
to 70% is a non failure found, NFF) or by fixing a perceived problem remotely over the phone.
Marco van Duijnhoven, presentation during Reverse Logistics Seminar, Amsterdam June 2006. Approved
quote.

19
PART B
4 Companies spend an enormous amount of money on
aftermarket and reverse logistics
4.1 Costs for managing returned un-wanted products is increasing
rapidly
4.1.1 Introduction
An increasing number of companies sell their products through the internet. The market share of e-
tailers, such as E-bay, Amazon.com etc is increasing year on year. Companies are increasingly starting
up e-tail channels, next to existing retail channels, one example being Sony Style Store.
Consumers in particular are buying more and more products via the internet, simply because it is so
convenient. Naturally, this implies that companies and e-tailers must provide ease-of-use return
processes in order to sell more products.
4.1.2 Why are products returned?
Reasons for returning products very much depend on the type of product and its value. Most product
returns come from consumers who have ordered a product from the internet and returned it as they
don’t like it, it’s the wrong size (e.g. clothing and footwear), wrong specification (e.g. consumer
electronics) they think it’s not working or it doesn’t meet their expectations.
When focusing just on the consumer electronics products, a very large proportion of products are
returned as consumers believe their product is not working. In the mobile industry for example, only
36% of products returned have a hardware or software fault. 64% of the products returned, claimed to
be malfunctioning, don’t actually have a problem and are returned with a no failure found (NFF). Many
consumers are simply struggling with the product’s configuration (32%) or its functionality (25%) and
simply return the product. The so-called No Failure Found product returns cost the mobile industry
US$4.5b each year.
23
Similar figures as the 64% NFF returns in the mobile industry can be found in consumer electronics
(70%), computers (85%) and small appliances (90%)
24
.
4.1.3 Why to promote internet sales knowing so many products are being
returned?
A survey in France has revealed that online buyers would buy more products online if products were
not only delivered for free (77%) but also returnable at no cost to the customer (55%)
25
, should the
product not be appropriate for any reason.
23
Tim O’Dwyer, Dell, presentation at Reverse Logistics Seminar Amsterdam June 2008. Link.
24
Tony Sciarrotta, Director Returns Management at Philips, presentation at Reverse Logistics Seminar, Amsterdam June 28 2006.
Approved quote.
25
Boston Consulting Group; Survey BCG 2008. Approved quote.

20
4.1.4 The costs involved in un-used product returns
It proves being very difficult to find detailed estimates of the costs that companies incur as a result of
their end-customers returning un-used products. As the Chartered Institute of Management
Accountants (CIMA) already concluded in March 2010; “in order to support product return
programmes, companies need to evaluate their performance. In our previous research on this area, few
companies measured the true costs of returns since they did not consider opportunity costs (e.g.
working capital tied up in returns).” CIMA suggested in their research that “a total cost approach should
be adopted by organisations to determine the true cost of returns in order to improve decision
making”
26
.
Back in 2004 however, the UK Government sponsored a research to assess the relevant costs involved
in product returns in the UK market
27
. Their conclusions:
 “Every year UK retail businesses face a half a billion pound bill and are responsible for
thousands of avoidable freight journeys on our roads.”. David Jamieson MP, Parliamentary
Under-Secretary of State for Transport said: “I’m sure few realise just how much merchandise
is needlessly travelling up and down the country or around the world. I welcome and support
good quality research such as this because it provides us with a sound evidence base for future
work. I now invite industry to support the important next stage to find solutions and change
business practices to reduce the wasted product and the £500 million of avoidable transport
effort.”
 According to John Cullen at Sheffield Hallam University, one of the report’s authors, goods
worth around £6 billion are being returned each year generating even more traffic on the
nation’s roads. “Our survey indicates that the logistics costs associated with handling returns
would run at around £500 million per annum. This figure is based on the percentage of returns
across our area of research which included general retail, catalogue and e-shopping sales,
durable products (non-perishables such as TVs, fridges etc), books, music and entertainment,”
he explains.
A staggering £500 million annual cost for return shipping un-wanted products in 2004 in the UK, just on
the areas included in the research. In today’s numbers, the global costs involved in return shipping un-
wanted products is estimated at €20 billion
28
.
Some more big numbers:
 Outsourcing returns is very much a new concept in Britain, but over in the United States it has
become big business. According to one estimate, ioo million packages are returned to retailers
every year, and the cost runs to something like US$150 billion (2002). And remarkably, more
than 8o per cent of this work is now believed to be outsourced
29
.
 The primary driver of reverse logistics is the staggering cost of returns. In 2009, retail returns in
the United States amounted to US$185 billion, equal to about 8 percent of the estimated $2.3
trillion in retail products sold by members of the National Retail Federation
30
.
Assuming (based on above) the total costs for managing retail returns in the US would equate to around
US$200 billion in 2010, the global costs may be up to some US$400 billion or €300 billion (although US
is 24% of global GDP, return rates may be considered above average in the USA). Some 7% of this
amount is spent on distribution of returned products.
26
Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, March 2010. Authors: John Cullen (University of Sheffield) / Mike Bernon
(Cranfield School of Management) / Jonathan Gorst (University of Sheffield). Link.
27
UK Government-sponsored report published 19 October 2004. Link.
28
Estimated increase of 7.5% per year / 1£=€1.17 / UK GDP (footnote 22) is 4.4%.
29
Post & Parcel, April 2002. Link
30
Logistics Management, ‘Reverse Logistics: From Black Hole to Untapped Revenue Stream’, Dec 2010. Link

21
4.2 Contract types in the aftermarket
In the relationship between customers and their end-customers, we identify four types of Aftermarket
contracts:
In the area of Defective Product Returns:
 Warranty contracts
 Extended warranty contracts
 Out of warranty servicing
In the area of Field Service Logistics:
 Guaranteed response service contracts.
4.3 Costs for managing defective product returns
4.3.1 Warranty Contracts
“For years, warranty costs were electronics manufacturers' dirty little secret. But no more. The
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently mandated that US-based manufacturers accurately
reserve and account for warranty reserves on the balance sheet.”
31
This inevitably means manufacturers now have much better insight in their after market costs and as a
consequence search for ways to reduce costs.
Eric Arnum, editor of Warranty Week, estimates “global warranty claims have reached US$72 billion in
2008, of which 53% is in Automotive and 20% in HighTech. US based companies cover about 40% of the
total warranty claims.”
32
Using a conservative growth rate of 5% per year, for 2010 this would mean that “global warranty
claims have reached US$80 billion
Warranty repair costs are not a revenue stream; producers plan for warranty costs through a fund
called the warranty reserve. Producers may fund the warranty reserve initially with seed money or may
set aside a fraction of each sale for the reserve. If the reserve is too high, the excess funds could have
been invested. If the reserve is too low, the company incurs administrative costs to locate the money
needed for repair or replacement
33
.
Appendix 2 provides an overview of the actual warranty reserve per industry and for the larger global
companies.
4.3.2 Extended Warranty
31
Chris Rehl, Director of Marketing, Cimtek. Link.
32
Warranty Week, Eric Arnum, editor, March 2009. Link.
33
Vidyadhar G. Kulkarni - Chairman - Department of Statistics and Operations Research - University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill. Link.

22
When buying a product you may be offered extended warranty. This has become an increasing revenue
generator for companies.
BusinessWeek reported in 2004 that this market was worth US$15 billion business in the USA
34
. Today,
this may have easily reached US$25 billion. Based on the USA’s GDP being 24% of the global GDP
35
and
assuming an annual increase of 7.5%, it is feasible that extended warranties could provide astonishing
US$100 billion additional company revenues globally.
BusinessWeek also reported that typically, at least half of that goes into the seller's pocket as profit
(assumption 60%), with less than 20% spent on the repair or replacement of products. End-customers
may never actually make use of the extended warranty they paid for as products get replaced before
they extended warranty expired or the product never became defective.
Mark Kotkin reported, that while the profit margin on a specific item like a digital camera may be small,
the extended warranty is often 100 percent profit for a manufacturer. Additionally, the cost of repair is
often less than the cost of the warranty. After two or three years, instead of repairing, it might be time
for an upgrade, especially for electronics
36
.
The above would mean that of the US$100 billion revenue, some US$80 billion may be profit to the
companies. An estimated US$20 billion would be spent providing the extended warranty service, of
which US$10 billion is the cost for repair and replacement.
4.3.3 Out of Warranty Servicing
Naturally, products still need servicing after the (extended) warranty period has expired. It’s assumed
however that the percentage of products to be serviced out of warranty (compared to the total of
defective product returns) will gradually decrease, as:
 Companies are getting more successful in selling extended warranty contracts;
 Products tend to get cheaper so when defective customers tend to buy a new product rather
than repairing the defective product;
 Product life-cycles get shorter and customers buy the latest product version although the
initial product has not yet reached its End-of-Life (EOL).
The total costs involved in providing service after the product’s (extended) warranty period has ended
are more difficult to assess. Obviously the warranty reserves are agreed upon each year, and extended
warranty is seen as a revenue stream. Both are reported and managed consistently.
34
BusinessWeek, December 2004. Link.
35
International Monetary Fund
36
Mark Kotkin, director of survey research for Consumer Reports. Dec2010
“CompUSA charges $17.99 for a two-year replacement policy on a $59.99 Netgear Inc. wireless router
for home networks -- even though Netgear's warranty will repair or replace it free for three years.”
“For a Satellite laptop PC that sells for just under $1,000, Toshiba Corp. charges $199 for a three-year
plan that also covers such accidental damage as dropping the laptop or spilling a Coke on the
keyboard. CompUSA wants $369.99 for the extended warranty alone.”
“Best Buy charges $49.99 for a four-year contract on a Magnavox DVD player that sells for $39.99.
Enough said.”
BusinessWeek, December 2004. link.

23
The annual spend on out-of-warranty servicing, may be estimated as a percentage of the warranty
repair costs:
 For computer products, consumer appliances, electronics and peripherals etc, it is estimated
that the costs evolving from offering out-of-warranty service is only 10% of the warranty repair
costs (US$44 billion warranty reserve). These products obviously have a lower value and
economical lifetime. These products are therefore replaced rather than repaired after the
warranty period has ended.
 For products such as construction equipment and power generators this factor is estimated at
50% (of US$4.5 billion warranty reserve).
 For cars, this factor is estimated at 150% (of US$31.5 billion warranty reserve). Cars will have
an economical life of some 8 to 10 years and are serviced at regular intervals. This brings
considerable costs (for spare parts, repair, distribution et cetera) that are charged to the end-
customer.
The above information implies this market is some US$47 billion. Roughly 88% of this amount ($44
billion) is spent in the after sales automotive market.
4.4 Costs for providing service to installed base: Field Service Logistics
4.4.1 Guaranteed Response Service Contracts
Cost elements for providing service to installed bases are very different than when repairing (or
replacing) products that can be shipped to repair locations. The largest cost component in field service
logistics would be the ‘army’ of Field Service Engineers driving out to the customers, to provide service
to the installed base on-site.
In 2006, UPS Supply Chain Solutions reported that the global service parts logistics (SPL) spend was
estimated to be $21 billion (2003), increasing at a rate of 7% per year.
37
Today, this would equate to
US$34 billion globally.
Transport intelligence
38
reported in 2007 an expenditure of €7.3 million (US$ 9.7) on the logistics
services in the Hi-Tech Global Service Parts. When assuming “logistics services” includes the costs for
warehousing and distribution (at a total of 41.5% of total spare logistics according to Capgemini
39
) and
when assuming an increase of 7% per year, this would equate to US$33 billion globally.
Service contracts may guarantee spare parts and a trained field service engineer to be on-site to fix a
problem within for example 2 or 4hours, depending on the contract. Service contracts are mainly used
for high-end products, very often production assets where product stand-still is unacceptable.
Profitability and Revenue stream
40
:
 The Association for Services Management (AFSMI) issued a report in 2003 that shows an
average gross margin of 30 percent for field service operations.
37
Reveres Logistics – the least used differentiator – Rodney Moore, UPS Supply Chain Solutions Consulting Services, 2006.
Published in the Reverse Logistics Magazine. Link.
38
Transport Intelligence, Global Service Parts Logistics in the High Tech Sector , March 2007
39
Capgemini, A New Industrial Service Age, partnership with DHL, 106 OEM respondents, August 2007. Link.
40
Field Service CRM: Now It’s a Profit Center. Paul Greenberg, The 56 Group. Link.

24
 AMR: Field service divisions of manufacturing companies that provide parts, maintenance, and
other post-product sale services account for 40 to 50 percent of the company’s profits and 25
percent of its revenues.
4.5 Summary
This chapter provides an insight of the total costs for companies to service their end-customers in the
After Market areas. Relevant costs can be broken down into different categories, such as distribution,
repair services, call centre, spare parts etc.
The total costs can be estimated at a total of at least US$580 billion per year globally, as can be seen
from the table.
Chapter 6 of this whitepaper will work out the total estimated cost on distribution and logistics (value
added) related services, as a percentage of the total costs.
Service Organisations cannot operate effectively without an understanding of their contractual
obligations to a customer. Customer commitments can include service level agreements that define the
minimum response times, equipment uptime requirements, and other associated factors that govern
both entitlement to service and priority of a service request. Service contracts are often sophisticated,
offering commitments that are specific to customers, devices, or locations. Furthermore, the profitability
of and operation requires that the service firm avoid giving away free service to customers who are not
entitled. Successful organizations know when to bill for services rendered, inclusive of the cost of time
and materials, where appropriate. Most importantly for many, service contracts serve as a predictable
and renewable source of revenue for firms looking to offset increasing cost pressures and declining
product sales.
Jack McAvoy - Aberdeen Group, Recession Battle Plan for Field Service, February 2009. Link.

25

26
5 How much money do companies spend on the
logistics services?
5.1 Introduction
Sounds great, all the theory about how much money is being spent on the relevant After Market
services. The factual numbers will probably always remain a big secret, probably with the exception of
warranty reserves as it has become obligatory for US based manufacturers to report this. Not only are
companies reluctant to report on relevant costs, the market is perhaps too complex to grasp, and too
disperse given the large number of players. Additionally, perhaps, we lack the substantial research to
date.
Where however there is relevant information available, this whitepaper helps to put market estimates
into perspective and allocate the numbers to the relevant categories. The next obvious question being;
what Logistics Service Models have companies implemented to service their end-customers?
In the After Market arena, companies basically implement one (or some) of five service models:
1. Returning products (e.g. for a refund)
2. Returning products for repair
3. Returning products for replacement
4. Bring in products to repair or service station
5. Field based servicing
An estimated US$ 580 billion per year is spent on After Market services to fulfil end-customer needs
(which exclude relevant elements as outlined in section 4.5).
The questions now are:
1. How much of this incredible amount is spent on each of the relevant service models listed
above?
2. Each of these service models has a different breakdown of cost components, be it
distribution, storage and / or value added services). What is the total spend on logistics,
and hence the opportunity for Express Courier companies?
5.2 Product return
Customers have implemented solutions for end-customers to return products, especially in the
consumer market where more and more products are bought from the internet. OEMs (sellers of the
product) have made it very easy for their end-customer to return unwanted products.
You may ask “Why do OEMs support product returns processes when it involves having to refund their
end-customers?” The answer is simpler than it seems. Product sales and thus a company’s revenues
increase when its easier for consumers to return their unwanted products. Companies like UPS and
Spring Global Mail offer ease-of-use solutions to their customers, for their end-customers to return
products.
UPS have fully integrated systems, which not only ship products to the end-customers from
warehouses, but also produce return labels and feedback forms for the end-customer to complete upon
returning a product. Should an end-customer want to return the product, they simply complete the
form, attach the return label to the package, and drop it off at a UPS Store, UPS depot, or hand it over
to a UPS driver. Spring Global Mail provides Reversed Mail Logistics solutions to their customers. End-
customers either print a receiver pays return label from the Spring internet system, or complete the

27
return label that was already included in the forward shipment. The product may than be returned to
the customer warehouse by dropping it off at the local post office.
Despite these developments, however, consumers still prefer return collections from their home
address. A study of the Boston Consulting Group
41
revealed that 74% of consumers prefer home
collection. Only 24% prefer return via a Pick up and Drop Off (PuDo) location (17%) or post office (7%).
5.3 Return to repair / Return to replace
End-customers ship in their defective or malfunctioning products to a local or central repair centre,
after being authorised by the companies Call Center. Alternatively, end-customers return their product
to the local retailer (where the product was bought) who the ships the products to the repair centre.
The end-customer then receives a replacement product or the defective item is repaired prior to
returning it to them.
This service model will predominantly apply to smaller sized, low to medium value products that can be
easily shipped to a repair site. Down-time of products will not necessarily lead to production-stops so
repair lead-times are mainly important for improving end-customer satisfaction. Where repair lead-
times are a concern, companies often ship out temporary replacement products to their end-
customers.
In the case of product replacement, the three key service modes are:
 Exchange in Advance – the end-customer receives a replacement product and must thereafter
return the defective product
 Same-Time Swap – a courier is sent out to deliver a replacement product while collecting the
defective product.
 Regular Exchange – the end-customer receives a replacement product after returning the
defective product.
From a logistics stand-point, this service model involves distribution of defective, repaired and
replacement products. Secondly, there is the need to ship spare parts to the repair locations.
41
Boston Consulting Group; Survey BCG in 2008.
“Hey, there is a box”. “No, it’s an end-customer!”.
Quote from Mark Hilton, TomTom, on how an employee of a logistics company may perceive a product
that was returned for repair, versus how Mark would like it to be seen. Relevant products may have data
stored on the product, may have been personalized, and have certainly been paid for already.
Mark Hilton, Vice President Reverse Logistics at TomTom, “Some reflections on 3PSP’s”, Reverse
Logistics Seminar Amsterdam, June 2009. Approved quote.
“Reverse supply chains will have to be re-examined as the trade-offs between transportation costs and
labour costs are changing significantly. This may drive changes in warehouse locations, repair operations
locations and must be a factor in evaluating potential outsource partners. If today returns and repairs are
supported by one centralized, regional location, with the result that many shipments travel long
distances with a negative impact on fuel consumption and carbon emissions, then Reverse Logistics will
need to calculate and compare the pros and cons of centralised verses localised handling and repair, and
to show potential savings and positive environmental impacts of being closer to the customer.”
Kevin Steele and Emily Rodriguez, Reverse Logistics Magazine July/August 2008 . Link

28
5.4 Bring in to repair
This model is where end-customers bring in their defective product to a nearby repair shop. The model
applies mainly to the automotive market (by far the biggest after sales market), where passenger
vehicles and trucks are being repaired and serviced at a local dealer or garage. In the High-Tech market
you see end-customers shipping products to local Authorised Service Providers (ASPs).
From a logistics stand-point, this predominantly involves the distribution of spare parts to the local
dealers or garages.
5.5 Field based servicing
This is the market where trained service technicians provide servicing on-site at the end-customer.
This service is mainly used for repairing and servicing high-value production assets that cannot be
shipped to a repair location, either as down-time is critical (production line stop) or as the products are
simply too big of too complex (on-site installation and calibration required).
From a logistics stand-point, this means that a service engineer needs to be allocated to the job and the
required spare part(s) need to be made available to the service engineers and/or dispatched to the
relevant installed base.
Service events are either for preventative or corrective maintenance, as outlined in section 3.4.3. of this
white paper. Both require different logistics models and thus have a different cost breakdown. It’s
important to note the ratio between the two modes. Life Cycle Engineering reported in 2007 that out of
7 service events, 6 are preventative maintenance and 1 is corrective maintenance
42
.
Futhermore, Capgemini in support of DHL, has presented a breakdown of required response times in
the High-Tech industry for service contracts:
` Source: Capgemini 2007
43
.
42
Robert Call, CMRP, Life Cycle Engineering (LCE) Friday, 01 June 2007. Link.
43
Capgemini, August 2007, A New Industrial Service Age, partnership with DHL, 106 OEM respondents. Link
Corrective maintenance events
serviced from local or central
warehouses
Corrective maintenance
Events Serviced from
Forward Stock Locations

29
The above shows, that roughly 35% of the corrective maintenance -and only 5% of total service events-
require spare parts to be made available to the installed base within 8 hours, and thus ideally sourced
from a Forward Stock Location nearby the customers installed base.
In that same survey, Capgemini concluded that the costs related to warehousing in spare parts logistics
is some 48%, and the costs related to transport is 52%.
Within the field-based servicing, the return distribution of spare parts is especially important as they
are either un-used at the service event (being put back on stock) or have to be diagnosed in order to
see if relevant parts must be replaced in the various customer installations as preventative
maintenance.
5.6 Total costs per Logistics Service Model
Logistics Service Model Unwanted
product
returns
Warranty
contracts
Extended
warranty
contracts
Out of
warranty
Servicing
Hi-Tech
Out of
warranty
Servicing
Automotive
Field
Service
Logistics
Global US$ b spend / yr 400 80 20 3 44 34 US$ 580
Global € b spend / yr 300 60 15 2.3 33 26 € 435
Product Return 100% 300
Return to Repair/
Replace
95% 95% 80% 73
Bring in to repair 5% 5% 20% 100% 37
Field based servicing 100% 26
5.7 Breakdown of costs per Logistics Service Model
The last key question is; how can this incredible amount of money be split into different cost categories.
How much money is spend on the logistics, how much on service engineers, how much on repair
services etc?
Relevant Subject Matter Experts have provided their best estimates to derive to the breakdown of cost
as indicated below.
Several experts, joining up on relevant returns groups on LinkedIn, have provided their input and also
have agreed to be mentioned as a source of reference in this whitepaper. Sources include:
Curtis Greve Mike Anderson Maarten Pruijmboom Jurgen Donders Craig Sandel
Principal
Greve & Davis
Founder/President
Charter Asset
Management Group
Senior Consultant
Noventum Service
Management Consultants
Partner
Gordian Logistic
Experts
President
Southeast Technical Solutions LLC
Next to the above, some companies have provided their input; however do not wish to be referred to
as a source of information. Also worthwhile to mention, that several subject matter experts have
indicated that relevant information cannot be provided as being not available, confidential and
sensitive information.

30
The following breakdown provides an indication only. Undoubtedly, there will be variances in the cost
breakdown between for example product types, vertical markets, global regions etc.
Service Model Product
Return
Return to
Repair/
Replace
Bring in
to repair
Field
based
servicing
Global
€billion
spend /
yr
Global € billion spend / yr 300 73 37 26 €435b
Customer Call Centers
 Technical product support
 Provide returns instructions
 (Warranty) returns authorisation (RMA)
3%
(AMG)
7%
(n=4)
Product distribution costs
 Collection of returnable product
 In-transit value added services
 Return delivery of repaired or replacement
product
11%
15%
(AMG)
7% (CIMA
see 5.1.4)
20%
(n=4)
€48b
Contract management
 Warranty contracts
 Service contracts and logistics planning
4%
(n=4)
3%
(n=4)
Product screening
 Diagnostics
 NFF filtration / gate keeping
 Contract verification
10%
(AMG)
6%
(n=4)
Product repair costs
 Labour for handling, diagnostics, repair etc
 Repair site, tools, systems etc
and/or cost for replacement product
27%
(local or
central
repair)
(n=4)
8%
(returned
parts)
(n=4)
Costs for spare parts and consumables 15%
(n=4)
15%
(n=4)
On-site screening, servicing and repair (Field Service
Engineers)
 labour
 training
 expenses
 service cars, tools etc.
 preventative and corrective maintenance
 own staff and/or external partners
45%
(n=4)
Warehousing and handling
 Returned goods
 Repacking
 Replacement product
45%
(AMG)
5%
(replaceme
nt product)
(n=4)
Warehousing and handling
 Spare parts
6%
(spare
parts)
(n=4)
6%
(n=5)
Note 1
Spare parts storage in Forward Stock Locations
 Storage and handling
 Stand by service (OoO-hrs)
7%
(n=5)
Note 1
€2b
Distribution of spare parts
 Replenishments to repair
34%
appendix 1
€13b
Time critical distribution
 SameDay courier
 Next day to Point of Need
 Replenishments to FSL’s
12%
(n=5)
Note 1
€3b
Reverse Supply Chain management, IT systems, web
sites etc.
20%
(AMG)
7%
(n=4)
3%
(n=4)
Other costs 7%
(AMG)
3%
(n=4)
Note 1: Capgemini (see footnote 53) indicated in their research that warehousing related costs versus distribution related costs
would be 48% versus 52%. This is about the same breakdown as the average of feedback provided by subject matter experts.

31
PART C
6 Exclusive services offered by specialized companies
6.1 ‘Start of Use’ – return services for un-used products
Companies are getting confronted more and more by their end-customers returning un-used products.
However, they are in the business of developing and selling products, and not re-collecting them. They
are therefore eager to outsource elements of the reverse chain to specialised companies and rely on
them to provide specialist solutions that are as simple and cheap as possible.
Call Centre Services
The costs for OEMs to get their un-used products returned are enormous. The highest costs are not
necessarily the cost for distribution or the costs associated with receiving, checking and diagnosing the
returned products, before putting these back on stock. The highest costs are in fact in the area of
Customer Service Desks or Call Centres. This includes costs associated with the support of end-
customers, mostly consumers, who have technical questions. Secondly, it includes costs to support end-
customers in returning their un-used products.
Consequently, this will attract senior management attention when cost must be reduced. Companies
such as Sykes have introduced call centre services into the market using toll free numbers for
consumers to call when they want to return products or when they have (technical) questions. These
companies will answer the phone following a pre-agreed script and answer the phone as being an
employee of the relevant company. Large call centre companies include:
 Teleperformance
 Sitel
 Sykes
 ClientLogic
 SNT
(Domestic) Courier Companies / Parcel Post Operators
As purchasing power of global consumers rises, they simply purchase more consumer products. And
where more products are purchased, the volume of products that are returned for whatever reason
inevitably also increases. There is, however, one thing that may have had a much stronger impact on
the quantities of product returns - the internet.
As simple as it is for example to purchase two pairs of shoes on the internet, the same simplicity must
be reflected in the ability to return it, at least, in the consumers’ eyes. And what’s simpler than having a
returns label and instructions included with the shipment you have just received, or to print a returns
label on the company’s website?
The example of the UPS label in section 2.5 (on an end-of-use case, the principle is the same) shows
how courier companies and parcel post operators integrate their service onto their customer’s website.
Drop Off Points
Companies now realise they sell more when it’s more convenient to consumers to (collect and to)
return products. As a result, increasingly they are looking for companies that can offer dense networks
of drop off points. And where there is a need, there are service companies linking retail outlets into
dense networks of return locations. Drop off points nowadays can be found within just a few kilometres
from the consumer.

32
FedEx has already introduced a chain of drop off points, named Kinko’s. DHL, too, has its network of
DHL Service Points. Consumers in the USA can also go to any of the 4,300 UPS Stores, to return ship
their product.
In Europe, one of the leading companies is Kiala. It now has integrated a network of 7,000 drop off
points in five countries, and is expanding its network into other countries. Kiala’s growth in sales
revenues is just phenomenal: from revenues of €1.2m in 2002 to an estimated €48m in 2010
44
.
Postal Return Service Operators
Similar to companies utilising retail outlets as drop off points, there are new entrants in the market
partnering with local post companies; Cycleon, Spring Global Mail, and PostNL through its International
Business Reply Service (IBRS). Post offices are used as drop off points for returning products. These
companies also offer an integrated process and system to provide pre-paid returns labels to consumers.
6.2 ‘End of Use’ – return service for products that are end-of-life or
beyond-economical-repair
As indicated in chapter 3, the purposes for returning end-of-use products are to prevent from products
ending up on the grey-market, to recycle (optimising residual value) and to reduce landfill, or simply to
oblige to local legislation. Companies are not willing to spend huge amounts of money on end-of-use
returns, certainly not when this is just local legislation that makes them do so.
Naturally, the low cost couriers and postal operators play a key role in the returns shipping of end-of-
use products mainly on a domestic level. As relevant shipments are no longer time critical and there is a
strong focus on keeping distribution costs as minimal as possible, it’s mainly the road carriers offering
groupage (pallet loads), LTL and FTL that take care of end-of-use product distribution.
When looking at specialised companies who focus on end-of-life, you will see companies that buy
products in order to recycle them, or to re-use components with a residual value.
Recycling companies
New companies have started in recent years, offering recycling services especially for relatively low
value consumer electronics such as mobile phones.
Companies such as Sims Recycling Solutions, Sita, Van Gansewinkel buy products from the OEM
companies or from repair vendor, to recycle them. These companies separate out plastics from
batteries from metals etc and then sell these materials for re-use in the production process for new
products. Product recycling not only significantly reduces landfill; it has actually become a serious
industry in its own right
Another reason – and perhaps to OEMs just as important as harvesting re-usable materials - is to take
as many end-of-use products out of the value chain as possible. This ensures that these products don’t
end up in the grey market, where relevant modules and parts are cannibalized and re-used to assemble
new products and sold again in the market, under a different label, and of course only at a fraction of
the original product value.
wotwaste
45
cnnmoney
46
44
Kiala website, Facts & Figures. Link.
45
Wotwaste.com Link.
46
CNN Money. Link.

33
Recycling Appeal
47
Specialist recyclers
Where customer and end-customer demand over the years has become much more complicated, so
has the servicing industry in the reverse logistics arena.
Just to name one example: how would you value the service of receiving a certificate notifying you that
the data on your hard-disk has been completely erased, prior to being scrapped, recycled or even re-
used? Such company is RSE Datarecovery Services.
Re-use product resellers
Yet another service industry is arising. Where consumers are increasingly more demanding and have
increasingly more buying power, they want the best and latest product of their most desired brand.
Some of us would already buy the newest i-Phone release even having purchased one just three
months ago. But what the heck… this one is the best of the best… and all my friends have one.
Guess what. A new industry has been born. There are companies these days who buy products from
you that you no longer want. They sell them off in the market again as ‘good as new’ products, but
probably at only half of the price. Companies include:
 Myboneyard.com (US)
 Recellular (US)
 Zonzoo (Europe)
 Cash4mobile (Europe)
 LetsRecycle.com
 Weeebuy.co.uk (UK).
Logistics
Relevant recycling companies, specialist recyclers and re-use product resellers all a have consequential
need for logistics companies that offer ease-of-use return services for end-customers to return their
products to them. This applies to the (domestic) courier companies, companies offering drop-off
networks or postal return services (see section 4.1).
6.3 ‘In Use’ – Aftersales services for used products
Next to the OEM companies making significant revenues from selling consumable products, accessories
or spare parts, there is an enormous amount of companies selling relevant products, often via internet.
Computing consumables and cartridges
47
Recycling Appeal. Link.
The average mobile phone contains about 24mg of gold, 250mg of silver, 9,000mg of copper, 3,800mg
of cobalt, nine mg of palladium.45
Estimates state that close to 90 million mobile phones are hiding in drawers and cupboards across the
UK.46
Obviously, all these mobile phones laying around in the UK alone contain commodities worth €180
million (of which €69 million is gold and €74 million is copper). 47
The obvious question is: how to get
these products returned at minimal costs and how to minimise the costs for harvesting and re-using
these commodities? That would be the key challenge!

34
Where companies such as HP, Canon and Lexmark achieve higher revenues from selling ink cartridges
than from selling printers, many non-OEM service companies will also try to benefit. This is probably
one of the better examples in the aftersales industry, as one leads to the other:
You only paid €69 for your printer just three years ago. Certainly you will have bought multiple ink-
cartridges, be it black, yellow, cyan or blue in the same period. You could have easily spent €39 per ink-
cartridge, or some €500 during the printer’s life cycle. There are many companies wanting a share of
that pie...
You may go online to purchase cheaper non-branded ink cartridges, creating a whole new distribution
chain. Just type ‘buy ink cartridge’ on Google, and you’ll get over 8 million hits. Many companies offer
their products to you.
The printer OEMs in return, will offer you ease-of-use solutions to return the empty cartridges. That’s
not only good for them to get additional revenue, but also good to prevent these cartridges ending up
in the grey-market or in the rubbish bin. You may be offered a service to return the empty cartridges via
a postal return service (see section 4.1) and get in return a refilled cartridge shipped to you using
courier companies or parcel post operators.
Accessory Resellers
Similar developments have happened in the telecom, computing, industrial and automotive industries.
There are large companies these days that don’t develop or design any product, unlike the OEMs. Their
sole purpose is to sell you accessories for your mobile phone (such as the Foneshop and MobileFun), or
consumable products for your printer (such as VikingDirect and StaplesDirect) or consumables for your
power tools (such as ScrewFix and Tooled-Up.com).
Automotive Spare Parts resellers
This particular development may perhaps have been strongest in the automotive market. Companies
like Halfords, Profile Tire Center and Kwikfit don’t really care whether you drive a Renault, Audi, VW,
Chrysler or even a Lada. It’s their interest to sell you consumables and spare parts that may be used for
any car brand.
6.4 ‘In Use’ – Defective products
Where defective products that are still in-use need to be returned for repair or replacement, you will
see the same companies offering their services for returning products as at start of use. Next to that,
there are the companies that are in the business of actually diagnosing, repairing (or replacing) the
returned products.
Call Centre Services
Companies such as Sykes not only provide services to their customers’ end-customers in case of
technical questions or when they want to return product. These companies also play a role in the
process of supporting end-customers who have a technical failure to the product that is already in use.
In case of warranty as an example, they may authorise (on behalf of their customers and following strict
processes) an in-warranty product return to get it repaired or replaced (RMA, Return to Manufacturing
Authorisation). Alternatively, they offer the end-customer a repair service when the warranty has
expired.
Courier Companies
Local courier companies, but also companies as GLS, DPD and local Post operators, have a leading
position in the areas of collecting and delivering products to the consumer market. Lower value
products are often repaired by local repair vendors or Authorised Service Partners which makes it very
obvious that local logistics operators can achieve a fair market share.

35
The classic integrators, including TNT Express, UPS and DHL offer their services mainly when in-transit
value added services are required, in cases of multi-country supply chains (same solution across the
countries and regions), higher-value products or in cases of international distribution flows.
Drop Off Points
Where companies use drop off points for their end-customers to return products that must be shipped
for repair or return, this is for the purpose of increasing flexibility and ease-of-use. End-customer may
have an alternative to simply drop off (or collect) their product at a nearby location, rather than having
to wait at home for a courier to come and collect (or deliver) the product. The down-side of using PuDo
(PickUp and DropOff points) is that relevant operators charge a fee per package that is collected or
dropped off.
Postal Return Service Operators
As post offices are used as a drop off point for returning products, they offer the same benefit as Drop
Off Points. The down-side is that distribution lead-times are not guaranteed in the postal networks and
may be perceived too long, certainly in case of international postal returns. Secondly, postal returns
have limited insurance and liability may be an issue as there is in most cases no confirmation of
handover at the post offices.
Repair Vendors / RSP’s (Returns Service Providers) / ASP’s (Authorized Service Providers)
Companies are increasingly outsourcing their aftersales and repair services to specialist providers. This
development has been borne out of the fact that OEMs are increasingly required to report their
warranty costs separately, where previously these costs would simply have been taken from the
bottom lines. Where costs are now visible, CFOs will want to reduce them as far as is possible.
Companies such as Flextronics, Jabil, Teleplan play a key role in the repair business, often next to
related services such as contract manufacturing or assembly. They not only provide the service of
repairing products, but also take care of diagnosing returned products, fulfil gate-keeping
48
services,
and source spare parts for the repair activity. These companies also buy relevant distribution services
and offer integrated solutions to their customers.
Large computer OEMs (including HP, Dell and IBM) tender their defective product returns business
increasingly to repair vendors only. They then also take care of, for example, the distribution of
defective products, repaired or replacement products and spare parts required for repair.
Key repair vendors include:
 Jabil
 Flextronics
 Teleplan
 Celestica
 PegaService
 Elcoteq
 And many others.
While large repair vendors are often consolidating their repair
facilities into a network of global or regional locations to benefit from economies of scale, there are
tens-of-thousands of local repair vendors across the globe. These may be specialised in servicing and/or
repairing specific product groups, for example LCD monitors, TVs, cameras, mobile phones or computer
hard-drives, etc.
48
for example filtering defective from NFF products, Non Failure Found

36
The Blumberg Advisory Group’s interviewed more than 100 companies in the consumer electronics,
telecommunications, wireless and computer markets. More than two-thirds indicated that they
outsource some portion or all of their depot repair requirements to the smaller third-party repair
vendors. One reason given for this preference is that smaller repair depots have had to develop
superior problem-solving capabilities to remain competitive
49
. Needless to say, the repair market is still
very fragmented.
Large OEM companies may work with a network of of Authorised Service Providers (ASPs) to offer their
customers relative nearby (repair) servicing. This obviously is a key benefit where companies want their
customers to take care of bringing in or shipping their defective products to one of these ASPs.
Companies like Philips Consumer Products and Cisco work with a network of nearly 1,000 local ASPs in
Europe alone, who service and repair their relevant products. On one hand this ensures there are
always repairers close to their end-customer base; on the other hand it requires a considerable
management effort for companies to select, contract, and train these ASPs. Another challenge is to
supply all these ASPs with sufficient spare parts, often from central warehouses.
Automotive Car Dealers
A similar concept as described for ASPs above applies to the automotive sector. As an example, the
General Motors Group works with a network of some 6,000 dealerships across Europe, to service
vehicles brought in by the end-customers. They store small quantities of spare parts, which are being
replenished to them from central warehouses.
6.5 ‘In Use’ – Field Service Logistics
The level of outsourcing in the area of Field Service Logistics (in short the market taking care of the
upkeep of installed based by means of preventative and corrective maintenance) is considerably less
49
Blumberg Advisory Group, Electronics Manufacture & Test (EMT), July 2010, link.
Central repair, local repair or hybrid models?
In the current economic climate After Sales Service Managers of notebook vendors are increasingly being
forced to review their operations. With the growth in the notebook market the provision of a fast, quality
service has become increasingly important in differentiating vendors from their competition and
maintaining brand loyalty. However, although the market is enjoying considerable growth the high level of
competition continues to drive down average unit prices. As profit margins are eroded, reductions in
warranty costs can become the differentiator between profit and loss.
The primary impact of increased transport costs on service operations is that they challenge the benefits of
centralised repair centres servicing multiple geographies. Most major notebook vendors offer a collect and
return service for in-warranty products with target turnaround times (TAT) of around five days. Historically,
to make a five day TAT consistently cost effective, it made sense to centralise repair centres in low cost
labour areas and to fly notebooks in and out. Increases in logistics costs mean that Service Managers are
compelled to consider at what point the costs of their centralised repair model outweigh the benefits.
In terms of the repair network itself, many companies are now finding that their centralised operations no
longer make financial sense. The logical solution would appear to be to move back towards more localised
repair. However, the challenge here is to work out what and where to localise. In approaching this
challenge it helps to separate repair networks in to three basic categories; local repair, central repair and a
hybrid model.
The centralised model isn’t completely dead! It is still cheaper than a localised repair in some high labour
cost countries. The challenge today is to work out which countries still benefit from the centralised repair
and where a local solution would be more effective
Robert Haines, previously MGH Consulting. How will rising oil prices effect notebook vendor’s service
operations? July 2009. Approved quote.

Reverse and service logistics - White Paper - 2C4C publication

Reverse and service logistics - White Paper - 2C4C publication

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