Analysing the Service Information Transfer in the Service Development Process at Two Automotive Companies

As service renders an increasing share of companies’ revenues and affects a product's environmental performance, the effectiveness of the services carried out is important. The aim of this paper is to analyse the service information transfer in the service development process at two automotive companies in order to explore its inefficiencies, and to promote steps to make it more efficient in the future. The work process during service development was mapped, focusing on the information transfer, including databases utilized and types of instructions produced. The studies show that some information provided to the service designers is insufficiently detailed and some databases are incompatible, causing rework in the service development process. Further, the information provided to service technicians comes in multiple formats, causing inefficiency in the service process, and feedback to the service designers is too time consuming.