door aart.schalk
•
6 april 2019
In the Manufacturing Industry, Service is King; in fact, Service is the backbone of the manufacturing organization, adding value to the bottom line through high margins on spare parts, service products and contracts. If it isn't, something is wrong and you need to fix it. Let´s start with explaining why Service should be the backbone of your manufacturing business. Customer Relationship First reason is customer relationship: While your Sales Organization initiates the business relationship with a customer only once (closing the deal might take 12-16 months), your Service Organization will continue to grow and foster that relationship after the deal was sealed, for many years to come. If your customer spent 1 million EUR to buy your equipment initially, it is likely that over the next 10-15 years (depending on equipment lifetime) this customer will spend at least 1 million EUR more on maintenance, spare parts, consultancy/training, and break/fix services to keep it running optimally. The cost of sales of selling the Service Products is much lower than the cost of selling equipment initially. In particular if the customer has bought a Service Agreement where they pay a fixed amount for parts and services. Margin Second reason is margin: The average margin on sales of OEM spare parts, according to bench-mark data from McKinsey, is around 25%, while the margin on the initial sale of equipment is much lower (around 10%). So for every euro invoiced by Service, around 50 euro cent adds to the profit. There is a caveat here - this only works if your customers don't buy pirate parts online, or at the hardware store on the corner. It is recommended to offer parts in optimized (modularized) packages, preferably also via a Service Agreement so you can plan ahead in time on manufacturing & delivery. Economic Cycle Third reason is economic cycle: In times of economic upswing, investments in new equipment are high because borrowing money is relatively easy and cheap.This is very good for Service organizations in the manufacturing industry, as they typically source installations of new equipment in factories. In times of economic recession, businesses hold back on major investments, such as buying new equipment. They rather spend money on repairs and maintenance (Service hours and Spare Parts) to get the best performance out of their initial investment. This is also good for the Service organization for the obvious reasons. Conclusion Concluding, whatever the economic situation, there is a steady demand for Service and Spare Parts. If your Service Organization has the correct set-up of processes, people, and systems it will be the backbone of your business, adding considerable profits to the bottom line. If not, there are several actions you can take to fine-tune the above mentioned variables.