Shrinking product life cycles have created growing inventories of spare parts
that service organizations must effectively manage and supported for extensive
periods. Service parts planning and replenishment strategies must ensure that
requested parts are at the right location, at the right time, and in the right
condition. Proper service process support also requires the planning of spare
parts based on service-relevant criteria, such as the size of the installed base
of products, the significance of the part within the operation, and the defined
service level agreements with customers
In planning and execution processes supported by SAP SCM, consideration is
given to the product life cycles of service parts to make sure that service
parts inventories are used efficiently and the total capital bound in stock
items can be significantly reduced. The supply chain functionality enables
companies to manage service parts logistics (forward and reverse logistics and
complex warehouse management) and integrates with back-end systems for tasks
such as financial planning or maintenance planning. SAP SCM provides visibility
throughout the global parts network, enabling warehouse and logistics
organizations to deliver efficient, cost-effective service parts fulfillment.
Select capabilities supporting service management in SAP SCM include:
Service parts planning � The service parts planning capabilities
of SAP SCM � including service parts demand forecast to inventory
positioning and replenishment � ensure that inventory levels at service
parts stocking locations are sufficient at any point to reduce inventory
levels, while at the same time satisfying customer service levels (demand
forecasting and planning, inventory planning, distribution requirement
planning, deployment, parts interchangeability/supercession, planner
segmentation, and classification schemas).
Service parts execution � Service parts execution coordinates the
fastest and most cost-effective availability of service parts, enabling
efficient spare parts logistics and high volume warehouse management to
achieve the promised customer service levels. Core processes covered include
service parts order management, extended warehouse management, inventory
management, transportation management, proactive exception management,
quality management, regulatory compliance and customs management, service
part collaboration (supplier and customer collaboration), and service part
analytics.
