The present work aims to propose a Management Model with a logistics approach for companies that provide technical services.
In the first instance, automotive technical service companies have been studied, but it is intended to extend this model to any technical service and maintenance company in a general sense.
To arrive at the conception of the model, a proposal was made of a System of variables that allows characterizing the technical service systems with the use of experts, achieving a morphological analysis, unique in its kind so far, to later establish Typologies of provision of Automotive Technical Services, which allows further study of this type of production system. With all these elements and a thorough bibliographic review, the proposal of the model is arrived at.
Keywords: Management with a Logistic approach, Automotive Technical Services, Characterization variables.
Typologies or ways of manifesting automotive technical services in Cuba
As is known, the automotive activity is wide and diverse. Specifically, automotive technical services in our country are presented in three fundamental types or modalities, of which it has not been written previously. For this, it was necessary, in addition to consulting specialized literature, visiting different units that present these services, contacting the personnel who work there, as well as seeking direct information from the presidency of the UNECAMOTO Group in Havana City, as the governing group of this activity in the country.
These typologies are:
- Own workshops, understood as those that belong to a specific company and therefore offer their services to it only. Independent workshops, which are units created by different ministries, mainly that of the Steel and Mechanical Industry and the Mintur, destined, as another business, to provide services to companies that do not have workshops for economic reasons, infrastructure or due to their own nature of its mission, there are also independent workshops aimed at providing services to state organizations and private vehicles. Servicentros,These are an extension of the independent workshops; but due to its marked differences with these, we frame it as another fundamental way of manifesting the automotive technical system, these units have services aimed at all types of customers but are smaller and less complex.
To specify this proposal, these three forms were compared taking into account the following aspects:
- Organizational structure Customers served Size of facility Diversity of service Sales levels Payment methods Inventory levels Level of customer contact with the organization Service control Technical information
Establishment of a system of variables to characterize automotive technical services.
After having carried out a thorough bibliographic review about the different criteria to characterize the service systems and the variables that allow this characterization to be carried out, as well as the study of the automotive technical activity, we proceed to select those variables that best fit to the object of study.
For a better understanding, the methodology followed to obtain the system of variables to characterize the automotive technical services systems is presented below.
Methodology followed in the study.
Figure 3.1 shows the sequence of steps completed to obtain the desired results.
Stage 1: Analysis and adaptation of the variables defined in the bibliography.
On the basis of the different variables in the consulted bibliography, according to the author's criteria, the most significant ones were preselected in order to be evaluated by the experts. The compiled list integrates the following variables:
Pre-selected variables to characterize automotive technical services systems.
- Demand behavior Systems that perform tangible actions on possessions Temporary, reversible and physical service effects Degree of participation of personnel, facilities and equipment in the delivery of the service Degree of contact with the client Degree of interaction and adaptation of the Customer service Workforce intensity Team-based services Availability of service location Nature of interaction between customer and organization Provision of a single service or set of services Provision of service by order of arrival of customers Level of mechanization of the service Market to which the service is directed Level of specialization of the service How to carry out the transaction
Stage 2: Selection of the group of experts for the evaluation of the variables.
Taking as a precedent, doctoral research carried out (Artola Pimentel, 2002; Negrín Sosa, 2002; Nogueira Rivera, 2002), the need to evaluate the degree of knowledge and reliability of the experts is recognized, based on the application of the Methodology proposed by Oñate Ramos Díaz, 1988.
This methodology consists in the application to the experts of a survey, made up of two tables:
- One based on the expert's own opinion about their level of knowledge of the problem, and another based on different sources of argument.
The evaluation team was made up of a total of 8 experts who met the specifications:
- Four university professors. Two professionals from the automotive sector. Two technicians from the automotive sector.
Stage 3: Definition by the group of experts, of the system of variables that best characterizes the automotive technical service and prioritizing them.
In order to vote on the predefined variables as objectively as possible, it was decided to apply the Delphi Method.
In the first round, the experts were presented with the list of preselected variables, in order for them to decide if these variables were enough to make up the system or if any of them needed to be added or modified to their criteria.
In the second round, the variables resulting from the previous round are listed and presented to the experts, with a view to voting according to the established procedures, that is, evaluating with a 1 those variables with which they agree and with 0 those with which they disagree.
In this step, the coefficient of concordance to each of the variables is calculated, selecting those that meet the condition that their coefficient is greater than or equal to 0.8.
This list is presented again to the experts so that they can vote by level of importance, giving the highest value to the most important.
Stage 4: Validation of the results obtained by carrying out statistical tests.
To guarantee the absolute reliability of the results obtained, two statistical tests were applied using the SPSS software; specifically the Friedman Test and Kendall's Coefficient of Agreement.
The null hypothesis of the Friedman test is that the importance of the thirteen variables is the same, a question that does not show a good ordering of the variables. If the significance is greater than 0.05, the hypothesis is accepted with 95% confidence. Otherwise the hypothesis is rejected.
Kendall's test provides the relative agreement that exists between the thirteen variables compared. If this coefficient is greater than 0.5 it is considered good.
In the case of Friedman's test, the significance is less than 0.05, so the null hypothesis is rejected, that is, the thirteen variables do not have the same importance; A necessary and sufficient question to demonstrate the validity of performing the Delphi test.
Kendall's coefficient has a value of 0.7251, greater than 0.5, so it can be said that there is agreement between the experts in the given order, so the test can be taken as reliable.
The final and absolute result of the study carried out will then be:
- Degree of participation of the facilities and equipment in the service experience Behavior of demand and its relation to capacity Labor intensity (number of highly qualified personnel and use of expensive equipment) Level of interaction and adaptation of the Customer service Level of specialization of the service Degree of participation of the personnel providing the service Availability of service location (a single location or multiple locations) Mix of services offered Market to which the service is directed Delivery method of the service Provision of after-sales services Response time for orders Inventory levels
Morphological analysis of the variables.
The aim of this analysis is to study the ways of manifesting itself, or in other words, the behavior of each variable according to the type of service provision.
For this, it was necessary to start from the knowledge of the forms of organization of these services, the entities object of studies were visited, the people involved in the provision process (internal and external clients) were interviewed, documentation was reviewed, the Company of Workshops and Servicentros, information was sought in the UNECAMOTO Business Group, the morphological analysis carried out by Dr. Ana Julia Urquiaga was consulted.
Annex 1 presents the Morphological Table to characterize automotive technical service systems.
As a practical validation of this System of variables, it was applied in the characterization of the entities Veracuba, Mercedes Benz, and ESTAMAT, which provide automotive technical services.
As already explained, it was achieved to characterize the form of work organization to achieve a coordinated management of all the elements that intervene in the process, as well as the study of certain logistics indicators that will allow the subsequent application of a Management Model with a logistics approach.
The Management of these entities endorse the importance of this work for the results expected by them, as well as the need to orient their services to clients in order to increase their efficiency.
Proposal of a Management Model with a logistics approach for automotive technical services.
With all the above elements, we are now in a position to present a proposal for a Management Model with a logistics approach for Automotive Technical Services, in order to direct these services to customers.
An exhaustive review of a total of 10 Management Models was necessary, of which the Approach, Contributions and Limitations were determined, which served as the basis for the proposal of the model in question.
Need for a management model with a logistics approach.
Logistics is related to the management of the flow of goods and services, from the acquisition of raw materials and supplies at their point of origin, to the delivery of the finished product at the point of consumption. It is a process that runs through the organization 'horizontally', affecting each of the functions and tasks of the organization.
These interrelationships between logistics activities and each of the company's areas suggest an integrated system, where each and every one of the activities requires adequate coordination to optimize the operation of the business process, reduce costs and enhance a better level of customer service.
The solution to achieve an adequate level of competitiveness is to place the client and their needs at the central point of attention of the production systems and achieve the coordination of the latter through the logistics approach, since obtaining an efficient response to the client exceeds the limits of the production system and requires integrating the entire logistics system as a chain of continuous processes that are activated the moment the customer demands the product-service.
Based on the criteria raised above, and taking into account the analysis carried out on the models studied, the author considers the need to propose a model with a logistical approach that allows service companies to manage.
For this, the author starts from the aspects addressed in the bibliographic analysis on the focus on systems and business management subsystems, as a basis for the elaboration of the model, as well as the limitations of the analyzed models.
The proposed model (detailed in Annex 2) contains basic and novel elements, which are not included in other models referred to in this work.
Among them we can highlight:
- Explicit linking of logistics with all subsystems of a service company Classification of logistics activities into three categories (inbound logistics, inventory and handling logistics, and distribution logistics) Definition of all inputs necessary to carry out management of efficient purchasing Graphical representation of the logistics flow from the base, defining it as the essential support process to guarantee the supply of all levels of the company Use of elements of the servuction systems to achieve the adequate representation of the production subsystem of a service company. Representation of all the relationships established between the different subsystems, the strategic management and the defined logistics categories.
The role of logistics can be viewed as the provision of systems and the support coordination process to ensure that customer service goals are met. This is the basic idea of the service-oriented logistics system, a system designed to achieve defined service goals.
Conclusions:
The study of the automotive technical activity allowed to establish the typologies or forms of provision of these services: Own workshops, Independent workshops, Servicentros.
As a result of the work with the experts, a System of Variables was obtained to characterize the automotive technical services, checking the validity of the study, obtaining a concordance value of 0.7251 and rejecting the null hypothesis of the Friedman test, using the SPSS software.
The morphological analysis carried out defines the behavior of the variables according to the typologies presented, which is essential for the organization of these services.
After delving into different management models, it is possible to demonstrate the need to manage automotive technical services with a logistical approach, proposing a Management Model for this purpose.
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ANNEXES
REFERENCES:
- Novel Result of the Doctoral Research of Parra Ferié, Cecilia. 2003 Unique in its kind, result of the investigation of Parra Ferié, Cecilia. 2003. Methodology referred to in the doctoral thesis of Artola Pimentel (2002). Novel result of the investigation of Parra Ferié, Cecilia. 2003. Central theme of the Doctoral Research of Parra Ferié, Cecilia. 2003.
