Making Knowledge Work
The integration of a knowledge system in the workshops of MBUSA Dealers
Graduate:
André van de Groep 0945390
TBW-DT Supervisors:
Prof. Dr. Jacob Wijngaard Dr. Albert Boonstra
Groningen, 30 Augustus 2002
(This report is the sole work of André van de Groep prepared for the purpose of fulfilling certain requirements towards obtaining a graduate degree from the RijksUniversiteit Groningen. All information contained in this report has been gathered through research, real life and work experiences and shall be kept confidential. Any copying, duplicating or other use without the express written permission of André van de Groep is strictly prohibited.)
Preface
This report describes the results of a research conducted at Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) in Montvale (NJ, USA) However, the report can also be seen as the conclusion of 6 years of study at the Faculty of Management of the University of Groningen. Both aspects are very important to me.
It is hard to describe how happy I was when I heard that I could do an internship with Mercedes-Benz in the USA. I am an automobile enthusiast; especially old (and new) Mercedes cars are a big passion for me.
The internship with Mercedes combined everything I could wish for in one opportunity: great company with great products, a thesis project to finish my study, experience abroad and living near New York. The start of my internship was quite turbulent. September 11th was my second Tuesday at work. Heartless terrorists attacked the World Trade Center. The time after the attack was a moving period for me, but also for my family and friends in the Netherlands. Fortunately the peace returned. I was able to continue my internship at Mercedes. During my thesis project I learned a lot about the organization of MBUSA and of course the products of Mercedes-Benz AG and MBUSA. The research w as conducted in the context of the Technical Assistance Center (TAC); a knowledge system aimed at the provision of technical information to technicians of the Mercedes-dealers throughout the USA. In the beginning I had some difficulties to define the topic of the research but gradually the research was getting its final shape. More and more the research was going in the direction of topics not (fully) covered during my studies. Fortunately MBUSA gave me the opportunity to do some extra literature research. All in all I am satisfied with the eventual result of the research. As said, with this report the internship at MBUSA is officially concluded: the end of a very interesting and instructive period in the USA.
With this report I also conclude my study at the University of Groningen. Six years have passed and they passed quickly. People often say: “My student time was the best time of my life”. I think they are right. It was great. I learned a lot during my study and I had a perfect time in the best student-town of the Netherlands: “Er gaat niks boven Groningen”.
Acknowledgements
After such a perfect internship it is appropriate to thank the people who made this possible. There is no special order in these acknowledgements. This report is written for the University of Groningen and therefore I will start to thank my supervisors. I want to thank Professor Wijngaard for his sensible, down- to-earth comments on my work. He did not dictate anything; Mr. Wijngaard kept me on the right track but I was able to do my own research. Professor Wijngaard always took time to help me and even visited MBUSA during my internship. I also want to thank Dr. Boonstra, my second supervisor for his contribution to my research.
I owe a lot of thanks to my supervisor at MBUSA, Michael Kunz. He showed patience during the
internship and gave me all the freedom to conduct my own research. Furthermore, I want to thank the TAC Development Team and my colleagues at the Technical Information Department. Two people I want to mention separately: John Heibler and Ivan Blum. John Heibler, my neighbor at Technical Information, was always willing to help me with my research or to talk any other topic. Ivan Blum from IBM USA was of a great help by giving me information and books about relevant topics.
An internship abroad is impossible without support of friends and family. I want to thank my girlfriend, Thea, my family, De BedrijfskundeBurcht and my friends for their support from the Netherlands. I am also thankful to Janet and Lewis Shechtman: their house and their hospitality are unique. Besides friends in the Netherlands I also received a lot of support and friendship from the “Dutch Connection” at MBUSA. I had a great time with Rudi Arts, Christina Springer, Haijo Kampinga and Tjalling Pater.
Summary
This report discusses the integration of a knowledge system in the workshop environment of Mercedes- Benz dealers in the United States of America.
Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) is responsible for the coordination of the sale of Mercedes vehicles by Mercedes Dealers throughout the USA. Related to the car sales is the provision of service support to the Mercedes-Benz Dealers. MBUSA is assisting its dealers with technical information and knowledge about cars, problems and solutions to problems. In order to improve this service support the Technical Assistance Center (TAC) is developed. The TAC is a system aimed at the distribution of knowledge to the workshop and the capturing of knowledge from the workshop. This distributing and capturing is realized with a Call Center and in-person contact. In the future this will be supplemented with an extranet application. This extranet aspect turned out to be very important for the integration of the TAC in the workshop environment.
Therefore this research is focusing on the conditions for the transition from the current service support to a Netstar-based approach. Netstar is the extranet of MBUSA. Consequently the extranet-part of the TAC and the accompanying application is called Netstar-TAC.
The research is centered around three research questions:
1) How can Netstar be used to integrate TAC in the workshop environment of the dealers and how can Netstar-TAC be used to enhance the service support processes between MBUSA and the dealers?
2) What are the requirements concerning the workshop environment of the dealers and Netstar-TAC to enable a Netstar-based TAC and service support?
3) What are the conditions for the dealer level and for MBUSA in order to make the transition from the current service support approach to a Netstar-based approach?
To answer these questions the reality of the TAC and MBUSA is investigated. The study of the reality focuses on the service support of MBUSA including TAC, the workshop environment of the dealers, Netstar and the business communication between MBUSA and the dealers. Besides the reality also theoretical concepts are studied in order to give the research its theoretical foundation. The literature study comprises topics such as knowledge management, process design and improvement, extranets, change management and theory about customer loyalty. The customer loyalty concept is added in order to rationalize a Netstar-based service support in the direction of the dealers.
The result of this research can be summarized with three main conclusions. The first conclusion is that a Netstar-TAC based approach will only be successful if Netstar-TAC is adapted to the properties of the workshop environment. The workshop environment has several distinctive properties concerning the service support process and the management of knowledge in the workshop. Several conditions for the design of Netstar-TAC and the functionality of Netstar-TAC are proposed. Some conditions are focused on the distribution and capturing of knowledge to and from the workshop. Others are aimed at the improvement of the service support process. There are also some conditions in order to stimulate the creation of knowledge in the workshop environment.
The second conclusion is that a Netstar-based approach to service support must be accompanied with measures and requirements on both the MBUSA level and the dealer level. Dealers must improve their Netstar infrastructure and they must take organizational measures to stimulate the use of Netstar-TAC.
MBUSA must integrate its resources in Netstar-TAC and improve the performance of Netstar in general. It is also essential that MBUSA is taking organizational measures to support the Netstar-based approach.
The third conclusion is that the eventual success of a Netstar-based approach and the integration of TAC with Netstar must be realized with good management of the implementation and change at the dealers.
Main aspect of this management of change and the implementation is a good communication of the business benefits to the dealers. The main benefit for the dealers is the improvement of customer loyalty with a Netstar-based service support. Another important aspect of the implementation and change is the involvement of the dealers and technicians in the design of Netstar-TAC. Furthermore MBUSA must carry out a pilot or several pilots to prove the concept and MBUSA must clearly communicate changes via the existing communication channels. Also important is the restructuring of the organization around Netstar and a focus on the acceptance of Netstar in the technicians population.
The research is concluded with a contemplation of the research. Weaknesses of the report and the research are discussed. Some possible improvements are proposed and the TAC-project in general is discussed shortly. Based on the contemplation and the content of this report recommendations for future research are proposed.
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ...7
1.1 MBUSA ...7
1.2 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CENTER-PROJECT...10
1.3 REASONS FOR TAC - INTERNAL...10
1.4 REASONS FOR TAC - EXTERNAL...13
CHAPTER 2 DESIGN OF THE TAC...15
2.1 THE DESIGN OF TAC ...15
CHAPTER 3 PROBLEM DEFINITION...19
3.1 INTRODUCTION...19
3.2 PRELIMINARY RESEARCH...19
3.3 OVERALL FRAMEWORK OF THE RESEARCH...20
3.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS PRELIMINARY RESEARCH...21
3.5 CONCLUSIONS PRELIMINARY RESEARCH...21
3.6 PROBLEM DEFINITION...24
3.7 APPROACH...25
CHAPTER 4 DESCRIPTION CURRENT SITUATION ...27
4.1 SERVICE SUPPORT AT DEALERS AND WORKSHOP ENVIRONMENT...27
4.2 SERVICE SUPPORT MBUSA...32
4.3 BUSINESS COMMUNICATION...33
4.4 NETSTAR...37
CHAPTER 5 LITERATURE RESEARCH...40
5.1 INTRODUCTION...40
5.2 FRAMEWORK FOR LITERATURE...40
5.3 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT...41
5.4 PROCESS DESIGN...45
5.5 CHANGE MANAGEMENT...48
5.6 TECHNOLOGY AND EXTRANET...51
5.7 CUSTOMER LOYALTY...53
5.8 CONCEPTUAL MODEL...56
CHAPTER 6 DIAGNOSIS ...59
6.1 INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT...59
6.2 TAC ...59
6.3 SERVICE SUPPORT DEALERS AND MBUSA ...59
6.4 SERVICE SUPPORT IN THE WORKSHOP ENVIRONMENT...61
6.5 NETSTAR...64
6.6 BUSINESS COMMUNICATION AND CHANGE...65
6.7 CONCLUSION AND DIRECTIONS FOR DESIGN...67
CHAPTER 7 FRAMEWORK FOR DESIGN...70
7.1 INTRODUCTION...70
7.2 FRAMEWORK FOR DESIGN NETSTAR-TAC...70
7.3 CONDITIONS WORKSHOP ENVIRONMENT DEALERS...78
7.4 CONDITIONS MBUSA...80
7.5 MODEL FOR THE FRAMEWORK OF DESIGN...81
CHAPTER 8 CONCLUSION...82
CHAPTER 9 RECOMMENDATIONS...83
9.1 RECOMMENDATION TO THE DEALERS...83
9.2 CHANGE MANAGEMENT...83
9.3 DESIGN OF NETSTAR AND RESOURCES MANAGEMENT...85
9.4 ORGANIZATIONAL CONDITIONS...86
9.5 CONDITIONS CONCERNING NETSTAR...86
9.6 CONTEMPLATION...87
CHAPTER 10 LITERATURE REFERENCES ...90 CHAPTER 11 APPENDICES...ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
APPENDIX 1 DESIGN OF TAC ... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED. APPENDIX 2: IMPLEMENTATION AND INTEGRATION... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED. APPENDIX 3 INTERVIEW WITH MEMBERS OF THE TAC-TEAM... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED. APPENDIX 4 FIRST INTERVIEWS DEALERS... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED. APPENDIX 5 INTERVIEW WITH IBM-CONSULTANT... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED. APPENDIX 6 MEETING WITH TS... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED. APPENDIX 7 SECOND DEALER VISITS... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED. APPENDIX 8 INTERVIEW SERVICE PARTS AND OPERATIONS MANAGER (SPOM).ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
APPENDIX 9 INTERVIEW STRATEGIC RETAIL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT (SRD) ...ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
APPENDIX 10 NETSTAR INTERVIEW... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED. APPENDIX 11 LOCATION OF THE TAC CALL CENTER HUBS... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED. APPENDIX 12 GLOSSARY... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
Chapter 1 Introduction
This report is the result of a research conducted for Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) in Montvale. The research was conducted for the Engineering Services Group of MBUSA. The Engineering Services Group is responsible for the development of the Technical Assistance Center (TAC). For a good understanding of the research and the problem it is important to know more about the MBUSA in general and the TAC. This context will be described in the following paragraphs. In this report abbreviations and MBUSA- terminology will be used. Therefore a glossary can be found in Appendix 12.
1.1 MBUSA
Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) is a wholly owned subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler AG. The current organization was founded on January 1, 1965, with headquarters in Fort Lee, New Jersey. MBUSA moved to its headquarters to Montvale, New Jersey in 1972.
Prior to the founding of MBUSA, Mercedes-Benz cars were sold in the United States from 1957 to 1964 by Mercedes-Benz Sales, Inc., a subsidiary of the Studebaker-Packard Corporation.
MBUSA supports marketing and distribution of Mercedes-Benz-products to authorized retail centers across the United States. So, MBUSA functions as a marketing and distribution organization; the cars are manufactured by the parent company. (The M-Class models are produced in Vance, Alabama (USA) and the other models in Germany and Austria).
There are 313 Mercedes-Benz dealerships in the United States, including one MBUSA owned MB Center in Manhattan (New York). MBUSA sells about 200000 vehicles each year. MBUSA has approximately 1200 employees working in Montvale and the regional headquarters.
1.1.1 MBUSA-Montvale.
Besides marketing and distribution, MBUSA has many supporting functions. They include for example Product Management, Customer Assistance Center, Corporate Planning, Controlling and Engineering.
MBUSA is organized around 4 groups: Marketing, Sales, Customer Services and Finance. Each group is managed by a vice president. The vice presidents report to a CEO. The Vice Presidents (VP’s) and their groups are shown in Figure 1-A.
Figure 1-A Executive Management MBUSA
Because many departments are involved in the TAC-project, we will first describe the organizational aspects of the organization as a whole. The MBUSA organization is depicted in Figure 1-B. We have
depicted all the groups and main-departments. Some main departments are elaborated because they are of special interest to the TAC-project.
The marketing group is entrusted with the marketing of Mercedes products. Other departments of the marketing group include product management, Pre-owned Car communications, Vehicle administration and Vehicle logistics.
The Customer Services Group is responsible for the technical part of MBUSA activities. It consists of five departments: Parts & Services, the Classic Center, the Customer Assistance Center, Accessories and Engineering Services. The Engineering Services department is divided in 5 sub-departments: Product Analysis, Environment & Safety Engineering, Warranty, Technical Information and Service Engineering.
The Technical Information Department (TID) releases technical literature about specifications and diagnosis for repairing a car in the US-market. They also support the development of diagnostic equipment for repairing a car (e.g. a “laptop” for diagnosing a car). Furthermore they are responsible for providing the right tools and equipment to the dealerships. The Service Engineering Department (SED) is responsible for product support. They provide solutions to specific problems reported by the MBUSA field organization and dealers. The SED is divided in small teams. Each team has its specialization. For example: power train and electrical systems.
MBUSA also has a Financial and Controlling group. This group is responsible for corporate planning &
controlling, information technology, Tax & Payroll, Purchasing and Facilities.
The representation of the sales group differs a bit from the other groups. The sales group is divided in 6 more or less comparable regional departments. Within these departments there are various functions including service part operation managers, marketing managers, Financial analysts etc. Each department serves a region. There are 6 regions denoted by a city in the regions: New York, Jacksonville, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Each regional department has also several Technical Specialists who are coordinated by a Technical Coordinator. Technical Specialist visits a dealer when a dealer requires further technical support for vehicle related matters. They assist technicians in the repair process, but it is also possible that they visit a dealer without a specific reason. The Technical Specialists are well trained and they can deal with almost any problem with a Mercedes. The Technical Specialists are supported by the people of the TID and the SED. A dealer who has a problem that cannot be solved by his own team can call a Technical Specialist in their respective region. Beside the six regional departments there is also a general supporting sales department in Montvale.
Figure 1-B Organization Chart MBUSA - Corp. Planning/
Controlling - Info. Tech.
- Tax & Payroll - Purchasing - Facilities CEO
VP Sales VP Marketing VP Cust. Services VP Fin. & controlling
Reg. Department N = 6
Other departments E-business
Other departments Engineering Services
Tech. Information
Service Engineering Tech. Information
Other departments - Marketing Comm.
- Product Mgmt.
- Pre Owned Comm.
Sales/Int. Veh. Adm.
- Vehicle Logistics/
Distribution
- Product Analysis - Environment/safety - Warranty
- Parts & Services - Classic Center - Customers Assistance
Center - Accessories
Tech. specialist N ± 6
Other Functions
- Service Parts Operation Manager - Marketing Manager - Fin. Analyst - IT –specialist - Event Manager - Coordinators - Comm. Specialist
Departments
Marketteam
1.2 Technical Assistance Center-project
The research was conducted as part of the development of the Technical Assistance Center (TAC).
Mercedes started the TAC-project in April 2001. TAC will become the centralized point for technical support for the United States. The TAC will play an important part in the technical support processes between the dealers and MBUSA. Dealers and dealer personnel need technical support in order to repair cars properly. Information and knowledge given by MBUSA to the dealers in order to repair a car is called technical support. The TAC will be the primary resource of technical support for the dealers and the MBUSA-organization. The TAC will not deal with problems of end-consumers. It is an information source for the dealers.
In the remainder of this chapter and chapter 2 the TAC will be discussed. This research is centered around future developments of the TAC. It is important to notice that within MBUSA and this report the term
“TAC” is used for the overall TAC-system but also for parts of this overall system. Strictly speaking the TAC is a system consisting of a call-center, a database, an extranet application and several TAC- functionaries; the overall system. The TAC-project is aimed at the development of this system. The TAC system will provide solutions to problems and technical information about Mercedes cars via three ways:
the TAC-Extranet application, the TAC Call Center and personal visits of TAC-functionaries. The TAC Call Center is developed first and the role and responsibilities of the Technical Specialists is closely related to this development. The second stage will be a TAC application on the extranet of MBUSA. This research will mainly deal with this future stage of the project. In the remainder of this report the overall system will be denoted as “TAC”. The respective parts will be denoted separately. The term “TAC-project” is used to denote the activities needed to develop the TAC and all its parts.
The goal of the TAC is to provide consistent service support to dealers on a national basis from one centralized point and based on a defined protocol.
The above goal can be seen as the main goal of the TAC-project. This goal is still somewhat broad. The reasons of TAC-project and the properties of TAC will be elaborated.
1.3 Reasons for TAC - Internal
The main reason why the TAC-project is started can be found in dissatisfaction with the current process of providing support to dealers. In many cases the current service support process is not functioning optimally.
The current service support process, with its disadvantages, will be described below.
1.3.1 Current service support
As said, one of the important reasons for the launching of the TAC-project is the dissatisfaction with the current service support process. This current service support process will now be described.
A dealer repairs cars and solves problems for his customers. For this purpose each dealer employs technicians to repair the cars and to solve these problems. When repairing a car, the technicians uses both his own knowledge and the knowledge and experience of his/her colleagues. However, in some cases (or many cases, this depends on the dealer) the technicians do not know the solution to a specific problem.
They then call the Technical Specialist or Technical Coordinator of their region for assistance. Each Specialist serves a certain part of a region. The Technical Specialist first tries to help the dealer directly by answering the question and verbally solving the problem. If he doesn’t know the solution right away he visits the dealer. The Technical Specialists communicate known problems and solutions with the Technical Coordinator of their region. The Coordinator shares technical issues with the Engineering Coordinator or directly with an Engineer in Montvale. The Engineering Coordinator communicates the issues to the Engineers. The Engineers try to find solutions or verify the solutions of the Technical Specialists.
This escalation of problems to MBUSA and the different levels for the service support between the dealer and MBUSA are also visible in Figure 1-C.
Figure 1-C Current Service Support MBUSA
1.3.2 Disadvantages current service support
There are, however, reasons why the current, decentralized system is not always working very well. Below some of the important problems will be highlighted.
1.3.2.1 Timeliness
Since the current service support has many levels, it takes much time to get the information to and from the technicians. Also because of this multi level approach it can take months before a problem (which will occur for the first time in the workshop of the dealers) is escalated to MBUSA. Therefore it takes too long before a solution is published, which is costly for MBUSA. The biggest delay is caused by the fact that the engineers in the home-office are not aware of the information already available in the field or with the dealers.
QM, EWS, Warranty, CAC, Paper
Service Engineer
Technical Coordinator
Technical Specialist
Dealer Tech
DCAG
Files, MB-NET
Personal Knowledge,
MB-NET
Personal Knowledge,
MB-NET, ETM, Microfiche
Numerous Decentralized Information Sources
1.3.2.2 Utilization of knowledge
Knowledge is not fully utilized because there is no national overview on the solutions that have already been devised. There is some sharing of information and knowledge via a weekly meeting with the Technical Coordinators and the Engineering Coordinator. However, these meetings do not deal with all problems and solutions and not all solutions are communicated to Technical Specialist and dealers. It is therefore still possible that a Technical Specialist tries to find a solution to a problem that has already been solved before by another specialist. In theory, all solved problems should be communicated to all the Technical Coordinators and the people of the SED & TID.
1.3.2.3 Decentralized approach
As mentioned before, the organizational structure of MBUSA is also a problem. The Technical Specialists are working for the Sales group and not for the Engineering Services group. This is the main reason why the SED and the TID are not informed about all the solutions. They simply don’t see the Specialists very often. Because of the organizational structure there’s also a difference in focus between the market teams and the Engineering departments. The engineers tend to be more focused on quality and the market teams are more focused on sales. This implies a different approach to service support and the willingness to share information and knowledge with other market teams and regional departments.
1.3.2.4 Knowledge sharing and capturing
One way to share information, problems and solutions between dealers and MBUSA are the EWS reports.
EWS means Early Warning System. Dealers and technicians can use this system to report problems and solutions to MBUSA. However, the EWS has one major disadvantage: the dealers don’t get feedback on their contribution. This is the main reason why dealers are not really enthusiastic about EWS. This is the only system that has this function, though. Besides the EWS and the personal contact with TSs there is no structured way to share information. This means, in practice, that the sharing of information and solutions is not fully optimized. Consequence of this is that the personal knowledge and skills of the large group of Mercedes’ technicians is not captured, distributed and rewarded.
Because there is no central information point for the gathering and dissemination of information, it is possible that a solution is already invented in some parts of the country. However because of the decentralized approach, this solution is not necessarily shared with the rest of the country. In the current situation dealers can be unaware of problems that are already solved.
1.3.2.5 Inconsistency of service support
As mentioned, the service support is also inconsistent. Some Technical Specialists know the solution to certain problems, while other Technical Specialists need to call the Service Engineers. Some Technical Specialists have established contacts at Daimler Chrysler AG and know much more than other Technical Specialists. Sometimes it also happens that a “solution” is spread by technicians or specialists that is not approved by the Service Engineers. This could imply that a number of cars are “fixed” in the wrong way or not fixed at all, leading to customer dissatisfaction.
Another inconsistency is caused by the fact that dealers (and MBUSA personnel) have many places to look for information. As can be seen in Figure 1-C, there are many resources and systems with information and knowledge. (e.g. Diagnostic Manuals, DTB’s , Service Informations and other systems like WIS and Star Diagnosis.) Also important are the less tangible resources like personal knowledge, skills and experience.
1.3.2.6 Use of Technical Specialists
Another important disadvantage of the current situation is that the skilled Technical Specialists are not optimally used by their employer: MBUSA. There are indications that in some cases Technical Specialists just visit a dealer and solve a few problems without following any protocol. Furthermore there are indications that some dealers or technicians call the Technical Specialist much too soon or too frequently.
This could be an indication of abuse or a lack of knowledge at the dealers. Because every market team has its own Technical Specialist and each market teams serves a few dealers it is also possible that close relationships exist between dealers and Technical Specialists. This could lead to favoring some dealers at the cost of MBUSA.
Bottom line is that the efforts of the Technical Specialist are not controlled by MBUSA. It would be better for MBUSA if the Technical Specialists were investigating new problems (root cause analysis) and
communicate the solutions with the home office for verification. A Technical Specialist solving an “old”
(known) problem is a waste of time. A good communication of known solutions could prevent that a Technical Specialist is just repairing some cars. The current approach does not always Technical Specialists for finding information that is useful for MBUSA as a corporation.
1.3.3 Résumé
The current situation has the following disadvantages:
- Problem resolution contains multiple phases and stages; no consistent protocol for obtaining support. The service support process is time consuming and costly.
- The organizational structure of service support does not fully support the storage and nationwide distribution of knowledge and solutions. Technicians can be potentially unaware of known problems for which solutions have already been developed. In resolving technical matters, collective wealth of technician knowledge is not qualified, evaluated, distributed or rewarded.
- Regional teams have developed regional solutions to national problems.
- Some dealers rely to much on the personal, expensive visits of the Technical Specialists - Knowledge is not optimally used or accessible. There are too many resources and places to
look for information.
- The service support is not consistent throughout the country and quality of solutions is not assured
- Technical Specialists are not used based on corporate needs but on the needs of individual dealers
1.4 Reasons for TAC - External
The current system of service support is functioning quite well at this moment. The disadvantages mentioned above are known within MBUSA, but they were considered acceptable up to this moment.
There are however reasons why MBUSA is willing to change the current situation by developing TAC.
1.4.1 Technology push
The first reason is that technology offers the possibility to do things more efficiently and more cost- effectively. The development of TAC can be seen as an technology push process. Developments in technology offers opportunities to do things in a better way. Competitors are also using high-tech for their service support. So, with TAC MBUSA is able to improve it’s own performance, while simultaneously MBUSA is improving it’s position compared to the competitors.
1.4.2 Expected future developments
The second reason is based on the expectations of the future. Mercedes-Benz USA expects the following future developments:
- Sales Volume Increase - Model Variants Increase
- Telematic Diagnosis (Diagnosis of a car without physical contact)
- Introduction of Mercedes SLR and the Maybach (extremely expensive and advanced cars) - The advent of advanced systems
- General complexity of cars will increase
These future developments will increase the need for service support. This is true because of the increase of volume and variants. But also because it is not possible for the dealers and their technicians to keep in pace with the rapid developments in the car industry. Mercedes-Benz acknowledges this. Right now already there are dealers who do not have the personnel with the right knowledge to deal with the current Mercedes cars. Under the current structure, these developments would lead to simply adding expensive Technical Specialists to the market teams to assist the dealers. This does not match with the goals of the higher management. They want to keep the headcount for service support stable. TAC is a way to accomplish this goal.
1.4.3 Goals Service Engineering Department
A third reason why TAC is necessary, is based on goals of the Service Engineering Department. They want to reduce the warranty cost and the also want to get a better view on Quality issues. In order to achieve this, solutions to problems have to be found more quickly. TAC will have more focus on root cause analysis and the fast distribution of solutions to all dealers, instead off offering solutions to specific problems of individual dealers.
Chapter 2 Design of the TAC
The design and properties of TAC are described in greater detail in Appendix 1. Here a summary is given to get a first understanding of the TAC and its properties. For a good understanding of the remainder of this report the reader is advised to read Appendix 1.
The final goal of the TAC-project is to organize the service support in a different way and create a structure without the disadvantages described above. This will be accomplished through:
- Centralization
- Establishing an uniform protocol - Changing the organizational structure - Building a knowledge database/system
- Deployment of Technical Specialists directed by TAC 2.1 The Design of TAC
The new service support approach is depicted in Figure 2-A. The multi-level approach depicted in Figure 1-C is replaced by a direct contact between the technician and the knowledge of MBUSA (via a Call Center or Netstar, the extranet of MBUSA).
Many of the disadvantages of the current service support are caused by the decentralized approach. One of the main properties of the TAC will be that the provision of support will be centralized. A dealer will not contact the Technical Coordinator or the Technical Specialist in his region, but he will contact the Call Center (In the future the technicians will also be able to use a extranet-application). This support center will serve the whole country. Every dealer will call the same center. The Technical Specialists in the Call Center will try to solve the problem of the dealer by phone. If this is not possible, a remote Technical Specialist is sent to the dealer to solve the problem. However, only the TAC can send the Technical Specialist to the dealer, a dealer cannot contact the Technical Specialist directly. The remote Technical Specialists will remain in different locations throughout the country. Under the new structure, technicians in the workshop will have direct access to all available knowledge of MBUSA. The TAC will be the gathering point of all available knowledge and information.
The TAC Call Center is a virtual Call Center. There are 4 different locations, hubs, acting as one center.
(See Appendix 11 for a map of the USA with the location of the hubs.) An incoming call at the central number is routed to the first available Call Center Specialist somewhere in the USA.
In Figure 2-A , an overview of the future process and organization of the TAC is given. Below some aspects of the figure will be explained in greater detail.
Figure 2-A Service Support under TAC
2.1.2 Main function
The main function of TAC is to gather and distribute knowledge from and to the technicians in the dealerships. TAC will solve the problems with Mercedes-Benz cars in the USA. In the design of TAC there is an important distinction between individual problems of dealers and the overall problems MBUSA is dealing with. The first kind of problems are called cases. The problems of MBUSA are called issues. An issue is a generic problem caused by a series of cases. For example an issue with the brake pad on the E- 430 can cause multiple cases (calls or questions from technicians), but it is still the same issue. An issue is the actual problem that is attacked by the Engineering Department. Based on the solution for an issue, the technicians get a solution for their case.
2.1.2.1 Purposes of TAC
The TAC is developed for a specific part of the daily practice in the workshop environment. It is not intended to deal with simple service jobs and normal repairs. This information is available in manuals, WIS and with the help of Star Diagnosis. In an ideal situation the TAC will be used for:
• Disseminating solutions to specific, difficult problems Delfi
Dealer Tech
S ingl e P o in t S ource
Other systems/
resources
TAC Call- Center
NetStar
Engineering Test Center Service
Engineer s Manager
TAC Ops.
MB Germany
Plants
Service Engineering
Technical Specialists
Technical Specialist
s
Technical Services
Regional Personnel
Workbench application
More detail: TAC Call center and Workbench:
• Capturing information about new problems and solutions
TAC is developed for the above two main purposes. This is an important conclusion for the remainder of this research. TAC is primarily intended for the advanced problem solving in the workshop environment.
Furthermore, the TAC will be focusing on specific problems of the dealer technician.
An example of a typical TAC problem could be: “When driving in the ML55 at 45 mph, the left brake makes a ticking noise”.
2.1.2.2 Human involvement
Although a large part of the information provision will be automated under TAC (see paragraph 2.1.4), there will still be a continuous involvement of human actors in TAC. The Technical Specialists, the Engineers and the technicians interact via the TAC. Their involvement and their need for specific, meaningful information in context are very essential. If TAC was only an automated system with a call center without Technical Specialist it would not work. The expertise of MBUSA employees and dealer technicians is an integral part of the TAC.
2.1.3 TAC within MBUSA
The main idea of the TAC-project was to develop a Call Center system. However, providing technical support has many links with the people in the field and the departments within MBUSA. This is the reason why TAC is developed as an integrated part of the MBUSA organization. As can be seen in Figure 2-A, the TAC is the front-end of the future service support. This front-end consists of the TAC Call Center. Other plans of MBUSA include the use of the extranet of MBUSA (Netstar) to also function as a front-end of the TAC. The Call Center will be staffed by the Technical Specialists and the hub will be managed by a Hub Team Leader. When the Technical Specialists are not in the Call Center they will be in the field. They will be deployed by their colleagues in the Call Center or by the Service Engineers. (e.g. for help by root cause analysis).
The back-end of the Service Support is called Technical Services. This department, consisting of the Service Engineers and the Testcenter Engineers, will replace the current Service Engineering Department.
To stress the strategic importance of TAC, the plants in Germany are incorporated in the figure as well.
Eventually TAC will help quantifying and communicating quality issues with Germany.
2.1.4 TAC on Netstar
An important part of the development of the TAC is the development of a TAC-function on the extranet of MBUSA: Netstar. A definition of Netstar is given in the “Netstar Introduction Kit: (MBUSA, 1999):
“Netstar is Mercedes-Benz USA’s proprietary Dealer Communication System which provides all dealers with a single, integrated, browser-based information delivery tool for all aspects of the dealership business.”
Netstar is already fully functional and is used by all dealers. However, right now most dealers use Netstar mostly in the Sales and Administration offices and only marginally in the workshop environment. In the workshop environment, the dealer employees use Netstar for example for the ordering of parts, inquiring of vehicle and warranty information and sometimes for searching some technical information. In most dealers the majority of the Netstar population is located in the offices; in practice this means that Netstar does not play very important role in the daily work of the technicians in the workshop.
In the near future, technicians will not only be able to contact the TAC Call Center, but they will be able to search for the solutions to their problems on Netstar as well. There are no detailed design plans for this TAC-function on Netstar. But one thing is for sure: Netstar will be an important aspect in the design of TAC. In the remainder of this research, the TAC-function on Netstar will be denoted with Netstar-TAC.
Bottom line is that the Netstar-concept is not new for the dealers. As said, MBUSA has plans to introduce a TAC-function on Netstar. This will only be possible if Netstar is used more frequently in the workshop.
The plan is to publish selected information about problems and solutions on Netstar. Technicians can then view these problems and solutions; this can help them to solve their problems. Goal of this is of course to take away calls from the TAC Call Center. Call Center calls are extremely expensive. With a TAC-function on Netstar technicians will be able to try to help themselves, before they call the Call Center. Consequence of this setup is that information that is published on Netstar should not be obtained by calling the call
center. For this to be successful the Netstar-focus of the dealer has to be widened; Netstar should have a more prominent role in the workshop environment.
2.1.5 Workbench and Delfi Database
As can be seen in figure 2–A the information flow to and from the Call Center is arranged by a Workbench.
The Workbench functions as an integrator of all the needed systems, databases and applications. In daily practice this means that instead of having to open all kinds of systems and applications the Technical Specialists only have to open one application; the workbench.
Strongly related to the publishing of solutions on Netstar is the creation of a Delfi Database for TAC. Delfi is actually the name for a world wide Daimler-Chrysler database system. In the future all Mercedes-Benz markets in the world will develop a Delfi Database. This means that all these databases are structured in the same way. For Daimler-Chrysler in Germany this means that they will be able to gather all the information about problems and solutions available world wide in one format and in one database. This will allow them to quantify quality issues better and also to solve these issues more quickly. The worldwide reporting of problems will give a better and more timely indication of quality issues. Another reason for a worldwide database is that problems with cars will have to be communicated with national governments because of new legislation.
2.1.6 The TAC organization
2.1.6.1 Technical Specialist
The Technical Specialists work in the call center during several weeks eacht year. When working in the field their colleagues at the call center will direct them. They will be deployed based on corporate needs. In practice this will mean they will focus on new problems to find the root cause of the problems. Their solution will be stored in the database as a preliminary solution. After verification of the solution by the home office, the solution will be stored in the database. The Staff Engineers will define the solution if the Technical Specialists are unable to find the solution. A major advantage of this approach is that the whole MBUSA-organization is focusing on new problems instead of the individual problems of dealers, which have already been solved before.
2.1.6.2 Departments
There will be two main departments within the home office. The Staff Engineers form the Engineering Department. The Staff Engineers will verify the solutions of the Technical Specialist and make them suitable for publication. They also analyze problems that cannot be solved by the Technical Specialists.
They are focused on the root cause of a problem. The Staff Engineers are supported by a Test Center. The Test Center executes tests requested by the Technical Specialists or other MBUSA-departments.
2.1.6.3 Other functions
Within the TAC Organization there will be several functions and groups. The most important coordination function is the Technical Services Controller. This person functions as a watchdog and has the responsibility to track and prioritize the issues. His task is to check if all relevant issues for TAC are addressed by the TAC organization. The Technical Services Controller is also the initiator of the Daily Prioritization Meeting. (DPM) This meeting is attended by: the Manager TAC Operations, the manager Service Engineering, the Test Center supervisor, the Data Analyst and the Technical Services Controller.
This meeting prioritizes new issues. This new issues are brought up by the Data Analyst (Reporting Operations) who analyses the Delfi Database and warranty reports. The issues are then discussed in the meeting and the meeting decides which issues are most important. The issues are then addressed by the rest of TAC-organization based on the prioritization made by the DPM. The DPM also discusses the progress of the current issues and the effectiveness of solutions. Once a week the manager of the TAC will join the DPM to keep in touch with the developments and to discuss the urgent issues.
2.1.7 Summary
The organization and roles are more extensive. For more information please refer to appendix 1. The TAC consists of a system centered around a database and the TAC organization. TAC will “communicate” with the dealer-technicians via a Call Center, Netstar and Technical Specialists. The goal of TAC is to answer specific questions of the dealers and to develop solutions for nationwide problems and issues.
Chapter 3 Problem definition
3.1 Introduction
In this chapter the problem of the research will be defined. The problem definition of this research was reached via an intermediate or preliminary research. This preliminary research led to the definitive problem definition. This chapter will also be used to explain the framework and the approach of the research.
3.2 Preliminary research
The context of the research is defined in the chapters 1 and 2. At first there was no well-defined problem for the research. It was difficult for the departments and persons involved to come up with a problem definition. Goal for this research was to find a topic that would be useful for the development of TAC.
Therefore interviews were conducted and meetings of the TAC development team were attended. The interviews and the meetings resulted in a preliminary problem description; a starting point.
The interviews and the meetings made clear that the TAC Development team was focusing on the following aspects:
- Technical aspects
The team dealt with issues about Call Center technology, databases, application servers, clients and the hardware needed for the Call Centers. Another large issue was the development of the Workbench. A workbench is an application that integrates the different systems that are being used within the company. See paragraph 2.1.4. The team was helped in its technical efforts by IT-consultants and people from the MBUSA IT-department. A large portion of the work of the TAC-team was IT-related.
- Processes within MBUSA
The definition of the processes within the Call Center and the processes within the home office. The team defined processes for the Call Center, the coordination within TAC and the processes within the TAC-organization.
- Organizational structures MBUSA
The team developed organization charts for the home office and the organization of the Field Engineer
- Job functions
For every function in the future TAC-organization job descriptions were developed to show the changes between the new and the old situation.
- Training
The team assessed the needs for training within MBUSA and for the dealer employees.
It was quite striking that the team was not yet paying attention to the implementation of the TAC in the dealer organization. There were also no plans to involve the dealers in the development of the TAC.
Considering the fact that the TAC would involve large changes at the dealers, this gap was identified as a good starting point of the research. Based on this fact and the conclusions mentioned above, the preliminary topic of the research was defined:
“The implementation and integration of TAC in the workshop environment of the dealers.”
For the preliminary research the focus was on the implementation and integration of TAC in the dealer organization. And to be more specific: the implementation and integration of TAC in the workshop environment of the dealers.
The addition “workshop environment” was made because:
- TAC will be used mainly in the workshop environment of the dealers
- The supervisor at MBUSA was especially interested in the consequences of TAC in the workshop environment of the dealers.
Implementation and integration
The goal of the research was to contribute to the successful implementation and integration. It is useful to explain the difference between implementation and integration. The difference between implementation and integration is discussed in greater detail in appendix 2.
Implementation (definition)
Implementation is the introduction of a new system into an organization and the guidance of this introduction. The success of the implementation can be measured in the short term: during the actual introduction of the system and the time directly after the introduction.
Integration (definition)
Integration is the making of the necessary adaptations to the system and the organization in order to establish optimal use of the system for the long term. The success of the integration can be measured in the long term. (The time after the introduction of the system.)
3.2.2 Reasons for the preliminary research
The topic of the research was chosen because of several reasons. Here some reasons why the integration and implementation topic could be useful will be summarized:
- The dealers are the customers of TAC. They are therefore important. They have to be involved in the development and implementation of TAC.
- TAC is an expensive resource and has to be used in the right way. Dealers have to know when and how to contact TAC in order to establish a successful use of TAC.
- For a successful standardization of the service support and nationwide capturing of solutions (goals of the TAC) you need a certain consistency within the dealer organization. A generic approach to the implementation and integration is necessary.
- TAC will be designed as an essential part of the service support to the dealers. However, there are other resources and technologies needed around the TAC-system. For example Netstar, WIS, Manuals and Star Diagnosis. A generic approach to the implementation and integration can take this important issue into account.
The above aspects stress the need for a good implementation and integration of the TAC. Concerning the TAC and the development of TAC the following conclusions could be drawn:
- TAC is being developed top-down. The dealers are not really involved in the development.
No attention is paid to the processes, technology and human factors on the dealer level.
- The Mercedes dealers are independently owned dealers. They have certain power and influence. The dealers could resist a one-way and top-down approach to the implementation of TAC. It would be better to involve the dealers in an early stage and incorporate their opinion and properties in an implementation- and integration plan.
Based on the above reasons, the TAC-team acknowledged that the implementation and integration in the dealer organization was an important issue. The implementation and integration was not yet addressed by the TAC-team. The implementation and integration was addressed broadly in the preliminary research.
3.3 Overall framework of the research
As stated above, the first phase of the research was centered around the implementation and integration of TAC in the workshop environment. This first phase can be seen as a preliminary research. In this preliminary research interviews were conducted with dealers, other departments and experts. Also some literature was explored. This preliminary research resulted in a first analysis and an intermediate report.
The main conclusions of this report are outlined below. Based on the intermediate report a definitive direction was chosen. The decision for the definitive direction was influenced by the conclusions of the intermediate report as well as on the preferences of the supervisors of MBUSA and the University. The generic framework for the research is shown in Figure 3-A. It is a commonly used approach in types of research in which the problem cannot be defined clearly in the beginning of the project. (De Leeuw, 1997).
Figure 3-A Overall framework for research
3.4 Research questions preliminary research
The preliminary research was based on the following research questions:
1. What adjustments and measures are necessary in the MBUSA-organization and/or the dealer organization to accomplish:
- A successful introduction of TAC in the dealer organization
- An optimal use of the expertise and capacity of TAC by the dealers, after the implementation of TAC
2. Based on the proposed measures and adjustments; which steps are necessary to accomplish a successful implementation and integration of TAC in the dealer organization.
These research questions functioned as a tool to make a first diagnosis of the needs for a successful implementation and integration of the TAC in the dealer organization. In the research questions one can see that the integration issue initially was translated to the optimal use of expertise and capacity of TAC. The preliminary research also led to a more specific interpretation of the integration of TAC.
3.5 Conclusions preliminary research
The preliminary research led to several conclusions about the scope of the project and a further refinement of the problem definition. The analysis to get to these conclusions will not be discussed in this report. The conclusions were recognized and approved by the parties involved.
Preliminary Problem definition
Preliminary research
Preliminary report
Research
Final report Final report Concept
Implementation and integration of TAC in dealer organization
Focus: Workshop environment of the dealers
Important factors for implementation and integration (broad scope) Bring focus in problem definition.
(Netstar-TAC and Netstar in workshop environment)
Focusing
3.5.1 Scope of the project
The first diagnosis of the implementation and integration issue led to many interesting factors concerning the implementation and integration of TAC. However, these factors cannot be handled in detail in this research. The scope of the project had to be reduced.
3.5.2 Implementation key factors
The implementation issue is something that has to be managed by the TAC-team. A good implementation involves intensive communication with the dealers, the Technical Specialist and the Market Teams. Other important issues concerning the implementation of TAC are training, the pilot and the cultural change that is needed within the dealer organization. The topics above will be handled shortly in this report. But the actual implementation has to be done by the TAC-team. For this you need an extensive knowledge of the company, and the relations with the dealers and the Market Teams. A large deal of the implementation relates to politics, culture and the distribution of power within the company and the dealer organization. I am not in a position to make specific recommendations for this. This report will focus mainly on issues that are related to the integration of TAC in the workshop environment of the dealers.
3.5.3 Integration
Integration of TAC can be reached when TAC and the properties of the workshop are adapted to each other. TAC must have a logical place in the daily practice of the workshop environment. Therefore a focus is needed on different aspects of the workshop environment: processes, technology, human factors and resources.
Integration basically requires that TAC is totally adapted to the workshop environment and its properties.
But also, that the design of TAC is fitted to the properties of the service support between MBUSA and the dealers. The assumption for this research is that these two broad requirements will ensure the successful integration of TAC in the workshop environment. There are probably more aspects that are needed for full integration. Some will be discussed in this research, but the two requirements presented above will function as the baseline.
3.5.4 Integration key factors
In the preliminary research some factors were identified that would help to meet the above requirements. In TAC perspective, the workshop environment and service support processes are mainly centered around the use of information and knowledge resources. The integration of TAC is therefore mainly related to the good use of all MBUSA resources and the management of knowledge within the dealers. Also important is the ability to get the right information/knowledge to and from the workshop environment of the dealers.
The long-term success of TAC (Integration) cannot be reached by MBUSA alone. A close relationship with the dealers concerning service support and the needed knowledge/ information concerning this service support is necessary. TAC will only be a success if dealers and MBUSA cooperate in the search for solutions and the dissemination of knowledge. This is a major part of the integration issue. So, the integrating factors are meant to establish a good use of MBUSA knowledge in the workshop environment and a good interaction between MBUSA and the dealers to create new knowledge. This will ensure successful integration; the long-term success of the system. This long-term success is reached when the system is used in the right way and when the quality of the system is improved during the use of the system. Also important is the involvement of dealers in the search for new problems and the development of new solutions and knowledge. Technology, procedures, control structures and knowledge management were identified as important factors for the integration of TAC in the dealer organization. Below some conclusions concerning these factors will be summarized.
3.5.4.1 Technology
Based on several conversations with the stakeholders within MBUSA and the University of Groningen the technology aspect was considered to be the most relevant. And to be more precise: Netstar was identified as a very important factor. The success of the integration of TAC is largely related to the penetration of Netstar in the workshop environment. Netstar is a very suitable, and cost-efficient way to get information to the technicians in the workshop and to capture knowledge from the workshop environment. (See also paragraph 4.4). This is strongly related to the identified requirements for integration. In the near future, MBUSA will develop an online version of TAC on Netstar. The functioning of this communication channel is very important for the integration of the TAC as a whole. There are also plans to digitalize the current MBUSA resources and information. Furthermore MBUSA is developing a information portal for the
technicians in the workshops. (Startek Info) A TAC application on Netstar could very well be combined with this portal.
Other interesting aspect of Netstar is based on Information Technology. Information Technology offers many possibilities, it is therefore likely that Netstar can be used to facilitate the other integrating factors:
Knowledge Management, Control Structures and Procedures.
3.5.4.2 Control structures, Procedures and Knowledge Management
Installing control structures in the workshop environment will enhance the use of TAC resources and the TAC-system. These control structures must not limit the technicians in their work, but the technicians must be positively stimulated to use the MBUSA and TAC resources properly. Incentives and incentive programs are also related to this topic.
Procedures are important to establish a more consistent approach within the dealership and a better use of the TAC/MBUSA resources. Technicians must know exactly which steps they have to take and how they should use TAC and the other resources. There must be a logical process. In this sense the procedures are strongly related to good process design.
TAC will function as a collection and dissemination point of the collective knowledge of MBUSA and the dealer employees. The success of TAC is therefore dependable on the good management of knowledge within the dealers and between MBUSA and the dealers. Also the good use of TAC knowledge and information is related to good management of knowledge.
3.5.5 Summary of preliminary research
The context of the definitive problem definition is now defined. The conclusions of the preliminary research will be summarized with the following statements:
Original problem: How can TAC successfully be implemented and integrated in the workshop environment of the dealers?
Key solutions: Good use of knowledge and MBUSA-resources in the workshop environment.
Good use of knowledge gained from TAC
MBUSA must get the right knowledge and information to and from the workshop environment of the dealers as good and as easy as possible
Key facilitator: Netstar
Secondary facilitators: Knowledge management, procedures (process design) and control structures Parallel developments: Technical Information responsible for TAC-Netstar integration and penetration
in workshop
Netstar is envisioned as primary communication tool with dealers for MBUSA and TAC.
3.5.6 Challenges concerning Netstar and TAC
Probably the largest challenge concerning Netstar and the penetration of Netstar in the workshop environment is that there is no baseline within the dealer organization concerning Netstar in the workshop.
Some dealers have some Netstar terminals in the workshop but most dealers only have one or no terminal in the workshop. There is a need for a definition of the necessary Netstar infrastructure in the workshop of the dealers. How many terminals do dealers need? How many terminals are needed per workshop? What will the baseline be within the dealer organization? What kind of minimum Netstar infrastructure is needed to effectively service Mercedes’ cars?
Another challenge is to define how the interaction between TAC/ Service support and Netstar can help to integrate TAC in the workshop environment. What is or must be the role of Netstar in the future TAC service support? How can Netstar be used to enhance the service support under TAC. And how can Netstar be used to facilitate the use and transfer of knowledge in the service support process?
The third challenge is less tangible. The progressive plans of MBUSA with Netstar and the advent of TAC will dramatically change the style of communication with the dealers. The current service support is centered around the personal contact with Technical Specialists. In the future a large deal of the communication will not be personal but digital via Netstar. For this to be successful, a change is needed at
the dealer level. Dealers will have to be convinced to change to a Netstar-based approach to service support. Both MBUSA and the dealers most meet certain conditions in order to make a Netstar-based approach successful.
3.6 Problem definition
Based on the preliminary research the definitive problem definition will be defined. The goal of the research is the summarized in the research objective. The research objective is translated into three research questions that have to be answered in order to meet the objective. The research questions are divided in smaller questions; the sub-questions. The research questions and sub-questions are based on the preliminary research, the identified challenges, conversations with the stakeholders and a reflection on the problem and context of the problem.
Research Objective
Assisting the TAC team and the Technical Information department by the integration of TAC in the workshop environment of the dealers. By making recommendations for the transition from the current service support to a Netstar-based approach to service support in the workshop environment of the dealers.
Research questions
1) How can Netstar be used to integrate TAC in the workshop environment of the dealers and how can Netstar-TAC be used to enhance the service support processes between MBUSA and the dealers?
2) What are the requirements concerning the workshop environment of the dealers and Netstar-TAC to enable a Netstar-based TAC and service support?
3) What are the conditions for the dealer level and for MBUSA in order to make the transition from the current service support approach to a Netstar-based approach?
Sub questions
Interaction TAC and Netstar
- What are the properties of the workshop environment and what are the implications for Netstar-TAC?
- How can Netstar be used to improve the service support in the workshop environment?
- How can Netstar be used to improve the service support between MBUSA and the workshop environment?
- What functions can TAC have in Netstar concerning knowledge management, procedures and control structures?
Requirements dealer workshop environment
- What are the current functions of Netstar in the workshop environment of the dealers?
- What are the future developments concerning Netstar and the use of Netstar in the workshop environment with the advent of the TAC?
- What are the consequences for the Netstar-infrastructure in the workshop environment?
- What additional measures are needed to support a Netstar-based service support in the workshop environment?
Conditions
- What are the conditions for the design of Netstar-based TAC?
- What are the differences between the current and the future communication concerning the service support?
- What are the benefits for the dealers? What are the costs?
- What triggers the decision on the dealer level to make investments?
- What are the incentives and business arguments to make a Netstar-based approach valuable to the dealers?
- What are the possibilities for MBUSA to carry through changes at the dealer level?
- What are the conditions at the dealer level to make a Netstar-based approach feasible?
- What are the conditions at MBUSA to establish a successful integration of Netstar-TAC in the workshop environment?
