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International Journal of Electronic Business Management, Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 129-138 (2003)

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A COLLABORATIVE SERVICE MANAGEMET INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR NOTEBOOK COMPUTER MAINTENANCE Shui-Shun Lin1*, Chyuan Perng2, Jen-Teng Tsai2, Yung-Hsiang Chen3, Ying-Shen Juang4 and Ya-Ting Hsu2 1 Department of Business Administration National Chinyi Institute of Technology Taichung (411), Taiwan 2 Department of Industrial Engineering and Enterprise Information Tunghai University Taichung (407), Taiwan 3 Sales Division, Taichung Branch, Synnex Technology International Corp. 4 Department of Business Administration Chung-Hua University Hsinchu (300), Taiwan

ABSTRACT In recent years, due to the increasing needs for information related products in daily life, the information and communication industry is in full flourish. In Taiwan, competition on hardware products has shifted from price and quality to after-sale and maintenance services. If the manufacturer could collaborate with commercial links of the purchaser, supplier, logistic partners and financial service providers, the integral work efficiency would be improved dramatically. The introduction of collaboration commerce through the Internet platform into after-sale maintenance would lead to faster response for customers, to share the component resources in the dealer’s maintenance center and to obtain a better marketing analysis of maintenance cases for the manufacturer. Through interview of notebook PC maintenance agents, functional demands and required process of collaborative maintenance are sorted out in this research. IDEF0 is used to describe the framework of the system. A prototype system is then constructed to demonstrate the feasibility of the research methodology. The system is finally validated by maintenance agents in practice. Keywords: Collaborative Commerce, Maintenance Service, Information System, Notebook Computer Industry

1. INTRODUCTION The total domestic sales volume of notebook computers in 2001 was 366000 sets, 5% more than that of 2000, which was 348000 sets. According to the investigation of IDC (International Data Corporation), the total domestic sales volume of notebook PCs in 2002 reaches 400,000 sets, which is 108% of that in 2001. Although the Internet wave seems to be decreasing, the sum of trading amount through Internet is believed to increase due to a global prosperous trend. Many enterprises are involved in the electronic marketplace that has developed into a complex operating pattern. Liu [19] stated that, according to the investigation of Gartner * Corresponding author: [email protected]

Group, enterprises with collaborative ability would win more than 80% of the total commercial opportunities in the competition with those who have not in 2005. Collaborative commerce is of great importance to the survival of enterprises in the future. The introduction of collaboration concept into after-sale maintenance service through Internet would not only bring faster response to dealers and users but also enable the stocked component resources in the maintenance center shared with other partners. It helps service agents perform statistical analysis of the maintenance information as well. Customers are the life of enterprises. The operating concept of pursuing customer satisfaction has become an absolute advantage in competition in the 90s (Wayland and Col [23]). It is 7 times difficult to develop a new customer than to keep a royal one because a unsatisfied customer would tell 8 to 10

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International Journal of Electronic Business Management, Vol. 1, No. 3 (2003)

persons about his or her experience. The profit would increase by 85% if 5% of the royal customers would be kept. A product would be sold to a new customer at a probability of 15% but 50% to an old one. 70% of the customers would do other deals with the enterprises after getting fast after-sale services [10]. Aforementioned indicates the importance of maintaining royal customers. In the customer-oriented competitive environment, competitive factors tend to be Quick Response (QR) to the customers, shifting from traditional ones, such as quality or price. Therefore, a management information system helpful to the communication between customers and manufacturer in settling maintenance case is very important to the information industry. The system could be supportive in handling maintenance cases, enables the maintenance agents to provide more efficient service. It also allows the customer to inquire about the maintenance progress. The Internet provides a way of saving the inquiry time both for dealers and customers. The web-based collaboration system helps component resources and information be shared, which will result in carrying out the aim of quick response to customer’s need. This research is mainly aimed at collaborative maintenance management of notebook PCs. We analyze the framework of the general process currently employed in the maintenance industry, and propose a collaborative maintenance process for better service and more efficiency. To achieve abovementioned objectives, functional demands and required processes of collaborative maintenance are firstly sorted out in this research. IDEF0, a structured system analysis tool, is used to describe the framework of the system. A prototype system is then constructed using database and Active Server Pages (ASP) to demonstrate the feasibility of the research methodology. The system is finally validated by maintenance agents in practice. The specific research procedure is as follows: Performing a demand analysis to deploy the required system functions for notebook PC maintenance agents according to the characteristics of notebook PC industry. Confirming the generalized demands with actual needs by interviewing personnel from notebook PC agents and maintenance centers. Using IDEF0 as an analysis tool to establish the framework and function of the system, as well as the relationship between each function. Building a prototype system according to the demand analysis documents and the result of system analysis. Verifying the system based on comments and suggestions from personnel in the maintenance centers, and modifies the system according to the verification result to ensue the system integrity.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 After-Sale Service Kasper and Jos [11] pointed out “the length of response time” is the most important key for after-sale service. Along with arising of consumer’s consciousness, the degree of satisfaction of customers no longer limits to the product price and its function, the after-sale service quality has acted the essential role nowadays. The enterprise generally only can get complaint from 4% of unsatisfied customers, other 96% of people then silently head off; 91% people will not be able to patronize again in the future. The investigation of “why the customer doesn't visit” also showed that, 68% is about unpleasant service, 14% receives poor products, 9% for excessive price, other reasons then only 8% [16]. The term “customer service” is defined differently by varied industries and enterprises. Davidow and Uttal [7] pointed out that customer-oriented enterprises operate on a common consensus that customer service refers to complaint management and remedial measures. Financial service enterprises, such as banks, believe that customer service means zero mistakes, while industrial products distributors deem customer service as filling out orders and product delivery. Lambert and Stock [15], in research of food processing companies, found out that some consider customer service is order management, order tracking, guarantee of on-time delivery, invoicing, and dealer relation; while others recognize customer service as management of confirmation, handling, and delivery of customers’ requests to prevent mistakes. Some people even believe that fast delivering in ten days after receiving an order is what customer service really mean. Lalonde and Zinszer [14] suggested that customer service is a value-added communication process between product service providers and customer or dealers. Such communication process may by a single trade, or a long-term business relationship. The values generated during the process are shared by all participants. As a process, customer service provides customers sufficient added values in an effective way. Gilmour [8] categorized customer service related items into nine types: attainability, after-sale service and support, effective order handling, convenient ordering, experience sales representatives, delivery period, reliability, equipment display, attainability of technical documents. As seen, those traditional market strategies are intended to attract customers and generate profits for the company. The criteria for service standard focus on availability of stock and attractiveness of benefits. On another hand, in terms of gaining customer loyalty, the traditional market strategies only focus on massive promotions and advertisements while

S. S. Lin et al.: A Collaborative Service Management Information System overlook the influence of service on customers. Customer satisfaction toward the service determines whether customer loyalty shall be established. Therefore, a definition for customer service is a limited definition if it does not include customer expectation toward the service. On a whole, after-sale service refers to follow-up service after the product is delivered. It can be divided in call center service and on-site service. Call center service includes handling customer complaints or request for indemnity, troubleshooting, parts replacement service. On-site service includes product troubleshooting, maintenance, and spare parts supply. 2.2 Customer Relationship Management Given the competitive market nowadays, enterprise shall establish long-term customer relationship for the maximum profits by the following strategies: 1) understanding the existing clients; 2) developing new product (or market) to attract the most profitable prospective clients; 3) delivering the most customized products and services to customers to ensure customer loyalty; 4) facilitating business opportunities through cross-selling; 5) identifying and eliminating unprofitable clients; 6) seeking the ideal customers through establishment of customer relationship management system to keep desired customers, maximize customer value, and conduct effect risk management (Chen [4]). One way to uphold profits today is keeping the existing customers, and the exclusive way retaining the customers is to satisfy their needs. According to 20-80 rule, 80% of sales comes from 20% of customers. Hence, maintaining the loyalty of 20% customers regards as the main task to the marketing professionals today. However, not very many enterprises have conducted comprehensive analysis on the cost of attracting a prospective customer. Peppers and Rogers [20] suggested that the cost to attract a prospective customer is 6-9 times higher than maintain an existing customer. If an enterprise does not have thorough understanding of customer cost, it is unlikely to exert extra efforts on keeping the existing customers. Kalakota and Robinson [10] suggested that customer relationship management can be considered as an organizational and coherent action developed upon an integrated sale, marketing, and service strategy. In other words, enterprises need to seek true customer needs under the process and technology integration, then to request internal improvement on products and services as to maintain customer satisfaction and loyalty. According to theory proposed by Kalakota and Robinson, the structure of customer relationship management is based on customer life cycle (attain, improve, maintain), along with functional solutions of each stage, to produce integrated customer relation

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management application. Customer relation management is a corporate strategy that offers an enterprise the capability to understand customer needs, demand and expectation (Book [2]). Moreover, customer relationship management can serve as a web-based communication model between enterprises and customers or suppliers. The interactive transaction technology expands the traditional customer communication channels, such as direct sale, phone sale, to Internet. At the same time, it allows customers to enjoy online purchase in a customized way. The rapid information flow on the Internet has significantly reduced the time spent on communication between enterprises, suppliers, and customers, enhanced the trade efficiency, and lowered operational cost. Use of customer relationship management system with collaborative maintenance ability brings the manufacturers and other business partners closer, while still benefits customers. When customers obtain positive image of the products, customers would establish positive impression of the manufacturers and retailers, and carry on to a positive cycle. 2.3 Collaborative Maintenance Management The collaboration is refers to the harmonious relations between system’s different part. The definition of collaboration based on The American Heritage Dictionary is: 1) to work together, especially in a joint intellectual effort; 2) to cooperate reasonably, as with an enemy occupation force. Thus it may be realized, collaborative commerce’s definition is extremely widespread, there are in the enterprise between the department and the department, or the enterprise with during exterior enterprise, including the supplier, the partner, matches sells business, service provision industry, the customer and so on the commercial association, no matter any form of collaboration (product design, supply chain plan, forecasting, logistics, marketing and so on), all may regard as the parts of collaborative commerce. The approaching of globalization matures the B-to-B interaction on the Internet, such as online ordering, online purchase, real-time information gathering and transmission, remote collaboration in product design and manufacturing. Business collaboration can quickly integrate Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Knowledge Management (KM) processes. The future electronic trading environment is based up business networks or community-like business model. On another hand, information technology is a preparation for digitalization of the supply chain. The significance of digitalization lies at synergy resulted from sophistication of external trade environment rather


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than an immediate benefit from computerization. Contrarily, implementing digitalization when the environment matures may already be late (Tsai, Lu, Perng, Lin and Chu [21]). Therefore, the motive to apply collaboration on maintenance management is to joint the forces of all participants in the entire supply process and improve the promptness of the service process.

3. DEMAND ANALYSIS To analyze the functional demand of a collaborative service management system, and to fully enhance the system usability, we interviewed many managers from notebook PC manufacturers and sales agents, shown in Table 1. All of them are managers working in the after-sale service departments. 3.1 The Notebook Computer Industry The notebook computer industry is one of the most potential industries in Taiwan. Enterprises in the notebook computer industry must have solid operation ability to possibly receive international buyers’ order in the highly competitive global environment. The ability of global operation and management is of importance for notebook computer manufacturers. 3.2 The Essence of Interview The notebook computer industry is a key industry in Taiwan. We selected four major companies for analysis, namely, Synnex Technology International, Acer, Asus, and IBM. The main analysis contents are as follows: 1) the basic information of interviewed company, 2) the usage situation of computes and network, 3) the present process and condition of maintenance service management, and 4) the system demand of a collaborative information system for notebook computer maintenance management.

No. of Staff Sales Amount

3.3 The Operational Process of Collaborative Maintenance Management The industry is not using any collaborative maintenance information systems (CMISs) to help their repair tasks and handle the service information, not to mention the further analysis of the maintenance information. As we draw the conclusion of the interview, we realized the urgent need of the industry for an integrated CMIS. The main goal of developing a collaborative maintenance management system is to enable the sharing of enterprise resources, such as repair components in stock. With the aid of a CMIS, the maintenance service will finish in more efficient manner. This also helps customers release their inconvenient situation, consequently promote the customer royalty and increase the degree of customer’s satisfaction. In order to achieve this goal, an enterprise should provide a standard of operational procedure of maintenance service for related personnel. However, due to the fact that different manufacturers usually come with very different processes, to propose a standard procedure for collaborative maintenance is most likely needed. The rest of this paper will discuss the operational process, system analysis and system design for a CMIS. The operational process of maintenance is a succession of movement started from a consumer sends his notebook computer to repair center or dealers, and ended until the consumer takes back his repaired notebook computer. The current operational process of maintenance service in practice is shown in Figure 1. Its pitfall includes: 1. There are too few qualified maintenance centers, and most of them are distributed in metropolitan. Maintenance requests are hardly delivering far away from rural areas to maintenance centers. Therefore, the majority of consumers usually deliver their notebook computers to the retailers.

Table 1: Basis information of interviewed company and personnel Acer Asus Synnex 4200 5200 1206 630 779 471

IBM 1500 200

(2001; NT$ Billions)

Major Products

Affiliation Position

Desktop PC; Notebook PC; Server; Desktop PC; Notebook Desktop PC; Main board; Notebook PC; Server; PC; Server; Notebook PC; CD-Rom; Video Pocket PC; Peripherals; Server; Pocket PC; Card. Peripherals; Monitor. PC Components; Peripherals; Monitor. Monitor. Maintenance Center Maintenance Center Maintenance Maintenance Center of Manufacturer Department Manager Manager Manager Manager

S. S. Lin et al.: A Collaborative Service Management Information System Consumer

Yes

Maintenance Center or Retailer? Yes

Retailer

Maintenance Center

Maintenance Center or Sales Agent?

Repaired?

Maintenance Dept. of Sales Agent

No

Original Manufacturer

No

Repaired?

Figure 1: Maintenance process in practice

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then sent back to the retailer or the consumer after the repair job is done. The advantage of the proposed process includes: 1. Using internet-based information system enables customers to query maintenance progress more efficiently and quickly. It could save the time of handling process of customer’s request. 2. The collaborative maintenance system lets component resources be shared among maintenance centers, sales agents and original manufacturers, reduces amount of components in stock, and also decreases the hassle of component-waiting or repair tasks related mistakes. 3. It can shorten the time of delivering components between maintenance centers and sales agents since the component information is available, which enables the maintenance personnel to obtain needed components from a nearest site.

Retailer

Consumer

4. SYSTEM ANALYSIS Maintenance Center

Figure 2: Proposed collaborative maintenance process 2. Consumers deliver notebook computer to retailers. Retailers must spend much time and expenditure to carry the maintenance request to local sales agents. Under conditions such as no suitable spare parts available, it is necessary for sales agents to send the request to maintenance center of the original manufacturer. 3. The maintenance department owned by a sales agent is not able to share the information of the stocked spare parts or component resources with the maintenance centers and manufacturer, or between each other. 4. Maintenance progress inquiry usually performed by customers via telephone, which takes more time comparing to computer network. Furthermore, the inquiry information was not recorded. Based on the abovementioned situation and those problems found, we reorganized and proposed a standard process of collaborative maintenance service, shown in Figure 2, that was recognized feasible on the basis of opinions from industry. A customer sends his or her computer to either retailer or maintenance center, where he or she receives the repaired one after maintenance request is fulfilled. The retailer who receives a maintenance request then directs the computer to maintenance center and records this task in the information system. The maintenance center performs the repair work and keeps the maintenance progress in the information system according to the operational requirement of the collaborative system. The physical computer is

Based on the proposed operational process and the functional demand of a CMIS, we conducted system analysis by using IDEF0. A system analysis result was obtained for efficient, economical and customized establishment of a CMIS. The result was further extended to the system design stage. That is to construct a prototype system to illustrate the feasibility of the system. 4.1 The Information Demand of Collaborative Maintenance Information System The functional framework of the CMIS includes six subsystems, namely account management system (AMS), transaction recording system (TRS), progress inquiry system (PIS), transaction management system (TMS), supplies inquiry system (SIS), and technician inquiry system (TIS). The operation and function for each subsystem is described in details in the following sections. The obtained information is analyzed systematically, the input, output, processing, and control mechanism of each demand is displayed utilizing IDEF0 structural analysis tool, as shown in Figure 3. Detailed IDEF representation of the CMIS is illustrated in Figure 4. A0 Collaborative Maintenance Information System A1 Account Management System A2 Transaction Recording System A3 Progress Inquiry System A4 Transaction Management System A5 Supplies Inquiry System A6 Technician Inquiry System Figure 3: Framework of CMIS in IDEF0 structure 4.2 Account Management System The users of the CMIS are notebook computer owners, personnel in sales agents and maintenance

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center. The accessibility to this system is limited according to user categories. The maintenance centers are granted class A, while sales agents class B. Users need to enter their user ID and password to access the proper systems. Public users are not required to enter user ID or password. However, the system needs a valid order number to activate the inquiry process for public users. Class B users have the privilege to access the AMS, TRS, PIS and TIS.

Class A users are authorized to access all systems, TMS and SIS in addition to class B users. The account management system records user profile, including user account, user password, user email, as well as dealer’s name, address, and contact number. The account management system allows certified users to update their profile, including password, user email, dealer’s address and contact number.

Figure 4: Detailed framework of collaborative maintenance information system

4.3 Transaction Recording System While receiving notebook computer, personnel in sales agents or maintenance centers input the maintenance related data into the CMIS. Such an online maintenance recording mechanism keeps needed data on hand and thus shortens the time spent on maintenance claim and progress inquiry in comparison to the traditional fax-in or call-in method. To help maintenance specialists thoroughly understand the maintenance condition, and allow them to easily contact the users while needed, the maintenance claim shall be intact. Specifically, the record shall include customer name, contact number, email, name and location of maintenance center, device model, serial number, claim date, processing personnel and major claim description. The detailed information of maintenance centers, as well as certified sales agents that perform maintenance tasks, is stored in the database. After the maintenance claim is added into the CMIS, the system automatically generates an order number, which is used as a unique ID for dealers or users to track the maintenance job. 4.4 Progress Inquiry System The purpose of the progress inquiry system is for users who claim maintenance, and dealers who need

to track an on-going maintenance job. Comparing to the currently used phone contact for querying progress, the online inquiry system provides a convenient and effective way. Public users are not required for user ID or password to access the PIS. The system offers a search function by customer name, contact number, or order number. Once a user enters valid data, the system will display the complete maintenance information, including the name of personnel who perform the maintenance, the name of the maintenance center and location, the time that the maintenance request received, the current maintenance status, and the expected completion date or finished time. An authorized dealer with valid user name and password can inquire information from the PIS. Many keys can be used, such as customer name, customer phone number, order number, handling unit, service personnel. The system will retrieve suitable information from database and display the complete maintenance information as seen by a public user. This function will also help a manager in analyzing maintenance related work and making proper human resource arrangement.

S. S. Lin et al.: A Collaborative Service Management Information System 4.5 Transaction Management System The purpose of transaction management system is to expedite the management of repair requests by personnel in maintenance center. The system displays the completed or uncompleted repair cases for maintenance center, so that repair specialists can update the maintenance progress and manage the maintenance requests effectively. 4.6 Supplies Inquiry System The accuracy and validity of information of maintenance components affects the operation and efficiency of a maintenance task. The supplies inquiry system provides a speedy way for maintenance personnel to catch valuable component-in-stock information. It enables prompt maintenance process and thus quickly responds to customers need. Since the information system of each maintenance center or agent operates independently, components information is not available for maintenance centers traditionally. The backbone of the supplies inquiry system is a centralized database which was established by many maintenance centers and manufacturers collaboratively. It keeps the maintenance supplies accurate and ready for interchange on a real-time basis. The system works with the following procedure. Users are asked to enter the inquiry keyword, which can be component ID or component name. If the keyword matches any piece of information in corresponding field of the supplies database, the system then lists component ID, name, stock location, stock amount, availability, and major characteristics, such as suitability for a particular computer or device model. The supplies inquiry system enables maintenance personnel quickly receive parts for completing the maintenance task. 4.7 Technician Inquiry System The technician inquiry system is designed for use by managers of maintenance centers or sales agents to further communicate with maintenance technician. This is needed when customers ask about engineering related problems, which might be directed to the maintenance technician directly, during the maintenance process. This system can be used for managers to analyze the performance of a technician, from the viewpoint of managerial aspect. To use this system, users need to enter a valid name of maintenance personnel. The system will then list the personal profile, including name, email, contact number, fax number and the name of maintenance center which the personnel belongs to.

5. CONSTRUCTING AND VERIFYING PROTOTYPE SYSTEM

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5.1 Analysis on System Environment The connection of consumers, sales agents, and manufacturers affects the operation of the CMIS. This section discusses the system environment in which the CMIS operates seemly. 5.1.1 Maintenance Pattern of Notebook PC Traditionally, sales agents of notebook PCs could only sent maintenance request to the maintenance center or manufacturer. It is not possible to run in a reversed manner. That means the maintenance request has no way to send to a certified sales agent from manufacturers or maintenance centers. This results in a barrier when resources of maintenance components and personnel needed to be shared in-between each other. The proposed maintenance procedure will overcome such a barrier. This can be achieved by merging information from each maintenance site, including personnel, supplies and customer request. With the aid of the CMIS, maintenance service can be done effectively and collaboratively. The proposed collaborative environment is helpful to shorten the time for the sales agents in sending PCs to the maintenance center. Under this maintenance pattern, sales agents could direct the maintenance request to the nearest maintenance centers or manufacturers and vice versa. 5.1.2 System Operation Configuration The CMIS is configured to reside at the maintenance center. It is installed in a web server running database applications. The database of the CMIS is updated while the system receives commands from remote sites, such as sales agents or manufacturers. It also responds to customer who claims maintenance while he or she performs a progress inquiry. In short, it takes the advantages of Internet: connection anywhere at anytime. 5.2 System Development Tool The prototype system was developed by many software packages: Access, FrontPage, and Active Server Pages (ASP). Access helps to design database. ASP allows connecting and modifying system database, while FrontPage used to design user interface and integrate the whole system. The prototype of CMIS is running on a web server with Windows operation system. 5.3 Design of Database The design of database for the prototype system is mainly based on relational database with Access. The setting of primary keys and database normalization are inevitable for implementing a database application system successfully. The primary key is a field that uniquely describes each record. In the TRS, the order number is set to be the primary key in the data table storing maintenance requests. The content of this field is unique and is generated by the system automatically. There are

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totally five tables used in the database of the CMIS, which includes customer table, maintenance center table, progress table, components table and personnel table. Primary keys are linked to a field in other table according to a specific relation. 5.4 System Function The prototype system is constructed by ASP. There are five functional subsystems, namely account management system (AMS), transaction recording system (TRS), maintenance progress inquiry system (PIS), transaction management system (TMS), maintenance supplies inquiry system (SIS), and maintenance technician inquiry system (TIS). Menu-driven structure is implemented in the system. Figure 5 shows the main menu and display setting for maintenance personnel to use the CMIS.

the system provides five ways to inquiry maintenance progress: order number, customer name, phone number, sales agent and maintenance technician. The system lists all records matching inquiry keys in a tabulated form. User can click on a specific field to see detailed maintenance progress information. Figure 6 illustrates the screen image of the progress inquiry system.

Figure 6: Screen image of the progress inquiry system 5.4.4 Transaction Management System The transaction maintenance system is only available for the personnel in the maintenance center. The system provides two ways of inquiry: the order number or the name of sales agent. The system allows users to update transaction records, especially the maintenance progress. Figure 7 displays the screen image of the transaction management system. Figure 5: Screen image of main menu of the CMIS 5.4.1 Account Management System The account management system builds basic information of personnel in maintenance centers and sales agents. It also builds basic information of the maintenance center, sales agents and manufacturers. It provides a general way to aid, delete and update data in the database. 5.4.2 Transaction Recording System The transaction recording system helps the users in sales agents or maintenance centers to record maintenance requests. The system requires the user to input the customer’s name, phone number and E-mail. It will automatically generate an order number for the request. Other info is asked to fill in as well, such as the agent number, device (PC) model, series number, and major claim for maintenance. The system confirms the data entry by a pup-up message indicating record aided successful. 5.4.3 Progress Inquiry System The progress inquiry system is used by public users and personnel in sales agents or maintenance center. When a public user enters this system, the system will check for a valid order number, phone number, or user name. For maintenance personnel,

Figure 7: Screen image of the transaction management system 5.4.5 Supplies Inquiry System The users of the supplies inquiry system are solely the personnel in maintenance centers. This system is used when users intend to query maintenance components to see if they are available in the maintenance centers. There are two ways for the users to inquiry, with either component ID or component name. The system will display the component information including quantity in stock, storage location and suitability for PCs, as shown in Figure 8. This function enables the personnel obtain desired components from an adequate location and

S. S. Lin et al.: A Collaborative Service Management Information System hence accelerate the maintenance process.

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demands and required process of collaborative maintenance are sorted out in this research. System analysis is conducted and the system framework is proposed. A prototype system is then constructed using database and interactive server pages to demonstrate the feasibility of the research methodology. The system is finally validated by maintenance agents in practice. This research concludes that the proposed maintenance process and the introducing of a collaborative maintenance information system would benefit customers, the maintenance centers, and even the notebook PC manufacturers.

REFERENCES Figure 8: Screen image of the supplies inquiry system 1. 5.4.6 Technician Inquiry System The users of this system are the personnel in sales agents or maintenance centers. It can be used when the managers or customer service staffs want to contact the technician. The users are required to input the name of the maintenance personnel. Detailed information of the maintenance personnel will be provided, as well as various means for further contact, as shown in Figure 9.

2.

3.

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5.

6.

7. Figure 9: Screen image of the technician inquiry system

8.

6. CONCLUSION Due to the general trend of business globalization, after-sale service has drawn increasing attention by enterprise people and research community. Responding quickly to the demand of customers has become a key performance index of after-sale service. In this paper, we introduce the concept of collaboration into maintenance tasks for notebook computer maintenance industry. The traditional operation of maintenance management is confronting many problems, such as lack of standardized process and block of component interchange, which decreases maintenance efficiency. Through literature review and interview of notebook PC maintenance agents, functional

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