Study: Medical Manufacturers Focus on Improved Postsales ServiceStudy: Medical Manufacturers Focus on Improved Postsales Service

Originally Published MX May/June 2006

BUSINESS NEWS

Medical equipment manufacturers are outpacing other industry sectors in targeting improved customer satisfaction and overall profitability through their postsales service operations, according to new research from consulting firm Aberdeen Group (Boston). Additionally, the study finds that medical manufacturers are leading other sectors in their adoption of technology, including deploying service parts planning and execution systems, performance reporting and analytics solutions, and mobile field service solutions.

The report, Industry Traction of Strategic Service Management, is based on surveys and interviews with executives at more than 600 enterprises in the high-tech, discrete and process manufacturing, telecommunications, utilities, and other industries. According to the report, 93% of medical equipment manufacturers surveyed are targeting improved customer satisfaction and retention through strategic service management. Also, 86% are looking to service management as a source of increased profits.

"A well-coordinated service program assures customer satisfaction, which will drive customer equity and long-term retention," says Troy Taylor, vice president for worldwide customer technical services at Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics (Raritan, NJ), a Johnson & Johnson company. "Without the benefit of a well-coordinated program, such companies will struggle to do well. In companies where the capital sale is joined with some form of consumable, the financial outcome of highly effective service is less visible but equally important. In such cases, excellent service offerings and delivery may not drive operating profit as directly, but they certainly support the sale of the all-important consumable for customer lifetime value."