Enhancing Return Material Authorization Processes and reducing Return reduction cost saving
About Customer
Our customer is leader in manufacturer of data storage device and solutions provider across geography leading current cutting edge technologies and impel future inventions. Distinguished for its wide range of products, including memory cards, USB flash drives, solid-state drives (SSDs) and cloud-based solution across industry. The product and solution is adept to B2B and B2C.
The Objective
To enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of RMA processes by implementing a robust system for order creation, rigorous quality monitoring, low-cost automation, and seamless integration with SAP & Oracle Cloud platforms, ensuring adherence to SLAs and KPIs, there by reducing Return Material percentage to avoid cost and increase fair evaluation of repair or replacement. Also to enable Rapid RMA process to keep customer and stakeholders upto date.
The Challenge
Our customer witnessed low productivity at 62% due to quality issues in RMA orders with a minimum of 15 instances/Month gone wrong with respect to wrong serial number and faced difficulties to determine type of Return due to insufficient information. No Service Level Agreement or Turn Around Time are followed. Due to B2B customer consumption of high end data storage devices demand the customer is facing challenge to keep end customer satisfaction. Hence RMA process takes slower approach without any defined service SLA and wrong diagnosis of ending replacement cost which led to cost to the customer.
The Solution
EMT SCM’s solutions enhanced the RMA Order creation in system by implementing tracker & rigorous monitoring to address Quality issues by analysis of historical RMA data with business segment wise data at granular level using process mining tools and techniques. EMT SCM team proposed well defined SLA and KPI with root cause analysis. RMA issuance letter to 3rd parties & return shipment management and Use of ISAP & Oracle Cloud platforms are channelized. Appropriate SOP’s defined and updated on time to define reason for return. Also the multiple touch points and multiple hand off has been centralized geo level with customer CSR.
In-Scope Activities
- Issuing RMA Order based on return request received from 3rd Party Logistics Contractors.
- Warranty Validation of the order
- Validation of reason to determine RMA type before order processing
- Prudent judgement and solution to Replacement or on site Repair or Rejection
- Final closure with customer and CSR Team
The Key Data Points
- Team handle high volume deliverables (1300 RMA Approx per Month)
- 80% of volume in replacement type and 20% in Credit type
- Geos Supporting: US, EMEA, & APAC
The Impact
The solution provided by EMT SCM experts lead to reduction of RMA by 45% and the cost savings of $425 Mn through replacement cost and $125 Mn of credit lost cost. Replacement lead time reduction of 55% through minimizing touch point and decision dependency. 15% improvement in ON-Time Delivery of parts to reach dealer and installation site. With Automation approach of trigger follow up and Auto reminder, Triage based escalation for resolution, the resolution period of RMA average reduced from 14 days to 3 Business day.
