TABLE OF CONTENTS Michel W.F.M. Draper and Alex E.D. Suanet
In this chapter we give an overview of recent Service Parts Logistics Management developments within IBM. In particular we will make a comparison with traditional Supply Chain Management and describe the specifics in the Service Logistics Supply Chain. While the concepts we describe here are applied within IBM's Service Logistics worldwide, specific examples will be given for the European situation as supported by the IBM Service Logistics organization in the Netherlands. Because of rapid changes in the Service Logistics environment we also include a vision about developments in the foreseeable future.
In the first section we will discuss similarities and differences between the Service Logistics Management process and the more traditional Supply Chain Management process. We will indicate the Service Logistics Management process can be seen as a specific kind of a Supply Chain Management process with some additional specific elements and complexities.
In the second section we will discuss the Service Logistics Management process in more detail. The most important sub-processes will be described shortly. A distinction will be made between the preparing and planning processes and more operational oriented processes.
In the third section system solution developments will be mentioned briefly. This will not be an extensive list of systems but more an illustrative section indicating with what kind of system environment the most important processes are supported.
In the fourth section we will briefly describe expected future developments in...
