ADAPTATION OF TECHNOLOGY ROADMAPPING TO AUTOMOTIVE AFTER SALES

摘要

Technology roadmapping (TRM) has become a well-established tool for technology planning since its first approaches in the early 80s. While the focus of interest has been on the end result, the roadmap itself, some efforts are being made to define roadmapping as a process. Although best practices exist, an effective implementation of TRM in industry was and still is one of the main challenges. The technology-driven automotive industry is a branch where technology roadmapping is well known and often used to manage the multiplicity of existing and potential future vehicle technologies. Nevertheless, innovative vehicles have to be maintained and repaired in car workshops. But the after sales business, which is often highly profitable, has to deal with an increasing range of variants, shorter life cycles and changing customer demands. In spite of these manifold challenges, often neither after sales departments are involved in the early product development stage nor are customer demands and technical parameters considered in the service development processes entirely. Besides, assessments of international experts underline enduring research interest in the cross-sectional topic of product technologies and services. Many authors emphasize the usage of TRM in cases with cross-functional alignment and integration. But only a few authors consider TRM for service organizations. Even in these cases, the (service) product and not a simultaneous consideration of possible product and service technologies is the centre of attention. This paper outlines the results of desk research concerning existing TRM approaches which focus on TRM implementation and revision. These approaches are rated against their applicability for after sales services. The uniqueness of being close to the consumer while dealing with established vehicle technologies has to be considered. Gaps and deficits of existing approaches are illustrated and finally incorporated in a TRM framework for automotive after sales. This approach visualizes complex interdependencies and interfaces between product (vehicle) and service (workshop) technologies. A workshop-based approach is developed to fill the gap between market pull and technology push. While a typical TRM process starts top down (market pull) or bottom up (technology push) automotive after sales TRM gives equivalent consideration to market and technology drivers. It helps to sensitize decision makers of product and service departments to the interdependencies and the necessity for overall cooperation and collaborative development. The workshop concept presented in this paper is a manageable tool to identify and fill gaps between product engineering and sales driven departments. Its application sharpens a strategic point of view on after sales services and fulfils its important role of being a highly profitable business. Moreover, the adaptation of TRM to automotive after sales gives insights into a largely neglected field of research.