Motorola attains dramatic cost reductions

Motorola is a global leader in providing integrated communications solutions including software-enhanced wireless telephone, two-way radio, messaging and satellite communications products and systems. The company’s Rockford facility is a high volume repair centre for Motorola two-way communication and data products.

Challenges

Motorola’s Rockford repair facility is responsible for the actual repairs as well as managing the inventory of parts that goes into the repairing of phones. While the repair facility doesn’t handle customer calls, it does handle about 1,500 Return Material Authorisations (RMAs) a day. An RMA which is a request for service is created once a product has been sent to the facility.

The facility services more than 900 customer contracts and has 21,000 end customers throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada and Guam.

Motorola was looking for a CRM system that could:
 - Better track inventory
 - Better manage customer data
 - Integrate with other software
 - Provide flexibility for future growth and change at the facility

Solution

Motorola picked the Metrix Inventory, Repair Centre and Contracts Modules. “We didn’t have to go out and purchase a separate inventory package or contract package or repair centre package because they all work together,” said Tami Galt, IT Business Systems Analyst. “In addition, Metrix has the best functionality of any of the suites we examined,” added Galt.

Results

The greatest financial gain for the repair facility came from the Metrix Inventory Module, according to Linda Groves, Inventory Manager for Motorola. “We’re now able to calculate our inventory because we see all of it and we know where it is going and how it is being used.” Motorola’s annual inventory turns went from one every 6 months to one every 36 days. Their excess inventory went from $1.1 million to $487,000. Groves’ goal is to reduce that number to $100,000 in the next several months.

“I used to have to walk through the warehouse every time a request for a part came through or to see when I needed to order what. Now I fill out a couple of screens on my computer. I don’t even need to leave my office.” Groves said. She said her inventory staff was reduced from 15 people to 10.

“Every inventory manager - 16 of them - at Motorola has visited our repair facility to see how Metrix is helping us cut down on our inventory expenses. It’s been incredible,” said Groves.

The Motorola repair facility uses the Repair Centre to create Return Material Authorisations. When they switched to Metrix they were able to reduce the number of people needed in their log-in area by 10. The log-in Unit is where an RMA is created once a broken unit is received.

The Contracts Module has made it easier for Motorola to track their products. Prior to Metrix “there was no good way to track products.” Now the Motorola repair facility keeps track of all contracts by product, down to the serial number level. The Contract Module also meets Motorola’s invoicing needs. It allows Galt to account for products that come into service and that are removed from service regardless of where the company is in the billing cycle.

“One of the best functions of Metrix is the back-end and billing. The process is fast and has really helped quality.” said Groves. When they switched to Metrix, they were able to reduce the number of people needed in their billing department by 5.

Metrix “allows us to create a contract, put in a dollar amount, and as a bill comes in, allows us to keep track of what we’re spending,” said Galt. “It’s a very strong module.”

Groves and Galt agree that Metrix integrated Report Writer has helped them generate impressively detailed and thorough reports for Motorola and their vendors. The Report Writer helps Motorola create custom reports on instant demand in the areas of Repair Centre / Invoicing, Inventory and Contract Reports. According to Groves, “Our culture at Motorola is one of reports. Metrix, which has much more room for data collection than our previous system, lets us put out detailed, customized reports,” she said.