Apart from tremendous technical strength, a good after-sales service system is also indispensible to the success of an engine enterprise. However, service stations cannot operate without manufacturers' policy support, either. In this respect, Yuchai Machinery Co., Ltd. (Yuchai) was first in the industry to initiatively delegate powers to ensure service quality.

Humanized process

Chen Shaohua, head of Yuchai Kunming service station has provided after-sales services to many brands. According to him, he was most comfortable with Yuchai among all engine manufacturer due to its outstanding product quality and standard manufacturing process. "Actually, process standards are totally different from mechanical copying and Yuchai is human in dealing with things." He gave an example, "Engines may be problematic for many reasons during operation, as along as service stations report problems to the headquarters, the headquarters will offer full support to customers."

In 2013, a customer in Dali turned to Yuchai Kunming service station, reported some problems of the engine of his vehicle, but the maintenance staff found its warranty period had expired. "The engine's problems could have been resolved if the customer had turned to us at the earliest possible time, but he waste much unnecessary time during engine operation and the engine's warranty period had expired when he turned to us." Chen said, "The customer was anxious when he knew the engine's warranty period had expired, because his business was delayed and he had to bear the maintenance cost himself. We understood the customer's feelings, because we will also be anxious in his shoes."

Thus, the service station voluntarily reported the course of the event to the headquarters, said the customer's engine failure emerged in the warranty period, but the period had expired for a special reason when the customer contacted the service station for repair, and the hoped special treatment could be given to ensure the customer's interest. At the news, the headquarters duly issued a corrective notice, ordering the service station to provide considerate service to the customers in special circumstances.

"To be responsible for the customer, the service station paid two return visits. The customer was satisfied with and spoke highly of our service, showing our efforts are worth it," Chen said proudly.

Now a lot of manufacturers have turned to Chen but were rejected. "We used to be pressed from both ends in service for other brands. Manufacturers required us to handle faults reported by customers according to their regulations and were indifferent to our problems; and customers who did not understand our difficulties were angry with us, we had to live with it. As time passed, we lost the enthusiasm about service. But Yuchai is different with humanized policies. I certainly am unwilling to serve other manufacturers now," he said resolutely.

Strict regulations of manufacturer

Humanized process does not mean falling short of regulation requirements.

"Yuchai is very strict in regulations. Regardless of time and distance, service staff must arrive at the scene on time," Chen said. Whether maintenance staff can handle problems is one story, whether they are out for duty is another, this is the greatest concern of the headquarters. And we have clear internal regulations: basic maintenance of engines must be completed in three hours, common faults must be eliminated in eight hours, major faults must be resolved thoroughly in 72 hours, and thorny problems will be reported level by level to be resolved in time.

Chen's service station is a core one of Yuchai. "As a core service station, we must be out of duty more often, such as emergencies at night. We will hurry to the scene immediately upon receipt of tasks, as we know deeply that customers will suffer one more minute if we are one minute late."

The responsibility sometimes costs Chen a couple of sleepless nights. "We have become nocturnal animals and are still working when others have fallen asleep," he teased.

Service stations target areas under their administration only, but office staff should be responsible for entire Yunnan Province, so you can imagine the service difficulty. "Carrying mobile phones all time is the basic requirement to us. Additionally, the headquarters required service staff to have their mobile phones on for 24 hours, and they will get corresponding punishments if they missed and did not answer calls," said Huang Xingfu of Yuchai Yunnan Office

Besides, the headquarters assesses service and parts complaint rates every month. Once service quality or parts cannot satisfy customer demands, the service center will impose punishment based on assessment indicators. Also, the situation and progress of every completed repair should be reported to the headquarters in the form of documents, and the documents failing to be sent on time will be rejected by the headquarters and service stations will get no labor cost.

"The headquarters' strict regulations are sometimes headaches to service stations, but we find these regulations can not only standardize our process, but also make our service more careful if we think carefully," Chen said.

While being strict with service staff, Yuchai is critical of Yunnan's parts reserves.

"Yuchai requires that the parts warehouse of Yunnan Office must have complete parts with missing parts accounting for less than 0.2 percent. If parts are not available during repair, Yuchai requires that relevant parts must be delivered to the scene in 24 hours. I have run the station for many years but have never worried about shortage of parts," Sun Maobo, service manager of Yunnan Henghao Automotive Sales Service Co., Ltd.

Delegate powers to service stations

Actually, manufacturers' support to service stations is critical to service quality. If manufacturers can delegate powers, service stations will serve customers with greater facility. Yuchai is excellent in this respect.

"Yuchai's full support makes us confident," Chen told the reporter of Commercial Vehicle News, adding "Now we can resolve customers' problems early and then reported them to the headquarters. In this way, problems will be resolved more efficiently and customers will more recognize our service. But such practice is based on manufacturers' delegating more powers to service stations and is impossible for other manufacturers."

To his, Sun noted, "When serving other brands before, we dare not judge accident results for fear that early solution of problems could not be recognized by the headquarters so that cost could not be settled to cause heavy losses. If things continue this way and we make loss whenever we are out on duty, we are sure to lose the enthusiasm about service. After all, service stations are not public welfare establishments but have maintenance staff to feed. Yuchai does well in these aspects, with the headquarters and service stations understanding mutually.

To Chen, services fall into two categories: extensive service and fine service, which differ vastly. "When we served other manufacturers before, they constantly picked holes in the bills we submitted and passed the buck when problems arose, making it difficult for us to operate and greatly affecting our service. As time passed, we chose to serve customers extensively. Thus, customers are dissatisfied with services, thus damaging manufacturers' brand image rather than service stations'. Yuchai delegates powers to service stations to give greater space for cooperation, so we are willing to offer fine service and make customers feel good. This is why Yuchai has such a large market inventory in Yunnan," Chen said.

(Source: Sun Weichuan/Commercial Vehicle News)