How’s this for a pure key metrics play? Atlanta-based Servigistics, Inc http://www.servigistics.com/has figured out that for companies who provide repair or maintenance services to their customers, keeping track of all the parts involved can be a major headache. The 6 year old company has capitalized on the desires of its customers (such as Subaru, Sun Microsystems, Honeywell, Maytag and GM) to create optimization routines that make sure they have the right parts in the right places, without tying up excessive cost in inventory or other.
Phone services provider, Avaya, for instanceused Servigistics’ software to radically cut inventory while still seeing what parts are where in its global networks. Here comes the key metrics part: Avaya’s fill rate (% of customers’s orders filled from stock) above 95% and cut gross parts inventory from $250 million to about $160 million, a drop of 36% (as reported by Business Week, August 1, 2005). The service parts planning software business has grown to become a $140 million business, with a torrid 24% expected growth rate (compare that to the much more lethargic growth at the enterprise resource providers such as SAP). For more commentary, see