| A Leading Electronics Manufacturing Firm |
Fortune 500 Technology Industry
Suppliers: A global tier 1 supplier service delivery from India
Scope of service: Conduct due diligence on the supplier offshore facility in the areas of infrastructure, network connectivity and power adequacy. |
|
Background
Since its founding, our client has been a technology and direct - marketing pioneer, using its call centers, web site, and retail network to build direct customer relationships. As it transforms itself from being a leading PC company into a branded integrator of personalized technology solutions, the company's line of branded products is expanding to include digital TVs, DLP projectors, tablet PCs, and systems and networking products and services.
Business Challenge
In 2003, our client announced its plan to transfer the way it handles product sourcing, logistics, support, and service, creating a more efficient platform to support its overall transformation into a branded integrator. The plan was based on using strategic partners and collaborative planning with suppliers to make the company leaner and nimbler as it dramatically broadens its array of branded products.
As part of this plan, our client was in the process of outsourcing F&A call center and back office processing operations to the supplier facilities in Bangalore, India. As transition to the supplier was drawing to a close and operations were ramping up our client noticed that connectivity was failing and the necessary systems for troubleshooting and problem resolution were not in place. The supplier assured the client that they were ready to begin assuming operations responsibility offshore, but our client wanted an outside opinion on the readiness of the supplier to sustain operations in a live environment. They looked to Neo Advisory for an unbiased, independent third-party analysis.
Solution
With the client team, Neo Advisory conducted an audit study of the network and infrastructure of the supplier to ascertain its ability to provide a stable operating environment after the processes are transitioned to Bangalore. During the audit Neo Advisory evaluated both subjective and objective criteria of supplier's infrastructure, network connectivity and power adequacy. The approach to this audit included a pre-audit meeting with the supplier, a physical inspection and an analysis of the documentation and processes of the supplier. The process used for these activities included:
|
 |
Assess the current pilot results and define client objectives for future work |
|
Execute audit of existing operations in Bangalore, India including physical inspection and analysis of the documentation and processes of the supplier |
|
Identify any gaps in the operations |
|
Develop a roadmap for improvement in order to meet future client objectives |
|
Results
As a result of the audit, Neo Advisory recommended that our client and supplier implement redundant core devices with automatic failover; implement monitoring tools for data and voice for active logging; define the roles and accountability of the network team; and implement strict, consistent and client-specific processes. After the recommendations were implemented, Neo Advisory was again invited to perform a remediation audit to ensure that the supplier was in fact ready to assume full responsibility offshore.
The audit allowed our client to work with the supplier to implement these recommendations and then transfer to supplier activities covering work in BPO services in order fulfillment and finance, including accounts payable, refunds and reconciliations. With the audit materials they were able to develop and implement benchmarks for quality improvement over time. The audit also demonstrated to our client that it was imperative to retain full responsibility for leadership and strategic control in these areas. |
|
Services 
