Benchmarking Product Return Processes for an Electronics Company

Xantrex Technology Inc., a manufacturer of advanced power electronics, is suffering from high customer returns on its mobile products. Those returned products have cost Xantrex time, money, and manpower managing RMA, reverse goods distribution, storage andlor scrapping. Through a review of the company's existing procedures and activities, interviews with focus groups, and analysis of the informationldata collected, root causes of the customer return are found to reflect three aspects: the quality of the products, a gap between customer insights and the products, and unbalanced marketinglsales practices, especially while collaborating with retailers. Best practices to resolve these problems are recommended after benchmarking with one internal procedure, against Xantrex's competitors and manufacturers/retailers in similar industries, and with some best-of-class plants world-wide. Besides long-term practices which should be in line with Xantrex's business strategies and processes continuous improvement, a short-term action plan can be implemented through a crossfunctional project team.