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Introduction
The after-sales service (also called post-sales or after-market service and from now on mentioned as just AS) industry has consistently grown and can now be considered a relevant service industry (Kaparthi and Bumblauskas, 2020). Capital-intensive industries usually demand AS service along with the entire life cycle of the equipment. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) typically provide or at least facilitate services such as financing, consultancy (Sheth et al., 2020), installation, maintenance, training, warranties, spare parts, upgrades, retrofitting and decommissioning (Durugbo, 2020). Revenues due to AS service are sometimes higher than the original price, which turns AS an attractive activity for OEMs (Wagner et al., 2018; Kurata and Nam, 2013; Borchardt et al., 2018). Shao et al. (2019) include supplying the remanufacturing industry as a kind of AS service.
Some studies of the years 2000–2010 state that AS is underrated by OEMs (Oliva and Kallenberg, 2003; Roth and Menor, 2003; Brax, 2005; Saccani et al., 2007; Cavalieri et al., 2007). Other studies of the same period (Frohlich and Dixon, 2001; Ruffini et al., 2000; Gebauer, 2008) state that AS could play a strategic role in OEMs. Burström et al. (2020) state that in the past, AS service has been given a marginal role in the operation strategy. More recently, the strategic role of AS was recognized in technology-based and advanced manufacturing industries (Guajardo et al., 2016) as a new source of revenue and market share. Sheth et al. (2020) advocate that AS service is no longer an administrative cost center but a strategic profit center and should be a source of competitive advantage and revenue generation for manufacturers.
AS is particularly important in current high-tech, multifunctional industrial equipment that requires hardware, software and connectivity to operate, as observed in advanced manufacturing plants (Weichert et al., 2019). Electronic equipment for industry and communications, computer numerical control (CNC) machines, machinery, offshore equipment, off-road vehicles and environmental conditioning systems are examples of such types of equipment (Murali et al., 2016).
AS combines activities that happen after the sale and can influence the performance along with the entire useful life cycle (Li et al., 2014). An AS package is neither a single product nor a single service but a...