Iceland's government outsourcing testing and metrology functions in 1997, and in 2008 the two companies competed for most of the testing vehicle emissions and inspection business in Iceland. Frumherji was one of the two. In the physically isolated island nation just over 300,000 residents, the word of mouth information about the customer service can make or break a company in the market. Carl Sigurdssson, senior manager of vehicle Frumherji, has been seeking ways to improve customer service, while at the same time maintaining the high standards and integrity, which were necessary for the continuation of the contractual role of the Icelandic government. He hired a consultant to collect process data and make comments about the customer service, and considering how to use the information to identify problems and implement solutions. The case highlights the challenges for Frumherji, including perceived customer service, demand variability, the waiting time, recording error, and staff turnover. It also includes information about immigration patterns Iceland, a growing market for inspection and emissions test, as well as state-owned enterprises policy. The case is a step-by-step description of the process to review and test of private cars at major stations Frumherji, in Hestháls, located in Reykjavik. Related information includes processing time, the scrap rate (yield rate as the inverse), latency, error loop, and the problems created by the customers themselves. Image of the object and image of the working area at each step in the process to bring a sense of reality descriptions. "Hide
by Karen Brown, Brynja Thorbjornsdottir Source: Thunderbird School of Global Management 11 pages. Publication Date: January 1, 2008. Prod. #: TB0055-PDF-ENG
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