Site Visit: SONY Laredo Customer Satisfaction Center

by RLA Staff Contributor

Reverse Logistics Magazine, Nov/Dec 2007

Jeremy Vick, Director of Worldwide Sales at Reverse Logistics Association recently visited the Laredo Customer Satisfaction Center (LCSC) Facility in Nuevo Laredo, Tams. Mexico. Isabel Solorio, Materials General Manager and Xenia Calderon, Business Development Responsible showed Jeremy around the facility which employs a workforce of more than 1,000 highly skilled employees that are fully committed to operational excellence. The Sony Customer Satisfaction Center has been in the service industry since 1994, with operations in Laredo, Texas and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. This operation provides a high level of customer satisfaction as well as cost effective solution for Sony and its customer base.

Isabel mentioned that LCSC offers two customer solutions; refurbishment of Sony dealer returns as well as end user & dealers repair and exchange programs. The refurbish program produces an average over 100,000 units per month with the highest level of quality to generate "B" grade product stock availability for the Exchange Program, and the "B" class selling channels, including Sony outlet stores located around the country. The process and labor flexibility maintained by LCSC has allowed the operation to remain lean and achieve consistent strong operational performance.

In June 2007, LCSC Refurbishing Operation added personal computer production to its vast list of product models currently handled by the facility, including: home audio, home video, general audio, digital imaging and Playstation consoles.

The repair program started operations in 2003, with a monthly volume of 500 units, both for retailers and consumers; currently the repair program processes nearly 20,000 units per month with an average Turn-Around-Time (TAT) of 4 days or less. This process is supported by a world class call center integrated with highly-qualified employees, 100% bilingual that provide outstanding customer satisfaction and support to both English and Spanish speaking customers.

The exchange program handles consumer product and PlayStation console returns, processing over 20,000 units a month. The exchanges are processed with an average TAT of 2 days or less.

LCSC, in an effort to improve the quality of products and customer satisfaction, has implemented an efficient quality feedback system that assures improvement in product performance and design before products reach the final customer.

They have successfully implemented innovative strategies and programs that directly impact and benefit their customers and clients, offering:

Process and labor flexibility.
Strong operational performance.
Lean processes.
Flexibility for custom made process.
Market quality failure analysis.
Product engineering department capable of developing inspection and repair in house.
Scrap recycling process in house.
Key performance indicators reporting.
Capability to manage push and pull processes.
Capability to ship international.
Parts recycling capability.
Direct parts procurement from overseas.
Component level repairs for High Value Models.
Complete IT infrastructure, support and application management.
Cost analysis bases on process requirements.
Competitive quoting capabilities for specific requirements for complete processes.
Direct billing and invoicing.

LCSC is also empowering its employees by giving them key career tools and offering specific training sessions and courses to develop their professional and personal skills. LCSC continuous improvement activities include Six Sigma, 5S, Kaizen, QMS and ISO 9000:2000.

In the past two years LCSC has proactively sought out different business opportunities including a recent business decision to bring a service solution for Mexico and Latin America.

For more information about the Sony LCSC, email LCSC.business.development@am.sony.com.