Service Process
Refers to how a service is provided or delivered to a customer. Delivery system is a
creative process. It begins with a service concept and strategy to provide a service. In
order to achieve these objectives various alternatives must be analyzed and identified
before a decision is made . Designing a service process involves issues such as
location facility, design and layout for effective design layout and workflow,
procedure and job definitions for service quality, equipment selection and adequate
service capacity
According to Clovelock there are some operational issues which have to be
considered while designing the service quality process.
1) In order to achieve economics of scale and perform consistently the operation
people would prefer to cater to individuals so that the customer feels as being treated
specially.
2) The decisions on design and facility layout should satisfy the objectives on both.
3) Operational people are interested to improve the productivity as the cost of
production per unit will reduce.
4) Manage the queues in such a way that it is possible to use the available space.
5) Operational employees feel that the job design should shrink error and standardise
tasks, making efficient use of approach.
Designing service process:
The following factors are to be considered in the service process design and
implementation.

The service itself: It is necessary to understand whether the service itself is
process dependent. Most of the equipment based services like laundry and
lawn care as well as services with highly intangible attributes like insurance
and banking are process dependent.
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
Customer participation: In case of most service system the customer is
present when the service is being performed. The customer can be made a
productive labour Instead of being a passive bystander. Productivity can be
increased by shifting some the service activities On to the customer. A
spectrum of service delivery system is possible depending on the degree of
customer involvement from self service to complete dependence on a service
provider.

Degree of customer contact: It refers to the physical presence of the
customer in the system. The degree of customer contact can be measured by
the amount time the customer is present in the system in relation to the total
service time. In case of low contact system consumer have a direct influence
on the production process because they are not present.

Degree if divergence: A standardised service with low divergence is designed
for high volumes with a narrowly defined and focused service. Since the tasks
are routine it require a workforce with relatively low levels of technical skills.
For customised services more flexibility and judgement are required to
perform the service tasks. In addition to this more information is exchanged
between the customer and the social worker. In order to achieve Customer
satisfaction, decision making is delegated to service workers.

Location of service delivery: The service delivery process should be located
either at the service provider’s premises or carried out at the customer place.
Incase of the services like painting carpet cleaning etc. The service has to be
delivered at home. Many services are being delivered without the customer
and the supplier meeting their destiny.

Complexity of service: Complexity of services reflects the number of steps
that are involved in delivering the services .By looking at the blueprint it can
easily determine whether the services are high or low in complexity and its
divergence can be determined by having a look at its blueprint.
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