The Strategic Value of Sustaining Services for OEMs

For many Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), sustaining services have traditionally been seen as a necessary but often overlooked part of the product life cycle. They’re generally viewed as a place where a product goes for reactive repairs, warranty claims and end-of-life support.

This conventional approach, however, represents a missed opportunity. A modern, strategic view of sustaining services transforms this function from a reactive expense into a powerful driver of business growth, customer loyalty and operational efficiency. It’s about shifting your focus from simply maintaining assets to maximizing their long-term value.

At Plexus, we believe a successful product journey doesn’t end at the point of sale. We’ve seen firsthand how a comprehensive, end-to-end approach to sustaining services can help OEMs build a more resilient business model. This starts by challenging the outdated notion that services are a last-resort function and instead, positioning them as a critical, forward-looking element of your overall strategy.

The Strategic Shift: From Reactive to Proactive

The limitations of a reactive “break-fix” model are clear: unpredictable downtime, soaring costs and the risk of damaging customer relationships. When a product fails, the reactive model kicks in, leading to a scramble for parts, logistics hurdles and service teams that are constantly putting out fires. This approach doesn’t just address a problem; it creates new ones, including inefficient use of resources and a fragmented customer experience.

By shifting to a proactive model, OEMs can anticipate potential issues and address them before they impact a customer’s operations. Instead of waiting for a product to fail, a proactive model uses data and expertise to predict failures, optimize performance and extend a product’s life. It is the difference between a crisis management plan and a strategic asset management plan.

This strategic shift empowers OEMs to take control of their product’s future. Instead of simply reacting to problems as they arise, a proactive approach allows for planned interventions and continuous improvements that ensure products remain reliable and effective in the field. This not only mitigates risk but also builds a reputation for dependability that sets an OEM apart in a competitive market. It’s about making a deliberate choice to invest in the long-term health of your product portfolio.

The Three Pillars of Strategic Sustaining Services

A strategic approach to sustaining services is built on three key pillars. When integrated, these pillars create a virtuous cycle of value, efficiency and customer satisfaction.

1. Optimize Costs Through Aftermarket Services

To ensure long-term product success and customer satisfaction, a comprehensive suite of aftermarket repair and refurbishment services is essential. These services begin with a proactive approach to mitigating risk. It all starts with Diagnostics and Failure Analysis.

By carefully examining failed products, it is possible to pinpoint the root causes of issues. This detailed analysis allows for more accurate predictions of future product failures, enabling you to address potential problems at the source and implement design or manufacturing improvements to prevent recurrence. This insight is invaluable for minimizing future service costs.

When issues do arise, expert Aftermarket Repair: Level 1-4 services are critical for minimizing downtime and enhancing the customer experience. This tiered approach to repair handles everything from minor adjustments and field service fixes to complex, full component-level repairs and even depot-level board swaps. A dedicated partner with the capabilities to perform these complex fixes in a structured and efficient manner ensures that your products return to service quickly and reliably.

For specialized fields like medical devices, Medical Device Decontamination is a critical service, ensuring safety for future use through professional cleaning, sterilization and secure patient data removal. A strategic partner will ensure these services are not just reactive but also informed by data, providing valuable feedback that can be used to improve product designs, manufacturing processes and supply chain management for the entire product line.

2. Extend Value and Asset Reliability

A product’s value is not fixed at the moment of purchase; it can be enhanced and extended through its entire life cycle. Proactive sustaining services enable this through continuous upgrades and strategic improvements that keep a product relevant and reliable long after it leaves the factory.

For instance, product life cycle extension strategies can include design for sustainability, part obsolescence management and redesigns that improve performance, add new features or lower operating costs. This helps OEMs maximize their return on investment and build a reputation for creating high-quality, dependable products.

Think of it as a partnership with your customer’s asset. Instead of a one-time transaction, you are offering a long-term solution that continues to deliver value. This transforms the customer relationship from a single sale into a continuous partnership, based on a foundation of trust and demonstrated reliability.

This continuous engagement also creates new revenue streams for OEMs. By offering upgrades, parts and service plans, a product can generate revenue far beyond its initial sale. This not only improves the bottom line but also deepens the OEM’s relationship with its customers, leading to a more stable and predictable business model.

3. Streamline Operations and Reduce Downtime

Operational efficiency is crucial for OEMs, and unplanned downtime is one of the biggest threats to that efficiency. A strategic sustaining services provider can streamline the entire process, from parts availability to field support. Precise distribution management services like forward logistics, direct order fulfillment and kitting operations ensure that the right parts are available at the right location and at the right time. This proactive service parts management minimizes shipping delays, reduces logistics costs and, most importantly, gets customers’ equipment back in operation faster.

By leveraging a global network of service centers and logistics partners, OEMs can avoid the complexities and costs that come with managing a global service network themselves. This comprehensive, end-to-end solution provides a more efficient process for everyone involved, translating to less waiting for parts and fewer logistical headaches.

This is particularly critical for OEMs with a global customer base. Rather than building out their own logistics and service infrastructure in every region, they can rely on a partner with an established global presence. This allows for scalability and flexibility, enabling them to expand into new markets with confidence, knowing their products will be supported effectively.

Outsource Sustaining Services: Maximize Value

While the benefits of strategic sustaining services are clear, managing them internally can be a significant drain on resources. Maintaining a global network of repair depots, managing complex parts inventories and hiring specialized personnel can divert capital and talent away from your core business: innovation.

Plexus’ global sustaining services are the strategic choice that allows you to focus on what you do best—developing transformative products. We handle the complexities of aftermarket services, distribution management and product life cycle extension, so you don’t have to.

Our global reach elevates our partnership value. With service centers across the Americas, EMEA and APAC regions, we service products closer to your customers. This reduces logistics costs and carbon footprint while enabling regional transit solutions that decrease response times and strengthen your brand’s reputation for reliability.

Key certifications (including ISO9001, AS9100, FAR145, ISO 13485 and a Used Medical Device License in Asia) ensure the same high standards everywhere. This global presence and commitment to quality give OEMs the peace of mind that we’re servicing their products to the highest standards, no matter where they are in the world.

By outsourcing these services to a trusted partner like Plexus, you can unlock valuable resources and protect your business in three crucial ways:

• Protect Your Bottom Line: Our solutions optimize long-term costs, reduce risk and free up fixed capital. This allows you to re-invest resources into your core competencies while also generating new service-related revenue streams. We specialize in providing tailored global sustaining services for complex products regardless of the original manufacturer. Because engineering is in our DNA, we can help redesign and upgrade the product to solve problems for the future. We also provide detailed data and analysis on service trends, allowing for smarter decisions on future product development, inventory management and overall operational strategy.
• Protect Your Brand: We ensure long-term product quality and performance to enhance the customer experience, strengthen your reputation and defend your market share. Our commitment to providing expert aftermarket services means customers receive consistent, high-quality support that reinforces your brand’s reputation for excellence. A negative service experience can quickly damage a brand’s reputation, and by entrusting your sustaining services to a partner with a proven track record, you are protecting your most valuable asset—your brand.
• Protect the Planet: We can proactively support your sustainability goals by implementing a comprehensive strategy across a product’s life cycle. Our refurbishment and recycling programs help reduce waste to landfill and promote a more circular economy, aligning your business with global environmental responsibility efforts. This is increasingly important to customers and investors, and a commitment to sustainable practices can be a powerful differentiator in the marketplace.

A Partnership for Success

The conversation around sustaining services needs to change. It’s no longer just a reactive function; it’s a strategic opportunity to create lasting value for a business and its customers. By embracing a proactive approach, OEMs can improve asset reliability, streamline operations and build the kind of long-term relationships that drive growth. This comprehensive approach is possible with the right partnership.

Choosing a partner that understands the intricacies of your industry, the complexities of your products and the importance of a global, cohesive strategy is the key to maximizing the value of sustaining services.