Where Complexity Lives, Opportunity Hides: Rethink Your Service Parts Supply Chain

A practical guide for transforming aftermarket service parts operations, boosting resilience, and enabling digital transformation

Book cover titled 'Unraveling the Service Parts Supply Chain' with a graphic of interconnected gears forming a light bulb against a blue digital background.

Welcome to the Hidden Engine of Aftermarket Success

The forward supply chain gets the spotlight—but it's the service parts supply chain where real complexity lives and brand promises are kept (or broken).
When systems fail, service parts deliver the fix. When time is tight, they restore trust.

Unraveling the Service Parts Supply Chain is the first book of its kind to decode this overlooked but mission-critical domain. It reveals why traditional supply chain thinking fails in the service world—and what you can do instead.

Whether you're an executive, architect, or supply chain leader, this book will help you:

  • See what’s really happening beneath the surface

  • Identify what’s slowing you down

  • Take action where it matters most—after the sale, in the field, and under pressure

Start here. Transform the forgotten half of your supply chain.

About the Book

Unraveling the Service Parts Supply Chain is a practical guide for confronting the complexity and criticality of the aftermarket world—a world where traditional supply chain strategies fall short. While most supply chain literature focuses on moving new products forward, this book zeroes in on what happens after the sale—when systems fail, time is short, and the cost of delay is high.

Built on over two decades of global, hands-on experience, this book introduces a new operational lens: the Five-Forces of SPSCM Operations—Business Demands, Data, Technology, People, and Processes—to help practitioners understand and transform their service operations from the inside out.

Whether you’re a supply chain leader, systems architect, or field service strategist, this book gives you the tools to diagnose hidden bottlenecks, align teams, and design service parts operations that are resilient, responsive, and performance-driven.

“Every grounded aircraft, failed MRI, or stalled production line isn’t merely an operational failure—it’s the unraveling of an intricate system of planning, technology, people, and commitments. In the service parts supply chain, success depends on moving smartly—under pressure, with precision, and without compromise.”

Digital network lines and glowing nodes in blue against a background of binary code.

Table of Contents:

Part 1: Forward versus Service Parts Supply Chains: A Strategic Comparison

The opening chapters examine five key differences between the forward and service parts supply chains, including:

  • Purpose, direction, and responsiveness

  • Lifecycle of support requirements

  • Points of supply and replenishment

  • Types of demand and forecasting approaches

  • Inventory variety, volume, and network support structures

Part 2: The Unique Challenges of (SPSCM)

This section focuses on the distinct challenges SPSCM presents, including:

  • Diversity of service delivery models

  • The complexity of demand forecasting

  • OEM field repair and multi-echelon inventory structures

  • Inventory Control and visibility gaps

  • The impacts of product entitlements on service execution

Part 3: Infrastructure and External Forces Shaping SPSCM

  • Data as the lifeblood of execution

  • Technology as the operational backbone

  • Shared ownership across departments and silos

  • The impact of mergers, acquisitions and organizational fragmentation

Part 4: Uncovering Optimization Opportunities

With a solid foundation in place, the final section shifts focus to identifying and unlocking performance improvements:

  • Introduction to the Five-Forces of SPSCM Operations— the core elements that shape a supply chain’s operational DNA

  • A step-by-step walkthrough of a diagnostic assessment approach to uncover inefficiencies, disconnects, and blind spots across the operation

The Five-Forces of SPSCM is a powerful tool to help uncover why your operation is operating the way that is does.

Only after you can uncover the unique DNA of your company’s service parts supply chain can you truly make impactful change.

Meet the Author

A bald man wearing glasses and a dark blue dress shirt, standing with crossed arms against a black background.

Mark Brenzikofer is a seasoned field service and service supply chain professional with thirty years of operational, executive, and solution design expertise. He has worked with large, diverse, and global companies across industries and regions.

A decade into his career, Mark transitioned from field service engineering to service parts supply chain management, driven by a mission to address and resolve the service parts issues that plagued field service organizations. As he delved deeper into the challenges, complexities, and demands of Service Parts Supply Chain Management (SPSCM), he realized there was no simple solution.

Over the past two decades, Mark has collaborated with companies across North America, South America, Europe, and Asia, helping assess the strengths and weaknesses of their SPSCM operations. His tailored frameworks and solutions have enhanced service supply chain performance globally. Through discovery sessions, day-in-the-life interviews, and data-driven analysis, he engages closely with clients to uncover improvement opportunities aligned with business goals.

Mark holds an Executive MBA in International Business from the University of Texas at Dallas, and a B.S. in Electronic Engineering Technology from DeVry University in Kansas City, Missouri. He is also certified by the Association of Supply Chain Management (ASCM/APICS) with a Certificate in Transformation for Supply Chain (CTSC).

Mark currently resides in Dallas, Texas, USA.

Email: Markb@profoundtransformations.com

Featured Resource: Five-Forces of SPSCM Process Mapping Overview

Get the Framework Behind the Process Assessment

If you're ready to move from insight to action, this downloadable guide is your next step. The Five-Forces of SPSCM Process Mapping Overview distills the book’s most powerful concepts into a practical, high-impact toolkit for diagnosing and improving your service parts supply chain.

This PDF includes:

  • Process Assessment Discovery using the Five-Ways and Five-Whys Approach
    Learn how to identify operational inefficiencies, stakeholder frustrations, and hidden bottlenecks using proven diagnostic techniques.

  • Critical Data Object Mapping Layout
    Visualize the data lifecycle across your service ecosystem—pinpoint the touchpoints where disconnects lead to delays, errors, or cost.

  • Cross-Domain Root-Cause Tree Outline
    Connect the dots between failures and their root causes across the Five-Forces: Business Demands, Data, Technology, People, and Process.

📥 Download the Overview Now
Use it to guide audits, lead discovery sessions, and structure improvement initiatives. Whether you're beginning your transformation or refining an existing strategy, this companion resource brings the Unraveling framework to life.

Interested in Taking the Conversation Further?

If Unraveling the Service Parts Supply Chain sparked new ideas or raised questions about your own challenges, consider reaching out. Mark Brenzikofer welcomes opportunities to share insights through speaking engagements or collaborative consulting. Whether it's a strategy session, workshop, or industry event, there's real value in bringing these ideas to life—tailored to your organization or audience.