RMA Portal: Overview, Challenges & Solutions!

RMA Solution Overview

The Return Material Authorization (RMA) Portal is a self-service application that allows service organizations to provide Web-based support for customers and employees. RMA Portal is a customized solution built upon Oracle iSupport, a key component of the Oracle E-Business Service Suite.

Challenges and Solution

RMA Portal is the right solution for you if you face challenges around RMA creation, processing, and tracking. Typical problems could be higher processing time, lack of transparency during processing, customer communication/ satisfaction issues

Solution

RMA Portal is a self-service application that allows customers to create and manage their own RMAs over the internet. This solution uses Oracle iSupport as the core module to capture RMAs and offers a customized UI to capture the information required for RMA creation.

Solution Block Diagram

Key Functionality and Features

Online Registration

Oracle offers a seeded user registration process that creates a user account in the system for the self-service application. As a part of this solution, the user registration process was customized to use the Oracle DQM module. DQM helps in identifying potentially matching customers, addresses, and contacts.

Create Service Order/ RMA

RMA Portal offers a simple and easy-to-use UI to create RMAs which overcomes restrictions enforced by seeded Oracle iSupport UI.

Customized RMA creation UI offers a single page for data entry and provides a placeholder to capture:

• Customer Information – Billing/ Shipping
• Address Information – Billing/ Shipping
• Contact Information – Billing/ Shipping
• Defective Product Information
• Notes, Problem Description
• Shipping Method, Shipping Preferences

Track RMA Service Order

Oracle iSupport’s self-service tracking eliminates many follow-up calls by letting customers check their transactions, such as orders, invoices, payments, shipments, returns, repairs, and service agreements online 24/7. Online RMA offers customized status UI tailored to specific requirements as part of this solution. This customized UI allows customers to track the status and provides the functionality to take printouts of packing slips, shipping instructions, contamination forms, and other appropriate documents.

Repair Order

The RMA Portal solution seamlessly integrates with Oracle Depot Repair to offer the customer a 360-degree view of the repair process. This automated solution creates a Repair Order and takes care of Repair Jobs and Repair Estimate creation upon receiving defective items. Repair Estimates are automatically submitted to the customer for approval keeping the current Repair Job on hold. The customer can choose to Approve or Decline repair estimates through the RMA Portal. The customer can also request to scrap the defective unit if required. Based on the customer’s action, Depot Repair Automation will release the Repair Job for further processing or add appropriate Evaluation fees before returning or scrapping the defective unit.

Agent Access

This allows customers to create their own RMAs over the internet, allowing Service Agents to manage only exceptions through the Customer Service back-office. Service Agents can also use the same simplified UI to create RMAs.

Benefits

• Simplification of RMA Processing
• Reduction in RMA Processing time
• Increased customer responsiveness
• Higher customer retention through good service quality
• Significant reduction in overhead

Read the success story: Utilizing the Oracle Business Accelerators to Implement Oracle EBS R12 in 12 Weeks Successfully