NOKIA INDIA :

GROUP 4 BATTERY RECALLS

LOGISTICS
Q1. OPERATIONS FLOW DIAGRAM, SHOWING THE PRODUCT FLOW AND
THE INFORMATION FLOW OF THE BATTERY RECALL PROCESS FOLLOWED BY
NOKIA
 Q2. STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESS OF RECALL PLAN
STRENGTHS
More number of CCCs and NPDs –
• Establishing a greater number of CCCs and NPDs helped and played an important role in Nokia’s BL-5C Battery Issue.
• These CCCs and NPDs acted as an intermediator warehouse, which helped in collection, distribution of the batteries to the customers keeping
in track that a particular customer shouldn’t get two or more batteries. The rural people who were not connected with Internet made use of
these CCC and NPD to exchange their batteries.
Collaboration with DHL
• DHL, the parent company of the Blue Dart has huge network all over India and overseas.
• It provided its helping hand in packaging, tracking and moving it to different courier companies so that the batteries will reach to the CCCs
and NPDs.
• It too Negotiating the price with the other courier companies, giving cost benefit to Nokia in the adverse situation.

Good and Reliable IT System

• Without the IT system keeping in track of the sales , existing customer and a database having the problems reported by the customer . It
would have been impossible to get the information about the initial complaints itself and would have been a adverse situation for Nokia to
handle.
Q2. STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESS OF RECALL PLAN

WEAKNESS
• Underestimation of the problem
• With the initial 100 complaints that was received by Nokia for the battery issue , they did not paid too much attention .
• Which when turned out to be a big problem , leads to a whole lot of difficult and adverse situation for the organisation .

• The operations team had lack of knowledge about the Tax System in different parts of India

• They didn’t had any direct link with the distributor and hence they have to prepare invoice in behalf of HCL
Q3. WHAT RECOMMENDATIONS WOULD YOU MAKE TO NOKIA INDIA’S CEO TO HANDLE
THE NEXT SUCH CRISIS MORE EFFECTIVELY.
CRISIS MANAGEMENT
• Media should be controlled instantly so that wrong information cannot be passed to the customers. This will prevent the media to
tarnish the brand image of the company.
• The company needs to form an inspection department to inspect the materials beforehand so that crisis can be mitigated.
• The company should not overlook the magnitude of the crisis. It means that the company should look at the size and scale of the crisis.
Ensuring Smooth Product Flow
• Third party inspection and certification should be done at the supplier end so that un-defected material can be installed in the
handsets and recall can be minimised.
• Even if there is some defect in the handsets, Nokia should use a recall protocol by using third party logistics companies so that they
can leverage a stronger resource network. This strategy will also minimise interstate tax related issues to a larger extent.
• The company should prepare a legitimate and shortest road map for reverse logistics.
• The company should create amend organizational structure to manage reverse logistics.
Communication with Suppliers
• In case of such exigency, Nokia should inform the suppliers immediately to stop the production of the defected item and ramp up the
production of correct product.
• Nokia should have alternative local suppliers with buffer capacity so that in crisis they can be communicated to provide replacement
for the defected item promptly.
Q3. WHAT RECOMMENDATIONS WOULD YOU MAKE TO NOKIA INDIA’S CEO
TO HANDLE THE NEXT SUCH CRISIS MORE EFFECTIVELY.

Communication with Customers

• The company needs to have complete data of all the customers who are sold mobile handsets so
that reverse logistics can be expedited, and the customers can be communicated easily.
Customer Relationship Management
• There should be transparency of information and trust between the customer and the company.
• The company should have correct database of the customers.
Supplier Relationship Management
• The supplier should be paid on time so that in crisis, it can provide uninterrupted supply of raw
material.
• Keep updating the suppliers so that in case of any crisis such as sudden fall in demand may not
abruptly affect the production of the supplier.
 Q4. CHECK LIST OF ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN TO EFFECTIVELY RESPOND TO SUCH A
SITUATION IN THE FOLLOWING GRID.
Before the crisis
and  Hierarchical system control
ng  Adhering to stakeholder
holder needs
 Crisis management initiative
 Awareness and mock drills
 No recall procedure
 Active approach to crisis
management
t  Strictly monitored direct and
pment indirect product procurement
 Products and services under
the brand to be of
International standards
 Contingency plan
 Produce the replaced product
to make sure the safe for
customers
During the crisis
 Immediate response to the issue in hand due to the
involvement of media
 Continuous tracking of the concerned issue and IT
support/ SMS support for customers
 Creating an issue log system
 Absence of recall procedure caused panic, but was
planned and managed based on the availability of
battery shipments
 Rapid arrangement of information/ facilities as per
need
 Help from external agencies for storage and
distribution
 Open to newer and effective crisis mitigation efforts
 Priority to produce and ship more batteries to solve
the crisis
 New products with rigorous checks to prevent the
battery issue
 Reverse logistics activities gain more importance
 New production commitments could not be met in
some locations
After the crisis
 Lessons learnt log must be created and s
carefully to make a fail proof strategy
 More stages of product testing
 Scrutiny at various stages regarding the
the final product
 Proactive crisis management plans
 More collaborations with 3 PL and other
agents to streamlining supply chain
 Define the root cause of the design issue
the same
 A contingency design plan is needed
 Changes to be implemented in all produc
 Remove faulty and obsolete designs .
 Q4. CHECK LIST OF ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN TO EFFECTIVELY RESPOND TO SUCH A
SITUATION IN THE FOLLOWING GRID.

Before the crisis During the crisis After the crisis

munications  Customer communication plan was
well placed
 Communication with logistics agents
but no 3PL support
 Good distribution networks
 Customer communication was of prime  Reverse logistics communication channels
importance due to the panic improved
 Communication between the  3PL services to be made a part of the st
headquarters, regional offices and  Inter office communication can be improv
Indian offices were strengthened exigencies
 Communication with Singapore, Chennai
office to get batteries as soon as
possible
 The need for 3PL was identified, help
from DHL and its infrastructures was
taken up

stics & No product recall system in place Continuous tracking of product and Multiple logistics channels to be explore
mation Reverse logistics was rudimentary information became crucial exigencies
em Logistics mainly by courier Explore new means for storage and Use of 3PL and 4PL logistics support can
companies distribution and thus seek the help of 3 IT systems to be enhanced for customer
PL agents office communications
Supply of batteries from Singapore and
Chennai to fill the demand