What do you see as the biggest challenge facing aftersales supply chain and service logistics leaders over the next 3–5 years?

For years, supply chain leaders were primarily measured on cost, inventory and efficiency. While these metrics remain important, I believe the biggest challenge over the next 3–5 years will be managing the growing gap between customer expectations and what organizations are willing to invest in their aftersales capabilities.

Customers increasingly expect immediate support, rapid spare parts availability and minimal downtime. At the same time, many companies still view aftersales as a support function rather than a strategic capability.

I strongly believe that aftersales is becoming the new pre-sales.

Customers may buy a machine because of its specifications, but they remain loyal because of the service experience they receive afterwards. Increasingly, the quality of an OEM's aftersales organization influences purchasing decisions before the machine is even sold.

Cost will always matter. But in my view, sustainable competitive advantage will increasingly come from service performance rather than cost alone.

How are customer expectations around uptime, service levels, and spare parts availability changing, and what does this mean for supply chain teams?

Customers no longer compare you against your direct competitors.

They compare you against the best service experience they receive anywhere.

Ten years ago, next-day delivery was considered excellent service. Today, many customers simply expect it. In some industries, same-day and even in-night deliveries are becoming standard expectations.

More importantly, the discussion is no longer about spare parts. It is about uptime.

Customers do not buy spare parts. They buy uptime. Spare parts are simply one of the mechanisms through which uptime is delivered.

Every hour of downtime can have a significant operational and financial impact on the customer. This means supply chain organizations need to move beyond traditional logistics KPIs and focus more on customer outcomes.

The organisations best positioned for the future are those that understand the direct relationship between supply chain performance, service performance and machine or vehicle uptime.

Inventory remains one of the biggest costs in aftermarket operations. How are leading organizations balancing parts availability with inventory optimization?

Inventory itself is not the problem. Poor inventory decisions are the problem.

We still see that spare parts logistics is treated as traditional logistics, which is a mistake.

The value of a spare part is not determined by its purchase price, but by the operational impact of not having it available when the customer needs it.

A €200 component that can stop a €1 million machine deserves a completely different inventory strategy than a low-impact consumable item.

Leading organizations understand this. They invest heavily in criticality analysis, demand intelligence, customer and inventory segmentation and network optimization. They focus on placing the right inventory in the right location rather than simply reducing stock levels.

Reducing inventory is relatively easy. Reducing inventory while maintaining or improving service performance is where real supply chain expertise comes into play.

What role do technologies such as AI, predictive analytics, and automation have to play in the future of aftersales supply chains?

AI, predictive analytics and automation will undoubtedly (continue to) play an important role in the future of aftersales supply chains.

Like any technology, AI will only be as effective as the underlying (master) data, processes and governance supporting it. In my experience, AI amplifies strengths, but it also amplifies weaknesses.

AI will become another tool in the toolbox of supply chain professionals but technology alone will not solve structural supply chain challenges.

The greatest opportunities lie in improving forecasting, identifying risks earlier, optimizing inventory positioning and supporting faster decision making.

The companies that will benefit most from AI will not necessarily be those with the most sophisticated algorithms, but those with the strongest data foundations, the most disciplined processes and the clearest understanding of the business problems they are trying to solve.

How can organizations build more resilient spare parts supply chains in an increasingly uncertain geopolitical and economic environment?

Over the last few years, many organizations have focused heavily on efficiency.

The challenge is that highly efficient supply chains are not always highly resilient supply chains.

Resilience starts with visibility. You need to understand your risks before you can manage them.

This includes supplier visibility, inventory visibility, transportation visibility and understanding where your critical vulnerabilities exist.

At the same time, organizations need flexibility. Alternative sourcing strategies, strategic inventory positioning and strong logistics partnerships all play an important role.

Most importantly, organizations need to stop viewing disruptions as exceptional events.

Disruptions have become part of normal business operations.

No supply chain can prevent every disruption. The real differentiator is how quickly you can recover when disruptions occur.

Recovery capability is becoming just as important as efficiency.

In my experience, resilience is a capability, not a slogan. It cannot simply be a PowerPoint topic. It needs to be embedded in the organization through governance, risk assessments, recovery planning and regular testing.

Frameworks such as ISO 22301 provide a useful structure to move resilience from theory to execution. Ultimately, resilience is not measured by the plans you have on paper, but by how effectively your organization responds and recovers when a disruption actually occurs.

Looking across the industry, what separates organizations with best-in-class aftersales supply chains from their competitors?

The best organizations understand something very simple:

They do not manage parts. They manage machine and vehicle uptime.

That difference in mindset changes everything.

Best-in-class organizations make decisions based on customer impact rather than purely operational efficiency. They understand that every inventory decision, transportation decision and service decision ultimately influences the availability of their customers' assets.

They also recognize the strategic value of their installed base. In my view, the installed base is one of the most valuable assets an OEM has, yet it is often underestimated. Understanding where your machines are, how they are used and how you support them throughout their lifecycle creates a significant competitive advantage.

Perhaps most importantly, they understand that aftersales is no longer a support function.

Aftersales performance no longer supports equipment sales. Increasingly, it influences and enables equipment sales.

What are you most looking forward to discussing or learning from your peers at LogiAftersales 2026?

As this is the first edition of LogiAftersales, I am particularly interested to see which challenges and opportunities exist most strongly across industries.

One of the aspects I enjoy most about industry events is the opportunity to exchange ideas with people facing similar challenges in completely different environments.

Whether it is industrial machinery, automotive, construction equipment, medical devices or other sectors, many of us are ultimately trying to solve the same problems: improving uptime, enhancing customer experience, optimizing inventory and building more resilient supply chains.

For me, the value of an event like this lies in learning how others are tackling similar challenges, questioning established assumptions and exchanging practical experiences that can be applied in our own organizations.

I expect to leave with new ideas, but hopefully also contribute a few of my own.