[xm1994]

The requested solution is to manage the warranty repair order process and related parts inventories at multiple 3rd party authorized service centers for a manufacturer.

My (possibly naive) idea is to build a re-usable solution that is something like a desk.com CRM app with an inventory module and the ability manage pre-defined services.

Target market? Could be another manufacturer like my client, or service/repair centers by themselves.

There are lots of GREAT CRM/support services: desk.com and zendesk.com just to name a couple. It doesn't seem like I can tie parts to their support cases for the inventory management aspect of the solution.

The closest I can find is this force.com app: http://www.servicemax.com/products/inventory-and-parts-logis...

If I can make the workflow flexible enough to cover different cases this could be even be extended to work as a field service tool by later adding a scheduling module and a maps/routing module for field technicians.