2025_EML Capstone Projects

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Despite service benchmarks in the industry, little research explores optimization of internal

service centers within vertically integrated brands like Trek. Most literature focuses on local shops or

outsourced servicing, not on centralized, manufacturer-ru n operations. There’s also limited insight into

how digital intake systems, inventory tracking, and vendor integration impact performance across multi

location service models. While some shops use online forms, few solutions fully integrate with back-end

systems like DOTS. Additionally, previous internal research conducted by Trek for this project explored

the feasibility of outsourcing suspension services to a third-party vendor. However, this approach was

found to be cost-prohibitive due to increased shipping costs and logistical challenges for both Trek

dealers, suspension suppliers, and customers.

Project Plan and Timeline

The Project will be sponsored by Trek’s Chief Operating Officer and a PM appointed on April 1.

After planning, the project will formally kick off on June 1 and end on the Digital Intake form Launch day

(Figure 1). From there the project will transition to Product Management under a fully Agile framework,

with the Project Manager acting in a Product Owner role managing the future development of the forms

and processes with quarterly updates. The Project Manager will report to the Chief Operations Officer to

communicate the business value of the Digital Intake Process Portal each month. The features for the

project and their planned releases are shown in Table 2. The IT and Development teams will operate in

2-week sprints; the features with individual tasks (called User Stories) are projected in Sprints with the

dates. This team will follow the Agile principles and conduct the Agile ceremonies such as Sprint

Planning, Daily Stand Up, Refinement, Sprint Reviews and Sprint Retrospectives. These meetings will

allow the Project Manager to monitor the project progress during the Daily Stand Up and perform any

corrective actions during Sprint planning. The Minimum Viable Product (MVP) testing and employee

training plan will commence together. The employee training plan should start with an overview of the