AUTHOR ARCHIVES: Field Service News

A new fully-rugged solution purpose-built for the challenging conditions and uncompromising demands of those working within hazardous industries

Getac announced last week the launch of the new F110-Ex fully-rugged tablet, as an enhancement to its popular F110 model, designed to deliver unrivalled efficiency, reliability and safety to workers in hazardous environments.

In many industrial sectors, extreme temperatures, poor weather conditions and close contact with dangerous substances are all factors to contend with daily. Workers need devices they can rely on for efficient field maintenance, accurate safety checks and equipment monitoring tasks. IT failure not only has a significant impact on productivity, it also puts lives at risk.

The new F110-Ex fully-rugged tablet has been designed with this in mind. Featuring an 11.6-inch sunlight readable display and weighing just 1.49kg, it is both versatile and compact providing reliable operation in the field. MIL-STD810G and IP65 water and dust resistance certifications ensure seamless operation in wet, dirty environments, while an operating temperature range of -21°C to +60°C ensures full functionality in even the most extreme conditions.

The F110-Ex features intrinsic safety design limiting electrical and thermal energy output to a level below that required to ignite hazardous atmospheric mixtures. Like all of Getac’s Ex fully-rugged tablets it is certified to ATEX, UL913 and IECEx standards, for complete operator safety.

Powering digital transformation

Advances in AI and IoT technologies are powering digital transformation across all industrial sectors and the F110-Ex allows those businesses working in hazardous environments to fully benefit from productivity and process improvements and migrate legacy paper-based documentation to live and even cloud solutions.

Chris Bye, President at Getac U.K. Ltd, comments, “The F110-Ex enables users to safely collect and send digital data, capture images and even engage in video communication in high-risk environments, helping enterprises complete the last mile of digital transformation.”

Exceptional performance and security

Equipped with the 7th generation Intel Kaby Lake Core processors and multi-factor security mechanisms, the F110-Ex provides exceptional computing power and secure authentication. Full data protection is provided by Windows 10, with an optional face recognition camera compatible with Windows Hello, as well as barcode scanner and (LF/HF)RFID reader.

As one of the top rugged solution providers, Getac offers a comprehensive portfolio of vertically integrated solutions for all types of extreme operating conditions.  In addition to the new F110-Ex, Getac’s fully rugged tablet portfolio includes the EX80, ZX70, T800 and other ATEX-certified models, all delivering exceptional ruggedness and performance for hazardous industries.

Availability:

The new F110 will be available to buy from 27th September 2018. For more information, please visit: www.getac.com

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Trade service businesses now have the ability to become experts with job management software thanks to simPRO’s new learning resource.

The ‘simPRO Learning | Toolbox’ is the job management software company’s latest global product release, specifically designed to educate and support clients who are seeking short-term answers or long-term knowledge about the technology they use for coordinating business operations.

The new solution offers a growing library of essential resources, including how-tos and standard workflow practice materials, which can be learned at any pace. The online materials are self-directed, interactive and delivered in short, five-minute topics, supporting users in just-in-time learning to get the knowledge when needed. Users also have the ability to complete entire courses on specific simPRO knowledge or workflows. All materials reinforce the learning experience with knowledge checks.

simPRO Global Head of Customer Success, Erika Entz, said simPRO Learning | Toolbox was developed as a supportive resource for time-poor customers who wish to stay up to date with business demands.

[quote float="left"]This is a major stepping stone for simPRO customers, to gain a deeper understanding of our job management software, which has become integral to the trade service industry[/quote]“This is a major stepping stone for simPRO customers, to gain a deeper understanding of our job management software, which has become integral to the trade service industry,” she said.

“The learning toolbox allows businesses to enhance their simPRO knowledge anytime, anywhere. The learning materials will help businesses get new team members up to speed faster, and the self-directed learning allows users to become job management software experts in their own right.”

Ms Entz said the simPRO Learning Toolbox’s wide variety of resources would help simPRO to provide job management software that will lead businesses to future success, and help to make modern software a more accessible mainstream tool in the trade services industry.

“simPRO is dedicated to supporting our current and future customers with a variety of learning resources to ensure we enable our customers to get the most out of their software.”

“We regularly update and add new content, providing our customers with just-in-time learning in our new simPRO Learning Toolbox in addition to other learning resources, such as the simPRO Help Guide, videos and Walk Me Throughs to learn more about our groundbreaking solutions.”

The self-paced microlearning materials are available to users anywhere, anytime with internet access.

The simPRO Learning | Toolbox is included with simPRO customer’s user licenses, and comes at no extra costs and launched on 26 September 2018.

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Asset and service data will be a crucial element of making this transition to a more outcome-based business model. However, at present, surveyed organisations are not accessing the full potential of this data due to their inconsistent use of digital tools and technology. While 98% of respondents report that their organisation uses automated digital tools and technology to aid the collection and utilisation of asset service data, only around half or fewer state that these tools are used in the collection (51%), aggregation (43%) or analysis (52%) stages of the process.

This intermittent use of automated technologies is not only opening the door for inefficiencies but is also directly leading to difficulties with data collection and utilisation. Around four in ten respondents report that when it comes to the management of access to asset service data in real time (40%), aggregating asset service data in a structured way (39%), analysing asset service data (41%), and sharing asset service data analysis with the rest of the business (42%), their organisation either needs huge improvements in these areas, a complete overhaul or that they simply do not do this at all yet.

The difficulties regarding asset and service data are exasperated further by the 59% of respondents who agree that their organisation is held back from the successful analysis of data because the quality of it is usually poor.

Struggles are rife throughout the entire process, right from who is collecting it and how they do this, down to how it is being analysed and shared across the business. How can these organisations possibly expect to make any informed, strategic decisions using the data that is readily available to them if the process is so disjointed, outdated and underdeveloped digitally?

Lack of Data Confidence

And these struggles have led to a distinct lack of confidence among surveyed decision makers and their colleagues, with only 50% of respondents reporting that they or other service leaders in their organisation completely trust the asset service data that they have access to. But this will need to change because asset and service data is becoming an ever more integral part of organisations, and this is summed up by the 85% of respondents who agree that service asset data should be central to strategic decision making.

The requirement to boost trust levels is especially pertinent in those organisations where the C-suite is already using asset service data today (39%) or have plans to in the future (34%) because they will need to be able to trust in the data in order to make well-informed decisions for the business.

The use of asset and service data by the C-suite will also serve to set an example for leaders across other departments that this is the best way forward for the organisation.

Glaring Skills Gap

However, it is not just these deep-lying trust issues that are a concern for organisations, which is clear from the fact that only 22% of respondents are willing to admit that the IT and field service functions in their organisation work together completely effectively to achieve the goal of better data utilisation.

This lack of collaboration is compounded by a glaring skills gap whereby over three quarters (77%) of surveyed decision makers concede that the pace of data intelligence digitally collected by their organisation’s assets is outpacing the skills of those responsible for actually utilising the data.

Further to this, more than four in ten respondents report that the skills of engineers (45%) and the skills of management (44%) are a cause for concern when it comes to using data produced by advanced technologies (such as a digital twin) meaningfully. This should set alarm bells ringing for organisations because they are struggling with skills among both their employees on the ground and those higher up the organisation as well. It seems that even with the implementation of the appropriate technology for the collection and utilisation of asset and service data, there will still be work to be done in order to extract as much value as possible – this will likely need to be in the form of a rigorous training program.

An Appetite for Automation

A lack of collaboration between teams, an ever-increasing skills gap and an inconsistent use of the appropriate technology, leading to trust issues could become a recipe for disaster in these organisations if not addressed quickly.

The need for automated digital tools has rarely been clearer, and respondents recognise this. Only 7% believe that automating the process of collecting and utilising asset service data is not at all required because all data manually entered by service engineers is structured and entirely usable. Whereas over four in ten (43%) report that the automation of this process in their organisation is required to a huge extent, or that it is completely required because manually entered data never/rarely provides value.

Organisations will need to utilise automated digital tools more consistently if they are to progress, but they will also need to upskill their workforce and address any collaboration issues internally. These three areas are crucial if asset and service data is to be utilised to its full potential and this will ultimately underpin the successful transition to an outcome-based business model.

Want to know more?!  There is a white paper on this topic available to fieldservicenews.com subscribers. Click the button below to get fully up to date now! 

 

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Ultra Consultants, Inc., an independent research and enterprise solutions consulting firm serving the manufacturing and distribution industries, today announced the launch of its Center of Excellence.

Located at https://ultraconsultants.com/centerofexcellence, the Center of Excellence provides clients educational resources and best practices about effective selection and deployment of enterprise technology and the tools required to choose the right solution.

Manufacturing and distribution project teams are faced with a bewildering array of enterprise technology solutions and a time-consuming challenge of determining the best processes to achieve an efficient, optimally functioning enterprise that fully leverages the advantages provided by technology.

[quote float="left"]Manufacturing and distribution project teams are faced with a bewildering array of enterprise technology solutions[/quote]The Center of Excellence supports organizations by providing solutions for vertical industries such as automotive, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals and others. Market-specific information is based on decades of experience helping manufacturers and distributors select and implement the right solution for their unique needs. Project teams will be able to review best practices for niche market segments and benefit from Ultra’s collective experience in serving clients.

“Selecting the proper technology solution requires a careful analysis of the company’s needs and a thoughtful picture of its desired future state,” stated Ultra Consultants Center of Excellence Director Andrew Bolivar.

“The Center of Excellence helps cut through the marketing verbiage and enable users to thoroughly understand the benefits and potential pitfalls of different approaches. The collective experience of our team of consultants will help companies maximize the benefits of their investment in technology.”

“The Center of Excellence is another useful tool in our arsenal to help manufacturers and distributors determine the most effective technology solution for their enterprise,” said Ultra Consultants CEO and Founder Jeff Carr. “Our shared legacy of providing critical selection and deployment insight assists companies in operating more efficiently and rapidly achieving ROI.”

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Every year, the team at Copperberg AB, producers of the forthcoming Aftermarket Business Platform gather the brightest service leaders from the largest manufacturing companies and from all corners of Europe to dissect the ongoing service transformation and share the key to a successful servitization journey.

It is a networking experience which has proven to be critical for defining new business models that can allow field service companies to respond to changing customer expectations, which are moving from ownership to outcome-based solutions.

One such service leader is Carl-Henrik Sjölund, Global Consultancy Service Director at SECO TOOLS, whom Copperberg recently interviewed for a new eBook in order to put together an eBook on Servitization that shares some practical steps towards a successful servitization journey.

Here, we take a look at some of that advice...

Want to know more? Register to access Copperberg's Servitization eBook @ http://fs-ne.ws/CAjc30lXctz

10 steps to servitization success... 

Within the eBook Sjölund outlines what he sees as 10 key steps that field service companies should consider when approaching shifting to a servitized business model.

These are:

1. Define the customer process where your product is in use
2. Define the components in the close world around your product
3. Define the challenges for efficient use, and cost of inefficient use
4. If necessary, define your own core competence (know-how, not product)
5. Match the customers’ challenges with the biggest cost of “inefficient use of components” with your best core competence to “fix it"
6. Check customer interest of your new service by using real proof of concept. Could be fake landing pages for services where people can click for interest to buy, subscribe or just know more.
7. If you find good interest for your new service, make a business case for profitability and start
8. Build a service organization by parallel “selling and recruiting”
9. Use Aftermarket Business Platform to communicate your strategy and you get many interested system suppliers that can help you to enable and control the business
10. Enjoy the success!

Hindsight with 20/20 vision:

Reflecting back on his own journey, one of the core challenges in making a transition to a business strategy he had experienced was the difference between the traditional sales approach found in product-focused sales compared to the more nuanced approach required to sell complicated, yet highly profitable outcome-based service-centric contracts. As Sjölund commented:

"The journey was more or less OK except that we had too much trust in the existing product sales organization to sell the new services."

"They just didn’t understand it, he added. "Instead we found a few of our own salespeople for service sales with different backgrounds to understand the complete customer journey (challenge) and communicate with the highest management level about this. It’s important to bring people from the product service organization along to learn and pick the best.

The major trends of Servitization:

The eBook also draws on the wider pool of senior Service Professionals that attend the Aftermarket Business Platform and as such outlines some of the key trends that are becoming prevalent amongst Manufacturers across Europe.

These include:

• Manufacturing companies are faced with smaller and smaller batch sizes because of faster and faster development cycles.
• This leads to challenges to estimate costs earlier, prepare for the unknown and have very fast set-up of machine. Added to that, the need to produce good parts directly when there are orders means there is no time for optimization.
• Companies lack staff with the right skills and working methods for this.
• Many suppliers are promising industry 4.0 ready-to-use solutions without success support and this leads to bad experiences.

The technology of Servitization: 

Of course, as we have discussed many times here at fieldservicenews.com technology is a major factor in enabling the growth of servitized business strategies and models.

However, for Sjölund, the sheer volume of innovative technology that is empowering field service organisations to push ever further the boundaries of service excellence, a path that logically leads towards servitization, can be something of a double-edged sword.

"Technology is part of the problem: what is good and what to do?" He asks. "We already tried out a lot of technology (AI, Robotics, 3D Printing, AR/VR) to know what is usable and what is not."

"Most important change according to my experience so far is the use of big data mining to predict the future and access virtual good advices combined with virtual collaboration between users for “reality checks” and confirmation between professionals," Sjölund continues.

"This needs, however, data generating systems (IoT) in the workshop and well managed virtual communities. This is today not yet spread and partly not even available."

Want to know more? Register to access Copperberg's Servitization eBook @ http://fs-ne.ws/CAjc30lXctz

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Verizon Connect has been identified as the leading provider of fleet management solutions globally and in the Americas, according to the Fleet Management in the Americas – 8th Edition report from analyst firm Berg Insight.

Fleet management solutions are defined as vehicle-based systems that incorporate data logging, satellite positioning and data communications to a back-office application. The 300-page Berg Insight report covers both Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and aftermarket players in-depth.

“Our strategic research provides expert commentary and unique intelligence on the fleet management market,” said Johan Fagerberg, director of Berg Insight. “Verizon Connect is the clear leader in the fleet telematics space both from a global perspective and in the Americas specifically, and is setting the pace in delivering leading mobile technology platforms and solutions.”

“We are committed to revolutionizing the way people, vehicles and things move through the world, and this report recognizes our leadership in a dynamic market,” said Jay Jaffin, chief marketing officer at Verizon Connect.

“We maintain our top position by putting our customers first – helping them to improve safety, efficiency and productivity while lowering costs. At Verizon Connect, innovation, automation and connected data all come together to guide a connected world on the go.”

Verizon Connect offers a full suite of fleet and mobile workforce management solutions, serving commercial customers of any size.

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A national commercial landscaping company has dramatically increased its efficiency and improved its environmental credentials after embracing digital transformation.

Since adopting the WorkMobile mobile data capture app, Grace Landscapes has saved many hours’ worth of filing and data inputting time each month and greatly reduced its paper waste.

Grace Landscapes, which has a head office in Yorkshire, is one of the forerunners in the commercial landscaping sector. Established in 1978, it has grown from one to more than 120 members of staff based in four different locations, with an annual turnover of £6million.

Previously, the company’s field workers relied on paper-based forms and handheld cameras to capture information on landscaping and maintenance projects.

This resulted in a cumbersome paper trail, with a three to four-day wait to receive paperwork back by mail. The information then needed to be manually inputted into its CRM system and filed away in a time-consuming process.

Grace Landscapes recognised that it could benefit from a digital solution to help manage its data more effectively, and as it decided to upgrade its company mobiles to smartphones, began to look into ways that they could be used to their full potential.

After trialling WorkMobile’s cloud-based application for eight weeks with just four users, Grace Landscapes now has a permanent licence for each of its 40 field workers and supervisors.

[quote float="left"]After trialling WorkMobile’s cloud-based application for eight weeks with just four users, Grace Landscapes now has a permanent licence for each of its 40 field workers and supervisors. [/quote]With the help of WorkMobile’s flexible form designer, information can now be sent back to the Grace Landscapes head office instantly, along with photographs. With this information automatically integrated into the CRM and saved in the correct file, it not only saves time but also leaves less room for human error.

Team members can now search for completed jobs and other data within seconds, something that could previously have taken members of staff many hours to do.

It has also greatly enhanced the company’s reporting capabilities, making it much easier and quicker to find out, for example, how many jobs each person has done, to see any outstanding work, or to check the risk assessments for each site.

Neil Pix from Grace Landscapes said: “Once we realised how much time and money our previous method of data capture was really costing us, we made it a priority to find a more sophisticated, digital solution.

“WorkMobile’s app was exactly what we were looking for, and the results we’ve seen have actually exceeded our expectations.”

All these factors have improved Grace Landscapes efficiency and enabled us to spend money on other areas of the business.

“We pride ourselves on being an environmentally responsible business, and even established our own on-site recycling facility over 10 years ago, so the major reduction in paper waste is a fantastic added bonus.”

Colin Yates, chief support officer of WorkMobile, said: “We’re delighted that Grace Landscapes has seen such immediate, tangible benefits from using our mobile data capture solution.

“Our goal is always to help businesses revolutionise the way they work, saving them time and money while also helping them to become more sustainable.

“With just a few simple changes, Grace Landscapes has embraced digital transformation and completely eliminated its reliance on outdated physical paperwork.”

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As part of a new mini-series of excerpts of from the latest white paper from IFS we take a look at how communication is changing and technology is evolving. In the first feature in the series we looked at how when it comes to communications, Customers Want It Their Way .At the end of that article we asserted that in truth, we live in a world of five generations of consumers and employees. The choice of communication channel is ours. We pick whichever works for us. And by the way, if you think letter writing is dead just ask any complaints team!

So what does this mean? Does it condemn organisations that want to do the right thing by their customers to every increasing cost? The answer depends on what generation of infrastructure you are using...

Are improving your communication channels a key issue for you?! The full white paper on this topic available to fieldservicenews.com subscribers. Click the button below to get fully up to speed!

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While a choice of voice and text has been available to all current generations, their accessibility and immediacy has been transformed over the last forty years: from landline to smartphone, from letter to instant messaging. Our preferences tend to be based on the dominant channel(s) within our peer group.

But before we start to look at that, there is another stakeholder’s point of view that needs to be included beyond that of the customer. No prizes for guessing that the advisors’ experience matters in equal measure. Once routing and triage business rules have matched customer need with the best qualified, available person, your advisors assume prime responsibility for the quality of outcome and the customer’s retained memory of the service experience.

That’s a lot to get right, especially with five generations of customers and personas to take into consideration. In fact, it requires single-minded concentration and attention on the unique needs and expectations of each customer to nail those deliverables consistently.

While we might imagine that multi-tasking is the obvious way through a busy day, it has a price. Our attention span is finite. Split it too far amongst competing tasks and something has to suffer. More often than not it’s the nuances of each individual customer need that is missed when advisors find their focus and listening power distracted by the logistics of helping the customer towards their outcome.

"There are many triggers for losing focus on the customer experience. For instance, desktops can rapidly become a mosaic of overlapping application windows as information and workflow is requested and generated..."

There are many triggers for losing focus on the customer experience. For instance, desktops can rapidly become a mosaic of overlapping application windows as information and workflow is requested and generated.

Moreover, these are not consistent interfaces. They can range from mainframe style green screens to back-office ERP systems and cloud CRM interfaces. Legacy organisations typically expect advisors to toggle between half a dozen screens for certain customer jobs. There are even some sectors with double-digit complexity when additional third-party applications are used, such as customer eligibility checks.

Navigating all this is a daunting challenge for anyone just arriving at a new contact centre. They have the challenge of live engagement layered with the unfamiliarity of multiple systems and their idiosyncrasies. No wonder that much contact centre induction time is soaked up in systems familiarisation and training at the expense of customer experience skills.

On top of all that, it is not uncommon for larger contact centres to endure 20%+ annual attrition rates. Given the learning curve just described, a continual drag on performance and service reputation is created that is hard to overcome.

Finally, one of the most common complaints against the contact centre versus a typical online experience is that organisations never remember customers’ profile and history, despite asking for it multiple times. ‘Know me’ is a key mantra in digital economies.

But within the fast moving dynamics of a live engagement, advisors cannot be expected to hunt down relevant customer information in order to personalise an interaction. Even when captured in CRM, that information can remain hidden from view nestled behind multiple tabs and menus. No wonder we still hear the ‘system is slow today’ apology as the search for relevant details continues in the background.

There are multiple negatives from this way of working.

More time has to be spent on each customer, which inflates headcount costs. It then gets worse if the outcome is failure to find the right answer or get something done

immediately. Handoffs to other teams generate more work, inflate inbound queues with progress checking customers and put a big dent in the quality of customer experience for those who suffer.

Advisor motivation takes a hit too, as the pressure mounts on working harder. Command and control culture is reinforced to meet targets and the chemistry of an empowered employee culture driving positive customer experience starts to dissolve as a result. The ongoing stress of being underequipped and unable to do your best can hollow out the enthusiasm of even the most dedicated advisor.

But the good news is that it is possible to work smarter as opposed to expecting the team just to work harder. Advisors have the same right as customers to expect low effort engagement. This happens when a great desktop experience is enabling the right customer experience.

Want to know more? The full white paper on this topic available to fieldservicenews.com subscribers. Click the button below to get fully up to speed!

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The idea of outcome-based business models has not completely taken off as yet, and this is reflected by what respondents’ report is happening in their organisations.

On average, respondents estimate that 19% of their organisation’s business model is outcome-based, compared to 38% of the model that would be classified as product-based and 26% that is service-based.

However, there is potential for an outcome-based approach to be a big hit and it is unlikely to be too long before large multi-national corporations realise that product and service-based models are not as relevant as they once were.

It seems as though this realisation has already started to some extent; of respondents whose organisation does not currently operate a 100% outcome-based business model, more than nine in ten (95%) report that they are currently working towards moving some or all of their products and/or services in this direction or are planning to in the future.

Surveyed organisations from the oil and gas sector appear as though they are looking to get a head start on their competition with 64% of them reporting that their organisation is already working towards implementing a more outcome-based business model.

In recent times, organisations have found themselves in a race to the bottom, constantly undercutting their competitors on price, but often at the expense of product or service quality, simultaneously cutting their own profit margins.

This is not sustainable as a business model, not only due to reducing profits but also reducing customer satisfaction levels. Outcome-based business models provide an opportunity to differentiate from the competition and raise standards across all industries.

Enhanced Performance and More Competitive

The shift towards this type of business model is therefore somewhat unsurprising, and surveyed decision makers display overwhelmingly positive attitudes towards this approach.

The vast majority (89%) believe that the move to more outcome-based business models will enhance the way their industry operates, and only slightly fewer (82%) agree that this model will make their company more competitive than ever before.

Not only do organisations from the oil and gas sector appear to be making an early leap towards outcome-based business models, but surveyed IT and field service decision makers from organisations in this sector are almost completely convinced on the possible impacts of such a change.

More than nine in ten (94%) respondents from the oil and gas sector believe that this switch will enhance the way that their industry operates, including 71% who believe it will lead to significant enhancements.

Decision makers in oil and gas seem to be tired of the shortcomings of product and service-based business models and are ready to embrace the positive changes that outcome-based models will inevitably have.

Everything has a shelf-life, and it is evident that old school approaches to business have run their course – it is time for a change, and oil and gas are hoping to lead the way.

In business, those who can be first to the punch will often be very successful, but with a transition such as this, organisations must ensure that their plan is rigorous and well thought out.

Implementing a fully functional outcome-based model will not necessarily be a straightforward process and could be fraught with difficulties along the way, but it is certainly a step worth taking to improve customer satisfaction levels, the bottom line and the way industries operate as a whole.

Want to know more?!  There is a white paper on this topic available to fieldservicenews.com subscribers. Click the button below to get fully up to date now! 

 

Data usage note: By accessing this content you consent to the contact details submitted when you registered as a subscriber to fieldservicenews.com to be shared with the listed sponsor of this premium content who may contact you for legitimate business reasons to discuss the content of this content.   

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