AUTHOR ARCHIVES: Kris Oldland

We've already run a number of  features that have looked at the trends that might be emerging or appearing on the horizon service this year. However what about the trends that have already emerged that will move beyond concepts and firmly take root? Aberdeen's Aly Pinder, takes a brief look at the trends which won't fade away this year... 

Trends come and go in our lives, and field service is no exception. But not all trends are alike. The five field service trends below have and will continue to bring valuable change to service and I expect they will not fade into our dusty history books:

Gamification:

Game mechanics is not just about a consumer trend to ensure that companies can better track and market to customers. Gamification can be used in field service to create a new and very visible incentive structure to help technicians evolve with the changing service model. No longer is field service solely expected to meet a schedule, technicians must now work with customers to resolve issues, create value partnerships, and help drive future revenue opportunities.

Internet of Things:

This may have had the most buzz in 2014. IoT in field service has the opportunity to play a major role in transforming how organisations capture data, what types of performance data they can gather, how they can resolve issues in a predictive and proactive manner, and find the next solutions for future problems.

BYOD:

The bring your own device initiative has run up against some skepticism recently. Like all trends a clear strategy to maximize the value of BYOD is necessary prior to rolling this type of change out to the field. Organisations Aberdeen sampled which adopted some level of a BYOD strategy did not see a drop off in key metrics, and in many cases they actually achieved improvements.

Techs as Partners:

No longer is the OEM the only company that can provide service on a given piece of equipment. The service model has begun to require that companies not only provide customers with the option to get the closest technician, but sometimes if they like get the technician they want to work with.

Wearables:

Will all technicians be outfitted with augmented reality glasses in 2015? Probably not. But wearable technology will continue to evolve in cost, value, and practical improvement for the field. Each technology advancements struggles with what is flashy and what helps get the job done in the field. Wearables are no different.

 

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Across December and January we asked our readers to nominate candidates for the inaugural #FSN20, a list of the twenty most influential people in field service. We received nominations from across the globe through social media, email and even a phone call or two directly into the news-desk.

Armed with a list of candidates, a Field Service News panel selected the final list of twenty based on the number of nominations, their impact on the industry (past, present and future) and their sphere of influence in both the physical and digital world.

After much long deliberation, heartful debate (read arguing) and enormous amounts of coffee we managed to whittle our list down to a final twenty which we pleased to present to you here the inaugural edition of the #FSN20. You may not agree with our selection and if you don’t tell us, tell your friends, tell your colleagues, hell tell the world - because at the heart of it that’s what this list is all about, getting people talking about excellence in field service and raising the profile of those leading us to a better future.

We will be announcing who made the list in alphabetical order in four sections across the next four days. So without further ado we are pleased to bring you the first five of the #FSN20

Colin Brown, Managing Director, Tesseract

Every generation or so a company will pioneer a new approach and then when they start to get some traction everyone else follow’s suit. Service Management Software company Tesseract under Brown’s long standing direction happen to have been that company twice, being the first company to launch a Service Management solution firstly for Windows and secondly in the Cloud.

If they head off in a new direction again I’d suggest paying attention.

Follow Colin @tesseractuk

 

 

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Professer Tim Baines, Aston University

Co-Author of “Made to Serve” and also Director of the Aston Centre for Servitization Research and Practice, Baines is one of the leading figureheads for the servitization movement, which could have an incredible impact on how field service operates for companies that adopt this approach.

An engaging and passionate speaker, with unbridled passion for his topic, Baines is one of the most significant figures in what is potentially one of the most significant industrial concepts in the twenty-first century.

Follow Tim @ProfTimBaines

 

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John Carroll, CEO, The Service Council

As founder of The Service Council Carroll’s impact on the field service industries stretches far beyond their home shores of the U.S. and right across the globe.

Having rapidly evolved from a good idea to a community spanning across 6 continents and representation in more than 30 countries, Carroll finds himself spearheading one of the most influential groups dedicated to field service in the world.

Follow John @tservicecouncil

 

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Alastair Clifford-Jones, Managing Director, Leadent Solutions

For perhaps too long Leadent Solutions have been one of the industry’s best secrets as Clifford-Jones has quietly built his managing consultancy with a team that, unlike some of his better known competitors, is populated with people who have worked in similar roles for their clients –so they inherently ‘get it’.

Therefore, it is not surprising that they are putting together an enviable track record of working with some big names and I think soon many more are set to follow.

Follow Alastair @LeadentSolution

 

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Sumair Dutta, CCO, The Service Council

In his previous role with Aberdeen Dutta headed up the organisation’s Customer Experience and Service Management Group and was a significant key figure in the launch of Aberdeen’s Chief Service Officer Summit Series.

Now in his role as Chief Customer Officer for The Service Council Dutta is one of the most widely seen commentators on the industry.

He also has field service’s best avatar.

Follow Sumair @suma1r

 

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See the rest of the list here:Part Two, Part Three,  Part Four. 

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The field service industry has, in previous years, been a subject of concern for having an ageing workforce. However, as the industry continues to evolve, a major trend has been the emergence of young, tech-savvy and collaborative workers writes Trimble Field Service Management's John Cameron

According to Aberdeen Group’s latest report, ‘Emerging Workforce in the field: Tech-savvy to technician’, approximately one-fifth of the current workforce is under 30, with the average age of a field service technician being 32 years old. Field service organisations must therefore recognise what the needs of this new workforce are, in order to keep them for the long haul as well as to attract the next pool of young talent.

Flexibility and Mobility

Technology is recognised as an aid to achieving key strategic objectives. It is therefore important for organisations to understand how the [quote float="left"]Tech-savvy workers don’t want to be tied down by legacy technologies. They want the freedom to engage with the latest advances

influx of young workers use, process and engage with technology. A key factor to consider is flexibility and mobility. Tech-savvy workers don’t want to be tied down by legacy technologies. They want the freedom to engage with the latest advances and utilise technologies they are used to in their personal lives.

 

There has been much debate around ‘Bring Your Own Device’ strategies, where employees have the ability to connect their own technical devices to their company’s network instead of using a device owned by the company. Aberdeen Group’s report found that 62% of the top performing field service organisations have incorporated a BYOD strategy as a result of a more tech-savvy workforce and 43% are more likely to give technicians access to social media and collaborative tools to facilitate knowledge transfer.

Visibility and collaboration

A major characteristic that the emerging field service workforce encompasses is the ability to be collaborative, and this is a trait that will help transform service and the relationship with the customer. Organisations must therefore capitalise on this by developing the collaborative tools needed to help the workforce perform as experts in the field and resolve customer needs quickly.

Collaborative tools, such as smartphones, tablets and laptops offer users the chance to take advantage of mobile apps. Indeed, mobile apps offer technicians the ability to share, store and view job data while out in the field, providing them with a virtual link to the back office. Critical information such as daily tasks, customer histories and billing can be accessed on demand. Furthermore, locations of nearby teammates can be retrieved on a mobile device and a real-time connection provided through social networking, enabling them to seek assistance in order to resolve a problem first-time.

 

Having the tools and capabilities to work more collaboratively, and having access to real-time insight, empowers the workforce to make more strategic decisions. The speed of communication via social and mobile allow them to solve problems more quickly and ensures resolution is not delayed because of lack of information.

Customer service excellence evolves with the emerging worker

It is now widely regarded that customers of today are much more demanding, expecting a quick fix on the first visit and a valued experience as standard. For the field service technician, who is often the only contact a customer will have with the business, there role is therefore more than one of just operational necessity; it is a role of strategic significance.

[quote float ="left"]There is a strong focus on the importance of emotional intelligence as an enabler to deal with the wide variety of changing customer service relationships

As a result, field service organisations seek field workers who have desirable attitudes and attributes for customer service. In particular, there is a strong focus on the importance of emotional intelligence as an enabler to deal with the wide variety of changing customer service relationships. Aberdeen Group found that the top performing field service organisations outperform their peers in regard to retaining the field heroes that they have, but almost as importantly, they are able to find, hire and train the next field service heroes.

 

These top organisations achieve this by capturing as much knowledge from seasoned workers before they retire so that they can pass it on to the up and coming youths of the industry. Indeed, 70 per cent of top performing field service organisations are more likely to provide technicians with a knowledgebase of recorded training videos and images.
 
Get the white paper associated with this feature here

 

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With field service going through a period of continual evolution there are a growing number of events dedicated to the industry that give you the opportunity to here from vendors, industry leaders and your peers to help you stay abreast of the latest trends. Here we look at some of the key events across 2015…
 

26 February, 2015

Enterprise Mobile Technology 2015, Hilton at St George’s Park, Burton on Trent

This is a unique one-day event bringing together leading executives and key decision makers, partners and suppliers from the mobile services industries. The event is designed to provide a platform to discuss smarter technologies for a connected mobile workforce. You’ll hear from industry experts, explore new and emerging technologies and also have the opportunity to network with peers and colleagues. From discussions about the tablet productivity evolution to connectivity in the field and transforming mobile operations, this is a must-attend event. Click here for more information 
 

23 – 25 March 2015

Field Service Medical Europe, Conrad Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

Across Europe, medical device manufacturers want to develop proactive customer service & a surefire way to keep pace with remote technology advancement. Until now, they had no way to share their ideas for the future in an open, collaborative environment. So the team behind Field Service Europe have created Europe’s most interactive forum for service & support executives – a 3 day meeting with the real leaders of the industry helping to transform their business in the digital age.

This event features practitioner only workshops, one-on-one speaker meetings, and is focused around networking to build career-long relationships. Also, as small and medium sized organisations face a unique set of challenges, there are separate sets of workshops for similar companies to collaborate and share their insights. Click here for more information

 

16 April

The Service Community. Venue TBA

“The Service Community is made up of people interested in finding out more about the service industry from its participants. The Service Community aims to provide opportunities to find out what practices have worked for others, and what hasn’t worked, and why; to move away from the theory of what could be done by examining what others do and evaluate successful practices. Meetings (no fee is charged) will aim to provide content which doesn’t appear to be readily available, and to stimulate and inform in a format that is easy to access and use, and relevant to the user.” – Steve Downton

Founded by the late Steve Downton, The Service Community is a non-profit organisation that seeks to drive service improvements and innovation through collaboration.

Run by service professionals for service professionals The Service Community runs a series of events across the year with expert presentations from some of the UKs leading service professionals  from a wide array of industries. Recent speakers include:

Mark Rawding, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Andy Beer, Pitney Bowes, Martin Gilday, Elekta, Martin Summerhayes, Fujitsu, Graham Coyne, Siemans

Attendance is free for all Service Professionals and each event is not only a fantastic opportunity to hear of best-practices from leading industry professionals but also to network with other service professionals across the day. Click here for more information
 

2 - 3 June 

Field Service Forum, Sheraton Hotel, Amsterdam

The 2nd Annual Edition will take place June 2nd-3rd, at the Sheraton Airport Amsterdam. The two-days interactive event will gather 150+ service professionals from cross-industry sectors and from all corners of Europe, and will feature case studies from organisations such as ABB, Siemens Wind Power, Nestle Nespresso, Pentair, Volvo Construction Equipment, and many more. Click here for more information

 

16-18 June

Service Management Expo Exel Centre, London

Service Management Expo returns to London’s ExCeL this summer, taking place from 16-18 June 2015, Europe’s only dedicated exhibition for the field service market will be co-located with Facilities Show as part of the Protection & Management Series.

Now in its 31st year, Service Management Expo is the annual industry event that brings together the latest information and the most up-to-date products and services for those working within service management, logistics, fleet management, operations and IT.

Service Management Expo will host the dedicated Field Service Solutions Theatre in partnership with Field Service News.  A full educational programme will run across the three days, mixing interviews with influential industry figures, best practice case studies and thought provoking panel debates.   The theatre will also host daily networking sessions allowing you to mingle with peers, discuss topical issues and catch up with old friends. Click here for more information
 

19 – 21 October

Field Service Europe, Movenpick Hotel Amsterdam

Field Service Europe is a forum for senior-level service executives from leading global organisations to share best practices on today’s most pressing issues including adopting a proactive and preventive approach to customer management, streamlining aftersales business to radically improve productivity, and utilising advanced remote diagnostics technology to increase efficiency and customer loyalty.

The peer-driven conference is packed with in-depth workshops and interactive roundtable discussions as well as unparalleled networking opportunities like the Women-in-Service Luncheon and VIP Think Tank. Click here for more information
 

21 to 23 October

Aftermarket Europe,  Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin, Noordwijk

The 9th edition will take place October 21st - 23rd in the Netherlands. It is the leading European event for senior aftermarket executives, attracting 200+ participants from global organisations. Over the course of three interactive days of content and networking, participants will be confronted with best practices and solutions to current challenges. Click here for more information

 
 

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Welcome to the latest edition of the Field Service News podcast. This month we are joined by Tom Oates, Senior Project Manager with service management software provider Solarvista and we are discussing the importance of getting the implementation of any software right if you are to see the expected efficiency and productivity improvements you are expecting.

You can listen to this edited snippet here for free and if you want to hear the full podcast which includes Tom's advice on how best to implement the software and manage the transition from one system and set of processes to another both in terms of the technology in place as well as from a change management perspective, you can get instant access by simply clicking the link below and completing the brief registration process.

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To download the full podcast just click here and complete the brief registration form!

 

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Workforce optimisation specialists Leadent Solutions have recently launched a new health-check service for companies operating a mobile workforce to ensure they are getting the most out of their existing systems and processes.

To find out more about what this service entails Field Service News Editor Kris Oldland spoke exclusively with Emma Newman, Managing Consultant at Leadent Solutions and we will be bringing you this interview across the next four weeks.

In this first part of this new series the discussion focussed on perhaps the most important part of any organisation, the people.

In part two we discussed why processes are such a key ingredient in the successful mix of a field service organisation and how we can get these right and in part three we looked at assessing the systems you have in place

There is also an accompanying series of articles to this interview which add further insight into the health-check. The first of these of which is available here.  The second feature written by Mark Thompson, Managing Consultant with Leadent Solutions is available here and looks at processes, the third feature written by Kevin Anderson looks at systems is available here and finally the feature which accompanies this instalment is available here

 

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If you think your company could benefit from the Healthcheck you can contact Emma and the team directly by clicking this link

 

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Resource Type: White Paper
Published by: Oneserve
Title: The metrics that matter: How actionable analytics can transform field service management performance­
Download:Click here to download this white paper
By downloading you agree to the T&Cs listed available here
Synopsis:

The top strategic action for two-thirds of service organisations is to develop or improve the metrics or KPIs used to measure field service performance. And yet only 18 percent of companies believe they have the skills necessary to gather and use insights effectively.

These two statistics represent the predicament of many field service organisations today - they know actionable analytics are vital for business success, but fully utilising the information they gather is a daunting and difficult task. This white paper aims to disentangle the vast quantity of data available in the field service management industry by highlighting the metrics that really matter and demonstrating how analytics can be used to improve business performance.  

Overview:

This white paper covers the following areas:

Customer Centric and Servitisation

Many organisations have data at their fingertips but are paralysed by the complexity and number of data sources available to them. They rely on anecdotal evidence or intuition to make decisions rather than informed business intelligence in order to drive competitive advantage.

Research shows that service organisations that fully interrogate data outperform their rivals. A like-for-like comparison between organisations which use advanced analytics and those that don’t, reveals that adopters of analytics are seeing a 60% higher increase in year-on-year revenue.

Analytics for Field Service Management (FSM)

Analytics for FSM should be based around assets in the field, the resources (time, money and people) it takes to install, maintain and repair those assets and the customer experience. Initially an organisation may just want to understand the numbers around these key activities, then in time improve processes. Ultimately the goal should be to deliver forecast and predictive analytics that achieve optimisation across service delivery.

For field service this goal can be delivered at both strategic and operational levels, for example a director might want to understand how a shift in approach can create gains for the organisation, whereas a manager might want to understand how exactly that shift can be made.

 

Incorporate the metrics that matter

To ensure analytics are able to deliver valuable insight, the right KPIs must be identified. Every service organisation must identify their own metrics based on what success looks like for them. There are however some common measures in the service industry which should be tracked by any service organisation regardless of which sector they operate within.

KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) for field service management should include:

• Business process
• Service delivery
• Customer service
• Operational efficiency

This is by no means an exhaustive list - each metric should unlock more in-depth measures which require analysis. Clear actionable insights will be revealed as part of the analysis from which the organisation can take evidence based decisions and improve the process associated with that measure.

This should be a constant cyclical review process. 

The analytics journey

Assuming a set of KPIs has been defined, there is a hierarchy of analytics that can be applied, dependent upon the richness of the data and the analytics resource available. The advanced analytics journey demonstrated in chart 1 articulates a staged approach, which starts by examining the data and finishes by optimising the intelligence which has been discovered. Evidently each step in the journey becomes more complicated and arguably more useful as the capability and complexity of the analytics increases.

Additional benefits of analytics

Increased customer retention Research by Aberdeen Group shows organisations that embrace analytics outperform their industry average figures for customer satisfaction, customer retention and service improvement. These organisations use analytics to gain a deep understanding of customer behaviour to preempt customer needs and desires without explicit interaction.

Higher levels of motivation in the workforce The mobile workforce is the shop window of any service organisation. In fact some organisations are even combining the role of technician and salesperson. The technician is highly qualified in product knowledge and often in the customer space; this puts them in a unique position of knowledge and trust to be able to sell to the customer.

Improved bottom line Organisations which reap the greatest rewards from business intelligence see a significantly improved bottom line.

Competitive advantage By continuously analysing in-house performance figures these companies can use this insight to monitor their competitors and ensure they stay at the top of their game. The best performing service organisations are twice as likely as all others to consistently benchmark service performance against peers and top performers in other industries.

Click here to download this white paper

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Enterprise technology expert, Keytree has developed an interactive tool for food charity Plan Zheroes, to help address food waste in the fight against UK food poverty.

Launched today, Plan Zheroes’ new platform acts as a social network where relationships are built between food businesses and charities to ensure communication is quick and simple and food reaches those in need, safely and conveniently.

When an organisation has surplus food to donate, they can now sign into a secure site, upload their information, and nearby charities will instantly receive a notification of the available food. Charities can then claim the food online, and a network of local volunteers and transporters can help transport the food where required.

The platform is designed in a highly scalable way to grow with the charity.  It offers a complex mapping feature and hosts communities within a website to help build relationships between food businesses, charities, local community groups and volunteers to speed up the process of regular food giving.

 

“The platform is fully responsive from desktop down to smartphone, with all functionality available across devices.  We decided to create a responsive web solution to keep ongoing costs for the charity down so maintenance is done across a single platform rather than a website,” said Ian Jones, Principal Consultant, Keytree.

 

“It also works on all devices through either an iOS or Android app. We are now considering working on a standalone app and the use of SMS functionality to enable those volunteers without smartphones to also take part in the process.”

Whilst 13 million people are living in poverty in the UK, 650,000 tonnes of perfectly good food is thrown away by food businesses. Plan Zheroes seeks to address this by inspiring food businesses to give their surplus food to those who need it so it will never go to waste.

Maria Ana Neves, Co-founder and CEO of Plan Zheroes said: “Keytree has included some unique and highly innovative functionality to address a very complicated collaboration structure. The user experience and user-centric design is ideal for those who will use the site. The team also unlocked valuable insights such as bringing volunteers and transporters into the map and transforming the new platform into a social network.”

“The launch of our new platform is the important next step on our journey to fight food poverty and the devastating effect it is having on people in the UK. It allows a better connection between local networks of businesses, charities, volunteers and transporters, making the process simpler, quicker and more intuitive. With Keytree’s offer of pro bono help we can now further expand the network to support even more people in need of food.”

The Plan Zheroes website can be found at www.planzheroes.org

Plan Zheroes currently works with a wide range of food businesses - including restaurants, catering companies, cafes, food shops, schools, supermarkets, hotels and food markets – all of which can now register on the Plan Zheroes website and forge links with charities and local community group. Plan Zheroes partners include Borough Market, Paul UK, Le Pain Quotidien, Gail’s bakery, the Langham Hotel, catering company Squid & Pear and Budgens. Charity partners include Red Cross UK, Look Ahead, the Marylebone Project, New Horizon and The Abbey Centre.

 

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Resource Type: White Paper
Provided by: Trimble Field Service Management
Author: Aly Pinder Jr, Senior Research Analyst, Service Management. Aberdeen Group
Title: Emerging workforce in the field: Tech Savvy to Technician

Download: Click here to download this white paper 

By downloading this white paper you agree to the T&C's outlined here

Synopsis:

With Trimble’s ongoing focus on empowering mobile workers Trimble have teamed up with Aberdeen Group to publish a new report looking at the emergence of a new mobile worker in field service. Written by leading field service analyst, Aly Pinder, this paper takes a closer look at how technology is affecting and driving the next generation of field service workers. Are millennials that different from their predecessors?

What are their weaknesses and strengths? And most importantly how do they fit within the evolution of the field service industry itself? With the field service industry facing a rapidly growing issue of an ageing workforce it is even more important than ever to understand how to attract and engage with the next generation of field workers.

Report Highlights:

• 62% of top performers have incorporated some level of BYOD strategy as a result of a more tech-savvy workforce
• The best-in-class are 33% more likely to implement visual collaboration tools to improve communication between technicians and remote experts
• The best-in-class are 70% more likely to provide technicians with access to a knowledge base of recorded training videos and images
• The Best-in-class are 43% more likely to give technicians access to social media and collaborative tools to facilitate knowledge transfer.

Overview:

Replacing good workers is never an easy task and unfortunately the majority of companies wait until it is too late to address what is a lurking problem. In fact, Aberdeen’s Talent Acquisition 2014: Reverse the Regressive Curse report, highlighted that 60% of companies were reactionary in regard to talent acquisition and only recruited when they had an opening, instead of actively recruiting prior to an open vacancy becoming available.

The problem then faced is not only finding the next great field service engineer as a reaction to a departure but also understanding their needs and motivations as much as possible in order to retain their services for the long term. What makes this challenge even more complex currently is that we are in a position of flux when it comes to our workforces.

 

The fact is that the available pool of workers is changing swiftly. Currently the average age of a field service technician is 32 years old, with approximately one-fifth of the current workforce under 30 (as reported in the recent Aberdeen research on Mobile Field Service). So as field service companies bring in new workers from this next generation, dubbed millennials or generation y they need to consider how these workers will begin their journey with the team and manage the way in which this new breed of engineers will use, process and engage with technology.

Finally, to further compound these challenges there is the spectre of an ageing field service workforce to contend with. So, not only is there a need to make the transition from one generation of worker as seamless as possible, there is also a pressing timeframe to contend with as well. To get this transition right, first time around, field service organisations must consider at east three questions as they try to continue delivering exceptional field service with the next generation of field service workers.

• What do your customers want?
• How can you attract the next generation of great field service engineers?
• How does the next generation of field worker help the evolution of mobility in the field?

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In many respects the next generation fits perfectly with the way field service is evolving. So whilst there are some fairly negative connotations associated with the millennial/gen y age group – sharp attention span, sense of entitlement, “I will be CEO in less than two years’ etc. these misconceptions of the industries youngest workforce are not where our attention should lie. Whilst this generation of field workers may be different from their forbearers, they aren’t necessarily worse.

They may have some drawbacks, but when it comes to the evolution of excellent service, they may be just what is needed to wow future customers.

The emerging field service workforce embodies a number of characteristics that will help transform service and the relationship with the customer. These workers are young (30 and under) technology savvy, (they grew up with computers) and collaborative (social networks are a way of life.)

 

These traits and preferences help these workers attain and evaluate data faster than ever. But the integral part is how quickly that data is turned into answers and insight. To find out more about how companies overcome the challenge of an ageing workforce and take advantage of the next generation of great field engineers,

Trimble Field Service Management are offering this white paper for download now

Click here to download this white paper

 

 

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