For manufacturers, parts supply and management has a major role in their aftermarket service operations. This event, led by aftermarket software experts Syncron, will show delegates how smarter inventory management can deliver greater customer...
AUTHOR ARCHIVES: Sharon Clancy
About the Author:
Sharon is a well-known freelance editor and journalist over 20 years experience in the logistics, transport and mobile workforce management sectors. She was editor of m.logistics for over 10 years and a driving force in growing the title into the industry-leading trusted and recognised authority it has become. She is also an experienced web seminar leader, panel member and conference speaker. Sharon is an enthusiastic advocate of the benefits mobile data and telematics in helping companies of all sizes develop effective strategies for driving efficiencies and improvements. In customer-focused sectors such as service where people-management expertise is key, technology can be a driver for change management and greater workforce engagement, she believes.
Apr 22, 2016 • News • Inventory Management • Servitization • Syncron
For manufacturers, parts supply and management has a major role in their aftermarket service operations. This event, led by aftermarket software experts Syncron, will show delegates how smarter inventory management can deliver greater customer experience.
Do you have all your inventory challenges under control? Great availability, no redundant or unnecessary stock? Shipping costs minimised, profits on part sales maximised? Happy clients, dealers and colleagues?
If you feel there is scope to improve your organisation's performance in any of the areas above, this Syncron Connect UK event is for you. It takes place on 8th June, at the famous Belfry Hotel and Golf Resort, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands.
Delegates will be able to hear about strategies to unlock profits through smarter inventory management, by more accurately estimating your spare parts requirements, better distributing them across your network and maximising profits on their sale
Mike Toms, Business Development Manager, JCB Service, will tell delegates about his company's journey, while Aston Business School will provide insight into how manufacturers can compete through Servitization and Advanced Services. Giacomo Squintani, Syncron, will explain the Best-of-Business v. ERP challenge for manufacturing service operations.
Click here to see the full agenda and to register for Syncron Connect UK
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Apr 21, 2016 • Management • News • Leadent • Events • field service
There's still time to register for next week's "Creating Value from Field Service" event, being held at the prestigious Williams F1 Conference Centre, in Wantage, Oxfordshire, on Thursday 28th April.
There's still time to register for next week's "Creating Value from Field Service" event, being held at the prestigious Williams F1 Conference Centre, in Wantage, Oxfordshire, on Thursday 28th April.
There's no charge to attend the action-packed event, which is hosted by mobile workforce optimisation solutions specialist Leadent and attracts senior figures from the UK field service sector.
To register and see the full agenda click here
The interactive agenda will allow delegates to explore the theme of "Creating Value from Field Service". How do you maximise the value delivered by and through a dispersed field force? The conference will bring together industry experts and practitioners who have been there and done it. Field service organisations such as Anglian Water, NATs, Serco and Arqiva will share their real-life experiences.
The event attracts senior delegates from some of the country’s largest organisations. The day is structured with presentations, case studies, and panel events, and there is plenty of opportunity for discussion with fellow peers and for delegates to network, converse and share ideas. Represented organisations will include utilities, telcos, facilities management, government agencies and more.
The range of topics includes Tactical Resource Planning, Analytics, Change and Transformation Management, the End-to-End Customer Journey, as well as IoT and the latest technologies.
A complimentary tour of the Williams F1 Collection is included.
To view full agenda and register, click here
Apr 20, 2016 • Hardware • News • Mobile computers • Getac • rugged • rugged notebook
Getac's new-generation S400 series notebook has the footprint of a business notebook, the features of a full-rugged device and incorporates Intel's latest Skylake micro-architecture to boost performance.
Getac's new-generation S400 series notebook has the footprint of a business notebook, the features of a full-rugged device and incorporates Intel's latest Skylake micro-architecture to boost performance.
Rugged computer manufacturer Getac has unveiled the first model in its next-generation S400 series semi- rugged laptop, the Getac S410. At 2.2kg and 35mm wide, it has the footprint of a business notebook but incorporates many features of a full-rugged device.
"The S410 builds on our success in the semi rugged notebook space, providing a combination of design, performance and versatility,” says Chris Bye, President of Getac in the UK.
The S410 can be specified with Intel 6th generation Core i3, i5 or i7 processors incorporating the latest Skylake U-series micro-architecture which boosts both CPU and GPU performance and reduces power consumption compared with the Broadwell series it replaces. Windows 10 operating system is standard.
The S410 incorporates Getac’s newest proprietary composite materials to enhance ruggedness. It has a splash-proof keyboard; rugged I/O door; flexible and durable handle and rubber bumper and footpad, with ventilation provided by the footpad from the bottom of the unit. Environmental credentials include an IP51 rating for dust, MIL-STD 810G certification and the ability to cope with 3ft drops.
A 14in TFT LCD HD 1366 x 768 display is standard, with a 14in TFT LCD FHD 1920 x 1080 high resolution screen optional. Getac’s Lumibond sunlight readable technology can be specified on either screen. Capacitive touchscreen technology means the S140 can be used in touch, gloved and pen modes even when wet.
Up to 1TB storage is available plus an optional SSD drive.
The 11.1-volt 4200 mAh battery should last a full day, but the S410 also comes with Getac's optional a hot-swappable battery feature with a light indicator to flag to users if there’s enough power left for the main battery to be switched. There's also a range of in-vehicle docking accessories.
Wireless communications include Intel’s dual band AC 8260, Bluetooth 4.2 and optional GPS, GOBI mobile broadband and RF Triple Pass-Through.
The S410 also offers multi-factor authentication including fingerprint touch technology.
I/O options including a docking connector slot, USB 3.0 connectivity and expansion bay for, for example, PCMCIA. In-vehicle and office docking units; a battery charger, and vehicle and AC Adapters are among the accessories available.
The S410 comes with Getac's standard three-year warranty.
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Apr 07, 2016 • Features • Management • Noventum • Events • Service Innovation and Design • Customer Satisfaction and Expectations
Why do customers choose your company? That's becoming a key question for many companies with recognition that Customer Experience Management (CEM) is increasingly important in manufacturing.
Why do customers choose your company? That's becoming a key question for many companies with recognition that Customer Experience Management (CEM) is increasingly important in manufacturing.
CEM has been identified as a key driver of customer loyalty and profitable growth, is a trending topic in the manufacturing industry. But for many manufacturers this is still a greenfield operation. So where do you stand and how do you get started?
Join Noventum's Service Innovation Project: “Why do customers choose your company? in Amsterdam on 19th and 20th April and gain the knowledge, practical tools and experience needed to successfully develop a best in class customer experience management model and increase your profitability, while improving customer satisfaction.
It does not matter whether you’re just getting started, or already well on your way, this Service Innovation Project is meant to help you move one step forward towards designing, selling and delivering high value services, which are also perceived as such.
Get best practice advice from the Service Innovation Project and benefit from the experience of many industry leaders.
Dominique Rossi-Chevrel, Chief Innovation Officer, IBM Services Europe, will share the secret on how IBM uses innovation as strategic CX driver to leverage customer insight and improve customer loyalty while Maarten Dekker, Service Director Benelux, Abbott Diagnostics will tell you about their daring vision and strategy which enabled them to achieve short term results.Other industry leaders and academic professionals on the agenda include:
- Thierry Rober, Head of Customer Loyalty, Bobst.
- Marcos Garcia de la Torre, EMEA Service Vice President, Voith Paper GmbH &Co.
- Lars Bruinsma, Independent Strategic Procurement Consultant, Marel
- Dr. Dominik Mahr, Scientific Director, Service Science Factory
Follow this link to get the full agenda. Or click here to learn more about Noventum’s Service Innovation Programme.
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Mar 23, 2016 • News • mobility platform • Bytes Managed Services • Software and Apps • Managing the Mobile Workforce
Bytes Managed Solutions is transforming its service management operations in South Africa and Africa with Astea International Inc.'s Alliance mobile workforce optimisation platform.
Bytes Managed Solutions is transforming its service management operations in South Africa and Africa with Astea International Inc.'s Alliance mobile workforce optimisation platform.
Bytes Managed Solutions (Bytes MS), a subsidiary of Altron Group, supports and maintains enterprise-wide end-to-end technology solutions and related services for medium to large enterprises in South Africa and Africa. It is the exclusive distributor for NCR products in South Africa and partners with Dell, HP, Lenovo, Alcatel, Burroughs, Unity, Postec, Unisys, Alcatel-Lucent and Cisco, in the financial, retail, petroleum and infrastructure sectors.
The company supports more than 1.2 million devices in over 46,500 locations throughout South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. With the Astea Alliance mobility platform it wanted to gain additional efficiencies, support its green initiatives by reducing paper, emissions and fuel costs, and reinforce its commitment to superior customer service.
Additional benefits resulting from the implementation include the introduction of standardised operating procedures, accelerated billing cycles, and providing employees and partners with real-time access to information, with the expectation of ultimately increasing revenues and boosting customer satisfaction.
The Astea Alliance mobility platform provides a comprehensive mix of capabilities such as mobile workforce management, real-time scheduling optimisation, field service, contact centre, depot repair, customer self-service, sales order processing, logistics and parts management, third party vendor management, professional services automation, and performance management. The end-to-end solution will further drive and improve efficiencies and reduce the cost of service delivery supporting the organizations strategic growth and acquisition strategy.
“We are focused on providing innovative, value-added products, services and solutions to our customers. Our success is based on our customers’ success. We are constantly looking at ways to drive positive outcomes for our customers that will support their service solutions and business objectives,” said Fourie van der Merwe, Chief Operations Officer. “With Astea Alliance, we have gained a leading-edge, unified, robust, and user-friendly solution that will support our initiatives and grow with our business. The solution, which is rated by Gartner in their Magic Quadrant for Field Service Management, is based around service excellence disciplines and best practice experiences drawn from Astea’s long and established history in the service marketplace and is uniquely positioned to meet our needs. The system will enable us to provide a shared service management system platform for the group,” he added.
“Bytes is a leader in its field as a result of its commitment to delivering superior service to its customers, a commitment which is made possible by the company’s continuous improvement of their internal processes,” said Zack Bergreen, CEO of Astea International. “Bytes MS truly understands the strategic value that quality of service can have on overall profitability, customer satisfaction and retention as well as providing a distinct competitive advantage in the marketplace. We are extremely proud that Bytes and Altron has selected to partner with us to further automate and optimize their service operations.”
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Mar 21, 2016 • Aston • aston business school • IoT • Servitization
If you thought that servitization was still a concept or something only applicable for large manufacturers, it's time to think again, says Professor Tim Baines, Director of the Centre for Servitization Research and Practice, Aston University...
If you thought that servitization was still a concept or something only applicable for large manufacturers, it's time to think again, says Professor Tim Baines, Director of the Centre for Servitization Research and Practice, Aston University Business School, Birmingham.
There’s an excitement about servitization at the moment. "People are asking questions such as: Is it relevant to my business? Will it work for my products? Are my competitors adopting it? What does a Servitization model look like?" Servitization in general and Advanced Services in particular are attracting interest, says Baines, because they offer the prospect of new revenue streams through post-sale services and the greater financial sustainability that comes with it because manufacturers are no longer totally reliant on transactional sales of products for income.
However, as more services are being built around products, says Baines, so process are becoming more complex. "There are three levels of manufacturer-led product services: spare parts, proactive and reactive product condition maintenance, and Advanced Services such has outcome-based contracts. As companies realise the benefits and value servitization can deliver, both they and their customers are becoming more excited about the possibilities of the Advanced Services element." He points out the parallels with the lean manufacturing journey many manufacturers have already been to remove waste and cost from production processes. “Just as Kanban inventory control and just-in-time logistics processes were advanced elements in lean manufacturing, so Advanced Services are a sophisticated element in servitization."
There’s still a lot of uncertainty about whether the servitization model fits all manufacturers and whether it is relevant to all business sectors.
All of this is challenging for manufacturers to take on board, he concedes. "While there’s a lot of interest, there’s still a lot of uncertainty about whether the servitization model fits all manufacturers and whether it is relevant to all business sectors. Part of that is because people often think servitization is difficult because of the process changes that need to happen. However, rather than look at servitization per se as being difficult, it’s more useful to focus on how receptive your organisation is to change. It’s as much about the culture and attitudes within the business."
Neither is company size is relevant to whether change will be embraced or resisted, says Baines. “Big companies have more resources to initiate change but also more inertia when it comes to changing existing processes. SMEs can be much more nimble having fewer constraints with, say, legacy processes." There is no doubt that SMEs are interested in servitization - in 2015, out of 100 companies that Aston consulted with on servitization, 77 were SMEs, reports Baines.
The intimate relationship with your customer and long-term partnership that the servitization model demands, beings other challenges. "Who has the intimate relationship with the customer: you, the manufacturer of the product, or your distributor? How do you ensure your distributor has the same commitment to your customer needed to make the Advanced Services model work?”
Professor Baines will be hosting Aston Business School's 2016 Spring Servitization Conference on 16-17 May 2016. For more information click here.
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Mar 10, 2016 • Features • News • Future of FIeld Service • ClickSoftware • field service management • Managing the Mobile Workforce
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing today's field service organisations? Submit your view to ClickSoftware's Service is Hard contest and receive a free Amazon voucher.
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing today's field service organisations? Submit your view to ClickSoftware's Service is Hard contest and receive a free Amazon voucher.
Delivering service is hard, acknowledges ClickSoftware. It is compiling a new book on the challenges facing the industry and would like input from Field Service News readers to help it identify and address the industry's biggest challenges and help make delivering service easier in future.
The company wants to combine its 20-years experience in field service with input from customers to create a book which will outline the most critical challenges in the sector market and present recommendations from experts, thought leaders and analysts on how to address these challenges.
All you have to do is to submit your challenges using the short form here by Tuesday 15th March 2016. (The form is in English but you can enter the details of your challenge in your own language.)
No challenge is too small, too simple or too complex.
Everyone who submits a challenge will receive:
- A free copy of the completed book (available in April 2016)
- An Amazon Gift Card worth £15.
If your challenge is selected to appear in the book, we will also:
- Acknowledge your contribution by mentioning you by name as a contributor.
- Send you a signed copy of the book (signed by Alec Berry, VP Consulting and Technical Services, ClickSoftware) thanking you for your support.
- Send you an additional £35 Amazon Gift Card.
Some examples of the challenges already identified include:
- Business Challenge: Service is hard….because we can’t meet our customers’ expectations while keeping operational costs down.
- Functional Challenge: Service is hard….because we lack accurate planning and reliable appointment booking.
- Technical Challenge: Service is hard…because it is difficult and complex to integrate the most advanced field service solutions with our legacy systems.
To submit your challenge, use this form. All challenges will be reviewed but may not all be included in the book.
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Mar 08, 2016 • News • Future of Feld Service • Future of FIeld Service • Events • Service Management
Technology, training and customer collaboration are the key topics for this year’s Field Service Summit taking place on 12 April, St Hugh’s College, Oxford.
Technology, training and customer collaboration are the key topics for this year’s Field Service Summit taking place on 12 April, St Hugh’s College, Oxford.
The one-day conference gathers over 90 senior field service directors from across the UK. They are meeting to explore how new technology and fast-changing customer expectations are shaking up field service management. With a pre-conference networking reception on the early evening of the 11th April, and a unique format enabling all delegates to meet with and talk to all speakers - the Field Service Summit ensures that busy executives maximise their learning opportunities, and minimise time spent out of the office.
Readers of Field Service News, responsible for managing a field service team, can receive a 25% discount off the standard price of a delegate pass,. Quote FSN25 when registering here.
Speaker Lineup
The Field Service Summit ditches slide decks and lets delegates sit in small groups to listen to and ask questions of our stellar lineup of speakers: Martin Summerhayes, Head of Strategy & Business Change, Fujitsu, John Cullen, Vice President, Global Marketing & Brand, Metso; Hans van den Heuvel, Operations Director, Services & Support EMEA, Canon Europe; Christian Nolte, Global Head of Field Service, Wincor Nixdorf; Sanjay Patel, Head of IS Strategy, Architecture & Commercial, UK Power Networks;Graeme Coyne, Manager, Siemens; Neil Taplin, Director of Operations, Arqiva; Coen Jeukens, Service Contract Director, Bosch; Professor Andy Neely, Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge; Howard Lightfoot, Professor, Operations Excellence Institute, Cranfield UniversityStandard price tickets to attend the conference are £870+VAT. Please quote ‘FSN25’ to receive Promotional Offer price of £652.50+VAT for Field Service News readers. NB. This offer is only available to serving field service end users - not consultants or solutions providers.; Aly Pinder, Senior Research Analyst, Aberdeen Group; Bill Pollock, President, Strategies4Growth; Jan van Veen, Customer Centric Innovation for Sustainable Growth; James Rock, Managing Partner, DesignThinking; IFS; Astea; ClickSoftware; ServicePower; GreenRoad; FLS - Fast Lean Smart; MPL Systems
World Class Technologies On Show
The latest field service technologies will also be on show from world-class technology providers.
Readers of Field Service News, responsible for managing a field service team, can receive a 25% discount off the standard price of a delegate pass.
Standard price tickets to attend the conference are £870+VAT. Please quote ‘FSN25’ to receive Promotional Offer price of £652.50+VAT for Field Service News readers. This offer is only available to serving field service end users - not consultants or solutions providers.
Register here
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Mar 03, 2016 • News • future of field service • Field Service Medical
Leading field service figures from the medical equipment world are heading to the Hotel Palace in Berlin from 7-9 March for Field Service Medical Europe. The event promises to be an action-packed three days focusing on the field service challenges...
Leading field service figures from the medical equipment world are heading to the Hotel Palace in Berlin from 7-9 March for Field Service Medical Europe. The event promises to be an action-packed three days focusing on the field service challenges faced by medical equipment manufacturers.
Field Service Medical Europe is less of a conference, more of a three-day meeting, says Greg Ashton, Senior Director for the event, helping the leaders in the medical equipment sector transform their business in the digital age, Alongside short, sharp 20-minute presentations , there will be 40-minute panel discussions, deep-dive workshops and small group round tables.
Topics include the rise of the machine, gaining service insight through M2M, how the IoT is changing field service for medical equipment manufacturers and identifying the technicians of the future. Speakers include Tom Buckley, director, Global Technical Service at Boston Scientific; Andrea Giradot, Care Fusion; John Ollerook, Head of Global Customer Service, Philips Healthcare; Stef Vanneste, Terumo-Europe; and Kari Klossner, Perkinelmer.
For more information and agenda click here:
Field Service News is published by 1927 Media Ltd, an independent publisher whose sole focus is on the field service sector. As such our entire resources are focused on helping drive the field service sector forwards and aiming to best serve our industry through honest, incisive and innovative media coverage of the global field service sector.
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