Case Study: Intimus International transforming their field service operation...

Jul 11, 2016 • Case Studies • case study • FieldAware • information security • Software and Apps • software and apps

Company:

Intimus International Group is a leader in the Information Security industry.

They offer information security products that include everything from industrial paper shredders to high security and large capacity data destruction machines. Intimus operates in multiple countries across Europe and manages processes and workflows across multiple divisions.

They offer comprehensive solutions throughout the value chain in terms of innovation, development, manufacturing, sales and post-sales services.

Challenge:

“Intimus International wants to be the leading global supplier of security solutions for data management and cash management systems. We have over 11,000 customers in Benelux, and it is our mission to provide them with best-in-class service,” said Gunther Dehaes, General Manager, Intimus.

The company offers service contracts to repair and maintain its product line and the profitability of these service contracts depends on how efficiently the company can meet its obligations.

Working across multiple countries and following a merger and acquisition, Intimus found there were a number of bottlenecks with their existing workflows.

They needed to more efficiently coordinate communication between the back office and field engineers and wanted to be able to streamline the workflow as well as how they captured and processed data to and from the field.

“Our problem was the time it took to coordinate, communicate and process everything that happened in the field,” explained Erlyn Grevelt, Supply Chain Manager of Intimus. Dispatchers were having to have lengthy, often complex phone conversations with engineers for every service request. With each call taking up to ten minutes and more than 50 engineers in the field, the calls alone consumed more than 100 hours a week.

Then, as engineers completed service calls, they filled out the job details on paper, which were taken back to the office to be input manually. A team in accounting then reviewed all completed jobs before invoicing, so the entire process to bill a customer took a full day on average.

Operational improvements:

Having recently implemented Netsuite, a leading ERP system, to streamline and simplify their accounting practices and resource planning, Intimus wanted something compatible to improve their operational service, they turned their attention to field service management software.

"The implementation of both Netsuite and FieldAware took just 40 days and with quick and high adoption from their field engineers, the positive impact was immediate..."

“We knew from the start that we would need to extend our service needs and NetSuite has a strong partner programme and through that programme we found FieldAware,” explained Grevelt.

“FieldAware has a very simple mobile app for engineers and at the same time, it gives me a huge amount of complex information. When an IT solution can offer me that, I’m very pleased.”

Intimus selected FieldAware because of the deep integration with Netsuite, ease of implementation and ease of use for the schedulers and engineers.

The implementation of both Netsuite and FieldAware took just 40 days and with quick and high adoption from their field engineers, the positive impact was immediate.

Together, NetSuite OneWorld and FieldAware transformed the field service workflows in the company’s service operations and accounting, dramatically accelerating the job completion rates and invoicing processes.

Results:

The newly automated processes save considerable time for customers, dispatchers, engineers and back office staff alike. Engineers use FieldAware mobility software to schedule their own time based on customer location and availability.

FieldAware saves 80 hours each week for the dispatch team, and reduced the time required to generate invoices from one day to less than a minute.

“With FieldAware we are more efficient now,” said Peter Gils, Service Manager, Intimus “An engineer’s tablet has a complete list of the workflow he has to do, he can plan his own route without calling the office, we drive less miles which saves us money, and the customers are happy with the shorter response time.”

“Results have been staggering and the outcome impressive...”Erlyn Grevelt, Supply Chain Manager, Intimus

FieldAware optimised communications between dispatchers and field service engineers, so now dispatchers enter details of each service order into NetSuite, which instantly transfers them to technicians’ tablets. Engineers contact the customer and schedule jobs themselves. The press of a button tracks the service call and FieldAware automatically sends this data back to NetSuite for invoicing and management reporting.

“Results have been staggering and the outcome impressive”, said Grevelt. “Most importantly, FieldAware has taken the pressure off the coordination team.”

“In the past, we had to have multiple conversations to be able to service our customer,” added Grevelt.

“Now we have a direct line of communication to the customer through the engineer in the field. We only have one conversation, and that’s the only conversation that matters, and that’s the one with the customer.”