The connected supply chain, digital transformation, IoT, digital revolution, disruptive technology. Whichever way you phrase it, we’re surrounded by tech that is helping us gain better insights into our business operations; enabling us to make more informed decisions and improve our customer service levels.

Change is hard but digital isn’t going anywhere. And embracing the digital age for your field service organisation can feel overwhelming. Where do you start? But companies that do, will reap the benefits and rise to the top.
Embracing this digital shift will provide more accurate demand forecasting, faster service/fix times, more seamless workflows and full end-to-end supply chain visibility.

But, how can the delivery of spare parts to a physical location and an actual person witness such benefits, as well as reduce distribution spend, improve engineer efficiency and minimise inventory?

By combining Smart Technology solutions with a robust distribution network. Smart devices, such as smartphones and tablets, are the most used communication tools amongst field service organisations. Connecting your field operatives to your backend systems and enabling real-time data transfer for you to react accordingly.

But, what does this mean to the distribution, collection and return of spare parts? Through the use of smart devices, your engineers can now access smart lockers with app-based functionality Enabling you to get the right part, to the right place, at the right time.
Smart lockers are revolutionising how businesses get spare parts to their engineers, and systematically track the movement of that part.

It’s important to choose solutions that can easily connect with each other and so, we have looked at three areas you should consider when reviewing your spare part distribution and engineer connectivity to smart locker technology:

Reliability

Ensure you have established a closed-loop network. Meaning you can get spare parts to engineers 24/7/365 and back again. Being able to track your spare part at each stage of its journey and which parts are returned into your supply chain is paramount.
Your solution should be robust enough to stand up to varying weather conditions, always accessible and provide a place that your engineers can consistently pick-up from – getting the right part, to the right engineer, at the right time. Our own operational stats speak for themselves, averaging 99.7% pre-8am delivery to a fixed location, no more than 5.1 miles from an engineer’s own home.

Security

Many businesses in the locker space use pin codes that are keyed into a pin pad at the locker, texting engineers these codes for collection of parts. However, there is no audit trail and if an engineer calls in sick for the day or gets reassigned, the code is then sent around leaving you open to risk. With app-controlled lockers, engineers are sent a digital code, which is much more secure as it can be changed or reassigned remotely to another engineer. As it’s app-controlled, your engineer simply connects to the locker via Bluetooth® and the door is released.

Visibility

Knowing what’s going on in your supply chain and where your spare parts are, will open greater efficiencies, workflows, demand forecasting and flexibility. If you’re unable to track your distribution and returns loop of spares, you lose control of your inventory and accessible stock. The end result means you overstock, miss SLAs and increase operational costs such as same-day courier services.

Imagine a world where your engineers can have the actual stock they need by 8am the next day, with late order cut-off times as well as being able to see exactly what stock is out in the field or in a returns loop! App-locker technology combined with a strong distribution network provides the answer.

Transforming your supply chain network and bringing you into the new field service digital age.

Richard Agostinello is CEO of ByBox.