Running on the 17th, 18th & 19th of June this year The Service Management Expo (SME) is Europe’s largest exhibition catering for the field service industry and with a thirty year history has been a long established central event for field service professionals both in the UK and beyond.

This year the event moves to a new home in London’s ExCel centre and as part of UBM’s wider Protection and Management (P&M) Series benefits from sitting alongside sister events Facilities Show, Safety and Health Expo, FIREX international and Energy & Environment Expo. Having been integrated into the P&M series last year, attendees of Service Management Expo were able to take advantage of the wider range of companies exhibiting across the series as a whole.

However, Service Management Expo also firmly remains an important event in its own right. As the largest exhibition dedicated to the field service industry in Europe, Service Management Expo offers service professionals a unique opportunity to meet with a number of providers of field service software, specialised rugged hardware, fleet management technologies and more.

Service Management Expo also offers an excellent programme of free industry education in the Field Service Solutions Theatre, which this year is hosted by Field Service News editor, Kris Oldland.

The programme of this year’s Field Service Solutions Theatre, which is sponsored by Cognito, is available here and contains some fantastic sessions and speakers.

A few of the key sessions at this years Service Management Expo not to be missed include:

Day One: 12pm Transforming Service Delivery: Insights from the Report

Join Trimble Field Service Management for an in-depth look at some of the key trends and issues highlighted in our recent publication, ‘Transforming Service Delivery: An Insight Report’. The report investigates the most pressing issues affecting field service organisations today and provides expert insight into how to transform your operations, from measuring service performance and mobile worker productivity to delivering customer service excellence and utilising data from the field effectively.

Day One: 14:15 Panel Discussion- The Future of Field Service: A discussion on the emerging technologies that could change field service, as we know it.

A panel discussion hosted by Kris Oldland, Editor, Field Service News exploring the technologies that are likely to shape the very near future of field service, including Big Data, Internet of Things, 3D printing, U.A.V's. Panellists include Phillipe Emenger CEO Core Systems, Trevor Milsom Global Strategic Marketing Manager Trimble, Ian Mapp, Director Wyser Stewart, Cathal McGloin, CEO Feed Henry

Day Two: 11:00 The Manager’s role in creating performance improvement from training…

SGSA’s Isobel Van der Vegt explains why training is essential, training dollars are limited and the expenditure must be justified. Some training fails to deliver the expected performance improvement and therefore the essential Return on Investment. This presentation will highlight the role of managers in achieving three things: evaluating the effectiveness of training, calculating the Return on Investment and ensuring that training results in performance improvement. Securing budget and booking the class are only the first steps of the process but, by themselves, will not drive the changes in behaviour that we need.

Day Two: 11:30 Service Management Software Survey 2014 – The results

Field Service News Editor Kris Oldland, reveals the findings from an exclusive research project undertaken by Field Service News in partnership with mplsystems exploring what software systems are being used Service Managers today and whether they are meeting the needs of the industry.

Day Three: 10:45 Top tips for greening your fleet

Roddy Graham, Chairman of the Institute of Car Fleet Management will provide top tips for greening your fleet. He will consider what needs to be done to achieve substantial savings while boosting corporate social responsibility credentials. ICFM tips include gaining stakeholder buy-in, running a technologically neutral fleet, establishing CO2 targets and influencing driver behaviour.

Day Three: 12:30 Live Interview with Tim Jones, European Service Director, Waters Corporation

Kris Oldland, Editor of Field Service News will interview Tim Jones, European Service Director, Waters Corporation about his recent move to decentralise the dispatch responsibilities of his field service operations, how he approached it, why he made the move and whether it has proved successful.