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In an age of servitization and advanced services, spare parts management has become something of a difficult beast to fully grasp for many companies who are offer aftermarket services.

For example, in a world of guaranteed up-times, the cost of failure to keep an asset running can often far outweigh the lost revenue from the sale of the replacement part needed to get the asset back up and running and fully functional again.

Yet, the path to servitization is not an easy one to tread - so is it worth cannibalising what for many service companies is a reliable, consistent and strong revenue stream in its pursuit?

Whichever route companies ultimately turn to, one thing is certain, spare parts management is going to be a crucial aspect within the service delivery sector and as with mobile workforce management, there are a number of technologies and innovations that are emerging that could change the way we approach parts management in the future.

Therefore it was with great interest that we took a look at the insights from a recent research project undertaken by Copperberg. The research was conducted online across the last month primarily to Copperberg’s own audience of conference delegates.

In total the there were 65 responses to the survey and these representatives were all professionals within the sector ranging in seniority from parts managers through to Managing Directors - although the main body of respondents were at the division head/director level on a national scale.

The majority of respondents were from Europe although other regions, including China, were represented. The respondents were largely from manufacturing verticals, which would be anticipated given Copperberg’s flagship event the Aftermarket Business Platform is also a manufacturing dominated event. However, there were a number verticals within the manufacturing sector represented including heavy machinery, medical and automotive.

So let us take a brief look at what trends the research revealed...

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Want to know more? Click here to Visit Copperberg's website to register for an exclusive white paper based on this research!

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Inventory Management:

Inventory Management sits at the heart of good parts management as without the ability to track components and parts at any given time as they move from depot to the field (and potentially back again depending on a companies approach to repair and reverse logistics) everything else within in the equation becomes open to inaccuracies and subject to guesswork.

Indeed, the importance of inventory management appears to be hugely important within the organisations represented within Copperberg’s research with 91% of the respondents ranking it as being either four, five or six on a scale on to six with six being very important. In fact, almost half of the respondents (43%) listed Inventory Management as very important (6) - further emphasising the significance of inventory management in the context of spare parts management.

So it is absolutely shown to be clear in the research that the focus on inventory management remains one of utmost importance for the vast majority of companies.

 

Parts Pricing and eCommerce:

Parts pricing is also another area that was unanimously outlined as being important to the survey respondents.

This is particularly interesting as the fact that so many companies still view parts pricing as being highly important to them could be viewed as an indicator that the revenue streams that come from spare parts sales is still very much a critical part of the aftermarket landscape.

In fact, 86% of respondents stated that they felt parts pricing was at least a four on the same scale as listed above, however, here it was just under a third of respondents (32%) that felt this issue was very important.

eCommerce is of course another area that is heavily linked with parts pricing and there are indeed some correlations between the two areas, yet in terms of responses, eCommerce remains somewhat less of a priority than pricing.

With regards to eCommerce, exactly two-thirds of the respondents (66%) listed it as a four, five or six with only 16% seeing it as being very important (6).

This is quite an interesting difference between the two as we might have anticipated these results being more closely aligned.

One assumption, however, may be that with regards to eCommerce the solutions have now matured and so most manufacturers in 2018 may have at least some form of eCommerce solution in place - perhaps this explains why it is viewed as less of a priority?

This is certainly though an area for further discussion - something that will be surely had at the Copperberg Spare Parts Business Platforms which are running in Q1 next year.

 

Digitalisation:

Digitalisation is the key buzzword of the last few years although given that it encompasses a number of important shifts within the current evolution of business processes this is perhaps to be expected and there is no denying the importance of digitalisation within the field service sector and it is also a major consideration within the closely related function of parts management as the research reveals.

Digitalisation was ranked was 71% of the respondents to the Copperberg survey as being listed as either a four, five or six on their scale of importance, with 22% of respondents listing it as a six i.e. very important.

This places digitalisation as being deemed to be not quite as important to the respondent base as Inventory Management and Parts Pricing but more important than eCommerce.

What is interesting to note here is that these two very specific niche challenges seem to be in some-ways the eternal, perennial headaches of the sector, whilst broader, business-wide concerns such as digitalisation are possibly more likely to appear as an issue to overcome in the short-term which in themselves could lead to improvements in other areas - such as improved inventory management for example.

Which leads us neatly into...

 

3D Printing & Artificial Intelligence:

Two perfect examples of exciting new technologies that are emerging would be 3D Printing and Artificial Intelligence (AI) - with one set to play a hugely significant role in the niche of spare parts management, whilst the other will play a broad role in almost all sectors, including spare parts management.

So how do the industry experts who made up the Copperberg respondent base see each of these exciting technologies impacting the spare parts management sector?

With regards to AI just over a third of respondents (35% ) thought it would be important to some degree (again listing it as either a four, five or six).

However, less than a tenth of the respondents (9%) felt that AI was currently very important for them.

In terms of 3D printing, surprisingly the numbers were even lower.

In fact, less than a third of companies listed 3D Printing at a four or higher and only 8% of respondents felt that 3D Printing was very important in the sector currently.

 

Parts Logistics:

One area, however, that was overwhelmingly listed as being important within the field of spare parts management across the next 12 months was that of parts logistics.

94% of respondents listed parts logistics as being at least a four in the scale of importance with over a third (35%) going on to state that they felt parts logistics was important enough to warrant being listed as a six.

This makes parts logistics one of the most important areas in the spare parts sector across the next twelve months according to this respondent base, although Inventory Management is very important to more companies.

 

Conclusions:

The results of the survey bring us some interesting conclusions - particularly when we stand them alongside the trends we are seeing from within the field service sector.

Of course, field service and parts management are two leaves on the same branch with deeply symbiotic relationships between the two.

Yet, from this research at least, it does seem that many of the forward-looking discussions we have been having within the field service sector, particularly around emerging technologies such as AI, IoT and Augmented Reality as well as the wider topic of servitization as a strategy for business growth - may be further down the line than their equivalent discussions with our spare parts colleagues - and in some companies that may be significantly so.

Perhaps, part of the reason for this is that parts management is a highly complex beast with a huge amount of moving parts (literally) and even if solutions such as inventory management systems have been put in place it may take time for the benefits there to be truly felt.

However, the simple fact is that no matter how efficient field service management is - it all falls out of the window if parts management is poor - and this is perhaps the greatest learning from the research - that the focus of professionals within the parts management sector currently remains on efficiencies - and for that, we in field service should be hugely grateful.

 

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Want to know more? Click here to Visit Copperberg's website to register for an exclusive white paper based on this research!

 

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Blockchain, the technology developed to enable the crypto-currency Bitcoin has become the latest big buzz phrase technology across industries worldwide, but is it just hyperbole or can it be an important factor in the future of field service?

Business across the world are turning their attention to BlockChain right now and in the majority of cases, the main focus of this attention is centred around Bitcoin, the first globally recognized digital (crypto) currency that has hit the headlines largely for huge spikes and dips in its value across the last 12 months.

However, whilst Crypto-Currency is the most widely understood application of Blockchain technology, there may be a number of other applications which could be far more important to how the field service sector operates.

Blockchain 101

So for the uninitiated lets first get our heads around exactly what BlockChain is...

To begin a blockchain is a continuously growing list of records, called blocks, which are linked and secured using encrypted codes. Essentially, each block will typically contain a cryptographic hash of the previous block, alongside a time stamp and the transaction data.

Perhaps the most critical point to comprehend about blockchain is that by design, a blockchain is inherently resistant to modification of the dataPerhaps the most critical point to comprehend about blockchain is that by design, a blockchain is inherently resistant to modification of the data. The technical language is that it is “an open, distributed ledger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way”.

When used as a distributed ledger, a blockchain is generally managed by a peer-to-peer network which adheres to the same protocols for validating new blocks collectively. What this means is that in practice, once the data is within in any given block it can not be altered retroactively without the alteration of all subsequent blocks. The particularly clever part here is that as each peer within the chain is working as part of the collective, such a change requires the collusion of a majority from the network - this makes pulling a fast one anywhere along the line pretty much near impossible.

Thus blockchains are inherently secure by design.

For the more technically minded amongst us, one could suggest quite rightly that the establishment of blockchain has meant that decentralized consensus has become realized, with blockchain ‘exemplifying a distributed computing system with high Byzantine fault tolerance’

For those of us who are perhaps more interested in the outcomes, however, essentially what we need to know is that due to the way they have been designed they are highly suitable for the recording of information that needs watertight security - such as medical records and of course financial transactions - which is where it all began.

Whilst Blockchain is rapidly gaining attention, it is the crypto-currency that it was created for use with, Bitcoins, even more widely recognized within the mainstream.

Blockchain was invented by wonderfully mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto back in 2008 as Bitcoin’s public transaction ledger.

Indeed it was the invention of the blockchain that allowed bitcoin to become the first digital currency to solve what is known as the ‘double spending problem’, without the need of a trusted authority or central server - essentially making crypto-currency viable.

So it’s just a new way of taking payment?

Well no, as we alluded to at the top there could be a lot more to how Blockchain plays a role in field service which we’ll go into shortly - but whilst we are at it there is certainly a case for adding crypto-currencies to the list of how your organisation receives payment for the services delivered - especially if you are serving the consumer directly.

Certainly whilst crypto-currency is by no means a mainstream payment method as yet, an increasing number of businesses are starting to accept it and with a lower barrier to entry than accepting plastic, any business in any industry has the ability to adopt crypto-currencies.

In Japan alone, an estimated 260,000 businesses were reported to offer the cryptocurrency as a payment channel in 2017.In Japan alone, an estimated 260,000 businesses were reported to offer the cryptocurrency as a payment channel in 2017.

But what are the benefits of accepting cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin for a business?

There are plenty of positives in doing so but some key reasons cited in an article on business.com include:

• Eliminate chargeback fraud: A Bitcoin transaction is immutable. Once a client has paid for a product or service, the money is in your account. Unlike credit card payments, charges cannot be reversed.
• Immediate availability: There is no third party-dependent waiting period the way there is with bank-owned payments.Once payment is successful, the transaction amount is in your wallet and accessible immediately.You can convert Bitcoin into your local currency fiat at the end of each transaction, at the end of each working day or according to a custom set schedule.
• Lower transaction costs: Credit card payments usually end up costing you a 2 to 4 percent fee.With Bitcoin, this amount is a low flat fee, not a percentage of the transaction.
• Attract new customers: As Bitcoin rises in popularity, more users seek out participating businesses. This can mean exposure to a clientele you didn’t have before.
• Garner publicity: Bitcoin makes the news in a way fiat currency can’t. Local, national and even international news outlets are reporting on businesses taking Bitcoin payments, giving you an opportunity for free publicity.

Fixing the holes in the Internet of Things

However, as mentioned above, within the field service sector Blockchain has a huge amount more potential than just facilitating an additional means of receiving payment.

Firstly, there is its potential application within the Internet of Things - which is set to become the fundamental backbone of service delivery in the future - although widespread mass adoption is still arguably held back due to security concerns, a very real example of which being realized back in October 2016 when an unprecedented distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack involving an estimated 100,000 compromised devices in the Mirai malware botnet nearly brought the Internet to its knees in 2016 provided a clear indicator of the precarious state of IoT security.

The root of such weaknesses lies essentially within the security architecture of the IoT itself.

IoT architecture relies upon a distributed client-server model which uses a central authority to manage both the IoT devices as well as the data generated across an IoT network.

For IoT data to be trusted, all trust requests are aggregated into a single location which creates a sole point of security intelligence that can compromise IoT security. This is how Mirai-style botnet attacks can succeed.

Basically, during such an attack, IoT devices are unable to adapt their behaviour because they are not considered “smart” enough to make security decisions without the help of the central authority.

In an interview with computerweekly.com Joseph Pindar, Director for Strategy in the CTO office at Gemalto, and co-founder of the Trusted IoT Alliance, a non-profit group that advocates the use of blockchain to secure IoT ecosystem outlined why he believes Blockchain could hold the answer to true IoT security.

Pindar explained how blockchain removes the single point of decision-making that leads to failure, by enabling device networks to protect themselves in other ways, such as allowing devices to form group consensus about what is normal within a given network, and to quarantine any nodes that behave unusually.

Blockchain can play a crucial role in building trust in IoT dataIn addition to this blockchain can play a crucial role in building trust in IoT data by enabling what Pindar called the five digital security primitives: availability, auditability, accountability, integrity and confidentiality.

In blockchain, data is automatically stored in many locations and is always accessible to users.

For auditability and accountability, a private, permission-based blockchain is used – where all users are authorized to access the network – and because all data stored on the blockchain is signed, each device is accountable for its actions.

With regards to integrity, blockchain is as we’ve outlined above a public ledger of data entries.

With every entry, deletion or correction of data being confirmed across the network across a fully verifiable complete chain of events.

Further to this, there is also another perhaps less obvious but equally important benefit of utilizing Blockchain within IoT systems which Pinder raises.

There is a fairly widespread mindset amongst IT executive management regarding securing the industrial Internet which is that once a sensor, device or controller has been deployed and is working, it cannot be touched.

“Even if there is a known security vulnerability, it is not worth fixing it, because there is a chance that the security patch would cause problems elsewhere in the system that no one knows how to fix,” explained Pindar when speaking to Computer Weekly’s Aaron Tan “But as cloud computing has demonstrated, there are continual failures of devices and systems when operating at very large scale.”

“Simply put, it is not possible to manage large-scale systems that are fragile and not resilient to failure – as is the case with many current industrial IoT and OT systems.”

And the solution to this which Pindar recommends is to allow continuous deployment of software updates, alongside blockchain technology after devices have been deployed, with little or no downtime through an over-the-air update system - something he believes delivers both cost and operational efficiency when delivering over-the-air updates and patching to IoT devices and sensors.

With the IoT becoming more and more prevalent amongst field service organizations, the suggestions Pindar makes regarding the application of Blockchain in such systems should indeed be an important consideration for field service organisations as they establish their IoT processes.

The final piece of the 3D printing puzzle?

However, there could be yet another important place for blockchain within the field service sector, it could just be the missing piece of the puzzle in resolving one of the biggest challenges within our sector, namely managing the spare parts supply chain.

3D printing has for a long time been touted as a potential solution to getting parts needed to engineers as soon as possible, but one potential hurdle has always been how organisations control the licensing of the spare parts to ensure that firstly if the customer has 3D printing capability on-site - which has been one suggested use case, how can the provider ensure they don’t simply print off as many parts as needed once they have initially received the schematics file.

Similarly, by sending the parts data across in a digital file, the potential for such a file to make its way into the hands of unscrupulous third parties happy to make unauthorized parts for sale elsewhere is also a cause for concern for many organizations. Frankly, the risk to their IP and the significant loss of revenue this could lead has meant that many OEMs still view 3D printing with a distinct lack of trust.

However, could Blockchain perhaps hold the solution to such fears?

This certainly seems to be the thinking behind one Italian startup called 3D-TOKEN, which aims to integrate Blockchain and 3D printing technologies, in order to create a “unique, decentralized, global Just-In-Time Factory 4.0 for this century’s digital revolution.”

If successful it could certainly set a precedent for how Blockchain and 3D printing could work in harmonyAside from cramming as many manufacturing buzz phrases into their mission statement as possible, it seems it is certainly a concept that could have a potentially huge impact on service organizations within OEMs.

The goal for 3DToken is to connect thousands of 3D printers in a network hub based in Blockchain. In short, the plan is to create a Blockchain-managed network hub of desktop 3D printers.

The project will be used to bring just-in-time small-to-medium scale digital manufacturing to a new level.

Coin Telegraph described the startup as being capable of “accelerating the 3D printing market to its full potential” by changing up industry norms on product cost and time to market.

Whilst this project is still very much in its infancy, they have made impressive progress to date and although the focus on desktop 3D printers would suggest a consumer-centric approach initially as opposed to something suited for industry, if successful it could certainly set a precedent for how Blockchain and 3D printing could work in harmony, and the concept should at the very least give many OEMs food for thought as to how they could harness the potential of 3D printing. Especially as a means of bypassing much of the often highly complex service supply chain.

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What will the impact of servitization and the move to preventative maintenance that it entails have on parts and inventory management? Erik Kjellstrom, Pre-Sales Manager, Syncron tackled this question at the Aftermarket Conference in Hamburg last October. Kris Oldland followed up with him after the event to find out more more...

As Erik Kjellstrom, Pre-Sales Manager, Syncron, stepped down from the stage having just given a presentation at this year’s Aftermarket Conference, I was looking forward to the opportunity to catch up with him for a number of reasons.

His organisation has been something of an anomaly in our sector of recent years. A pioneering lone voice that often were seemingly single-handedly trying to bring a dedicated solution to what was often the unloved piece of the field service puzzle – parts management.

Whether, it be pricing, inventory management or stock ordering, Syncron have successfully over the last few years been one of few brands to be associated with taking this part of the aftermarket conversation seriously. We’ve seen Syncron a lot at various conferences over the last 24 months and almost each time they’ve been armed with case studies and hard data that revealed just how much (and how easily) their solution has improved their clients P&L both in terms of top line revenue and bottom line profit.

However, this time around there was a twist to their approach. Having recently brought a new in module into their offering that is focused on predictive maintenance and based on IoT, were they shifting their focus - or was this development just a natural evolution that reflected the changing dynamics of the industry?

The central thrust of Kjellstrom’s presentation was that essentially there are a number of interesting trends appearing in the aftermarket industry – covering a lot of the ground that regular readers of Field Service News will be familiar with.

We are seeing futuristic concepts such as Drones, 3D Printing, Augmented Reality and Autonomous Vehicles all of which have all been on the horizon offering the promise of industry revolution for a while but are now really starting to come into the mainstream conversationTo begin with, coming from the technology perspective we are seeing futuristic concepts such as Drones, 3D Printing, Augmented Reality and Autonomous Vehicles all of which have all been on the horizon offering the promise of industry revolution for a while but are now really starting to come into the mainstream conversation. Alongside this with have already seen wide adoption of Mobile, Cloud and increasingly the Internet of Things amongst manufacturers and service providers.

However, the changes we are seeing in our sector are not just driven by technology alone.

Sweeping demographic change within the workforce, accelerated by the ageing workforce crisis being faced by companies across the globe and being exacerbated by the unprecedented differences between the incoming Millennial generation and the outgoing Baby Boomers, is of course another factor driving industry evolution forwards.

Finally, add into this mix our shift to a much more service and outcome orientated society as a whole - arguably itself the result of the generational shift alongside the technical advances referenced above and we are seeing companies turn their entire business models on their head.

Servitization has gone from fringe concept to buzzword across the last eighteen months or so as talk of ever decreasing SLAs and increasing First-Time-Fix rates has morphed into discussions around guarantees of uptime and the financial impact of unplanned downtime.

As such our industry is in a fascinating and exciting state of flux at the moment and it was this rapid development and the various drivers behind it that were at the heart of the Kjellstrom presentation in Hamburg.

Of course, such dynamic changes within the sector need to be reflected within the solutions provided and it is the shift towards preventative maintenance (itself a major stepping stone on the way to servitization) that Syncron have focused their latest efforts on.

“We have been working very much to support more reactive service models in the past in terms of inventory management and pricing but what we are now doing, both from a product stand point but also from a service offering standpoint, is we are working towards an uptime supporting module.” Kjellstrom explained when we caught up.

In brief, Syncron are integrating a new module into their current service network optimisation capabilities.

These capabilities in the past had all been centred on the parts management area of the Aftermarket sector – pricing, inventory management, and ordering. However, their new module is a predictive maintenance module they call Uptime (makes sense), which Kjellstrom explains is intended to ‘blend together the aspect of inventory management and pricing etc with an understanding of the actual assets that use these parts.

It seems a natural alignment to bring the asset and the parts management together in the preventative management worldIt seems a natural alignment to bring the asset and the parts management together in the preventative management world. Indeed, much of reasoning behind this development from Syncron echoes a similar line of conversation that ServiceMax put forward when they announced their integration with GE Digital’s technology Asset Performance Management (APM).

Essentially both Syncron and ServiceMax are approaching the same central maxim - just from two different angles. In a world of IoT and sensor-led preventative maintenance the asset is King and everything else should fall in line around and work back from that one premise.

However, where one does feel that viewpoints will change between the two organisations is in how the ecosystem is built. Through their recent acquisition list including Servicemax, it is clear that GE Digital have their eyes set on building a comprehensive and all encompassing new platform for age of the Industrial Internet.

For Syncron however, the focus for the time being at least, appears to be in line with their best-of-breed heritage.

“I think that a product such as ours and a Field Service Management (FSM) system are complimentary products.” Kjellstrom explains.

“We have many instances where we will see a FSM system or a maintenance system that runs in compliment to the more Aftermarket focussed, parts oriented solutions such as ours. Perhaps what makes Syncron a little bit unique is the way we work and how we blend together the aspects of network optimisation and parts optimisation which is often natively something that belongs in a FSM tool.”

With so many technologies evolving at once a clear case could be made for establishing a comprehensive technology ecosystem across a service orientated business and Syncron is set to be an important part of that ecosystem.

Yet, in a world that seems to be in constant Beta, not all developments are equal and Kjellstrom believes it is important to understand how different technologies can impact the way we work when building out your own tech strategy.

Certain technologies will bring refinement whilst others offer revolution.

“We definitely see more potential impact from some types of the technologies than others,” he comments.

“What we are really interested in are the questions like will 3D printing totally replace a need for service part inventory management – and the answer is no it will not, it may enhance it but it will not replace it.”

Does the development of autonomous vehicles mean that we will begin to see car sharing across a team of engineers“How about autonomous vehicles? Does the development of autonomous vehicles mean that we will begin to see car sharing across a team of engineers” he asks rhetorically before outlining that such technology could lead to servitizing the fleet at which point automotive manufacturers concerns about spare parts really begin to truly change and evolve into an entirely new set of thinking and processes.

“These are the types of questions that we are interested in, in terms of the emerging technology.” He explains.

“What we are seeing is that some of these new technologies are really pushing towards a more uptime related world, whereas some technologies are more likely to become tools for us to simply improve existing processes.”

However, whilst he believes the shift to Servitization and outcome based solutions will continue to grow, Kjellstrom also insists that the traditional break-fix market and the aspects of pricing, parts management and inventory which that function drives forward, will never fully disappear.

“I am sure that the shift in focuses to uptime guarantees are growing rapidly and eventually break-fix is going to become less significant but there is always going to be the type of customers where uptime critical assets are not relevant.”

Indeed, whilst we wait for the weighting between the old and the new to do a 180 flip, one thing is clear, for the short-term at least we need to be able to accommodate both – which means looking to the future today – something Kjellstrom and his colleagues have embraced which is clearly evident by their introduction of the new Uptime module.

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There has been consitent talk about the role of 3D printing could play in field service logistics and spare parts management for many years now but still we have yet to see a clear solution arrive using the technology. Kris Oldland talks to Tim Helsen, UPS to see if it is on the horizon and if so how will it work and what benefits will it bring...

KO: 3D printing has for a while been positioned as a major disruptive technology within supply chain management, but can it really be a magic bullet to help field service companies meet the challenge of getting parts to their engineers in a more timely fashion?

TH: At UPS we see two potential areas for using additive manufacturing in field service operations and spare part supply.

Firstly, 3D printing has the potential to be used for a more tailored part supply based on customer needs at any given moment in time. In particular for older machines where spare parts are not on high demand and the moulders that were used for mass production are not available anymore. In situations such as this, spare parts can be created through additive manufacturing at a relatively low cost and supplied to the engineer in a short amount of time.

A broader use of 3D printing technology can be imagined in situations where the manufacturer is making adjustments to a certain part based on data collected from the field. Here, additive manufacturing can help to redesign a certain part and allow to manufacturer to quickly distribute the improved material.

 

Furthermore, if manufacturers only stock high demand items and switch to 3D printing technology for low demand items, they can significantly reduce their overall inventory levels and operating costs.

KO: What are the challenges and benefits for a field service organisation to adopt 3D printed parts as part of their spare part management strategy?

TH: The key benefit is that field service organisations can tailor spare parts according to the needs of their customers and thereby improve customer satisfaction and loyalty levels. The key challenge for field service organisations will be to make the financial investment and accumulate the knowledge and the expertise to switch from traditional manufacturing to 3D printing.

UPS has integrated 3D printing facilities into its global network and built up expertise in additive manufacturing, so our customers do not have to.

KO: There are numerous examples of high quality 3D printed parts being used in industrial products, but realistically with today’s technology and infrastructure are 3D printed parts a valid solution in terms of spare parts management for field service companies?

TH: Despite 3D printing’s current shortcomings in some field service situations (parts made from several components, large or complex parts that take a long time to print,..), UPS offers field service providers value because we combine an on-demand 3D printing manufacturing network at central air hub locations with a global logistics network. Together, they form an on-demand economy business, allowing for asset-light operations if you are a field service company.

KO: Do you think 3D printing solutions will become a standard tool offered by major logistics providers (such as FedEx, UPS, K&N etc) or do you think it will remain a specialist sector?

TH: 3D printing is going mainstream. And as it does, the technology is likely to revolutionise traditional manufacturing and redefine our notion of supply chain logistics.

3D printing is available at more than 100 The UPS Store locations in the U.S., and the pilot program is so successful among small and medium-sized businesses looking to leverage the technology, that we expanded our 3D services across the U.S.

 

We partnered with a 3D printing company to build a 3D printing facility at our global Louisville hub and in 2016 began offering this service in Asia too, with scope for further expansion.

 

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Gary Brooks, CMO, Syncron outlines some of the key technologies set to have a significant impact on field service in the not so distant future... 

Regardless of industry, emerging technologies like autonomous vehicles, wearable devices, the Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing and drones, will have a significant impact on how after-sales service, the service delivered after the initial sale of a product, is performed. For manufacturers of long lasting durable goods specifically, these new and evolving technologies will enable them to respond to the increasing demands of today’s consumers.

After-sales service is now one of the biggest opportunities for manufacturers to generate revenue, increase margins and improve customer loyalty. For field service repairs, emerging technology used correctly could become a huge source of competitive differentiation and improved service levels.

 Below, I outline five emerging technologies and how manufacturers can use them to positively impact their field service organisations.

Driverless cars:

According to Juniper Research, by 2025 there will be 20 million driverless cars on roads around the world, with them becoming most popular in North America and Western Europe by 2021. For manufacturers, this emerging technology could be especially beneficial to field service. Driverless vehicles mean technicians can multitask – something that they can’t (or at least shouldn’t) do behind the wheel today.

Multitasking allows technicians to use their field service app to ensure the upcoming appointment is as efficient as possible while en-route to the call – reading up on customer history, service part inventory and equipment data – so that the technician walks into the appointment ready to make the repair quickly and successfully. The possibilities are endless – if a vehicle is not stocked with a needed service part, it could self-drive to a warehouse to retrieve it while the technician is working on other aspects of the repair. This emerging technology could provide new and easy ways for technicians to do their jobs more efficiently and effectively, and for manufacturers to create that competitive edge with their service organisation.

 

Wearables:

Gartner anticipates smartglasses, like Google Glass, could impact the field service industry by $1 billion in 2017. The biggest impact wearables could make is in efficiency – if technicians can diagnose and fix problems more quickly without bringing in additional experts, both the cost savings and improved customer experiences could be monumental.

The augmented reality associated with smartglasses provides on-the-job training to technicians, and enables them to more easily repair goods, especially those they have less experience repairing. Additionally, the hands-free nature of smartglasses allows technicians to complete tasks without having to start and stop to read or view instructions. Video collaboration with remote experts could also add to efficiency.

While adoption of wearable technology has been slow due to the dependence on apps and services targeted to field service, companies like KPIT have already deployed smart glass technologies for field service specifically. As barriers to entry become lower, brands will be forced to adopt ‘smart’ devices to meet demanding customer expectations.

Internet of Things (IoT) 

Forrester foresees IoT as a means to create more valuable customer interactions and improve the customer experience. And, this holds true for field service, which oftentimes serves as the ‘face’ of manufacturing brands.

The intertwined network of physical goods with sensors and software allows manufacturers to freely exchange data between the products they sell and their internal systems in place. This helps both the manufacturer and end-customer – products built with ‘smart parts’ can send a signal to both the manufacturer and customer to alert them a repair is needed and to schedule a service appointment soon. With the appropriate service parts management technology in place, the manufacturer proactively ensures the needed part is available and sends a technician to repair the product quickly, alleviating any downtime, and delivering the amazing experience customers expect.

3D Printing

3D printing has long been used in manufacturing to create part prototypes. Now, with the advances made to the technology, they can print parts in metal, which means 3D printing can be used to create actual replacement parts.

As the technology continues to advance, the impact 3D printing could have on parts inventory levels, warehouse needs and the logistics of moving parts from one location to another could be monumental. These factors will lead to reduced cost and faster repair times – meaning more revenue for the manufacturer and better experiences for the end-user. And, it might not be in the too-distant future that driverless vehicles could be equipped with printers that can print parts on the spot!

 

Drones

Drones are becoming increasingly common for personal use. You’ll oftentimes see them at high school sporting events, outdoor concerts or being used for personal photography. For field service specifically, there are both immediate and long-term benefits of drone technology.

More immediately, drones can be used as a means of diagnosing issues on large-scale equipment like oil rigs. This means less risk for the field service technician, as drones can help them survey large or hard-to-reach areas without putting themselves in dangerous situations. Or, they can be used in warehouses to retrieve parts, making the process much more efficient.

In the future, drones could even be used to deliver a part in the field. If a technician is on-site making a repair but doesn’t have the necessary part, a drone could bring it to him or her, eliminating the need to make an additional service call.

 These emerging technologies are beginning to impact businesses today, and manufacturers must consider adopting them to meet the needs of today’s customers, while simultaneously driving revenue. Soon, everyone will be able to say they’ve received exceptional customer service, as long as manufacturers embrace these new tools.

 

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Marina Stedman, Director Global Field Marketing, ClickSoftware, takes a look at the technology shaping the next phase of field service evolution...

The term Internet of Things (IoT), describes the inter-networking of physical and smart devices, items such as vehicles and buildings and even technology services. Connected interoperability across many devices, applications and infrastructure presents an opportunity for the field service industry to raise the bar on two key areas of field service: operational costs and customer satisfaction.

Operational Costs:

Increased connectivity within a field service operation fosters a predictive model for addressing possible equipment, infrastructure, machine or device failures. The ability to diagnose and address issues and undertake preventive maintenance is essential to saving time (and money) on service calls, cutting the number of service requests made and improving the first-time-fix rate.

Take a building’s HVAC system for example. With today’s increasingly unpredictable weather, warm one day and freezing the next, IoT sensors can monitor temperatures and simultaneously use historical service and on-line data to predict maintenance requirements, failure rates and climate trends. This data can be used to manage service and operational tasks, for example making sure a system is serviced before parts fail and before the first freeze occurs, cutting the risk of breakdown and reducing the need for field service intervention.

Customer Satisfaction

Cost, asset management and effective communication are key components to achieving the ultimate goal: ensuring customer satisfaction.

Customers are unhappy when they have to wait a long time for a service visit, wait in all day for an engineer to arrive or make multiple calls to find out the status of their job. If multiple service visits are needed before a problem can be fixed because the information required for a first time fix is not available, both customer satisfaction and business profitability are impacted.

IoT sensors in devices or infrastructure, linked to real-time scheduling and dispatch solutions can detect potential service outages and make sure that issues are fixed before they become critical. For instance, IoT sensors in a food vendor’s freezers could identify a potential fault and notify the manufacturer that it’s due for a service before the freezer breaks and the food spoils. The manufacturer can quickly schedule an engineer to visit and rectify the issue before the freezer breaks down, saving time and money for everyone.

The IoT technology that we envisaged only five years ago bears no resemblance to what can be done today and it won’t be long before machines will automate decisions and launch actions without human intervention.

3D Printing

3D printers use Computer Aided Design plans to mould thin layers of melted plastic, aluminium, and powders together to form shapes. They started off making simple things like models and toys, but today’s devices have the sophistication and capability to form replacement parts. Why is it then, that few, if any field service organisations currently fulfil field-based replacement part requirements with 3D printed spares?

Maybe they don’t feel that the technology is safe and reliable enough at the moment? This won’t always be the case - here are two things to think about for the future:

Speeding Spare Parts Fulfilment

Apart from people costs, spare parts management is one of the biggest areas of cost for a field service organisation. Anticipating parts demand is challenging, even with the most sophisticated field service software solutions and the rarer the part, the less likely a field service engineer will have it available on-site when needed. 3D printing will make it as cheap to produce single items as it is to produce thousands and introduces the possibility of directly manufacturing finished components on site - reducing inventory costs and speeding up job completion.

Improving First-time Fix Rate

Not having their problem resolved in one visit is a constant source of irritation to field service customers and research has found a direct correlation between first-time fix rates and customer satisfaction. (*Aberdeen Group Fixing First Time Fix) .

As lack of parts to fix the problem is the main reason field technicians visit a customer site twice, field-based 3D printing facilities could enable parts to be printed on-demand, improving first-time fix rate and positively impacting customer satisfaction ratings.

Imagine the Future

IoT sensors in devices send messages to fulfilment and dispatch when a part is at risk of failing.

A 3D printer creates the part and the job is automatically scheduled. The service engineer fixes the problem before the customer is aware of the issue and without any disruption to business or personal life. Sounds like science fiction, it won’t be a few years from now.

Looking for more tips, trends, and future field service technology advice? Check out the Technology section of Field Service Matters.

 

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The hyperbole around 3D printing has died down but can it be a viable tool in field service? Aberdeen Group's Aly Pinder takes a closer look

The interaction between the end customer and the field service team is changing quite rapidly.  In the not so distant past of just a few years ago, a technician was solely expected to show up on time. And that on time promise was somewhere between 8 hours and beyond.

This is no longer the environment we all live in. Customers demand answers fast, service even faster, and resolution on their schedules. The service organisation can no longer be reactive, it must have the resources, skills, and visibility to deliver when called upon. And the best service teams can be there before a problem is even detected.

This is all leading to the need for improvement in an often forgotten aspect of field service – spare parts. As noted in previous Aberdeen research, the #1 reason for a secondary truck roll is the technician doesn’t have the right part to resolve the issue.

This seemingly minor hiccup can cause any number of debilitating consequences from delayed resolution, bloated supply chains, hoarding of parts by technicians, and unsatisfied customers.

 

If this isn’t keeping you up night, be sure that your management team is beginning to recognise the enormity of this problem and will be calling you soon to wake you up.

The answer to this problem may be in the form of 3D printing technology. Now, I know this may seem like the chatter of sci-fi movies. But even right now there are some very interesting use cases of 3D printing in our B2B world. And as seen in Aberdeen’s See the Future of Field Service in 3D report, this future is not far off even for the field.

Granted only about 11% of top performers have this technology in place (as compared to even less for peers at 4%), the interest in this technology is growing quite rapidly.

The business case is simple, the cost of technicians hoarding parts to make sure they have what they need is too high and service organisations can’t afford to disappoint customers with a second truck roll because a technician didn’t happen to overstock his/ her truck with that needed part.

For business that have the following profile, 3D printing might be the way to go in the near future:[unordered_list style="bullet"]

• Mission critical field service environment – What is the cost of not fixing the problem for the customer? If downtime can result in millions of dollars lost, it is important to ensure you have the parts needed to solve the problem when the technician is scheduled and sent out.
• Parts are a revenue stream – Some companies have found that spare parts, if priced accurately, can be a lucrative revenue opportunity for the business. If this is the case, it is imperative that the organisation keep technicians from hoarding parts as this is no longer solely a cost issue.
• The cost of inventory is out of hand – Is it worth it for your business to carry parts to fix issues that may not come up that often?  Or maybe, revisions in equipment and parts happen frequently and it isn’t cost effective to carry parts which will be obsolete in just a couple of reporting quarters. 3D printing capabilities for the field team can help organisations cut down the cost of stocking low running parts and ensure the service organization can maintain its profitability goals.Place your list items here

3D printing as of today isn’t the right answer for everyone, as noted by the currently low adoption rates. But when it does make sense from a cost of deployment perspective, I think it can be a game changer in regard to the ability for the field team to always know they will have the right part to solve a customer need on the first time.

 

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In our serialisation of The Service Manager Handbook (2015 edition) published by Advanced Field Service we have covered a wide ranging number of topics key to the modern field service manager's role. Now we take a look to the future with three key technologies the handbook highlights that could be critical in your field service operations before not too long...

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Download the full 40 page ebook for free by simply clicking here and completing the brief registration form

 

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You can expect your field service software provider to keep a watching brief on the technology landscape and to identify practicable developments that have genuine potential to improve efficiency and lower costs. Those bright ideas must translate into a business reality that brings added value.

Machine-to-machine (M2M) communication

Among the innovations currently attracting attention in the field service space is M2M communication, which forms the basis of the ‘Internet of Things’ in allowing networked devices to exchange information and perform actions without manual assistance.

M2M technology provides valuable insight into the performance of equipment, vehicles and field engineers. With this crucial business intelligence, organisations can shift from reactive to predictive service, ensuring issues can be identified and resolved more quickly to meet rising customer expectations.

 

Typical solutions enable the remote tracking of a business’s field-based assets, smart metering to monitor and control energy and utilities and telematics systems to enhance service delivery performance through automated processes.

Despite forecasters predicting that the worldwide M2M technology market is set to continue growing, many businesses remain cautious about adoption due to limited time and resources and cost pressures. Furthermore, most service organisations will need to wait for manufacturers to introduce the capabilities of M2M before they can take full advantage of it.

Wearables

The idea of wearables, whereby information, such as schematics, is piped through to field service engineers through their smartglasses, is very attractive. It has to be admitted though that this is more of a long-term prospect.

The Field Service News research sponsored by Advanced Field Service found that while around a third of respondents saw the advancement of wearables happening within the next 12 months, citing reasons such as the advantage of hands-free working and health and safety, 66% did not think wearables would become part of their field engineers’ toolkit.

 

It is, however, definitely a field worth watching, with innovations becoming mainstream, such as the new SmartCap that monitors brain activity and sends an alert if an employee starts to nod off when driving.

3D printing

3D printing also has potential to revolutionise the field service industry. In the foreseeable future, an engineer might well be able to identify which parts of a product need replacing, upload the specifications and print the required part. Imagine the impact on first-time fix rates and the reduction in inventory!

A recent Advanced Field Service survey found that while 43% of businesses are currently using M2M and just over a quarter (26%) of respondents are considering M2M. In contrast, 31% said they had no plans to do so.

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Download the full 40 page ebook for free by simply clicking here and completing the brief registration form

 

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As we continue our series of features looking at the emerging technologies that could appear in the not so distant future we turn our attention to NFC and, perhaps the most futuristic of all,  3D printing.

If you missed the earlier features in this series you can read part one here where we looked at smart watches and part two here where we looked at smart glasses and drones.

Near Field Communications

If the falling price of drones makes for a compelling argument for their inclusion in the future field engineer's tool kit, then the next item on this list is pretty much a no-brainer for a large number of Field service organisations.

That is NFC or near field communication tags.

NFC tags can be bought for as little as 30p per tag and with most modern Android and Windows smartphones and tablets supporting NFC communication they can be a very cheap means of making the field engineers workflow that much smoother.

Basically an NFC tag can be written to trigger an action on a device by simply tapping it against the tag.[quote float="left"]In theory, pretty much any action your engineer needs to take on an app can be incorporated into the script for a NFC tag.

 

A couple of quick examples…

A tag in the engineer's van could be written so that when the engineer places his smartphone against it, it opens up a dedicated mobile workforce app and logs his journey start time, plus also opens up a routing app such as Google Maps or TomTom.

The tag can also be written to include a toggle feature so when the engineer completes his journey he can again tap the tag with his device and this could log his journey end time, close his routing software, and open up the job details in his dedicated mobile workforce app.

Finally an NFC tag could be placed on the device which contains the notes of any previous engineer visits. This quick overview could be very useful in giving the engineer quick and easy access to the devices history and again similarly when the engineer updates his notes on the maintenance work he has carried our it is possible for him to include this information on the tag ready for the next engineer all with a simple tap.

And these are just three very simple ideas: in theory, pretty much any action your engineer needs to take on an app can be incorporated into the script for a NFC tag. There are also a number of apps that make the process of writing actions into a tag very simple for the lay person to do.

As I mentioned earlier the hallmark of a good technology is the ability to simplify our workflow and again NFC certainly ticks these boxes and given its low cost is another technology I think is worth considering when we look at how we can further empower our engineers.

3D Printing

The next item on my brief list is for me the most exciting and certainly the one that has the most futuristic feel about it. That is 3D printing.

Whilst we haven’t quite yet got to the point where we can instantly conjure up an earl grey tea hot like Jean Luc Picard might, the printers are still able to create physical 3D products from seemingly out of nothing just like the replicator devices seen in Star Trek.

 

However, 3D printing isn’t a particularly new concept, it actually dates back to the early eighties. So the devices we are seeing today are the product of over 30 years' worth of refinement.

This has resulted in 3D printed parts becoming robust enough and reliable enough to be used by companies such as Ford, General Electric and Boeing. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, for example, has over 30 3D printed parts; there are Leap jets and RAF Tornadoes flying around with 3D printed parts; and recently Ford printed their 500,000th 3D printed part – an engine cover for a Ford Mustang.

The fact is, 3D printed parts are out there being used more than we might think.

At the same time consumer 3D printers, much smaller and more mobile devices are becoming more readily available and at much more accessible costs.

Companies such as MakerBot and Stratysys are straddling both sides of this growing market. Is it that big a leap to envisage a meeting of these two approaches - that is,  a device with the smaller more mobile size of a consumer device capable of delivering industrial grade 3D printed parts?

When we consider the potential widespread use of the devices surely not.

Imagine it… instead of an engineer diagnosing the issue but having to delay a repair until the right part is sent to the site he could simply head out to the back of the van and print the part on site. First time fix rates would be dramatically improved.

Then there is also the benefit of not having to have stock parts kept in an engineer's van.

By removing this need a company would be able to instantly improve their cash position on their P&L as well as avoid the danger of potential loss of stock through theft.

Whilst 3D printing hasn’t quite reached this standard as yet, given the competitive nature of this growing industry and the potential gains it is hugely feasible that such developments may be made within the next five years. So I’d firmly put this into the technology-to-watch-closely category.

Look out for the final part in this series where we look at perhaps the biggest potential game changer field service companies must embrace…

 

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