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In this the final week of the first edition of our new series "The Big Discussion" we've now looked at three key questions on the important topic of Augmented Reality.

The idea behind this new series is that we take one topic, bring together three leading area experts and put four key questions to them across four weeks, to help us better understand its potential impact on the field service sector...

Our first topic has been Augmented Reality and our experts are Evyatar Meiron, CEO, Fieldbit, Niklas Rengfors, Head of Sales & Marketing, XM Reality and David Nedohin, President, ScopeAR...

So far we've asked our panel:

"Just how big an impact can and will Augmented Reality have on field service delivery?" , 

"What advantages does Augmented Reality offer over video calls such as FaceTime and Skype etc?" and 

Do you see Augmented Reality ultimately becoming a standard tool included within wider FSM solutions or should it be viewed as a specialist standalone application?

and now onto our final question in our Augmented Reality Big Discussion...

 

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Question Four: How closely tied to the development of smart glasses is augmented reality – are the two co-dependent or are tools on smartphones/tablets sufficient?

Many visualise the ability to have a hands-free environment, where AR information shows up in front of them through smart glasses. However, very few enterprises have yet to adopt and deploy smart glasses, including devices such as Microsoft’s HoloLens, ODG’s R7 or RealWear, at scale. Although these glasses are advancing quickly. adoption of wearables in today’s market can be hindered by price, production and specific product limitations depending on the environment and user.

While hardware manufacturers continue to address these challenges, field workers are starting to reap the benefits of augmented reality using the hardware (smartphones/tablets) currently available to them, and most importantly, that they are comfortable with, while exploring glasses.

With so many AR tools available on today’s smartphones and tablets, enterprises are already realising success without having to make an additional investment in new hardware. With the addition of depth cameras and new computer vision techniques, handheld devices are becoming more and more practical.

 

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Smart glasses are poised to take the world by storm. Leading smart glasses companies (including Microsoft) have already invested billions of dollars in design and development. Clearly, augmented reality is a key driver behind the development of smart glasses.

With respect to field services, it’s important to remember that we’re still at a very early stage. Most smart glasses on the market today cannot support all field service needs. The decision on whether to use smart glasses or a smartphone depends on the industry segment and the use case. For example, when working with ink-filled printing systems or in high-voltage environments, smart glasses are critical for enabling hands-free collaboration.

Another key advantage of smart glasses is that they enable both augmented reality and mixed reality. A hybrid of augmented and virtual reality, mixed reality enables users to overlay digital content onto a realtime physical space in 3D mode for highly realistic interactions.

 

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Development of smart glasses are important but not crucial. For XMReality with core focus on customers within industrial field service, hands-free options, like glasses working in rough environment is something there is a demand for.

However our customers struggle a bite on how to use glasses, there are also so many different preferences on what you like, monocular, binocular so smartphones/tablets are sufficient in most cases and also something one in general carries.

For us it is important to get an understanding on the customers use cases, to recommend what would be their best choice to use.

 

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The next instalment of The Big Discussion will be focussed on the topic of IoT and Servitization is coming soon... 

 

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As we move into week three of our new series we've now addressed a couple of big questions around the core topic of Augmented Reality.

The series is called The Big Discussion and the idea is that we take one topic, bring together three leading experts on that topic and put four key questions to them across four weeks, to help us better understand its potential impact on the field service sector...

On this first topic of Augmented Reality and our experts are Evyatar Meiron, CEO, Fieldbit, Niklas Rengfors, Head of Sales & Marketing, XM Reality and David Nedohin, President, ScopeAR...

So far we've asked our panel  "Just how big an impact can and will Augmented Reality have on field service delivery?" and "What advantages does Augmented Reality offer over video calls such as FaceTime and Skype etc?"

and now onto this weeks question in the Big Discussion...

 

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Question Three: Do you see Augmented Reality ultimately becoming a standard tool included within wider FSM solutions or should it be viewed as a specialist standalone application?

Augmented reality is a communication technology that will be integrated into FSM tools and made available to the workforce to access when and where they need it.

This may be required to meet government regulations, to engage with an expert, or improve competency or safety.

However, AR will be a tool in the toolkit that will be used when needed, and part of a larger set of technologies.

If a picture, voice call or video is appropriate, perhaps AR will not be needed, but as workers become more familiar with the value of AR once integrated into their FSM apps, it will be a tremendous resource, when it is needed.

 

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As mentioned earlier, augmented reality is a disruptive technology that is radically changing the way organisations perform field service maintenance. It is an innovative platform that uses new technologies.

For this reason, augmented reality is more likely in the short term to remain a standalone tool that complements FSM solutions. That said, some of the more basic telesupport-oriented augmented reality features - those that enable real-time remote communications between the onsite technician and the expert at company headquarters - could be integrated at some point with the FSM software.

In contrast, the knowledge management component, including the information capture, storage, sharing and search capabilities, is more complex in nature and requires specific expertise. I believe that this component will continue to develop as a separate specialist system.

 

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Definitely included within wider FSM solutions, we are currently working with different partners already, IFS to mention one is strong partner in field service.

By connecting information flows between systems for example between mobile work orders and XMReality, it adds a lot of value to the customer.

Can be things like storing for documentation purposes, saved videos later then used for training purposes etc. As solutions to display or create content gets more efficient AR will most likely become a standard tool.

 

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Next weeks the final question: How closely tied to the development of smart glasses is augmented reality – are the two co-dependent or are tools on smartphones/tablets sufficient?

 

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Last week we launched a new feature called the Big Discussion where we take one topic, bring together three leading experts on that topic and put four key questions to them across four weeks, to help us better understand its potential impact on the field service sector...

Our first topic is Augmented Reality and our experts are Evyatar Meiron, CEO, Fieldbit, Niklas Rengfors, Head of Sales & Marketing, XM Reality and David Nedohin, President, ScopeAR...

Last weeks question was Just how big an impact can and will Augmented Reality have on field service delivery? Check out our panel's answers here if you missed them

and now onto next weeks question in the Big Discussion

 

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Question Two: What advantages does Augmented Reality offer over video calls such as FaceTime and Skype etc?

Unlike a video call, augmented reality offers the ability to overlay specific content (animated instructions, annotations, drawings, 3D content, graphics, text, etc.) onto the real-world and have it “stick” to the part or area being referenced. Using AR, field workers can visualise content, such as predefined instructions, on top of a piece of equipment they’re assembling or repairing to show exactly the right steps, regardless of previous training.

Another advantage that AR presents is that it facilitates more efficient and effective knowledge transfer from a subject matter expert in real-time -- who may be located at the company’s headquarters or a call center -- to the remote worker. With an AR-enabled video calling platform, an expert can collaborate with a colleague out in the field, seeing what they’re seeing in real-time and simulate an “over-the shoulder” view of having someone walk the field worker through the correct procedure.

For example, while viewing a live video stream of a machine undergoing maintenance, an expert could use augmented reality to circle a bolt in real-time and tell the technician in the field to remove it. And with today’s AR technology, the correct bolt would stay circled even as the technician moves around, allowing for an unprecedented level of interaction between the expert and technician. Instead of just “telling” a worker how to do something, the expert can now “show” them and then document that conversation.

 

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Real-time video can be useful for remote diagnostics, allowing the technician to transmit video from the faulty machine to an expert off-site. Effective field service, however, requires two-way data transfer beyond the capabilities of video.

Augmented reality allows the flow of knowledge from the expert to the technician or user on site. It enables the quick addition of context-sensitive information, such as text annotations, diagrams and other messages, on top of the live video so technicians can zero in on how to fix the machine.

Another key advantage is knowledge capture. Advanced augmented reality platforms, such as Fieldbit, accumulate practical knowledge related to service and repair processes by recording all actions and information exchanged between experts and the field technician.

All visual records, including augmented reality, are stored and are retrievable from a central repository, allowing information to be shared and re-used across the organisation.

 

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At XMReality we are focusing on industrial users and field service. We have taken experience and put it into features that match customer needs.

We have seen impacts on our low bandwidth functionality and also since we add AR, problems are solved quicker and more efficient and more accurate.

The customisation and integration part we offer also comes into play our discussions with our customers.

 

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Next weeks question: Do you see Augmented Reality ultimately becoming a standard tool included within wider FSM solutions or should it be viewed as a specialist standalone application?

 

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In a new series of features we will take one topic, bring together three leading experts on that topic and put four key questions to them across four weeks, to help us better understand its potential impact on the field service sector...

Our first topic is Augmented Reality and our experts are Evyatar Meiron, CEO, Fieldbit, Niklas Rengfors, Head of Sales & Marketing, XM Reality and David Nedohin, President, ScopeAR...

 

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Question One: Just how big an impact can and will Augmented Reality have on field service delivery?

Many analyst firms forecast that the AR market will continue its rapid growth, reaching upwards of $140 billion in just a few years. The impact augmented reality can have on field service specifically is unprecedented as it pertains to training, equipment maintenance or repair and knowledge transfer.

For the first time, augmented reality is allowing field workers to take advantage of the power of computers and interact with them in the real world -- moving from a two dimensional screen to seeing information locked on top of the image of the equipment in the real-world and in real-time. I believe AR will be the user interface of the future, making all of a company’s information, intelligence and analytics actionable, by overlaying content directly on top of the real world - when and where a worker needs it most.

The reason that field service industries will lead in benefitting from AR is due to a combination of an ageing workforce that is retiring at staggering rates, and a younger workforce that changes positions quicker than ever.

Expert knowledge is difficult to retain and even more difficult to get into the hands of those in the field without significant delays and expense. AR allows organisations to retain their experts without sending them into the field, while being able to rapidly leverage and measure the expertise they have by putting it right in the hands of the worker who needs it. Augmented reality is enabling “on-demand knowledge transfer.”

 

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Augmented reality is changing the way people live, work and interact with one another. The introduction of augmented reality for field service represents nothing less than a seismic shift. The magnitude of its potential impact is comparable to the impact that personal computers had on office workers.

FSM solutions address the communication and workflow needs of service managers, allowing them to tell technicians where to go, what problem needs to be fixed, and which spare part to use. Augmented reality platforms complement FSM by telling the technician how to fix the problem.

This was the missing link.

With this capability, enterprises will be able to drastically boost the productivity and efficiency of their field service operations.

Using augmented reality, technicians can receive precise visual instructions from remote experts to execute complex machinery fixes. Not only does this increase first time fix rates, it also relieves mental stress since technicians can enjoy “over-the-shoulder” coaching throughout the process.

 

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We believe it has a big impact already today, business cases show unreal savings by making the field service delivery more efficient, due to less travelling, increased uptime etc.

We also see big drivers at customers in being able to deliver more profitable service offerings and in the end gain more satisfied customers.

 

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Next weeks question: What advantages does Augmented Reality offer over video calls such as FaceTime and Skype etc?

 

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Upskill (formerly APX Labs), a leader in enterprise software for augmented reality (AR) devices, recently announced the acquisition of Texas based Pristine, a leading software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider of AR collaboration and video streaming software.

Pristine’s remote assistance and knowledge capture solutions will complement Upskill’s existing Skylight industrial AR platform to offer the most comprehensive product offering in the industry, making it easier for customers to meet their operational needs and IT requirements.

“Augmented reality is driving incredible productivity results across functional areas in industrial enterprises. Our customers are seeing an average of 32 percent performance improvement from their very first use of Skylight,” said Brian Ballard, co-founder and CEO, Upskill.

“There aren’t very many new technologies that can deliver this kind of ‘out of the box’ value creation, which is why adoption of AR technology is accelerating at an incredible pace. This underscores the importance for Upskill to leverage new opportunities that will help us scale and innovate faster than anyone else in the space. The acquisition of Pristine will allow us to do just that.”

Pristine is best known for its flagship product, EyeSight, which provides best-in-class “see what I see” video streaming capabilities for remote experts. Customer deployments have proven EyeSight to help workers complete inspection, compliance and repair processes at a fraction of the cost and time normally required.

 

Through the acquisition, Upskill will now offer Pristine’s portfolio of field-worker collaboration solutions including EyeSight. These applications are typically deployed on smart glasses, but are also available across Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad and Android devices. With Pristine solutions in its repertoire, Upskill will be able to add breadth and domain expertise to its product offering and more choices for customers seeking to implement AR across manufacturing, logistics and field service applications.

Along with the added technology capabilities and product solutions, Pristine also brings to Upskill a talented engineering and product team with deep industry experience in scaling deployment of enterprise wearables across an impressive client base, including Coca-Cola, Bayer, The Hershey Company, National Oilwell Varco, Sandvik and Bureau Veritas.

Pristine’s CEO, Peter Evans, will step into a newly appointed role as Executive Vice President. The acquisition will also establish Upskill’s third U.S. office in Austin, expanding recruiting to a growing epicenter for tech talent and providing increased regional support to customers located in the Southwestern US.

“Our EyeSight solution makes it easy for clients to get up and running quickly with remote assistance capabilities, making skills and knowledge available via the cloud. The need for this type of work solution in enterprises is massive, particularly in organisations with a large field services workforce, where there is a growing gap between demand for skills, and the availability of those skills,” said Peter Evans, CEO, Pristine.

 

“As customers expand the use of AR across their operations, a scalable AR platform with direct integrations to their IT and OT investments becomes more important. With Upskill’s Skylight platform, we can now address the entire operational lifecycle of an enterprise and do it in the cloud, on premise or in hybrid cloud environments.”

“With these combined capabilities, Upskill now powers an unparalleled suite of applications covering complex assembly, process management, service, inspection, material handling and logistics.” said Dr. Magid Abraham, Executive Chairman, Upskill.

“Further, we can offer even more flexibility to our customers in how they create and support a connected workforce across their operations. It also fortifies Upskill’s position as the leading choice for powering the industry 4.0 workforce with augmented reality.”

 

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Michael Blumberg, President of the Blumberg Advisory Group looks at how Augmented Reality can quickly become a standard part of the very fabric of field service delivery...

The importance of service to the manufacturing sector 

Industrial Machinery and Equipment (IM & E) manufacturers form an integral part of the manufacturing supply chain as their equipment plays a critical role in the automation of production processes such as shaping, extruding, moulding, crimping, cutting, folding, etc.

In addition, every manufacturing process has its own set of specialised machinery. For example, manufacturing equipment in the food processing industry is different from equipment found in the apparel manufacturing industry.

These machines must perform at very high levels of reliability to keep manufacturing processes operating at optimal levels of productivity.

The lost value to manufacturers of machine downtime is extremely high. It is not atypical for a manufacturer to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars a day in lost revenue due to machine downtime.

Challenges to keeping factories running

Providing fast and efficient service in the industrial machinery world is no a small feat for equipment service providers. Diagnosing and resolving equipment problems quickly is challenging when the machinery is highly complex, the installed base is relatively low and plants are scattered worldwide. Service organisations of IM&E manufacturers are usually staffed by a small cadre of field service engineers (FSEs) and technical experts. IM &E FSEs often possess deep subject matter expertise in some but not all product lines.

The FSE who assembles and installs the machine is often the same person who diagnoses the problem and initiates corrective action.

In addition, machines are manufactured to customer specifications. Thus, service is not standardised from machine and there is often a huge knowledge gap among FSEs and between customers. Language barriers can also make it difficult for customers in one country to communicate with FSEs in another and vice versa.

 

Furthermore, machines often have a long service tail and be in operation for 10 or 20 years. Thus, there may be no one at the customer’s site who has the knowledge to maintain the equipment properly. Tribal service knowledge, where knowledge that rests in the minds of individual FSEs is shared with others through verbal communication, is the norm within the IM &E service market.

The Service Conundrum

IIM&E manufacturers typically help customers resolve service issues by first attempting to diagnose and resolve problems over the telephone and prior to dispatching a FSE to repair the machine. However, there are certain times when the service expert cannot resolve the issue remotely. In other cases, the remote service expert may not understand what the customer is describing over the telephone or vice versa, or maybe the technician simply needs to see the problem for himself.

When situations like these occur, the FSE must travel to the customer’s site to troubleshoot, diagnose, and resolve the problem.Onsite travel is both time-consuming and expensive. It may involve a flight to another country and days at the customer site to resolve the issue. Capacity constraints may prevent that technician from traveling to the customer’s site. Also, if the FSE is at the customer’s site, no one else may be available to handle incoming requests from other customers.

At times the IM&E service provider may send an alternative FSE. There is a chance that the FSE who arrives onsite may not have seen this issue before and needs additional assistance to resolve the problem. In this case, the FSE assigned may need to telephone a more experienced technician for back-up support.

Other challenges include the fact that many IM&E manufacturers do not charge for service.

Furthermore, lengthy road trips add significantly to operating costs and place a great deal of stress on technicians.

From Road Warrior to Service Hero

Fortunately, IM&E Manufacturers now have a solution to their challenges; Augmented Reality.

By using smart glasses or a smart phone, machine operators at the customer site can capture a video image of the equipment and then transmit it to the equipment manufacturer’s service technician at another location.

If it is a relatively simple issue, for example one that can be resolved through a customer replaceable unit, the remote support specialists can send images, text, and annotated repair instructions back to the customer so that the customer can resolve the issue himself.

This saves time and money, as downtime and lost productivity is minimised for the customer. A live chat session can also be opened so that the customer and technician can communicate in real-time.

Considering FSE travel and per diem costs (e.g., meals, hotel, etc.) to another country can be quite expensive, savings from providing remote support through an AR platform can add up to thousands of dollars per service event.

This is a huge savings given the fact that a large percentage of service issues are the result of enduser (e.g., machine operator) error.

[quote float="right"]With AR, the remote service specialist can obtain rich contextual information about the machine problem, isolate or identify the fault, and then determine what skills and parts the FSE needs to have with him when he arrives onsite.

Fieldbit, Ltd., a leading provider of AR solutions, has been able to help its customers in the IM &E market improve remote resolution rates by as much a 50% AR solutions like those provided by Fieldbit also make it possible for IM & E suppliers to improve first-time fix rate. Repeat visits to solve the same problem are costly for the IM &E service provider not to mention stressful and embarrassing to their FSEs.

 

Normally, if the FSE lacks proper parts and/or skills to enable a fix, he must return or wait onsite until the correct resources are supplied.

However, with AR, the remote service specialist can obtain rich contextual information about the machine problem, isolate or identify the fault, and then determine what skills and parts the FSE needs to have with him when he arrives onsite.

The FSE can also use the live chat to communicate with the remote support specialist while onsite if additional troubleshooting and diagnostics are required. Utilising AR to improve FSE proficiency minimises the percentage of times onsite service calls are broken or extended due to the lack of spare parts or skills, thus improving “First Time Fix” rate.

Another practical application of AR solutions like Fieldbit is in the creation of a self-learning knowledge base. Remote support specialists can use the platform to develop and record step-by-step repair procedures for resolving equipment issues that are stored in a searchable database.

When a customer or FSE encounters a similar situation, he can search the database for the right solution.

The technical learning curve is shortened and on-the- job training time can be reduced by as much as 40% using this approach.

Recognising the high value in use for machine uptime and the tremendous impact Augmented Reality plays in cost avoidance, many end-users have begun to monetize their investment in these platforms.

For example, Fieldbit’s customers include downloadable, one-time-use licenses for Fieldbit Hero™ in the service level agreements they sell to their end customers (i.e., machine users).

These end customers can of course purchase additional licenses when they need them.

However, the benefit is clear: AR not only improves customer satisfaction and reduces service delivery costs, but drives additional profit to the service provider’s bottom line.

 

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In his role as Director of IFS Labs Bas de Vos, is at the heart of driving innovation forward in our industry. So who better to talk to find out what technologies we should be eagerly awaiting and what is the process to take these technologies from cool ideas through to practical applications...

FSN: What are the three most exciting technologies that have yet to come fully to light that you and your team are currently working on?

BdV: Firstly it is augmented reality or mixed reality as I see it, secondly I would say that drones are still in there as well and the third one is something that we have been working on for some time that we keep coming back to - autonomous assistance. New ways of interacting with business applications - can I talk to my device? Can I chat with my device - it’s a very interesting subject. We have a prototype and we are going to researching and further developing that.

Whether it will be an IFS product one day, that is something that with Labs I can never say up front - but I see the development now in the consumer space with speech control like Siri and Cortana and on the other hand chat-bots for Facebook and Snap Chat etc it’s all very interesting, so we shall see.

FSN: Your team demonstrated a great example of Drones, IoT and FSM software all coming together at the last IFS World Conference - is that product ready to go or was it just a proof of concept demo?

BdV: Well, yes it is ready to go but it won’t be an actual IFS product - we won’t have the IFS drone product out in the market - definitely not.

No, what we wanted to do was demonstrate how companies who want to do stuff like this can do so through using our IoT business connector. Basically everything that we demonstrated at the World Conference in that session, the integration of drone technology, image capture and recognition and automated data analysis was made all possible through the IoT business connector.

FSN: How much of what you and your team do is about actually giving your customers the ideas of what is possible to allow them to innovate themselves?

BdV: If you look at the mission we have as IFS labs it is threefold. Firstly, we exist to guide, basically we do a lot of research. We don’t get to only do the cool stuff - so it’s not only playing with drones! We do a lot of proper research into database technologies etc. So we are there to guide the R&D teams on what we think they should be picking up and taking further.

Secondly, we are here to talk to influencers, to help explain to the wider world what we are doing at IFS and what the purposes of IFS Labs as a technology incubator is all about.

Then thirdly, and perhaps the most important part of the job for me is that we are here to inspire our clients to do more with their business applications. If you look at my work personally it’s an equal split across these core functions. 

FSN: In general do you ever feel an urgency to push a project out whilst it may be still in Beta or do you think it is better to wait until the product is fully refined and completely free of bugs?

BdV: That’s a very good question.

First of all do I feel pressure to deliver IFS products around any given technology? The answer is always no and the reason for that is fairly simple. We are not here to compete with say Microsoft HoloLens in terms of technology. We will not be providing the actual AR technology ourselves.

What we need to do -which is part of the mission of IFS labs is to make sure that our business application is ready for when these technologies do become viable products.

What I mean by that is we need to be able to have an app ready to go on HoloLens to take advantage of that technology, or any other similar new emerging technologies.

Are we the guys that will actually create the technology? No I don’t think that is our core business and to be honest I don’t think that we would have the skill set to do that as well as others who are focussed on that area.

Our task at labs is to keep on monitoring the market and being able to leverage these exciting technologies once they are industry ready.

 

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Paul Whitelam, VP Product Marketing, ClickSoftware, outlines five key technologies he believes will soon be shaping our industry...

The field service industry continued its rapid transformation in 2016, with emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and predictive analytics increasingly changing how field service suppliers manage their workforce.

Service-centric businesses are constantly looking for new ways to meet customers’ growing demand for convenient and communicative customer service.

2017 is likely to bring continued change and innovation, with new technologies reshaping service operations and delivery. It’s a great time to examine what’s in store for the industry this year, and what field service leaders might want to have on their radar. Here are five technologies set to improve the field service industry in 2017:

1) Machine learning and AI

Machine learning (when algorithms evolve and improve over time) and artificial intelligence (AI) also drove new changes in 2016.

With the ability to better process, interpret, and learn from data, more services suppliers can be predictive instead of reactive, and will be able to automate the tasks that don’t need human input. Increasingly sophisticated forecasting driven by machine learning will drive efficiency increases and cost savings.

2) Reaping the rewards of new realities

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) were a major force last year. Even though virtual and augmented reality are predominantly used in games such as Pokémon Go and The Lab, both are being adopted more widely in a workplace context to enhance employee productivity and customer experiences.

In 2017, an increasing number of field service engineers will start to see VR and AR initiatives being introduced to support their training and day-to-day work.

 

As experienced engineers age out of the workforce and businesses try to maximise existing resources, VR and AR will increasingly play a role in enabling training, remote coaching, and viewing more information on each task via wearables.

3) Connected customers

As our recent research showed, customer expectations are growing rapidly around the world. The demand for fast, friendly and high quality service that also fits with customers’ busy and varying schedules is becoming the norm. And, aware of the mobile-led technologies that now exist to support a higher level of service delivery, field service customers are voicing demand for engineer location tracking and up-to-the-minute communications.

This communication between the customers and engineers will give customers the ability to share photos, preferences and job information with technicians before their visit, sharing important information that will expedite the service delivery. Customers will also be able to share their customer experience with their provider after the visit, offering feedback that can inform future service decisions.

Field service suppliers that do not start to think seriously about modernizing their operations in 2017 in this way will see an impact on their ability to compete.

4) A smarter field service

A device is labelled ‘smart’ if it can connect to other devices through the Internet of Things.

This year, smart will become smarter and advancements in machine learning will create new opportunities for the field service industry.

There will be improved inter-connectivity of smart devices, which will enable field service engineers to use their smart devices to contact more experienced engineers when they need guidance.

 

This will improve engineers’ knowledge and skills, and also deliver better customer experiences through increased ‘first-time-fix’ resolutions.

Smart technology will also accelerate preventative maintenance, alerting the customer and technician when there is an issue with a piece of equipment before the customer needs to make the call.

Usage patterns and failures are therefore easier to recognise and plan for, minimising interruptions and failures when a device is connected through smart technology.

5) Autonomous vehicles will drive innovation

Autonomous vehicles are already being trialled in some parts of the world, but 2017 will be the year when the business masses start to investigate their potential in the context of business gain.

This goes a step beyond assisted driving, which is already allowing field service engineers to predict traffic and avoid routes that will slow down their journey. Autonomous vehicles can also reduce the number of multiple visits from engineers by delivering the necessary tools to the engineer onsite, or providing the required tools to the customer if the machine can be self-fixed.

 

In short, self-driving cars or drones could present a field service industry game changer and as autonomous vehicle technology improves—and in-country legislation relating to their use is put in place —discussions around the benefits these offer to industry suppliers will gather pace amidst the race to innovate.

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Augmented Reality (AR) allows field technicians to “see” how to make a repair, rather than having to “read” about how to do it writes Bill Pollock, President, Strategies for GrowthSM...

It seems that for forever, field technicians have been forced to carry around hundreds of pages of paper in their cars or vans detailing and explaining repair processes, service guidelines and product schematics, etc.

Then, once at the customer site, they still need to flip through those hundreds of pages to find exactly what they are looking for in order to perform the onsite repair – particularly when it involves dealing with a piece of equipment that they may not have seen in years – if ever!

We’ve all heard the expression “Seeing is believing!” But, what really should stand out fairly clearly is that the fact that the phrase does not say, “Reading is believing!” This is the main premise that supports the applicability of Augmented Reality (AR) for the field services segment, in that it is more helpful for the field technician to “see” how to repair a piece of equipment, rather than having to “read up” on how to repair the equipment.

 

Further, while the former can take place in real time, the latter may often require several minutes – or more – of looking up chapters or indices, finding the appropriate pages, writing down notes, and otherwise “wasting” time – at least from the perspectives of both the technician and the customer!

Some companies, like PTC, had long been aware of these concerns. In PTC’s case, they made the move earlier in the year to acquire Vuforia, “a mobile vision platform that enables applications, or ‘apps’, ‘to see and connect the physical world with digital experiences that demand attention, drive engagement, and deliver value’.”

In fact, it is through the use of this AR technology that Service Lifecycle Management (SLM) providers can now empower their customers to leverage two of the most disruptive of transformational technology trends – the Internet of Things (IoT) and Augmented Reality (AR) – to deliver a new class of products that merge the digital and physical worlds.

The benefits to the field force can be substantial as, by adopting an AR-based strategy, Field Service Organizations (FSOs) can:

• Completely eliminate the maintenance, repair and service manuals in their present, cumbersome, print copy (or, even, digital) form;
• Streamline (and/or eliminate) formal, individual, maintenance and repair training for service technicians; and
• Introduce new IoT- and AR-based Service Lifecycle Management (SLM) business models.

In a 2016 Fortune article, the magazine reported that, “More and more we see products that are part physical and part digital – and we see new models wanting to be part physical and part digital. The idea of being able to project a digital experience onto a physical product to figure out how to service it or show operating metrics … is a killer idea.”

One of the examples cited suggested, “imagine pointing your smartphone at your car and being able to see visual warnings that your wiper fluid was running low or your tire pressure was sub-optimal on a rear tire. That’s possible as information gathered by the car’s sensors can be pushed to the Cloud, then retrieved and shown in a visual format on the phone. That same format could also offer simple to follow directions on how to fix the problems”.

 

In other words, not only does “Seeing is believing” hold true for those field technicians supported by an AR platform, but if “a picture is worth a thousand words”, then being able to “see” how to repair the equipment via Augmented Reality must expand upon that equation by another thousand-fold!

AR doesn’t create a “new” virtual reality; but, rather, it enhances the perceptual reality that the viewer is able to visualise while looking at a piece of equipment. This is exactly how AR will be able to assist FSOs in an SLM environment; that is, to provide the field technician (who may not ever have been called upon to service a particular piece of equipment) to still be able to perform the repair by “overlaying” an enhanced (again, augmented) reality – in 3D motion – over and above what he or she would otherwise be able to visualise, in order to make a quick, clean and complete fix.

The ability to “see” this Augmented Reality – in 3D motion – with accompanying instructive text, metrics and repair parameters overlaid and easily articulated will undoubtedly provide, at the very least, an extra measure of comfort to the technician, as well as access to a readily available tutorial for performing the repair as quickly, accurately and safely as possible.

 

However, merely talking about Augmented Reality – rather than actually seeing it in action – is like trying to tell a Southerner how cold the Northern Winters are – in words. It’s just not possible! That’s why AR is best understood by actually seeing a demonstration of it in action.

 

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