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“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in their own way,” reads the famous opening line of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. The same could be said of companies — so we’ve found as we’ve helped more field service firms shift from paper-based processes to automated ones asserts Phillipp Emmengger of Core Systems

Field service companies usually come to us seeking a more streamlined way of doing things. They typically are working under the burden of a heavily paper-based process with unique, time-consuming ways of doing things. One customer, for example, required technicians to re-enter their data back into their systems after their day was done, while another passed the paperwork to teams of data-entry clerks to enter the often illegible information. Neither was ideal.

Our potential clients typically focus on the efficiencies and the cost savings that can be achieved. How can we dispatch technicians faster? How can we ensure they have the necessary information they need, and to get data back to the office? How can we increase first-time fix rates? And, how can we invoice faster? But once the software is in place, and customers start enjoying the benefits of a more efficient process, they begin to notice something else: that not only are their customers happy, they’re happy. The work environment and the work culture has shifted to one that is positive and efficient.

 

As Lisa Erling, Chief Financial Officer at the California-based Vegetable Growers Supply, a packaging supply firm, said of the new work culture that emerged after their move to automated services, “It’s a whole new business.”

As with happy families, happy field service companies appear to have certain traits in common.

Here are the top 6 ways we’ve found on how automation can create a happier work culture:

Technicians Are in Control of Their Day:

Field service software on mobile devices allow technicians to see and manage everything in their day. They can easily record and track their working hours, see the day’s schedules and if any changes occur to their schedule. With a mobile solution, the lines of communication between technicians and the back office are constantly open, meaning technicians are better supported, and don’t have to return to the office when problems occur.

Free Technicians from the Burden of Paperwork:

Forgotten forms, lost paperwork, re-entering data back at the office and even interpreting their own illegible handwriting used to add to the administrative burden of a technician’s day. With an automated, mobile solution, where everything is in one place and is filled out and captured in the course of the day, the hours technicians literally spent on the admin of their jobs is reduced. “Our employees are very satisfied,” says Johann Schild Jr, Managing Director of Herstellung & Handels, the German supplier of hydraulic systems and accessories, “They are able to save time, which they use much more effectively. They benefit from having all the data they need in their hands and they have less paperwork to fill out, which for a technician is always an advantage.”

Empowered Technicians Have the Information They Need to Perform at Their Best:

Mobile solutions give technicians everything thing they need to do the job right: service manuals, customer and service histories and inventory levels and the ability to order spare parts are all at their fingertips. As first-time fix rates rise, technicians feel empowered by their ability to quickly do their job right. Daniel Reichert, a service technician at Cald’Oro, the Austrian makers of high end coffee machines, says: “I am much faster in creating service orders or in finding spare parts. I can see at a glance what my colleague did during his last visit, what work he carried out on the machine and what the problem was. Everything is just much faster. You can see right away what part was changed during the last service or which item got damaged when. It allows me to narrow down the errors in no time.”

Improved Relations Between Technicians and Customers:

Technicians armed with the knowledge of who their customers are and their service histories can put customers immediately at ease and demonstrate quickly to them their understanding of their equipment and issues. But they can also make the repair process more transparent. Simple photo capture of broken equipment, for instance, can show customers (especially with inaccessible parts) where the problem has occurred and how severe it is.

Better Communications and Team Work Between Technicians and Back Office:

No one likes to have to constantly check in with their office or have their office checking up on them. With mobile devices, automatic status updates can be easily sent when a job is marked done, when snags are occurring, or when drive times are taking longer than expected. Open communications between all team members can also let techs tap each other for knowledge, and let techs quickly locate a supervisor if they need one or call in extra help.

Work Faster; Save Time:

If there’s one thing that makes technicians happy, it’s the ability to work faster and save time. No one wants to be bogged down trying to diagnose a problem, when a simple service history might speed up the process. No one wants to have re-enter information when easy data capture could let them do this as they work.

With technicians on the front lines and in the position of representing and advocating for your brand and company, their happiness has a direct impact on customer happiness.

 

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The Internet of Things has certainly gained momentum recently but what does it mean to the Field Service Industry? Kris Oldland, Editor of Field Service News looks at how it could impact the industry and at a first generation of IoT field service software from Core Systems

Internet of things 101

According to the Gartner Hype Cycle for 2013, the Internet of Things was sat just below Big Data, nearing the peak of inflated expectations that emerging technologies inevitably go through. Indeed just as Big Data seemed to be the key item on the agenda in corporate offices around the world this time last year, so the Internet of Things is doing the rounds currently. So what exactly is it and what exactly does it mean to the Field Service industry at large.

Well the term Internet of Things (IoT) was first coined some 15 years ago having been proposed by British technology pioneer Kevin Ashton and largely does what it says on the tin. In a famous article for RFID Journal Ashcroft outlined the concept explaining:

“If we had computers that knew everything there was to know about things—using data they gathered without any help from us—we would be able to track and count everything, and greatly reduce waste, loss and cost.”

The idea itself is fairly simple. If we give the ordinary items that surround us the ability to essentially communicate with the world without the need for human input, the world would run just that much smoother.

With RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) essentially the ability has existed for a while for such data transfer although other tracking technologies such as NFC (near field communications) digital watermarking, low powered Bluetooth, QR codes and their humbler, older cousin the barcode can also provide the same solution.

In reality there have been two key developments that have propelled the IoT into existence.

Firstly with the latest Internet protocol IPv6 there is now room for the Internet of Things to exist. Whilst it sounds crazy, the previous protocol IPv4 just isn’t big enough and we are running out of Internet. Given that an estimated 26 to 30 Billion devise will be connecting wirelessly to the IoT within the next six years, we need somewhere these devices can call their digital home, the newer larger protocol of Ipv6 is just that and has evolved a  somewhat symbiotic relationship with the IoT.

Secondly there is the rise in smart devices such as mobile phones. These can take the role of translator between ‘dumb’ devices and the internet. Whilst the hyperbole surrounding the IoT may seem futuristic, with domestic appliances being given intelligent capabilities, the reality is that the days of ‘smart fridges’ that keep in touch with your supermarket of choice to make sure you never run out of milk being in every home are still a little way off.

However, a simple QR code placed on the front of your current ‘dumb’ fridge could give it a digital life of it’s own via your smart phone. Access to user manuals, serial numbers, replacement parts and communicating with local service engineers are suddenly possible and an early stage in the IoT amongst the general populous is very quickly becoming reality.

Internet of Things and Field Service

It is along just these lines that Swiss company Core Systems have evolved their product to date.

Whilst offering many of the features you would expect from most modern Field Service software solutions, including some neat dashboards, plenty of employee data, inventory management etc, they have also included IoT functionality.

By including a QR code or other tagging device on their products, ‘Core Systems ‘ clients are able to to offer their customers a first generation IoT interface via the cloud based CoreSuite, CoreSystems’ field service platform. End users are thus able to use their smart phone as a bridge between the ‘dumb device’ and the service company.

This allows customers of the service company to use their phone to schedule a service visit, providing an additional channel of communication alongside more similar methods such as phone, email and webchat. Also the same interface provides the opportunity for increased customer maintenance by putting machine specific information in the hands of the customer, resulting in fewer service calls for basic issue resolution.

Similarly it is not just the customer who benefits from this bank of machine specific knowledge. Should an engineer be required to attend a site, he to is able to gain access to information relating to the faulty machine including its maintenance history, in a quick, efficient and simple manner.

In the not so distant future…

Admittedly beyond the IoT element CoreSuite doesn’t break the mould of many of the other cloud based field service management software systems that are available, this first iteration of IoT based field service management system undeniably offers companies the ability to add the wow factor to their approach to service.

However, it is perhaps the next few generations of this technology that will be truly intriguing to the field service industry. As manufacturers turn to developing smart devices from jumbo jet engines through to white goods, machine to machine diagnosis and preventative maintenance will become the accepted norm and so IoT based field service management systems will in turn become more in demand.

If this proves to be the case then Core Systems are well positioned to become a major player in the field service software industry and have made an early start down an exciting and promising path.

Want to know more? Visit this years Service Management Expo where Field Service News Editor Kris Oldland will be interviewing Core Systems CEO Phillip Emmenegger on the rise of IoT and its applications in Field Service, as part of the programme for the Field Service Solutions Theatre, hosted by Field Service News.