Service leaders community includes roundtables, webinars and executive slack workplace.

Service professional have dramatically altered their plans due to Covid-19. Simultaneously, they are preparing long-term strategies for recovery and growth. Without a blueprint, they are making quick pivots and seeking the support of colleagues to discuss what's working, what to avoid, how to keep their workforce safe and how best to maintain continuity.

In response, Aquant has created a content hub, Resources for Resilience, which includes webinars, virtual roundtables, and other ways for the service industry to connect. 

We've listened to our customers and the industry as they ask, 'What's next?' and work to figure our the complex challenges that lay ahead for them," said Mairead Ridge, Aquant's VP of Marketing, "Our goal is to help service leaders learn from the experiences fo their peers by amplifying the collective wisdom of service pros across the industry."

Join the Slack Workspace for service leaders, a place to have the important discussions they'd otherwise be having at industry events and forums, now postponed.

Upcoming events include:

May 5 - Virtual Roundtable: An Interactive Discussion about Covid-19 Response

Attend a forum of field service leaders for an interactive discussion about facing the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. Share ideas and get inspiration from other service professionals about response and recovery. Sign up now.

May 12 Webinar - Creating the Service Organization of the Future

Rodger Smelcer, Co-Founder and VP of United Service Technologies is mounting a Covid-19 comeback strategy; making investments in technology and and workforce training that is moving the organisations away from reactive break-fix work and towards planed an predictive maintenance. Register to attend.

Webinar Replay - Adapting Service Innovation Strategies for the New Normal

Join Gyner Ozgul, Senior VP of Operations at Smart Care Equipment Solutions as he discusses how his organization is changing the way they do business by empowering its workforce to make better, data-driven decisions. Listen now.

Webinar Repay: How Comfort Systems Combats Shifting Workforce Challenges witg AI

Joe Lang, VP, Service Technology and Innovation of Comfort Systems, shares how the team is using AI to build a single source of service knowledge based on the collective experience of the workforce. He also touches on the strategic initiative for up-skilling a new generation of technicians. Listen now.

To learn more and connect with service peers, visit Resources for Resilience, a Series for Service Leaders

The world that we entered into at the start of 2020 is a very different one to the one we inhabit today. The Covid-19 novel coronavirus pandemic that brought national borders crashing down as we entered into a global lockdown has seen to that. Michael Blumberg assesses the situation outlines the challenges ahead and explains why he believes there is still a light at the end of the tunnel...

When I initially accepted the request to submit an article for The Handy Little Book for Field Service Managers, I did not anticipate that we'd be in this precarious situation. The topic that I intended to write about no longer seems relevant as we face growing uncertainty over public health and the future of the world's economies. Yet, the wheels of commerce continue to churn, and field service organizations continue to operate.

So, what can the service industry expect int the next 12 months? When faced with uncertainty, we can look to the past for insights and perspective of what we might be able to expect in the immediate future. If we consider this in terms of quarterly action plans, we will manage the next 12 months effectively

 

How Field Service Companies Can Manage the Pandemic

Over the next quarter, the service industry will need to do everything it can to move past this current crisis. While we might have the knee jerk reaction to throw our hands up in the air and proclaim, "we've never seen anything like this before," the truth is we have the means and ability to respond.

It is highly likely that segments of the economy, those businesses that are deemed essential, will continue to operate at full capacity and require high levels of service availability. In contrast, others will have decreased demand as they scale back operations to comply with shelter in place and lockdown orders. Field service organisations will need to be agile and flexible when it comes to resource and staff planning. If dealing with a large number of employees on sick leave, field service organisations can turn to subcontractors and contingent labor provides to augment staff.

To respond to social distancing and self-quarantine issues, field service organisations must ensure they have secure and reliable cloud-based systems in place to facilitate telecommuting. Field labor may be scarce due to illnesses, so field service organisations must ensure that have technicians who are working can easily find the parts and knowledge they need to resolve services right the first-time fix. There's no room for repeat visits.

"Field service organisations will need to have implemented the right technology and processes to facilitate this model..."

In dealing with social distancing , we may have to alter or modify service delivery. We may need to switch from a field service to Customer Self-Service or Remote Support. Field service organisations will need to have implemented the right technology and processes to facilitate this model. Guided troubleshooting, same day/next day parts delivery, Augmented Reality/Merged Reality, online customer portals, parts catalogs, and knowledge bases are all part of this model.

An essential thing that field service organisations can do is build goodwill and strengthen relationships with their stakeholders. This is required now more than ever. Managers will need to interact with employees who work from home through online communication platforms to ensure high levels of productivity and morale while employees work from home. Some customers may be faced with economic hardships and contemplate canceling their service contracts or placing their renewals on hold. Field service organisations can pre-empt this and build goodwill by offering freemium services and flexible payment terms. Field service organisations can also extend the length of service contracts, or explain to customers the contingency plans that they have put in place will not cause any disruption to their service.

 

A Rocky Road Ahead for Field Service Organisations

Medical experts predict that the spread of the Covid-19 Virus pandemic will begin to peter out and reach containment by the middle of Q3 2020. Even with government bailouts, economists predict that we will likely face a recession, and it could take another six to nine months to recover from it.Field Service Leaders should not be caught off guard. They can dust off their Recession Playbooks from 10 years ago and implement strategies to get through it.

During a recession, companies typically need to find ways to reduce or recover costs and create value. For field service organisations, a large percentage of operating expenses may be tied up in their parts inventory and labor. Field service organisations will need to implement strategies to reduce parts stock and recover the value from excess and obsolete inventory. At the same time, they'll need to implement processes and systems to ensure they have the right parts on hand at the right place when technicians need them to provide high first-time fix rates.

"Field service organisations mustn't abandon their plans when it comes to broader strategic initiatives like Digital Transformation and Servitization..."

Field service organisations will also need to remain flexible when it comes to resource planning and allocation. They may find themselves outsourcing their logistics operations to reduce costs or turning to service provider networks and subcontractors to deliver service. Of course, the field service organisation's service management systems must be able to connect and share data with all stakeholders and participants in their ecosystem.

Field service organisations mustn't abandon their plans when it comes to broader strategic initiatives like Digital Transformation and Servitization.

However, they may need to reprioritise them or reign them in at least temporarily. Instead of implementing multiple initiatives, they will need to focus only on the one that results in the highest return in the shortest amount of time. More then ever before, field service organisations will need to maintain strong rapport with customers and strive to obtain high service contract attachment and renewal rates. To maximize customer lifetime value and generate revenue from a satisfied installed base, field service organisations must rely on warranty and service contract management software solutions and continue to provide excellent service.

 

The Light at the End of the Tunnel for the Field Service Sector

Eventually, we will pull through this crisis and come out of it stronger and more resilient than ever before.  By late Q1 or early Q2, we are likely to observe what economists call "green shoots" as the economy begins to recover. Field Service Leaders mustn't lose sight of the mission and business objectives they established before this current crisis.

field service organisations must continue to manage their business against KPIs and achieve performance targets during the next 12 months if they expect to obtain investment resources to grow the business once the recovery is here quickly.

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Further Reading:

• Read more about how the impact of Covid-19 on field service @ www.fieldservicenews.com/covid-19
• Read more of Michael's exclusive features for Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/michael-bluemberg
• Join Michael's professional community @ www.fieldserviceinsights.com
• Follow Michael's work @ m-ize.com

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Technology use in service is about attaining business needs, says Rohit Agarwal. In a world impacted by Corona Virus ensuring your tech fulfils its business case will become more prominent.
While technology is the walls, ceilings and decorations of the cathedral; the foundations that the cathedral stands on are the strategy, the people and the processes of the organisation. These three decide the entire stability of the cathedral and how well it can withstand the external forces. In this article, let’s take a dive at why understanding business needs and creating the right strategy around it is the first important milestone in any technology implementation.

How the Pandemic Drove Digital Transformation in Field Service

Covid-19 hit us hard, and by us I refer to humanity, a disruption of our daily life, economies, governmental policies and the rate of medical research. What has been one common theme of being able to the contain this deadly virus if one asks? ‘Technology’ would be one prompt answer that comes to our minds. Technology has helped us detect the virus, learn how it spreads and has allowed everyone globally to communicate about it. Technological progress and prowess seem to the definite answer to our biggest threats and challenges, but then, if I may ask, why is the country with the most technological prowess hit the hardest? The strategy to use the technology to attain defined goals or mitigate disasters is what separates a successful technology implementation from an arrow shot in the dark.

Let’s take the simplest example of Video Calling. The technology allows a grandmother and her grandchild to communicate in two distant continents seamlessly but there are thousands of video calling platforms such as messenger, WhatsApp and Skype to name a few. The reason these names come to our mind over the rest is simply because the way the technology has been implemented keeping the business needs of creating a simple intuitive platform that make it simple enough for an 8-year-old to an 80-year-old to use. The value of a Video Calling platform increases with the number of users or in technical terms ‘the installed base’. Whatsapp’s strategy has been to provide the platform free of charge to users to lure them to the platform and get them hooked on. The dozen employees of Whatsapp worked relentlessly on improving the simple platform to build users rather than trying to complicate the technology leading to an evaluation in billions when it was sold to Facebook.

 

"The failure for new technologies isn’t innovation in product or services, rather it is a missing business model in a space where customer needs are uncertain..."

 

If we narrow down to the modern corporate scenario, over the last five years we have seen technology evolve faster than our minds can keep up with it. IoT, Augmented and Virtual Reality, AI has been some of the biggest differentiators for corporations. The difference between one trying to use these technologies versus one that has been able to reap benefits out of it has been understanding the business needs, prioritising it and creating a formidable strategy around it without being blinded by all the great things that the technology could achieve. According to an article on Forbes, the failure for new technologies isn’t innovation in product or services, rather it is a missing business model in a space where customer needs are uncertain.

Let’s take Augmented Reality (AR) and see how a company could use it to improve their value proposition or just try to force the technology into practise. Acme(fictitious) is a small company in existence over the past 5 years and has been providing field service as a contractor with specialisation in packaging machines. Acme’s current business strategy is to expand its service base but cannot afford to hire very experienced technicians and the CTO believes in talent farming. Acme does a technology review to identify what kind of digital tools it can implement to upgrade its customer’s experience. The technology research shows that Augmented Reality could be used as a digital tool that would help new technicians get expert advice from the office. Instead of jumping straight into purchasing expensive AR glasses and software, the CEO, a big fan of the lean start-up methodology starts looking into building a strategy to slowly implement the technology in short loops involving the technicians and have the possibility to persevere if things go well or pivot if things go haywire. 

The CTO does an audit of the knowledge management of the company to see if relevant materials are available in easily accessible form for the back-office expert and the on-field technicians to use and it appears enough to run trials. Acme promotes its most experienced technician who is about to retire to a back-office expert role to guide the other technicians on the field. They use simple video calling with their smart phones and a tripod to keep the technicians’ hands free. Based on input from the usage, the knowledge repository is enhanced, and the feedback is taken from the technicians.

 

"The strategy, process and people are the bridge that connects the use of new technology to the upgrade in customer experience."

 

After the first 3 months, the depositories of knowledge are updated sufficiently, and the processes are set in place to allow for optimal use of the back-office experts time. After analysing the results from this time, the CTO and the CEO decide to hire 3 new technicians and assigns them to the back-office expert to oversee and guide. In parallel Acme partners up with an Augmented Services Solutions company to try the usage of Augmented glasses to run experiments on how the efficiency of the system can be further improved.

Acme manages to expand its service base, not waste money on technology without proof of value and attains its business goal. The key to Acme’s success is not the mere use of technology, but the focus on understanding business needs, creating a strategy towards these and incorporating technology along the way to attain these goals. The strategy, process and people are the bridge that connects the use of new technology to the upgrade in customer experience. In the digitalisation phase today, the ability to apply incremental changes, have a strategy that is flexible and possibility to get quick feedback has become the major differentiator for businesses. To be able to jump the chasm between new technology implementation and upgrading customer experience, organisations must build a solid bridge of strategy, processes and people.

 

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Further Reading: 

• Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/digital_transformation
• Read more about the impact of Covid-19 on Field Service @ www.fieldservicenews.com/en-gb/covid-19
• Read more articles by Rohit @ www.fieldservicenews.com/blog/author/rohit-agarwal
• Connect with Rohit on LinkedIn @ www.linkedin.com/in/rohitag1/

Firm hope offering can help with "service delivery continuity" during outbreak giving companies use of up to 15 licences throughout June.

Technical support company TechSee have made their 'TechSee Live' solution free of charge for Small and Medium-Sized Busineses (SMBs) during the Corona Virus pandemic.

SMBs who are new customers can take advantage of the virtual contact tool for up to 15 technicians until June 30. Larger enterprise firms, meanwhile, can take part in a free trial programme.

Service Management Continuity

TechSee Live creates a visual platform that field technicians can use to interact with customers through a live virtual channel using AR and overlay annotations. Crucially, it means they can work remotely and safely, observing social distancing requirements while carrying out the service visit without entering a customer's home.

TechSee uses AR, AI, machine learning and big data to produce its visual technology. Their lines have been taken up by a number of clients including Vodafone and most recently Verizon, who rolled out the tool to its technicians last week. Commenting, the Telco's Senior Vice President of Operations Kevin Service said the tool has enabled the firm to continue working but in a safe way. “We know how critical communication is, especially now as more and more people are working from home, engaging in distance learning and moving their family and friend interactions online,” he explained. “This new tool gives us the ability to provide the excellent service our customers deserve while minimizing the need for in-person interaction in these unprecedented times.”

The outbreak of the virus has seen many companies offer their services for free and TechSee's CEO Eitan Cohen acknowledges the effort the community is making. “At times like this, people everywhere have a chance to come together and make a real impact on a global scale,” he said.

For more information about TechSee's offer click here.

The chaos that we all found ourselves thrown into during the global pandemic has meant a lot of introspection from both a personal and corporate perspective for all of us. Yet as we move forwards into the new realities of a post-Covid-19 world Nick Frank outlines where we can find the resilience to not only rebuild, but improve...

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Organisational Resilience: "The ability to survive a crisis and thrive in a world of uncertainty. Resilience is a strategic capability. It isn't just about getting through crises. A truly resilient organisation has two other important capabilities - the foresight and situation awareness to prevent potential crises emerging, and an ability to turn crises into a source of strategic opportunity."

Source: www.resorgs.org.nz

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If there is one thing that we will learn from the current Coronavirus chaos, is that it is resilient people and organisations who survive and thrive! Technology, infrastructure and education can help. But it is the determination of people to do the right thing and not be afraid of adversity that sees families, companies and nations through tough times.

After the fire fighting will come the rebuilding, where Service Leaders will have to decide the future shape of their organisations in a challenging world. Not only will they have to contend with meeting pent-up demand with depleted resources, the challenges of digital disruption and climate change will not have gone away. Companies' survival will depend on how well they can adapt and evolve in a world even more economically constrained. I believe developing personal and organisational resilience will be the key to developing processes, technologies and ways of working that will enable us to overcome the significant obstacles in our path. As I sit in ‘home isolation’ with my family, I can feel a mix of emotions. On one hand fear and confusion. On the other determination and love. These are amplified by the news, social media and radio reports where we see memes on toilet role or rants on social distancing, as well as the odd grand patriotic political speech.

Service Management's GREATEST Challenge

I find myself asking, what do I need to do to move through this? It is certainly not to give in to fear, which is there in some shape or form in all of us. It is more to focus on the what we can do, what we can control, what we can influence. The good news is that these are all aspects of our personality and the mindset we nurture for ourselves. Indeed, this ‘growth’ mindset comes way before we think about technology, processes or even organisation.

Maybe test this assertion for yourself by thinking back to a challenging time you have faced. What got you through it and most importantly what did you learn? For myself this was the birth of our second child. My wife had a very complicated pregnancy with early contractions, which resulted in us going to A&E on multiple occasions, driving to hospital, not knowing whether our baby was alive or dead.

"I would suggest that now is the perfect time to build resilience in ourselves and our organisations..."

My biggest learnings were to be able to live in the moment, acknowledge the fear then move forward, take one step at a time, to focus on what we could control, and not all the other stuff. We were lucky that it was a happy ending, that on reflection helped us to become more resilient and able to handle adversity.

Back to the present days question, “Where do we go from here?”

I would suggest that now is the perfect time to build resilience in ourselves and our organisations, as we move into what hopefully will be more fruitful times. It starts with leaders who recognise that their people are key to current and future profitability. Those who have let fear enter their hearts and pre-maturely downsized their teams to fit the perceived economic reality, will lose the trust of their employees. Their road to resilience will probably be longer and harder than those that retain the goodwill. Indeed, research shows that organisations that survive and flourish after hardship are those that have a committed and motivated staff.

"Build resilience in your people, and the resilience of your technology, processes and organisation will evolve as well..."

The benefits are not just people and organisations who are faster to adapt to changing circumstances, there is a solid economic rational as well. Studies such as this one from PWC in 2014 show “initiatives and programs that fostered a resilient and mentally healthy workplace returned $2.30 for every dollar spent — with the return coming in the form of lower health care costs, higher productivity, lower absenteeism and decreased turnover”. So, resilience does pay!

As we live through the COVID crisis and start to come out the other end, we have a great opportunity to build resilience into ourselves and our organisations. There are many models for individual & organisational resilience, but from a Service Leaders perspective, there are three key messages I would recommend to focus on:

• Self-Belief
• Focusing on solutions
• Always Learning
  
  

Self-Belief

If you or your organisation do not have a strong sense of purpose, then whatever models or philosophies you choose to follow are unlikely to succeed. At a leadership level this means being able to truly role model the values that most modern organisations espouse such as respect, integrity and accountability. Teams respond to how they see their leaders communicate and demonstrate these values and behaviours. But good values are only part of the story.

People need to understand that the organisation has a clear direction so that they can readily identify with its “Purpose” and “Culture”. If all these messages are coherent, then self-belief will grow and flourish. Perhaps one of the simplest actions you can take is to practice the art of delegation. The more people can influence the what and how of their jobs, the more they are engaged, own and believe in what they can do.

Focusing on Solutions

People and companies who can focus on solutions are constantly moving forward. These are people who can recognise and articulate problems, but do not dwell on who to blame for a situation, but rather how to move forward and solve the challenges. Build this into all your communications.

"The huge customer problems that your teams have faced means that they must have focused on finding new ways to operate and deliver to customers..."

Emphasising this step by step approach towards the goal, encourage appropriate risk taking and reward teams for finding solutions. Encourage collective responsibility but hold individuals to account. You will know your organisation is moving in the right direction when you hear your people using the phrase “Yes, And….” rather than, “Yes, But”.

Always Learning 

The organisations most likely to adopt new ways of doing things or those where learning and change is embedded into the way of life. These are the organisations where people seem to have new roles every 3-4 years. Although too much change can be disruptive, it is a very good indicator of how good an organisation is at taking on and running with new ideas. We have heard many service managers talking about how they have had crash courses in remote diagnostics or augmented reality technologies.

What an opportunity to learn! To build on these experiences, make sure you re-iterate the importance of always reviewing lessons learned? Indeed, the recurring themes from companies that demonstrate resilience are: Communicate, Communicate, Talk, Listen, Take Action and Communicate again!

These three behaviours allow us to face reality in the present, pulling on past experiences and others to find the best solutions. Whether they are applied in personal situations such as a difficult pregnancy, or in our professional lives, there is always an opportunity to grow. In the current crisis, all business people I have spoken to have had these three fundamental beliefs well a truly shaken. Just surviving should show the importance of self-belief in overcoming adversity.

The huge customer problems that your teams have faced means that they must have focused on finding new ways to operate and deliver to customers. I would be very surprised if your people have not got some learnings and ideas out of these experiences. If you can now build on these three behaviours, then the challenges of digital disruption and global warming may be transformed from threat to opportunity!

 

If you would like to know more about how to take your team on this journey, then contact Nick at nick.frank@si2partners.com 

 

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Further Reading:

• Read more about resilient organisations @ www.resorgs.org.nz/about-resorgs/what-is-organisational-resilience/
• Read more about building personal resilience in the workplace @ hbr.org/2016/06/627-building-resilience-ic-5-ways-to-build-your-personal-resilience-at-work
• Read more about the The Ken Ginsberg's 7 Cs @ - www.portlandpediatric.com/console//page-images/files/building-resilience/All%20Ages/Seven%20Cs.pdf
• Read more about the impact of Covid-19 on the field service sector @ www.fieldservicenews.com/covid-19
• Read more of Nick's articles for Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/blog/author/nick-frank
• Read more about Nick's work with Si2 Partners @ si2partners.com
• Follow Nick's work on Twitter @ twitter.com/si2partners
• Connect with Nick on LinkedIn @ www.linkedin.com/in/nick-frank-2756a51

Stay-at-home orders due to outbreak means essential fleet vehicles can take advantage of quieter road network.

The enforced lockdown across the United States due to the Corona Virus outbreak has meant an increase in travel efficiency for essential commercial vehicles across its cities' road networks.

Fleet Service Management

Data processed from Fleet Service Management firm Geotab and their connected vehicles operating across seven major US cities shows an increase in average commercial speeds and a reduction in time spent waiting at intersections.

Compared to averages from February 22 to March 15 the data shows that across all seven cities there has been an average road speed increase of 16 per cent with New York City, the state with the worse outbreak, seeing the highest increase of 2o per cent.

Stopping times at intersections has reduced signigificantly with Atlanta having the largest reduction of approximately 17 per cent compared to the February 22 to March 15 period.

It all equates to less traffic on the road meaning residents are adhering to Government orders to stay at home during the breakout. Vehicles tasked with carrying out essential services, such as food deliveries to supermarkets, are able to reach their destinations quicker than usual in weekday traffic figures that resemble that of the weekend.

Mike Branch, VP of Data and Analytics at Geotab expanded on the analysis. "Examining connected car datasets at the city level helps provide some clarity and understanding about what is happening in our communities during unprecedented times such as this," he said.

"We have seen a noticeable decrease in traffic congestion based on average speeds and time spent at intersections. This means that with less traffic on the roads, commercial vehicles are able to get through typically congested major cities in a more efficient way, allowing essential drivers to get where they are going quicker."

 

Software firm create 'Oneserve Community' to help key workers during pandemic.

Oneserve is offering a streamlined version of its job management software free to key workers during the COVID-19 outbreak.

'Oneserve Community' is a quick-start pre-configured solution aimed at key workers from the care sector; those that carry out emergency repairs within properties; those that keep utilities networks operating or those overseeing a voluntary group delivering essential supplies, the company says.

Service Management

Managers of key worker teams can use the application-based platform on a mobile or desktop to share jobs created and completed, avoiding paperwork, emails or phone calls. Users can check daily schedules and access specific job information with just one click. Everyone can see what is expected of them and by when. The work they carry out is then recorded within the system to create an automatic audit trail. 

Oneserve work with public and private sector firms who provide essential services and this relationship, CEO Chris Proctor says, combined with the current crisis influenced the decision to create the new platform. "We recognised the contribution they [essential service] made to keeping our nation running before we were in the middle of a global crisis, but now this service is accentuated to a completely new level," he said.

“For this reason, we were very keen to support the critical roles our key workers are undertaking. At the end of the day, the easier it is for these key workers to carry out their tasks, the more people they can support.

"These are unprecedented times, times which require a different way of thinking, a different way of supporting one another. For all of us at Oneserve, we see this free solution as a token of our gratitude to those who continue to support and protect us all.”

For more information and to request access to this free offer visit oneserve.co.uk/oneserve-community.

Firm offer free tracking, optimisation and communication solutions to public sector, Not-For-Profit and private organisations.
Microlise is providing asset tracking and communication solutions free of charge to frontline public sector and not-for-profit organisations during the covid-19 outbreak,

Service Management

A solution from Microlise has already been deployed at speed to support the Nottingham City GP Alliance which is performing home visits to test suspected Covid-19 patients. A Microlise mobile App, which is available for both Android and iOS devices, provides full location and tracking information for a team of doctors, allowing their administrative team to pinpoint the nearest doctor to a patient’s address.

Access to 2-way messaging means that patient addresses can be sent to doctors which also feeds location information into Google maps.  Doctors simply log in, via a secure sign-in, and log off when they come to the end of their shift.

For organisations who are working across the supply chain, Microlise solutions manage planning & optimisation, tracking and delivery, real-time communication capability, task allocation, workflow management and proof of delivery information. This is particularly useful in cases where organisations are scaling-up operations at speed, and are relying on third-party contractors or agency workers and need to manage them as efficiently as possible.

Microlise already works with the vast majority of UK supermarkets, as well as with other hauliers that support these businesses, with its telematics, journey management and proof of delivery solutions proving to be valuable business tools in the current climate.
According to Nadeem Raza, Microlise CEO, “Our customers are depending on our mission-critical solutions like never before. We are doing all we can to support their efforts and are delighted to offer that same support to public sector and not-for-profits – whether that’s frontline NHS workers, pharmaceutical suppliers, local authorities delivering essential food parcels or other organisations who are keeping the country going during these difficult times. “Microlise will endeavour to support community effort in any way we can. If the capacity to track the location of your resources, optimise routes and communicate with personnel in real-time would be beneficial, please get in touch.”

Microlise provides telematics, planning & optimisation, journey management and proof of delivery solutions to many of the UK’s HGV fleet operators, including 14 of the top 15 retailers.

If you are working for a public sector, not-for-profit, or private organisation that is supporting critical supply chains or working to combat Covid-19 and believe that Microlise’s tracking and task management solutions could help, please visit www.microlise.com/coronavirusto find out more and to submit your details.

Manufacturing Services and Software Provider offers free-use of data monitoring tool Enact® to firms throughout pandemic.

InfinityQS has joined the growing list of companies offering free use of their products during the Covid-19 pandemic by giving manufacturers access to its Enact Quality Intelligence platform.

REMOTE WORKERS

Manufacturers can utilise the platform for three months, at no charge and with no commitment, but must enrol by June 30, 2020.

Enact operates real-time insights on processes, across individual plants and entire enterprises, the firm says. Importantly, during this time of social-distancing the software can support remote workers through its cloud-based monitoring feature.

Michael Lyle, President and CEO at InfinityQS said the solution can contribute to staff safety. "The Covid-19 pandemic is having a profound effect on each of us, on our families and friends, and on how we work and socialise," he explained. "Enact is a tool that can ensure the quality of the products you produce while also helping you protect your most valuable resource - your people."

Click here to see Field Service News' full list of industry solution providers offering support to the field service and manufacturing sectors during Covid-19.