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In his role co-ordinating Field Service Conferences on both sides of the Atlantic Jonathan Massoud , Divisional Director , WBR is quite uniquely placed to see the differences between how things are done differently on both sides of the pond. Here he gives us his view on why things , fundamentally aren’t actually too different at all....

 

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2016 has proven to be a groundbreaking year for Field Service.

Manufacturers have continued to implement features from industry 4.0 on their business activities as services like cloud computing, and the internet of things (IoT) have revolutionized how companies manage their workforce in the field. In making certain service processes easier, like troubleshooting or diagnosing a repair – service teams have gotten closer to the customer than ever before.

The success of these programs also play a huge part in managing customer satisfaction and retention which are key revenue drivers for many companies. Especially since customers often choose a product based on the level of service they receive instead of less distinguishable aspects of the products themselves.

In response to a vocal, growing consumer base, manufacturers have started to design innovative product and service solutions that address customer needs. With that said, it’s hard to address specific customer concerns as the level and degree of service has to be of a high, consistent quality across the board. European executives are focusing on many of the same initiatives as their North American counterparts – starting the create service oriented, customer facing products and services that augment revenue.

However, their challenges can be a bit different as they work with logistical and cultural issues.

In Europe, it’s already difficult to move parts, people and services across countries quickly and efficiently, it’s even harder to do so while understanding nuanced cultural differences. Even so, there is tremendous opportunity for revenue growth within companies that take the time to prioritise service.

Over the past several years, we’ve actually seen success with the positive relationship between customer satisfaction profitability. The more your customers enjoy and trust the service your provide – the more willing they are to continually buy your products in the future (and also share their positive experience with their peers).

Can smarter service drive revenue and customer satisfaction?

Going beyond 2016, proactive and predictive service will have a large impact on increasing customer satisfaction.

With benefits like an increased first time fix rate, fewer technician visits & truck rolls customers will have higher satisfaction (which results in lower general operating costs for the manufacturer). These will ultimately come to head with the introduction of an enhanced remote monitoring platform.

However, larger challenges like customer push-back and huge start-up costs serve as a red flag for manufacturers. With the general adaptation of industry 4.0 and the IoT – European government will use their high tech strategies to incentivise innovation to create smarter services, smarter factories and smarter products which lead to happier customers.

How do you monitor quality control across European boarders? To ensure a consistent level of service in Europe, many companies have started to provide tiered levels of service based on the specific needs and expectation of their customers. This gives manufacturers the ability to have flexible service on an as needed basis.

However, this presents an interesting problem for European companies as customer expectations drastically differ from country to country.

An Italian customer might be willing to wait five days for a part, while a Finnish customer would be ready to fill out a complaint form after five hours.

Ensuring that service remains consistently great in each country is an important focus point for service executives.

Who is the technician of the future?

Technicians are the public face of your brand, the person who has the most face time with customers and therefore the biggest opportunity to make a difference. A common term used for field technicians is “trusted advisor” and because of this status, they’re often a big driver in customer satisfaction.

So how can service companies make their technicians more effective? What does the ideal technician of the future look like?

Tomorrow’s technician needs to be customer-ready.

Often-times, the technical skills that make someone a superior engineer don’t necessarily go hand-in-hand with customer-facing soft skills (handling a distraught customer for example).

Lastly, tomorrow’s technician needs to be ready for next generation technology. They must be armed with tools containing the latest communication-ready advanced diagnostic capabilities, open to the idea of wearables and augmented reality, and ready to work on machines equipped with IoT technology.

What are the services that customers really value?

Managing the shift to on-demand service solutions Significant changes in customer behaviour have affected the makeup of the service industry over the past few years.

Rather than buying a particular product or piece of equipment, customers are looking for business outcomes and solutions. There’s been a significant shift towards value proposition in service: how do you create value from the things you’ve done in the past?

What do customers truly value and are they willing to pay for it? With the increased usage of on-demand solutions – customer expectations have grown to a new level.

However, for those pro-active companies that are actively seeking to meet these demands by embracing not only the latest technology to help drive their service efficiency and customer engagement levels, but are also embracing the notion of service as a fundamental business driver, there is a wealth of profitable and loyal business to be won out there in this new enterprise landscape of the early twenty first century.

The big question is are you as an organisation ready to take such a service oriented approach.

Having been part of our field service conferences both in the US and in Europe I’ve spoken with a lot of service directors from both sides of the fence - those who are running at full steam towards a more advanced services model and those who are perhaps lingering towards the back a bit more waiting to see how things pan out for those early adopters.

Whilst there is no shame in a cautious approach it is also important not to be the last company to adapt in your sector - no matter how large you are as you might find yourself facing your very own ‘Kodak moment’.

Getting ideas and insight from your peers is a great way of benchmarking what is actually happening in the industry compared to the hyperbole that can surround any given technology or business trend and I guess it’s that one on one peer interaction, that sense of community that has been a fundamental part of why our conferences continue to grow on both sides of  the Atlantic.

 

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It has now been three years since the Service Management Expo moved from Birmingham to London as it became part of UBM’s wider Protection and Management event, but has this transformation been positive or negative for the event that was once widely believed to be Europe’s best show dedicated to the sector?

The first thing you realise when you arrive at UBM’s Protection and Management (P&M) Series, which takes up the entirety of the ExCel Conference and Exhibition Centre in London’s revitalised Dockland’s region, is that this is a collection of BIG shows.

The largest of the P&M events is IFSEC which serves the global Fire and Security industry and it alone take up the entire south side of ExCel’s mile long exhibition space. With delegates and exhibitors from across the globe it is a truly impressive event. However, there are other sizeable events at P&M too.

The Facilities Show, Safety and Health Expo and FIREX are all heavyweight shows in their own right, and in this context Service Management Expo (SME) can occasionally feel a little lost. It is probably no exaggeration that there are single stands within the IFSEC side of the event that are larger than the entirety of Service Management Expo, and whilst the colour of the carpet gives you a visual clue as to whether you are still in SME or have wandered off elsewhere, if you turn one way you’ll be surrounded by companies selling hi-vis clothing, turn another and it’s air conditioning units.

Indeed, this has been the one constant criticism of SME ever since it left the NEC and joined it’s bigger brothers in London. In fairness, the exhibition organisers have listened to this feedback and tweaked the event year on year, to try to help SME maintain it’s own identity but it is one of the perennial conundrums of the field service industry - that whilst as a horizontal industry it is essentially highly pervasive, it remains a niche sector, with a relatively small but passionate community at it’s heart.

 

And actually when we take a step away from the mega-shows that surround it, and put SME in it’s context alongside other field service orientated shows then it is in fact a huge event in terms of the numbers of people in attendance.

In fact, this year UBM announced an incredible 1,911 visitors attended Service Management Expo, which was an increase of 35% on those that attended from 2015.

There was also a truly international flavour to the attendees this year with visitors from each of the 5 major continents walking around the expo across the three days. In context such attendance figures arguably make SME the largest event dedicated to the field service industries in the world. So just what is it that is attracting these delegates to London?

Where SME excels, is in that it is primarily an expo rather than a conference, so it provides a perfect platform for field service execs to get a look at a number of different solutions and vendors, check out software demonstrations and get their hands on some rugged hardware in one place.

According to a spokesperson at UBM the delegates who attended showed particular interest in lone worker safety, IT and cyber security, CRM, system integration, IoT, and recruitment. However, from our experience talking to delegates on the Field Service News stand, for many it was also an opportunity to just have a look at what new developments and tools were available in the industry.

The one area that SME perhaps falls down on is in the Field Service Solutions Theatre, essentially a mini conference area in the middle of the Expo. With both Copperberg and WBR offering full conferences in Europe - with A list speakers talking to rooms full of senior field service executives, the conference-lite approach comes across as a little anaemic. All too often throughout the Expo, the sight of a vendor delivering a thinly veiled sales pitch to a handful of delegates could be seen in the theatre area.

 

This lack of high-end content would probably explain the relatively low percentage of senior executives amongst attendees, with UBM figures stating that 25% of those in attendance were director level. But SME’s greatest weakness is also it’s greatest strength. This isn’t an event all about top-tier conference sessions, or indeed one that senior directors will attend for networking with their peers. It is an event, where field service companies can send their field service managers or supervisors to go out and get an overview of what tools are available, quickly and conveniently.

In this regard SME remains an absolutely vital part of the field service calendar (the increase in attendance YoY is perhaps testament to this) and with no other Field Service Expo on the horizon, it will no doubt remain so.

 

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At the inaugural Field Service Summit held in Oxford last month Field Service News and Greenroad co-hosted a series of five 30 minute roundtables on Fleet Management. With Chatham house rules in place to allow the participants to speak freely about both positive and negative experiences of fleet management, these sessions provided fascinating insight for all of those who took part.

Here we share with you three of the key points of discussion from across the day.

Who is responsible for fleet management?

One of the most crucial factors for understanding how field service companies manage their fleet operations is to understand where fleet management fits within the organisational structure of a company.

During the day there were a number of different alternatives brought up as to who is responsible for fleet management.

Perhaps unsurprisingly it was amongst larger organisations that we saw the role of a dedicated fleet manager, however, even when a fleet manager is in place, their role doesn’t necessarily involve the implementation of telematics or routing and tracking solutions. Often these more strategic elements ,that are designed to yield business improvement, sat within the field service division. Whilst the fleet manager role is more logistical, responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the fleet.

Interestingly, for a number of companies fleet management as a discipline sat alongside the health and safety department, which seemed to be a general starting point for many companies when it comes to rolling out an initial telematics solution.

As one participant commented: “For us it’s more about managing the health and safety side, health and safety in the UK is now getting to a point where it is actually tying us up to a certain degree.

We are dedicating a significant amount of time to dealing with health and safety legislation in work.”

Another option that was utilised by some companies was to completely outsource their fleet management requirements as part of the lease arrangement for their vehicles. In fact as telematics becomes more and more embedded by vehicle manufacturers in the not too distant future it may be that such arrangements become more common.

Meanwhile, for those smaller companies with more manageable fleets, the responsibility for fleet management sat firmly with the field service management team.

What was clear however, was if companies are to get the most out of their telematics solution, which currently many companies admit they are not doing, then the field service management team must have some input and control over the decisions made around fleet management and telematics.

It is also clear that the use of telematics is now becoming far more encompassing than simple vehicle tracking.

As another participant commented “We introduced telematics about two/three years ago now and for the same reason – health and safety and that really was the driver, but there are so many other benefits that can be driven from it."

Other comments around the ownership of fleet management and the drivers behind implementing a telematics solution included:

“The ownership of managing the vehicles is all down to our fleet department in terms of health and safety. Telematics and fuel consumption is in our [field service] space.”

“Through risk assessment we make sure our service engineers are doing everything correctly, and we send them on advanced driving training courses, to ensure we comply with health and safety regulations and procedures.”

This last point is something that Ryan Davison, Enterprise Sales Manager, Greenroad, believes is becoming more and more prevalent. He explained:

“We are starting to get approached a lot more now about the health and safety and environmental factors of fleet management.”

“Whereas traditionally telematics has always been logistical and operational, we are starting to see a lot more around a duty of care compliance side of things.”

“Companies are coming to us now and saying effectively we’ve got our telematics system running on the operational side but we are looking for something independent of that, that will take care of our R.O.I. that will look into duty of care that will make sure our drivers are behaving responsibly on the roads.”

“What we are looking at now is finding the synergy between fleet management and performance and health and safety and where you can transfer that data. Data is abundant at the moment and any telematics system can produce an enormous amount of data, but it’s how you interpret and manage that internally that is the key. Handing somebody 20/30 spread sheets in their inbox is not going to create any value for your organisation.”

Data, Data Everywhere:

Indeed, one of the common themes of the day was how to harness the amount of data that a telematics system could produce and how to effectively utilise that data.

The consensus was that it was important to be able to access that data in an easy to manage visual manner, with configurable dashboards being high on the wish list for most companies.

In general most companies now see the value of data available to them.However, there is also a clear fear of drowning in data if it is not possible to access it in a meaningful fashion.

Also as more and more providers are developing APIs for open integration the flow of data is becoming increasingly seamless.

What was also interesting was that there seemed to be a dual use for data, highlighted throughout the day’s conversations.

Firstly, it became apparent telematics data is used as a day-to-day management tool, but it is also used secondly as a strategic tool to help push a business forward.

This concept was neatly summed up by one particular participant who said:

“There are two main elements. There is the data that provides the behavioural stuff and we are a fortunate position where there are sixteen area managers and they are directly responsible for the field engineers and their behaviour and being able to send data around whether their engineers are driving too fast, or braking too hard etc. is something that they can use as a tool to deal with these issues as line management.”

“But from an organisational perspective the big win is the data that outlines the utilisation of our equipment.”

“We have a big fleet and before, whilst this information was there it was in paper format so wasn’t easy to access. But now it is easier to access and it can inform our decisions on whether to buy or rent new assets, whether we can move things around the country and so on.”

Driver behaviour and fleet management

It is however, the first of these uses, feeding data back to the field engineers that was discussed the most across the day’s sessions. And gamification played a significant role in how a number of companies utilised their telematics data to improve their engineers driving standards.

As one participant commented” Nobody wants to be the worst driver in the fleet, whether it is a fleet of 5 or a fleet or 500.”

And gamification tools can actively encourage improvements . Indeed, there was almost universal acceptance that gamification could be used as a tool to improve driver behaviour across  an entire mobile workforce.

However, the first battle, which is quite a common one it seems, is getting the field engineers to accept a telematics solution in the first place.

All too often we heard similar stories from the delegates – namely that of push-back from unions and engineers. “Definitely there is a kind of resentment.” Commented one participant.

“It comes down to trust, they believe that you just don’t trust them and then it becomes an issue. The mind-set is ‘if your putting something in it’s because you don’t trust how I do something.’ And then you get the push-back against it.” another delegate commented.

“It can then become a vicious circle where the company says if your not doing anything wrong there is nothing to be concerned about, whilst the engineers say if I’m not doing anything wrong why do you need to track me.”

However, it does seem to be a problem that often heals itself over time following implementation.

“Eventually they saw it wasn’t being used as they expected it to be and now it is accepted” another delegate replied before adding “some of the guys are even asking for print outs from the system so they can see their own performance.”

Yet getting that initial acceptance can still be a tricky balancing act as Davison explained further.

“The two sides of the scale are encouragement and enforcement.”

“To begin with you can take the approach of explaining this is for your own benefit and what those benefits are, but with those who are persistently driving badly then it is a case of falling back on policy and saying to that engineer ‘we need to take you off the road and explore training before we can get you back on.’”

In terms of driver behaviour, data can also play a crucial role in streamlining training strategies as Davison added “Whereas traditionally people might have used programs such as AA drive tech, Institute of Advanced Motoring or VOSPA for generic training what we are seeing now is people are using the data more cleverly.”

“Applied driving techniques is a good example, what they will do is work with us in partnership and use our data to avoid taking a scatter gun approach, but rather focus the training on areas  that it is needed.”

“So each individual driver will have their own risk profile and therefore we can assess how effective is that training been in improving them and reducing the risk they pose on the road."

 

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There's still time to register for next week's "Creating Value from Field Service" event, being held at the prestigious Williams F1 Conference Centre, in Wantage, Oxfordshire, on  Thursday 28th April.

There's no charge to attend the action-packed event, which is hosted by  mobile workforce optimisation solutions specialist Leadent and attracts senior figures from the UK field service sector.

 

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To register and see the full agenda click here

 

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The interactive agenda will allow delegates to explore the theme of "Creating Value from Field Service".  How do you maximise the value delivered by and through a dispersed  field force? The conference will bring together industry experts and practitioners who have been there and done it.  Field service organisations such as Anglian Water, NATs, Serco and Arqiva will share their real-life experiences.

The event attracts senior delegates from some of the country’s largest organisations. The day is structured with presentations, case studies, and panel events,  and there is plenty of opportunity for discussion with fellow peers and for delegates to network, converse and share ideas.  Represented organisations will include utilities, telcos, facilities management, government agencies and more.

The range of topics includes Tactical Resource Planning, Analytics, Change and Transformation Management, the End-to-End Customer Journey, as well as IoT and the latest technologies.

A  complimentary tour of the Williams F1 Collection is included.

 

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To view full agenda and register,  click here

 

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CEM has been identified as a  key driver of customer loyalty and profitable growth, is a trending topic in the manufacturing industry. But for many manufacturers this is still a greenfield operation. So where do you stand and how do you get started?

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Technology, training and customer collaboration are the key topics for this year’s Field Service Summit taking place on 12 April, St Hugh’s College, Oxford.

The one-day conference gathers over 90 senior field service directors from across the UK.  They are meeting to explore how new technology and fast-changing customer expectations are shaking up field service management. With a pre-conference networking reception on the early evening of the 11th April, and a unique format enabling all delegates to meet with and talk to all speakers - the Field Service Summit ensures that busy executives maximise their learning opportunities, and minimise time spent out of the office.

Readers of Field Service News, responsible for managing a field service team, can receive a 25% discount off the standard price of a delegate pass,. Quote FSN25 when registering here.

Speaker Lineup

The Field Service Summit ditches slide decks and lets delegates sit in small groups to listen to and ask questions of our stellar lineup of speakers: Martin Summerhayes, Head of Strategy & Business Change, Fujitsu, John Cullen, Vice President, Global Marketing & Brand, Metso; Hans van den Heuvel, Operations Director, Services & Support EMEA, Canon Europe; Christian Nolte, Global Head of Field Service, Wincor Nixdorf; Sanjay Patel, Head of IS Strategy, Architecture & Commercial, UK Power Networks;Graeme Coyne, Manager, Siemens; Neil Taplin, Director of Operations, Arqiva; Coen Jeukens, Service Contract Director, Bosch; Professor Andy Neely, Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge; Howard Lightfoot, Professor, Operations Excellence Institute, Cranfield UniversityStandard price tickets to attend the conference are £870+VAT. Please quote ‘FSN25’ to receive Promotional Offer price of £652.50+VAT for Field Service News readers. NB. This offer is only available to serving field service end users - not consultants or solutions providers.; Aly Pinder, Senior Research Analyst, Aberdeen Group; Bill Pollock, President, Strategies4Growth; Jan van Veen, Customer Centric Innovation for Sustainable Growth; James Rock, Managing Partner, DesignThinking; IFS; Astea; ClickSoftware; ServicePower; GreenRoad; FLS - Fast Lean Smart; MPL Systems

World Class Technologies On Show

The latest field service technologies will also be on show from world-class technology providers.

 

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Readers of Field Service News, responsible for managing a field service team, can receive a 25% discount off the standard price of a delegate pass.

Standard price tickets to attend the conference are £870+VAT. Please quote ‘FSN25’ to receive Promotional Offer price of £652.50+VAT for Field Service News readers. This offer is only available to serving field service end users - not consultants or solutions providers.

Register here

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UPDATE: LEADING UK SERVICE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE PROVIDER TESSERACT JOIN LIST OF PROVIDERS TAKING PART IN THIS YEAR'S SUMMIT...

UK based software company Tesseract have become the latest specialist provider to join the select panel of session sponsors adding a further layer of insight into what promises to be an interesting two day session bringing together a mix of practitioners, solution providers and academia to discuss the key challenges in delivering service within an aftermarket environment.

Tesseract, pioneers respected within their field for delivering both the worlds first windows based field service management software as well as the worlds first browser based field service management software are joined by a well rounded group of solution providers including Kuehne & Nagel who will be providing insight on service logistics, Syncron who offer parts and inventory management solutions, and TrackUnit who offer telematics solutions.

 

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The 2nd World Chief Service Officer Summit takes place in London, UK, on March 14th and 15th, with a focus on Manufacturing Aftermarket. Field Service News is pleased to be a media partner for the event.

The manufacturing sector is changing rapidly.  As sales reach saturation point and competition increases pressure on prices, manufacturers are seeking other revenue streams.  Revenue from aftermarket sales will become increasingly important and customer service will have a higher profile. That presents both great challenges and great opportunities.

If you are in manufacturing, repair and operations, this is the summit for you. Come and hear about the latest developments in spare parts supply, 3D printing, CRM, leasing and service support  for products such as autos, heavy equipment, medical device, yachting, aircraft and consumer electronics.

Over two days, in four themed sessions, delegates at the summit will hear from over 20 speakers, learn what the key trends are in service development, hear what competitors are doing and how to deliver service in a customer-driven environment.

Sessions include:[unordered_list style="bullet"]

•   The Global Market Outlook and Internet+ Market
•   Supply Chain Management & Innovative Service Design
•   Technology Innovation and Profitability
•   Field Service & Mobile Workforce Management

Among the confirmed speakers are: Peter Rudzio, CLAAS Service and Parts; Wim Vercauteren, Manitou Group Alvaro Lizarraga, SANY Europe; Waldir Gomes Goncalves, Embraer Executive Jets; Robbert Kerber, LuiGong Machinery Europe; Per Stjernqvist, Volvo Construction Equipment Denmark; Alexandre Marrot , Xerox;  and Professor Tim Baines, Director of the Aston Centre for Servitization Research and Practice.

For more details and to register to attend click here:

 

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Field Service News Editor-in-Chief Kris Oldland looks looks at why the Internet of Things will soon evolve into the Industrial Internet and why it will have a huge impact on the way we face field service operations in the very near future... 

 

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Click above to get your digital copy of Field Service News issue seven now!

 

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It was only fairly recently that I first came across the phrase Industrial Internet...

If I’m a hundred percent honest I didn’t really know what it meant and had to have it explained to me. For those who like me hadn’t stumbled across this phrase before it’s basically a new name for the Internet of Things.

Or more specifically the application of IoT in a business driven environment, as opposed to the consumer world of smart home that IoT has now become synonymous with. Given that whilst utilising the same technology the discussions around IoT enabled Smart Homes is going to be very different to those around the application of IoT in industry then I guess it makes sense.

It’s probably also a sign that IoT is growing up. The first examples of IoT I came across were all predominantly novelty stuff. I remember being at a technology and marketing conference a few years ago and a company had a machine called Bubblinho on their stand. Basically it was the worlds first IoT based Bubble Blowing Machine.

I distinctly recall thinking at the time how it was all very clever if a little bit pointless.

Around the same time I remember reading about a man who created a device that could allow him to feed his dog a dog biscuit by tweeting. Again very clever, but if your going to be away from home so much that you need the Internet of Things to feed your poor pooch then your not exactly the world’s best Dog Owner are you?

Yet those who know me, or indeed read my column will know that I am a huge proponent of IoT when it comes to its application in field service. I genuinely think that it will be a game changer. Not only that but I think that IoT (along with Augmented Reality) will be the technology that truly reshapes the way field service companies operate forever.

In the not too distant future companies will look back at pre IoT workflows in wonderment at just how we got along. Much like we look back today and try to remember what we did before mobile phones became prevalent.

So for me if changing the name of IoT to Industrial Internet is a sign that IoT is starting to mature then so be it.

And the fact is that it definitely has matured, and is taking seed within the field service industry.

Without giving too much away the evidence is clear in our research report (page 29) this issue, which just so happens to be assessing the appetite for IoT in field service.

The implementation of IoT is no longer just theory. It is happening and it is happening now. The shift from exciting emerging technology to a standard technology everybody is focussing on has been swift and no where was this more evidence than at the recent Field Service Fall event held in Atlanta, Georgia.

 

Throughout the three days of the conference there were vast numbers of presentations, round-tables and just general chat in the breakout sessions all centred on the capability of IoT to change the way we operate our field service divisions.

Yet according to Jonathan Massoud, Divisional Director & Market Analyst, with conference organisers WBR, this time last year folks were still just about getting their heads around the concept. (Read more here)

This year, it seems it is full steam ahead for a large number of companies, and those who aren’t currently implementing a IoT solution are on the whole starting to build their own IoT plans.

Of course one of the most exciting partnerships in this area at the moment is that of ServiceMax and PTC and between them I’m quietly confident that they can produce some fantastic IoT enabled FSM solutions.

In fact reference to IoT is peppered through this issue although not necessarily by design. Regular contributors Nick Frank of Frank Partners and Sumair Dutta of The Service Council both focus on IoT in their expert views this issue. It seems that everywhere we turn in our industry the Internet of Things is at the forefront of peoples minds.

The Age of The Industrial Internet is most definitely upon us and as with any change we must either embrace it or be left behind by those that do.

 

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Click above to get your digital copy of Field Service News issue eight now!

 

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Sister show to Field Service USA, Field Service Fall brings three days of industry education to the East Coast of the USA. Field Service News Editor-in-Chief Kris Oldland flew over to see what the latest hot buttons for the US service industry were…

Held in Buckhead, the upmarket business region of Atlanta Field Service Fall lived up to it’s billing as one of the key US events in the field service calendar by bringing together some 200 plus senior members of the field service industry across the three day event.

As always with industry events focussing on field service operations the delegates came from a range of disparate industries including healthcare, manufacturing, telecommunications and more, yet despite coming from seemingly different universes, the same pain points were discussed, the same opportunities for improvement of service delivery discovered and the same challenges of implementing such opportunities and overcoming these pain points were at the heart of the conversations.

Kristina Hill, IFS Marketing Manager Enterprise Service Manager commented “As always the WBR field service events bring a great crowd of multiple different verticals together to brainstorm and share thought leadership and discuss pain points”

“It brings all sorts of companies together” Hill added “but as different as they are and as different as they run process wise, they are also very similar in their pain points and the issues they face. It’s great to see people working on new initiatives and adopting new technology”

This sentiment was echoed by John Callen Support Solutions Manager, NCR who was attending for his seventh time at a WBR Field Service Event.

“Every time I come here I get take aways from each presenter or each conversation I have, that makes me just that little bit better in my role” Callen stated, going on to say “I’ve got about twenty things with stars on them so I can’t possibly implement them all but I’m going to review again tonight and go from there.”

 

Indeed there was a real sense of community across the three days in Atlanta. Something that event producers WBR are keen to maintain and build upon.

Jonathan Massoud, Divisional Director & Market Analyst, of conference organiser WBR commented “The feedback that we got was that it is good to bring the community together and here is where they can get help to develop standards that they typically can’t get elsewhere, that they can’t get through benchmarking or through competitors so they can come together here, meet and increase their own community.”

It was this opportunity to discuss challenges amongst his peers that attracted Arnold Benavidez, Field service engineering Manager, Metso Recycling to attend for the first time also.

“One of the reasons I came to this event was to get different perspectives on how other field service organisations are managing their field service activities for their businesses. “ Benavidez commented, “What processes, technologies and strategies are they implementing that have been proven and been successful in the organisations.”

“Quite often I think we try to manage the chaos in our service organisations and we tend to have tunnel vision in just managing our way through that chaos. I wanted to come through this event to broaden my perspective and really get a good observation of what are the other possibilities that could improve my organisation and our overall business.”

 

The conference agenda itself was well balanced with a strong blend of forward looking presentations, case studies detailing how some of the more progressive companies within the industry have made improvements to their own service operations and general insight and opinion from a number of senior figures within the service industry.

One of the topics that dominated a lot of the presentations as well as conversations in the break out sessions was that of IoT.

As Massoud explained “One of the things we are hearing about now is the digitization of service in terms of the Internet of Things – what does that mean? Last year we talked about that and people were unsure of how to move forward, now it seems that each of the verticals now have things in place that are addressing that and we are seeing things move forward.”

“For example some organisations are putting in mobile boxes when the product goes out so they can pull data off it and that is just one example of how IoT is effecting the development of their products and their service and that’s come out this week.“

Callen also highlighted IoT as one of the big topics of the conference saying “I think a lot of the themes that I’ve heard this time around is around the Internet of Things, the way things are pushing forward it makes you think how I can implement this to solve problems of my own?”

 

“You’ve got to worry about the cost but you’ve also got to worry about the cost of fixing the problem,” he added

However, the talk wasn’t all about tech. The continuing drive towards improving customer experience was another frequently heard topic of conversation.

“The real focus still, which is nice to hear, is in delighting the customers” Hill commented “As customer demand grows and increases and the technology that is out there from a customer perspective makes that demand higher, I think that field service organisations are realising that they have to keep up and then they have to deliver in a way that is going to put the customer first. “

“That’s still a big trend and one of the things that was a big conversation topic is that the customer has to come first and then let the processes be driven by that.” She added.

Expanding further on the topic Massoud added “Customer experience has been top of the line for the last couple of years now in the research we are doing.

What we are seeing now is how companies using technology to improve the customer experience.”

“The shift towards having the field tech be more of a consultant in the field, soft skills developing, really jumped out again. I think it is something that the industry has been struggling with for a while but now they are starting to put some things in place and some training in place where they are making headway with technicians. So knowledge bases we’re hearing about all the way up to augmented reality type solutions, which also tie into knowledge management and knowledge sharing in the field.”

 

And in fact the absolute star turn of the three days was provided by Augmented Reality solution Help Lightning.

Developed in part by neurosurgeon Bart Guthrie, Help Lightning uses augmented reality to deliver remote guidance. The impact for field service of augmented reality is massive, potentially slashing a phenomenal amount of outgoing costs by allowing experienced engineers to guide local onsite engineers on how to make a fix themselves, instead of having to get the experienced engineer onsite.

A simple, yet highly effective app, with slick delivery and seemingly robust connectivity (the product is capable of working across 3G networks despite being video based) Help Lightning was certainly the star of the show garnering a lot interest.

 

And with an engaging presentation by Guthrie supported by a constantly busy booth in the demonstration zone of the event, Help Lightning certainly won a number of fans across the three days including Marty Jost, Director of Technical Services, Hach who commented “The biggest thing for me was seeing the Help Lightning application. It’s simple enough that I want to go back and demo it for my people.”

Benavidez was also a fan of the augmented reality app stating “I was really impressed with some of the technology, specifically with Help Lightning, we’re coming currently on a second year of a down market in our industry due to the price of steel and a lot of people are looking at services to bring in revenue to make up for the difference, but selling services is difficult, as our customers tend to want to take care of those type of things on their own, so I think after seeing this technology from Help Lightning this may provide the opportunity to assist our customers who don’t want to pay the premium price of having a highly skilled technician on site but perhaps would be interested in having our technician guide their electrical or mechanical contractors on site to help facilitate some minor repairs.”

Indeed if the general consensus of the attendees of Field Service Fall are a good yardstick to go by then the team at Help Lightning, and Augmented Reality vendors in general could well become the hot ticket in Field Service in the very near future as the technology promises very obvious benefits for customers and field service providers alike.

“I think our customers could really go for that kind of opportunity because we are helping them be more self-sufficient and ultimately that is what they want to do.” Benavidez explained “I felt really confident when I saw that opportunity. I think it is definitely something I’m going to try.” He added.

However whilst IoT, Big Data and Augmented Reality are truly exciting topics quite rightly discussed frequently both in the trade press and at industry events such as this, it is also important not to overlook the fundamental technology such as scheduling and parts management tools that can help us get the right engineer to the right job at the right time, and getting them there with the right tools to do the job first time.

What always fascinates me personally about field service as a topic for conversation is that often whilst we have a natural tendency to focus on how we can harness the latest technology to streamline and improve the productivity of our operations, yet there still remain fundamental basics that we must implement if we are to meet the expectations our customers demand.

Therefore it was interesting to see that the problem of parts and inventory management was a pain point that continued to surface during the breakout sessions across the three days.

 

Whilst many of the conversations would have been driven by a series of roundtables hosted by Aberdeen’s Aly Pinder, the fact that this was an area that resonated with many was a clear indicator of the importance of getting the basics right.

As Deb Geiger, VP Global Marketing Astea commented;

“I think there is always an underlying commonality in terms of everybody is trying to optimise be more efficient and reducing those costs but also not at the risk of sacrificing, customer satisfaction. “

“People talk about speed and quick resolution, but you can show up quickly and not fix it first time. So its always weighing the different factors and ensuring that the piece of equipment is getting fixed first time and that the customer is satisfied. I think everybody is looking to continually optimise, look at their processes – how can they improve how do they optimise their workforce, some are having to do more work with less resources how do they make that happen without overtaxing the technicians.”

Of course what events such as Field Service Fall do is provide an opportunity not only for discovery, and peer networking but also for benchmarking how your organisation is performing in terms of delivering service.

As Callen wryly put it “Every one of us is in the same circus we just have different clowns working for us. My problems are the same things as the guy that has the printing press, as the guy that has the medical devices.”

 

“Operational wise and personal wise this is a great opportunity to benchmark progress. I’ve seen a lot of the same folks year after year. It’s good to see old friends. Here I’ve got friends that I talk to every year, what did you guys do with this, what did you guys do with that? We talk about problems and situations. And it genuinely helps us see where we are in terms of our own development”

This is something that Massoud is equally aware of and very much proud to be part of adding “It’s an opportunity that is unique for this space and you can’t go at it alone.”

‘A lot of guys tell us that when they first come here I’m coming back - it’s good to be part of this community”

In that case I guess I’ll see you all next year then.

 

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Registration for field service fall 2016 is now open click here for more info

 

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