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While for many the shift from traditional transactional product focussed business models to a more strategic service centric approach that focuses on longer term, outcome based contracts is a complex process to navigate. However, Jason Smith, General Manager, Aftersales, EMEA for Japanese food packaging and weighing manufacturer Ishida is a man that has not only been through the process, he has done it twice.

Kris Oldland, spoke exclusively with him about the importance of executive level buy-in to undertake such a move and why customer selection when rolling new service models out is vital….

KO: All too often I hear that despite the fact that service operations of a business brings in a significant proportion of revenue into a company, there is a general lack of support for the service team of many businesses at the top tier executive level.

This of course would be a fundamental barrier to moving to an advanced services model and is a challenge many senior service executives are confronted by even though they can see how both their business and their customers could benefit from a move away from the traditional break-fix maintenance to the type of proactive service operations that advanced services require.

So how can we get the voice of the service department heard at the executive level?

JS: I think the only way to do that is to have a fairly compelling argument and there is nothing like having a very compelling customer story to help give that leverage at board level. Traditionally, businesses are built upon delivering a product and they will have done that very successfully to have grown to a large size. It is the case really that they will have done so on tangible benefits.

Comparing one product to another is much easier than comparing one service against another. I think within most manufacturing organisations there is still probably a lack of understanding about the value services can deliver to a customer combined with a product.

 

Its still regarded as a separation – that’s why we have terms like aftersales – it’s after the sale, its not combined with the sale.

For your typical product salesman it’s hard to comprehend something as intangible as advanced services and how to explain it and describe the value when he hasn’t got any evidence or experience to back it up with.

KO: So does the adoption of servitization as a business model need to be driven from the top down?

JS: Absolutely, without that support from the top it is dead before it’s ever started.

KO: What about the customer point of view - it’s one thing pushing an advances services route and getting buy in internally, but what about externally?

Is it a case that some customers just don’t want to come down this route because they are so used to the transactional nature that they have always operated within?

JS: Very much, it is a cultural thing for a customer and customer selection is therefore very important.

A customer who is used to transactional relationships, that may have those pressures on them themselves from their own customer base, would be one who is very transactional and possibly looking to exploit the relationship.

They would probably not be the best ones to try and build this concept with because in order to mitigate, quantify or even deliver or offset the risk that you are going to assume in delivering an advanced service you are probably going to make it uneconomical and unviable compared to the traditional business models. You just won’t compete or you’ll be pulled a part and it just won’t be relevant anymore.

 

Therefore, I think customer selection is absolutely vital. The question is along the lines of technology push/customer pull – which is best?

I think it depends very much on the pace at which you want to work. Customer pull you lose control of the pace and velocity at which you want to work at in terms of the delivering the service. But if you push it out to your customers you have the challenge of convincing them to get on board.

KO: Ultimately will there always be two-tier customers, will there be those companies that you take on the servitization journey with you and those that remain doing business in the traditional sense or is the long term aim to eventually bring everyone on board with advance services? 

JS: I think there is really three types of customers and I would support the Caterpillar approach that there are those who want to do it themselves, those who want us to do it with them and those who want us to do it for them.

In terms of servitization probably you are always going to have an element in each of those three camps. The challenge that we face as service providers is moving them out of the ‘do it myself’ to ‘do it with me’ to ‘do it for me’.

Obviously moving them from a point where they are doing it themselves, to where you are doing everything for them is a big leap of faith. It’s not something you can do overnight, certainly not at a risk that you can sustain economically. So it’s a case of migrating that customer and building that trust over a period of time, to gain the confidence that you can deliver and that you can add value to their business.

KO: We touched on the fact that servitization needs to be driven from the top down, but do you need buy-in across the whole organisation as well?

For example with our field technicians - do we need their understanding of the concept and if so how do you achieve that?

JS: The easy answer to that is yes, you need buy in across the whole organisation because you are going to be relying on those inter-siloed relationships within the business to deliver within your promise. You’re going to have to rely on your supply chain and you’re going to have to rely on all your internal supporting departments to deliver that.

It is a fundamental change to the way you do business and the way you have done things traditionally, so yes the answer is yes you do need to have buy in from all levels and in particular your service engineers as it represents a fairly fundamental change or difference to the way they are used to operating. 

 

There will be a lot of knowledge in those teams, which is experiential and built up over time together with product training and in some ways you’re starting to both capitalise on their experience but also put it in a bottle so that you can use it in your supporting systems and algorithms for example. 

That represents a fairly big challenge and that’s also going to have it’s own implications for supporting systems such as knowledge management. 

KO: Finally, technology is the key enabler to allow us to move to advanced services, but how far along the journey do you think we are in terms of the development of the technology such as IoT and Cloud? Are we there already or is there more to come?

JS: In terms of being enabled to do the job and to support the decision-making within servitization I think we are actually there with the Internet of Things. OK, there will be enhancements, maybe faster connection times, you can store more data etc., but I think it is essentially there. 

We’ve got enough to be able to do it, maybe even too much.

The real challenge is what you are measuring, the volume of what you are measuring, how you analyse it and draw conclusions from it -to me that is the real challenge.

 

Also the prize is that the value of the analysis that you do is metamorphosed into the value that you can then create for your customer. How you do that, that methodology, is your future IP. That’s where your sales proposition will lie in the future.

So its not the fact that you can get the data, its what you measure, how you measure it and more importantly how you analyse it, what you do with it and being able to express that value in a manner which the customer can fully understand.

 

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With many major automotive manufacturers promising autonomous vehicles to hit the roads within the next couple of years the reality of the autonomous fleet for field service organisations is no longer a futuristic fantasy but a genuine reality - so what exactly could the autonomous vehicle mean for field service?

The hype around autonomous vehicles is getting ever stronger, but what role if any could they play in changing how field service delivery is managed?

“Autonomous vehicles undoubtedly represent an exciting development for fleets, particularly from a productivity perspective,” comments Paul Miller, Product Manager, Fleetmatics.

“They have the potential to disrupt the traditional fleet model of assigning one vehicle to one driver, as in future they will be able to support the workload of multiple field service agents at the same time. Imagine a future, for example, where an autonomous vehicle knows the average job time of each agent, and is therefore able to schedule drop offs and pick-ups to complement their work.”

“By performing the same role for several field agents in a specific area, this could create significant productivity savings across a fleet, particularly in relation to fuel efficiency and workload management, through a reduction in unnecessary time spent on the road or idling.”

David Rodriguez, Chief Marketing Officer for GreenRoad also agree that productivity could be significantly increased if we were to see autonomous fleets emerge.

“Autonomous vehicles should positively affect productivity, safety and costs for field service organisations,” he explains.

“First, they’ll enable field service technicians to recapture productive hours during the day. Rather than focusing on driving, workers will be able to concentrate on customer service, reporting, and other elements of their job while on the road.”

“Autonomous vehicles will also enable companies whose field tasks don’t require specialised equipment to move to a model in which the company owns fewer vehicles (or simply contracts with a car-sharing provider), and employees are picked up and dropped off at their worksite, freeing up the vehicle for the next employee. Most importantly, autonomous vehicles will improve safety.”

“Today, according to the NHTSA 1 in 5 fleet vehicles are involved in accidents each year. Eliminating human error from the driving experience will lead to lower accident rates, repair costs and absenteeism, and overall cost reductions ranging from $16,000 - $500,000.”

It all sounds to good to be true doesn’t it? But exactly how much of the talk around autonomous vehicles is hyperbole and how much is reality – realistically how far away are we from a fleet of autonomous vehicles being put in place by a field service organisation?

 

“We are still some time away from autonomous vehicles becoming commonplace in field service delivery,” says Miller

“The means testing programmes being carried out by their developers still have many years to run – and even then, these programmes haven’t focused on the vehicles’ suitability for field service delivery models. As a result, they are still relatively unproven in the professional space, so until they become the norm, telematics provides the best technology solution for safer, more responsible driving. Many of the benefits ascribed to driverless vehicles – such as increased fuel efficiency, improved safety and greater productivity - are actually already possible by leveraging telematics software against a fleet, so in many ways, the benefits of driverless vehicles are already available.”

Rodriguez however, thinks the future may not be quite so far away.

“The Society of Automotive Engineers is classifying self-driving technology in 6 categories, ranging from no automation (Level 0) to full automation (Level 5). Some manufacturers hope to achieve Level 4 autonomy in the coming years, with Tesla promising “full self-driving capabilities” (presumably Level 3 or 4) this year and Ford setting a date of 2021 to achieve Level 4 autonomy.”

“Level 5 vehicles that require no human intervention under any circumstances (extreme weather conditions, uncharted roads, etc.) may still be decades away. But even with level 4 technology, we can expect to see a shift in the preferences of field service companies, as fleets stand to gain a great deal of benefit from the safety, efficiency and operational improvements autonomous vehicles offer.”

“Amazon, Fed Ex and others are already testing out automated deliveries. It’s not unreasonable to think we could see fully autonomous fleets (with human workers on board when extreme conditions are expected) within the next 4-5 years.

Of course the biggest area of concern is the safety aspect. There are always going to be concerns around the safety of autonomous vehicles until they become the norm. But are such fears founded? Is there a danger that the technology could be held back by red tape and regulation or is it necessary to ensure any such transformative technology is highly regulated from day one?

 

“Autonomous vehicle fears are mostly unfounded for a simple reason – multiple studies have shown that human error is the cause of 90 percent of vehicle accidents", explains Rodriguez.

“While technology is certainly prone to human error in the development stage (bugs and programming gaps), automakers are taking the responsibility for releasing well-vetted autonomous technology very seriously, understanding that early mistakes could set autonomous adoption back by years."

"When they’re ready, autonomous vehicles will be like professional drivers with extra-sensory perception and zero risk of developing highway hypnosis or road rage. Not only will they consistently execute proper technique when climbing a hill, taking a blind corner, driving on wet roads, etc., they will also have advanced sensors and access to moment-by-moment road condition data. So many of the fears you hear discussed, such as the fear that the vehicle will sacrifice its passenger if it means avoiding a collision with a school bus, rely on scenarios that will become virtually non-existent once self-driving cars are widely adopted.”

 

“Just as automakers are highly motivated to ensure their vehicles are safe, they’re motivated to work with lawmakers to ensure the needed regulation is in place before their technology is ready for mass adoption. They may not be organised in their efforts yet but a more cohesive approach will no doubt come soon, considering the opportunities ahead. It’s important that reasonable regulation be developed as well as incorporating the extensive amounts of existing professional driver behaviour data that supports comprehensive testing if autonomous vehicles are going to be safe and successful.”

 

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

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

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

and now onto next weeks question in the Big Discussion

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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Bill Pollock, President Strategies for GrowthSM takes a look at some of the findings of their 2017 Field Service Management Benchmark Survey to explore exactly what the impact of IoT is set to be in 2017...

There have been myriad times in recent years when a new technology seems to control the conversation in the business world – and, particularly, in the services sector. And, field service is typically one of the first areas where customers and users catch their first glimpse and initial understanding of what each of these “new” technologies can do for the industry.

However, it usually takes a while longer before they truly understand what these new technologies can do specifically for their respective organisations.

Many of these new technologies enter the mainstream of the business world – and the global services community – after some initial fanfare, trade press, blogs, tweets and white papers, etc.

However, most of them will actually take years to be fully accepted and deployed via a more staggered and drawn-out basis over a lengthy period of time.

 

For example, 10 to 15 years ago, RFIDs were all the rage, with seemingly every article and white paper talking about the potential use of RFIDs for everything from tracking parts shipments, to identifying personal items that consumers send to the dry cleaner for laundering.

The evolution of RFIDs, however, was fairly steady to the point of almost being modestly linear over the next decade and a half.

But, fast forward to 2017, and Tesla Inc. founder and CEO, Elon Musk, has recently announced the formation a new company, Neuralink Corp., which The Wall Street Journal describes as a “medical research” company that plans to build technology “through which computers could merge with human brains”, essentially using embedded chips to upload and download thoughts directly from humans. In less than a couple of decades, RFIDs went from the “talk of the town”; to a backdrop of steady (albeit non-glitzy) market adoption and deployment; to a virtual science fiction-like catalyst between the technology of today and the advanced future.

That is why the introduction and accelerating proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT) in field service is such a big deal. Because, as most industry analysts tend to agree, the projected growth path for the full integration and convergence of the IoT into the global services community – particularly in field service – are stunning!

While some new technologies start out like “gangbusters”, many quickly turn into fads, or segment specific applications, as only a small percent actually do become “game-changers”. And this is where the convergence of field service and the IoT seems to be so much different than the rest.

 

As technology companies actively tout the capabilities (and supposed uniqueness) of their respective IoT-based applications, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution providers tend to focus on how their embedded Field Service Management (FSM) solutions are also bolstered by the IoT. And, then, there’s Augmented Reality (AR) – which could not exist in its present form without the functionality of the IoT. In fact, many services industry analysts have stated that there could be no servitization – at all – without the IoT.

Maybe so; maybe not. There certainly could be no Augmented Reality (AR) without the IoT. And AR is already one of the “shining lights” among the “new” technologies that has staked its claim as the “next big thing” in field service.

However, even as the services community continues to talk about the gradual introduction of AR into their field service operations, the technology is already morphing and converging with other related technologies, most notably, Virtual Reality (VR). This “new” new technology is already being brandished as “Mixed”, or “Merged Reality” (MR) among the global technology leaders (i.e., depending on which one of the leading technology providers you follow).

Still, the results of Strategies For GrowthSM‘s (SFGSM) 2017 Field Service Management Benchmark Survey reveal that while “new” technologies provide a host of specific benefits for Field Services Organisations (FSOs), most are still not ready to embrace the full potential of all they can ultimately offer.

However, both the need – and the perceived benefits – are there.

For example, the top opportunities, or benefits, of acquiring and integrating new technology are cited as:

• 44% Ability to run a more efficient field service operation by eliminating silos, etc.
• 39% Improve customer satisfaction
• 35% Ability to provide customers with an end-to-end engagement relationship
• 30% Establish a competitive advantage
• 26% Improve field technician utilisation and productivity
• 25% Reduce Total Cost of Operations (TCO)

However, as boldly as these opportunities and benefits are cited, less than 10% of respondents presently claim to be leveraging Augmented Reality (AR) into their field service operations – although 18% say they would be either “very” or “extremely likely” to do so in the next 12 months.

Still, there are twice as many respondents (37%) who say they are “not likely” to do so, compared with 18% of the more progressive respondents who will be moving forward with AR.

 

The survey reveals similar findings with respect to VR – perhaps the advent of “Mixed” or “Merged Reality (MR) will move the market somewhat more forward during what seems likely to be a period of accelerating growth in acceptance.

As reported in the SFGSM survey, it is still somewhat comforting that the respective levels of interest in acquiring these new, IoT-powered, technologies continues to grow:

• 31% Are currently integrating new technologies into existing field service operations
• 37% Plan to integrate new technologies into existing field service operations in the next 12 months
• 36% Are interested in learning more about the IoT and AR

Once again, the impact of the convergence of field service and the IoT looks to have an increasingly strong acceptance for the foreseeable future.

 

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Sumair Dutta, Chief Customer Officer at The Service Council offers his insight on how to leverage the untapped power of your field service operations to build additional revenue streams...

There is an increased responsibility on field service organisations to complement operational and customer facing improvements with commercial results. In The Service Council’s (www.servicecouncil.com) 2016 field service research, the lack of revenue opportunities was seen as a major strategic challenge by 40% of organisations.

To counter this challenge a number of organisations were looking at their front-line field service personnel to identify new business opportunities (aka Leads) or to sell when in front of the customer.

Most organisations currently have some form of a field service lead program in place and more are beginning to equip their engineers with the tools necessary to sell. There’s not enough room to debate if field engineers should be selling in the first place. In our research, we’re finding that more field service customers are accepting of a sales approach from a field service engineer if they have a relationship with that engineer or if the engineer has resolved their current challenge and is working to provide them with additional value.

In terms of field service lead generation, there are several best practices to consider when building a program. These best practices are compiled from our 2015 research on service sales and revenue growth and from a recent IdeaShare discussion that we hosted with several business leaders.

Develop a Dedicated Lead Management Process and Support it With Technology

Lead generation must be easy and effective if the field service team is going to bother with the added responsibility. Field engineers will abandon the process immediately if it doesn't work. Typically, the two major failure points occur around lead follow-up by sales and in lead affiliated compensation for field service engineers.

 

A lot of the core areas of lead management can be automated with the aid of mobile and CRM solutions. That said, its essential that there is well thought out process for how leads are managed throughout the entire sales cycle, all the way from identification to closure.

Deliver Training Materials at All Levels of Field Service

Change management is essential in the rollout of any new program. Poor attention to this often leads to unsuccessful adoption of the program and poor attainment of desired goals. Its likely that field service engineers will resist when asked to participate in lead generation as they will see this as a proxy to selling.

Therefore, organisations need to prepare this engineers on the purpose of the program and then reinforce the impact of the program on all stakeholders impacted, including the customer.

Once purpose has been established, the ‘how’ of lead generation needs to be reinforced with training sessions and materials. Preferably training content and scripts are available on-demand for engineers to refresh their knowledge as needed.

Its also essential that relevant instructional content is developed for multiple parties in the field service chain, starting with the engineers and moving up to supervisors and regional leaders.

Communicate and Then Communicate Some More

In this day and age of mobile content and self-service portals, it might seem silly to develop flyers and brochures to reinforce the message of a lead program, but these methods do work.

The message is simple, the more a program is discussed and reinforced, the more it is adopted.

 

In addition to reinforcing steps, best practices, and procedures, its also beneficial to reinforce the value of the program in the form of engineer success stories or customer results.

What’s even more impactful is an actual testimonial from a customer of how the extra time spent by a front-line engineer directly impacted the customer’s results and outcome.

Ensure Visibility Across the Lead Lifecycle

Part of the communication process involves giving engineers visibility into the status of their leads. If its assumed that leads are just going into a black hole, the lead pipeline will eventually dry out. Engineers don’t need to see every lead be successful, they just need to know that their effort is being followed up on.

Push for Sales Accountability

The monetary value of a service lead might not compare with that of a regular sales opportunity.

This might be enough to detract sales people from following up on service-generated leads.

 

Therefore, its essential that sales leadership is bought into driving accountability for a service lead program. An easy way to do this is to show the impact that top performing regions or districts are having when it comes to top-line revenue.

If sales isn’t motivated by that performance, business leadership will be.

Compensation – Make it Timely

Most organisations develop a financial reward system for field service engineers based on leads closed. Some offer incentives for lead generation.

The issue is that most programs stop here. While the field engineer cares about the amount of recognition received, they care more about getting recognised in a timely and painless manner.

They shouldn’t have to fight for the recognition or have to wait for it for a considerable amount of time. Therefore, its essential that the reward system developed, monetary or otherwise, is efficient enough to deliver the reward to the field engineer in an expedited manner.

Evaluate Metrics that Drive Action 

Activity drives results and while its essential to measure the impact of a lead generation program to garner further buy in, its absolutely essential to track activity-based metrics as leading indicators.

[quote float="Right"]Activity drives results and while its essential to measure the impact of a lead generation program to garner further buy in, its absolutely essential to track activity-based metrics as leading indicators.

These metrics could include participation rates, referrals per tech, and average cycle or follow up time for leads. One of the organisations participating in our IdeaShare uses an engineer confidence index to measure the health of their lead program.

 

The index measures how confident the engineers are in their ability to get paid on leads. The higher the confidence, the greater the activity.

We’ve worked with organisations that have developed and grown lead generation programs into significant revenue contributors. These programs don’t require a great deal of investment from a technology point-of-view, but they do require leadership, a rigorous process, and a focus on change.

Sumair Dutta is the Chief Customer Officer at The Service Council. He has over 12 years of experience as an analyst in the field service management space. His work can be found at www.servicecouncil.com.

 

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Resource Type: White Paper
Published by:  IFS
Title: Utilising dynamic scheduling in a predictive maintenance world

 

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Click here to subscribe to Field Service News and get the white paper "Utilising dynamic scheduling in a predictive maintenance world" sent directly to your inbox now

 

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Synopsis:

People assume that machines will talk to each other as part of IoT, but it seems that the integration of data from IoT projects is something that is lacking.

In fact, it’s common to see organisations working with multiple IoT projects because of the disconnected flow of data. Effective use of real-time data from IoT projects enables operative predictive maintenance, which can link to advanced scheduling, more effective delivery of service, and higher customer satisfaction ratings. But how do these three business strategies link together?

In the context of this white paper, IoT means using data coming from sensors, in combination with data interpretation to predict maintenance needs. From those predictions of maintenance needs, the most efficient field schedule can be created through advanced scheduling based on data provided from the machine in the field, technician skills, and parts and tools needed for maintenance.

These predictions in combination with advanced scheduling take the schedule beyond drive time and identify the most effective use of your most important asset—the field service engineer

Overview:

This white paper covers four key areas:

IoT Strategy:

No matter the industry, any company can leverage an IoT strategy. Mobile phones, tables, machines and other devices continuously collect information that can be analysed and acted upon.

Cisco IBSG predicts there will be 50 billion internet-connected devices by 2020. This is an astonishing 100 percent increase from 2015.

This increase in internet-connected devices provides the opportunity to embrace IoT in a big way by leveraging large quantities of data from connected devices.

Predictive maintenance:

As unplanned downtime can disrupt an entire organisation, diminishing down-time is invaluable to organisations.

Equipment downtime often results in significant losses. A survey conducted by Nielsen Research demonstrated that downtime costs an average of $22,000 per minute.

 

Because downtime can be so costly, most organisations invest in predictive maintenance in an effort to replace worn-down parts before they cause downtime. A well-designed IoT solution is a step in the right direction.

Leveraging real-time with advance scheduling:

When real-time data from an IoT solution connects with an advanced scheduling solution, a field technician can be notified of high-priority maintenance, prioritised by the advanced scheduling solution’s ability to adjust a schedule by responding to customer SLAs as appropriate.

The solution generates the most efficient, cost-effective schedule, identifying travel routes for the technician in closest proximity to the site of maintenance, with the right tools and skill-set to meet the maintenance needs.

Benefits of an IoT solution: 

To move from reactive maintenance to predictive and preventive maintenance, an IoT solution providing real-time data should be implemented. By attaching sensors to equipment and facilities, an organisation can gain information about the condition of the equipment and facilities and how they are being used.

Is the robotic arm vibrating too much? Is the refrigerated room too cold for what it stores? The sensors collect data, and by using a communication platform, they transmit data to a cloud-based IoT listener. The IoT listener analyses the data to determine if it is actionable, and if so, the data is sent to the organisation’s field service system.

 

The field service system analyses the data and issues prescribed actions that automatically lead to tasks being performed based on rules defined by the user. For instance, a task could be assigned to a field technician who travels to a customer site to address an issue before a customer is even aware that they have an issue.

Talk about a high customer satisfaction rating!

 

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Click here to subscribe to Field Service News and get the white paper "Utilising dynamic scheduling in a predictive maintenance world" sent directly to your inbox now

 

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

This was the missing link.

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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Whether useful or not, hundreds of  smartwatches, glasses, health trackers, and even smart jewelry have hit the market in the past several years.

There are connected lights that dim when a users peaks into their smartwatch. Motorcycle helmets with heads-up displays alerting riders they’re driving too fast. Temperature tracking pacifiers that alert parents to sudden changes.

There’s even a washing machine that turns on when a service dog barks at it. Woof, indeed.

But in service, wearables have been slow to catch on.

Yet opportunities for leveraging these devices to improve field service management outcomes most certainly exist. While fitness trackers and consumer watches seem to be dominating current markets, research has shown that the broader point-of-sales category is experiencing double digit growth.

 

In the following paragraphs, we uncover three ways wearables could improve service for organisations willing to make the technology investment.

Route Optimisation and Safety

Route optimisation, and improved route efficiency can both bolster service profits. Naturally, keeping techs safe on the road is also a no-brainer.

Wearables provide a path to improving both.

An array of mobile and wearable technology are making route mapping, hands-free communication, and field-based driving more efficient every year.

Organisations implementing connected car technology for optimised route mapping are currently realising major cost savings. For example, the UPS ORION route mapping overhaul has projected annual reductions of 100 million miles driven and fuel savings of 10 million gallons per year for the organisation. No small feat, if scaled correctly. But route optimization is just the first step.

If empowered with smartwatches, tech safety and route efficiency could be improved through handsfree communication and route updates delivered via these devices, in real time.

How?

Many service techs currently must field calls via smartphones while on the road (if it’s legal while driving in their state). This requires them to take one hand off the wheel, furthering distraction.

Many also get driving directions from this same device.

If equipped with smartwatches capable of delivering directions and calls via voice technology, techs could focus more attention on driving.

Real-Time Calls & Logging Service Details via Voiceactivated Wearables

An obvious reality in most service roles is the need to work with your hands. If a call comes in, or job details must be logged, the tech has to stop the work they are performing in order to take a call, or jot down some notes.

Wearables could prove useful in keeping techs focused on the task at hand, while still taking calls, or logging service details via voice-activated technology. Many smartwatches and wearables come with voice-activated features baked right into their framework.

 

This means common note-taking applications, text messages, email, or phone calls can be used via voice-activation.

The tech simply speaks the service details into their notes, sends an email, or makes a call without ever moving away from the service task at hand.

Giving Techs Access to Remote Knowledge While in the Field

High first-time fix rates and speedy service resolutions are essential to customer satisfaction   and profit margins. But all too often, techs arrive to job sites with the wrong parts, a lack of knowledge about the customer service request, or face a service scenario they cannot resolve.

The bridge to better service is giving techs all the resources they need, in order to fix customer jobs on the first visit. Aberdeen reports that nearly 75% of best-in-class service organisations provide techs with access to remote experts while in the field.

Wearables could be the golden ticket to connecting field techs to remote experts.

 

How?

Wearable glasses technology allows field techs to stream live video feeds from service sites directly back to headquarters or an expert, in real-time. This means experts can guide techs through challenging scenarios, without needing to be on-site for every job. This opens up a world of possibilities for remote training, logging on-site service problems, and field worker safety.

Plus, Gartner predicts smart glasses could save the field service industry $1 billion per year. We couldn’t agree more.

For more news, trends, updates and advice, head to the ClickSoftware blog homepage https://www. clicksoftware.com/blog/

 

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Marne Martin, CEO of ServicePower, takes a lens to the recent spate of merger and acquisition activity amongst field service management solution providers and explores why it seems everyone is moving towards a fully integrated platform approach...

With a high velocity of M & A activity recently in the field service sector, many solution providers claim to be moving towards a “fully integrated platform” solution...

But just what does that mean and why would that be preferable to traditional best of breed solutions that tend to focus on specific functionality within field service management?

There’s a simple answer really.

It’s the customer. The customer is number one.

Customer satisfaction is the key to increasing profitability for organisations offering field based services. The analysts acknowledged this fact some time ago, and the industry has finally come around to acceptance.

 

To simplify service delivery and maximise profit, field service organisations must now consider customer satisfaction and the customer experience to be as or more important as the goal than the traditionally expected outputs from a mobile workforce management or field service management deployment.

To that end, field service organisations are looking to solution providers to offer truly end-to-end service and mobile workforce management functionality in a single cloud based platform, which addresses more than simply scheduling and mobility.

Service providers are looking for integrated self-entitlement and real time consumer communications, contract management, hybrid workforce management inclusive of optimisation and contract dispatching, warranty claim management, mobile dispatching for both employed and contracted labour, and integrated business intelligence, which increase productivity and reduce costs, while improving the customer experience and creating new ways to grow revenue from each customer.

Within the industry, solution providers have traditionally fallen into two categories. They were either a mile high and an inch deep, or a mile deep and an inch wide.

 

Mile wide solutions tend to offer more functionality to cover the spectrum from entitlement to scheduling, but failed to develop real expertise in must-have features like real time optimisation or hybrid workforce management.

So, though they offered more, they offered less, in terms of quality schedules, productivity and intelligent hybrid workforce dispatching.

Mile deep solutions tend to specialise, becoming expert in one or more functionalities, like enterprise mobility or schedule optimisation, but don’t offer end-to-end process support, like intelligent consumer portals, entitlement or warranty claims management.

As service providers realise that to grow, they need to simplify service delivery and offer more valuable services to customer to build loyalty, NPS and ultimately, more revenues long term, a single vendor solution which supports end-to-end process becomes very important.

Customers have driven service providers to offer more, and the service providers are driving solution providers, like ServicePower, to offer more, and offer best in breed functionality for the entire service process.

ServicePower realised this back in 2004.

Working with long term client, GE Appliances, we realised that offering mobile workforce software which only provided schedule and route optimisation, albeit the best optimisation on the market, wasn’t enough.

We began to develop additional functionality to provide mobile dispatching, asset tracking and most importantly SaaS hybrid workforce management. The industry realised that the best way to control service costs, while maintaining customer satisfaction was to integrate contractors within their labor models.

We also realised that managing contractors was very different than managing employees, so added functionality to intelligently select employees or contractors, dynamically selecting the best contractor based on ranking and rules logic.

We’ve also realised that ERPs, and many CRMs in fact, don’t provide the depth of service and maintenance contract management or entitlement logic needed when managing warranty reserves.

 

So, we’ve added that functionality, as well asset and inventory management.

Even more recently, we added an intelligent consumer portal which allows consumers to schedule jobs with our client’s hybrid workforces, increasing the number of digital touch points, creating a seamless, satisfying self-service experience, which increases the lifetime value of each customer by as much as 6 times.

So, are best of breed dead mobile workforce management providers dead? No. Best of breed means something different now than it did just two years ago.

To be best of breed, providers must offer end-to-end field service management capability that’s a mile high and a mile deep, to ensure every single part of the process is digital, optimised, and fast and offers more than the customer expected.

 

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