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Improving first-call/visit resolution rates can be challenging and frustrating for field service organisations, because there are so many factors and variables that prevent technicians from completing a repair on the first visit writes Astea's Debbie Geiger...

 

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Find out more about this subject in Astea's latest white paper here

 

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The customer may not provide enough information to the call center representative, or that information may not be accurately relayed to the dispatcher or tech; the technician may need assistance with the repair; the parts might not be available, or the tools may not be on-site; the dispatcher may not allot enough time for the repair in the schedule.

There are ways to improve first-call resolution rates, but they require a shift in strategy and an investment in work order, dispatch, and scheduling automation solutions.

We recently held a webinar in conjunction with RTM Consulting. During this webinar we presented some operational and technology strategies for improving first-time fix rates in our webinar “First Call/Visit Resolution: Getting it Fixed the First Time.”

Aberdeen Group found in a survey of service organisations that first-time fix rates were considered a top key performance indicator (KPI) by 38 percent of respondents. That’s because failing to fix an issue on the first visit can be detrimental to customer satisfaction and retention.

 

Yet, according to The Service Council (TSC), average first-time fix rates are just 74 percent; that means more than a quarter of all calls require multiple visits.

Those additional visits come at considerable cost. Aberdeen found that service calls that aren’t resolved in a single visit require an average of 1.5 additional visits to complete. Even for small organisations, that can result in thousands of dollars in additional costs per day. And that doesn’t even include the cost of lost business from those disappointed customers, who are more likely to look elsewhere for their service needs.

The problem, according to Randy Mysliviec, president and CEO of RTM Consulting, is that many service organisations take a “Whac-A-Mole” approach to solving the problem, addressing the causes of first-time fix failures in a disorganised fashion.

 

The key to addressing the problem is to take a more disciplined, holistic approach, and RTM has outlined three critical planning components for addressing first-time fix rates:

Prevention:

Improved training of call centre staff and technicians, increase use of remote diagnostics and Internet of Things (IoT) technology, and improved preventive or predictive maintenance approaches can reduce the number of equipment failures that need fixed in the first place.

Triage:

Carefully outline incident handling, support tiers, parts management, and other processes that affect the likelihood of having the right technician and the right part at the customer site.

Continuous Improvement:

Institute knowledge management, variability analysis, root cause analysis, and process improvement strategies so you measure, track, and log information that will help make your service organization a little smarter after every incident.

Clearly outline what you want your first-call resolution processes to look like, and implement the technology needed to manage and support delivery of those services. Create a gap analysis so you know how you are performing now, and how you’d like to be performing in the future.

To succeed, you must have a collaborative field service management infrastructure in place that provides a seamless flow of information from the call centre to the dispatcher and out to the technician.

 

Through collaboration and improved data visibility, your team can find better solutions for each customer problem, and do so more efficiently and likely at a lower cost.

Remote monitoring of assets helps capture service diagnostic information that can be provided to field technicians in advance. Giving call centre staff more guidance through question trees and full access to customer history data can help resolve more calls over the phone (without costly truck rolls), and provide better information to technicians when they do have to go on-site.

 

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Find out more about this subject in Astea's latest white paper here

 

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In a thought provoking and perhaps slightly controversial article, Sergio Barata, General Manager EMEA at Telogis, explains why the telematics industry as we know it is on the way out.

With the prevalence of smartphones and the power now available within these devices, traditional telematics has become all but redundant he writes...

As the tech that enables the exchange of information between fleet vehicles and a central manager, telematics has been billed as a game changer for any business that uses a fleet.

But while awareness of its benefits has increased significantly recently, telematics is not revolutionary: this data and the means to understand it has been available for over a decade.

As more and more businesses wake up to the benefits of telematics there is a new kid on the block; Mobile Enterprise Management (MEM) threatens to blow traditional telematics out of the water.

Traditional telematics is archaic

Whether it’s on a truck driving through the remotest parts of Scotland or a delivery van in Cornwall, telematics data is typically created using GPS units with on-board computers.

The hardware uses cellular networks to transfer real-time data to central offices which is interpreted for effective fleet management. The data covers everything from location, movement, status and behaviour of a vehicle or fleet of vehicles to how a driver is operating them.

[quote float="left"]Whether it’s on a truck driving through the remotest parts of Scotland or a delivery van in Cornwall, telematics data is typically created using GPS units with on-board computers.

This information allows managers to get a birds-eye view of an entire field operation, checking the overall health, profitability and productivity of the fleet, whilst ensuring the workforce is operating the vehicle as intended. The headline benefits include vast fuel savings through route optimisation and increased driver and vehicle safety.

 

This is of significant benefit to any fleet-based business, but there is so much more to a mobile workforce than simply understanding the location and speed of a van or truck and what the driver does inside it.

This is because fleet managers, and those in the field now have the power to understand the mobility of an entire workforce.

Forget telematics. It’s about MEM.

Almost everyone now has a smartphone in their pocket. Deloitte puts the figure at 76% of Brits. This means that devices, workers and assets are now mobile and connected in an extremely powerful way – a far cry from the simple GPS link that old telematics hardware uses.

Added to this, more and more organisations are becoming experienced at using technologies such as Cloud and Big Data to harness insights from this mobility.

Research from Adapt claims that almost 90 percent of UK organisations now use cloud services, while the Government claims 12 per cent of companies are analysing their data. These two technologies, plus the power and mobility of the smartphone are giving unparalleled insight into operations.

[quote float="right"]Research from Adapt claims that almost 90 percent of UK organisations now use cloud services, while the Government claims 12 per cent of companies are analysing their data.

This is where MEM comes in.

 

MEM is the tech that allows all constituents of a fleet to communicate and interact with data and gain insight from it in real time.

From sprawling international supply chains to small commercial fleets, by using mobile and the Cloud to connect an organisation from the front line to the back end - and all the individuals involved between - businesses can totally optimise their operations.

This includes traditional telematics information, but also planning, navigation, routing and compliance data, and an unprecedented understanding about use of assets like cranes, plants or trailers.

And because this tech is smartphone based, iOS and Android capabilities open up possibilities for businesses even further. Think about the way consumers interact with their smartphones – an app can be created, simply, to solve almost any demand within a fleet operation.

One example is gamification products are being developed to get drivers to compete on fuel efficient driving, encourage better driving safety and fuel efficiency.

MEM can help businesses become dramatically more efficient, smarter and safer in a way that simple telematics can’t achieve.

The future

Organisations are under immense pressure to improve cost efficiency while also evolving the way they work to keep up with rapidly changing customer and employee demands.

Telematics can help bring down operating costs and is the first step in using tech to help transform a business. But to be able to stay at the cutting edge by totally optimising all parts of a mobile organisation, fleet-based businesses must forget telematics, think bigger and embrace full mobility with MEM.

 

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Nick Shipton, Dynamic Resource Scheduling Executive, Kirona explains the importance of understanding your providers own roadmap for development when selecting a field service management solution...

The last piece I wrote for FSN focused on how I believe it’s important to utilise a scheduler that is flexible enough to allow for an organisation to cope with the different types of demand whilst still enabling customer expectations to be met and being as efficient as possible regarding how that demand is dispatched to the workforce.

For a leading field service scheduling software vendor ensuring that the software we provide ticks all these boxes is a challenge. We need to be certain that we are meeting our customer’s expectations by providing not only excellent support and service but also an innovative roadmap that keeps them engaged and moving forward on the solution ensuring they maximise their ROI and continue to deliver further efficiencies.

However there is also the need to look to new markets and prospects whose needs may differ from those of our core business.

The key is that we need to look at the solution as an enabler that enables our customers to retain a position that is at the forefront of their markets, whether that is in giving them a commercial edge or in the case of our customers in the public sector enabling them to cope with the additional strain on services, cuts in budgets and yet still give their customers the best possible service.

 

At Kirona we of course have a roadmap looking at the short, medium and long-term but for me its key that we look outside of our own internal team to drive the content of these, especially in regards to the short and medium term roadmap.

The long term roadmap is more strategic but still contains some customer consultation.

We have an excellent internal team on both the scheduling and mobile products who are constantly looking at new features driven by their own knowledge of our technology, the knowledge of our customer base and knowledge of new advances in our field.

However it’s very important that we don’t get too carried away before trying to understand whether our innovation is relevant to the customers and prospects needs.

Quite often you’ll find that exciting new features in products are great for the Sales Team as they look good in demos but when it comes to the day to day operations we find that users never see the benefits they were expecting.

For this reason at Kirona we always look to use the excellent forum of our user group to both plot and direct our roadmap.

Over half of our roadmap is fed by ideas and requirements from our current user base, and we also ensure that in every update we have between 30% and 50% of customer lead enhancements as this is key to ensuring that the product stays relevant for our customers, as listening to our customers is key and one of the main reasons we have such great customer retention and satisfaction.

Coming back to my original point, how do we as a software company ensure that what we offer gives the customer the flexibility they need in the product, and ensure that we as a company don’t go down a route that only offers a solution to a niche market.

For the answer to that question it’s about ensuring that we are selling into a diverse range of markets, but with the caveat that we always sense check whether any new market and new functionality for that market could be used across our customer base.

This extends further when you then look at our user group, which five years ago was exclusively public sector organisations and from that sector almost primarily housing repairs, whereas now we have representation from retail, healthcare, utilities, central government and facilities management organisations.

 

The important point for us as a software company is that all these different sectors are using the same suite of products just configured to suit their own needs and requirements, and from our customers point of view they get to see how other organisations are not just using the software in a different way but also that actually the goals and requirements of organisations from different sectors are not too far away from their own.

So in conclusion I feel it is very important that when looking for software its key that you don’t just look at the solution itself, you need to ensure that the solution isn’t getting stuck in a cul-de-sac and the provider is challenging themselves, their customers and their prospects to offer you a future.

 

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With a raft of large platform providers including Salesforce, IFS, Oracle and Microsoft all now offering embedded field service solutions within their wider platforms is there still a market for specialist best-of-breed solution providers? We take a look at the arguments for both stand alone and integrated solutions....

Alongside the question of which type of scheduling engine is correct for your organisation (dynamic, assisted, optimised etc etc), there is also the additional consideration of whether you should opt for a solution that is stand-alone/best-of-breed or one which is fully integrated within your other core business solutions such as an ERP or CRM system?

There are valid arguments made for both sides and, as with every new introduction of technology within a business environment, careful consideration needs to be made as to what will fit best with your existing solutions and your future plans, as ultimately every organisation is unique and will have unique requirements.

However, let’s briefly look at the pros and cons of both stand-alone and integrated solutions.

The case for implementing a standalone/best–of-breed scheduling solution:

The first and perhaps most obvious of these is that the implementation of a standalone system is not necessarily tied into the complete overhaul of business-wide working processes - implementing a scheduling engine really should be viewed as a business not IT exercise.

This means that on a one off basis, implementation and training can generally be swifter than implementing a more encompassing solution such as an ERP.

However, if a company is intending to roll out an entire suite of stand-alone products then the time to implement each will greatly outweigh the time it would take to implement one overall system.

 

The one key area where traditionally best-of-breed solutions have been viewed as often being the more superior option has been in terms of degree of fit.

Generally a best-of-breed solution will have been purchased to fit a particular requirement or need (i.e. mobile workforce scheduling in this instance) and you may well find that certain companies have developed a strong feel and understanding for specific industry verticals – meaning an implementation can often be as close to out-of-the box as possible if you find a company that has worked within your sector and therefore has a feel for some of the nuances of your market.

This leads us to another big benefit of choosing a standalone option in that there is a wider amount of choice available to you.

Firstly, many vendors that also offer their solution as a part of an integrated platform such as IFS or Oracle, will also offer their Field Service Management tools as standalone as well.

So when looking at a standalone option you are able to select across the entirety of the available marketplace, from the well known industry leaders through to smaller vertical specialist providers.

Of course such a wide range of choice can also be a challenge in it’s own right.

And whilst smaller standalone solutions may have perhaps more flexibility and a better understanding of your business, it is important to understand their position in terms of business security - no matter how good their solution you will need some level of ongoing support, so you need to know they will be around for at least the amount of time you intend to use their solution for.

 

The flip side of this is that of course with a stand-alone provider, in a worst case scenario there is always the fact that walking away from a solution that hasn’t delivered all that was promised is potentially less painful than if you have opted for an integrated solution that sits across a number of different divisions within your organisation.

The case for implementing integrated systems:

When we look at the benefits of integrated systems, again there are a number of key arguments as to why this approach has merits.

Perhaps the biggest and most important of these is the easy flow of data across different business units. In an age of Big Data, such seamless transition of data from one business division to another can help deliver a 360 degree view of a customer – something that is seen as the holy grail of business today.

For example, the ability for a sales representative to see that a client has had a number of call outs for service orientated support could open up opportunities for up-selling an improved service package. Similarly, an engineer on-site could potentially see an opportunity for selling some consumable items whilst undertaking a service call and could place this information directly into a CRM directly from his mobile application – something which is relatively easily achieved in many platforms and something which could be a much more cumbersome process with multiple systems in place.

 

Another perfect example of the importance of visibility across a platform could be that if an engineer arrives at a site where the client’s SLA period has expired. All too often such information can be overlooked resulting in that engineer’s work essentially being given away for free.

A second significant benefit of the integrated approach is that many companies will find adoption of new systems a lot easier at the end-user level due to familiarity of the tools.

Platforms that have various functionalities across different business units are likely to have a fundamental terminology, nomenclature, shared short cut buttons, and similar menu configurations etc.

This concept also, of course applies to the support IT departments are able to deliver.

It is far less demanding for an IT team to deliver support across one platform than various stand-alone solutions. Similarly it can also mean that support from the platform vendor is directed to one location, and often one specific account manager rather than having to have multiple vendor support channels in place.

Again such familiarity can improve issue resolution dramatically and this is also an important factor in terms of upgrading a system. With a selection of stand-alone solutions in place your IT department may face an unmanageable stream of continual updates and bug fixing patches, whether you are on a Cloud system or On Premise.

With a platform approach, the vendor is likely to help ease the burden of so many updates by combining many system wide tweaks in each new iteration.

 

One final consideration is that as mentioned above, whilst the implementation of one standalone solution may be swifter, the implementation of a business-wide system ultimately will be more efficient in terms of man-hours allocated to implementation in the longer term.

So in summary, whilst standalone may be more suitable in terms of degree of fit, a fully integrated package is ultimately likely to be more effective in terms of time, cost, resources, and project management in the mid-to long term.

However, a standalone approach does allow you to spread the cost and resources required for implementation and given the ability for scheduling engines to provide clear, tangible ROI within a generally short time frame, best-of-breed solutions could be the right option for those companies looking for direct improvements in the short term.

 

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Improving first-call/visit resolution rates can be challenging and frustrating for field service organisations, because there are so many factors and variables that prevent technicians from completing a repair on the first visit.

This great infographic from Astea highlights the importance of getting them right... 

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Want to know more? Download the white paper that accompanies this infographic here

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Want to know more? Download the white paper that accompanies this infographic here

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As we continue our series evaluating the latest rugged devices to come onto the market we look at Janam’s new entry into the rugged tablet market, the XT2. Traditionally a rugged handheld computer manufacturer, how has their expertise translated into what is arguably their most consumer-looking fully rugged device yet as they step into the increasingly popular form factor of smaller rugged tablets...

What the manufacturers say:

Productivity and resource utilisation are critical to the success of any mobile workforce. Janam’s XT2 rugged touch computer enables mobile employees to work smarter and more efficiently – ultimately improving operating results and increasing customer satisfaction.

Weighing only 10 ounces, the XT2 is smaller, lighter and faster than other rugged mobile computers in its class and equipped with a brilliant 5-inch colour display with Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3. With an impressive smartphone like design, the Android™-powered XT2 is equipped with the latest technological advancements, including 4G LTE wireless connectivity for lightning fast access to voice and data, dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi and high sensitivity GPS.

The XT2 is a purpose-built device designed to foster more collaboration across mobile workforces. High-performance 1D and 2D barcode scanning, as well as RFID and NFC reading capabilities, ensures organisations can address a full spectrum of data capture needs with one device. Integrated 8.0MP/2.0MP front and rear-facing colour auto-focus cameras enable customers to capture high-resolution photos, signatures and more.

The XT2 is sealed to IP67 standards against dust and immersion in up to 3 feet of water. It can withstand multiple 5’/1.5m drops to concrete per MIL-STD 810G across a wide temperature range.

First impressions:

The last time Field Service News got our HandsOn a device from Janam (The XM5) our one criticism was that whilst the device ticked all of the boxes in terms of relative processing power, ruggedness and functionality, it still had a slight air of yesterday’s device about it.

In fairness, as we pointed out at the time, this was less about the XM5’s profile and more about the form factor itself. It was a great example of a device within the traditional handheld computer form factor, but in an age of tablets and smartphones, the traditional looking handheld, especially fully rugged variants, just look that little bit dated.

Of course, we are firm believers in the ‘fit-for-purpose’ argument and at the end of the day performance is far more critical to a field engineer than simple good looks.

 

That said however, there is also an argument that a device that has more of a ‘consumer feel’ about it is potentially more likely to engender faster adoption rates. Indeed, we have seen a growing trend in recent years for rugged manufacturers to start emulating the sleeker lines of consumer devices where possible as long as they aren’t sacrificing ruggedity.

Gen2Wav and Honeywell have both recently released products that are fine examples of fully rugged devices that do just this and Panasonic’s soon to be launched FZ-F1 will also be in a form factor that is as close to a smartphone as it is a tablet and such devices make a good comparison for the XT2.

The device is lightweight and sleek. Despite being referred to as a rugged touch computer, it has more of a feel of a large smart phone and when we look at it alongside other rugged smartphones, it is a fine example of what can be achieved in terms of a slim and sexy form factor in a rugged device.

Processing power:

The XT2 has a reasonable Quad-core Qualcomm MSM8916 CPU @1.2GHz which whilst not being the fastest on the block (Panasonic’s FZ-N1 runs a Qualcomm® MSM8974AB 2.3GHz Quad Core for example) it is certainly up there with the majority of similar devices within the field.

The XT2 operates on up-to 2GB RAM with 16GB ROM which is somewhere in the middle of the pack and definitely suitable for a number of field service applications - the memory is also expandable via a user accessible Micro SD slot with SD and SDHC support

Operating system:

The XT2 is currently running Android 5 (Lollipop) which is a common standard for industry focussed devices.

Lollipop is now tried and trusted and enterprise secure. There is unlikely to be an issue with any applications devised for it and equally introducing it into the IT mix shouldn’t be too much of a headache in terms of both implementation and a security protocols as the OS has been around for sometime now.

Whilst Android 7.0 is now appearing in the latest consumer handsets and Android 6.0 is now fairly prevalent in the consumer world, in terms of the UX , whilst there is some difference in terms of functionality, visually the difference between Lollipop(5) to Marshmallow (6) is very small.

Therefore, the benefits of Lollipop in terms of stability make sense whilst the fear of the OS taking the shine off the consumerised feel of the XT2 are also minimal.

The Ins & Outs:

Whilst the XT2 doesn’t have the world’s greatest amount of Input/Output options (which is to be expected in a device with such a light footprint) it does include all of the key essentials.

There is a 3.5mm headphone jack, which can be vital when it comes to making audio/video calls whilst in the field, and a USB 2.0 port brings the option for both commonplace universal charging as well as data syncing.

 

Where the XT2 has a distinct advantage over many rugged smartphones/mini tablets that aren’t designed with industry in mind is its inclusion of a dedicated bar-code scanning engine (Zebra SE4710 1D/2D imager) as well as the ability to read all NFC types and RFID tags in the 13.56 MHz range.

Coupled with four programmable power buttons, which are likely best put to use to trigger the barcode scanner and this could be highly advantageous for field engineers whose role includes swapping out a large number of parts.

Connectivity:

In terms of connectivity the XT2 supports Dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n and is Cisco certified which covers most of the available bases and should allow for good Wi-fi connectivity speeds regardless of the signal it is using. In addition to this the XT2’s Wi-fi security protocols are also robust. The device also supports EDGE/GPRS/GSM, WCDMA and LTE for 4G mobile internet.

The XT2 also features Bluetooth 4.0 so can be paired with additional tools in the field including potentially Android Wear based smart watches or glasses as well as a keyboard for data input.

Additionally, the device offers Qualcomm® IZat™: Gen 8 support for three bands concurrently (GPS, BeiDou and GLONASS or Galileo) which can be invaluable in the field both in terms of updating asset information as well as geo-location functionality, to a precise degree.

Ruggedity:

It is when we look at the rugged specs of the XT2 that the device really stands out as a great example of what can be achieved in such a sleek form factor.

The Janam XM5 handheld is a solid, robust device which, with it’s IP rating of 65 is totally impervious to dust and can cope with all but the worst soaking, however, the XT2 pushed the rugged specs even further with an IP rating of 67 meaning not only is it impervious to dust but it is also capable of being fully submersed in water up to 3 feet deep.

 

In terms of drop resistance the device is tested against the standard 1.5 meter MIL-STD 810G drop tests onto concrete from all angles across a wide range of temperature ratings. The fact that it is dropped directly onto concrete, instead of two inches of plywood as required for MIL-STD 810G, also adds further to its rugged credentials.

The XT2 also has an operating temperature range of -20º to 60º C so should be functional in even the most testing environments.

Battery Life:

In terms of battery life the XT2 comes with a 3000mAh battery as standard but with the option to upgrade for a 4000mAh version also available.

Whilst in theory this should be enough to see out most engineers working days and in our own testing the battery lasted a full day with moderate to heavy usage, there is also an extended battery kit available.

Conclusion:

First up the XT2 is a great looking device and it feels good in hand. It’s both lightweight and comfortable and could easily pass for a smartphone at first glance. An important factor in terms of user adoption given the proliferation of the consumerisation of mobile computing today.

In terms of ruggedity, the XT2’s IP rating of 67 is highly impressive and this is a device that would be suited to even the most extreme of field service environments.

 

Although the processing power isn’t quite at the very top end of its category, there is still plenty of power to run the vast majority of apps a field service technician would likely need - it’s certainly no slouch and responded quickly in our own tests.

All in all the XT2 is a fantastic option for any field service technician, it is a lightweight device and the programmable buttons could greatly improve work-flow in some areas. However, the XT2 is especially suited for those field technicians working in an environment where a fully rugged device becomes essential.

 

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Management Consultant and service management specialist Jan Van Veen looks at how you can drive sustainable success in your organisation by unlocking full and continuous value innovation power at your disposal...

As the world is changing at an increasing pace, companies need continuous value innovation at a higher pace on top of the current incremental improvements of their products, services and operations.

However, most companies struggle to innovate their business and fall behind (new) competitors who are successfully adopting change or even driving change in the industry.

Based on many consulting engagements and recent interviews (as part of my research) it appears that three key perspectives - on people’s ability to drive change, managing performance and customer value - do make the difference for success.

A typical example

The following is a typical situation:

A leading manufacturer of heavy capital equipment is trying to grow its services business, as capital investments in their industry have dropped dramatically and are not expected to recover in the near future. The focus is to grow the business from advanced maintenance and operating services and other business solutions, which should become more significant, compared to basic maintenance, repair and spare part services.

The CEO has been presenting the vision and strategy to the shareholders and analysts repeatedly, which was well received at the time. There is a clear burning platform and business case. The vision and strategy is well structured and solid. Clear bottom-line targets are established and assigned. New roles are appointed and adjusted repeatedly.

 

The organisation has been restructured a few times in a row. People are being pushed to the limit to achieve new, stretched bottom-line targets. Different task forces and a programme management office has been established.

However, progress is limited and the business results are not really improving.

Entities are blaming each other for not delivering: market units are frustrated that the business units do not develop the right propositions; market units are being blamed for not selling the new service offerings. Too many people consider their own performance being fairly well, without showing any concern about the bigger picture of declining performance, which is falling behind the competition’s performance.

There are many task-forces on various topics, most of which are not really addressing the real business challenge, but more focusing on improving traditional business as usual.

As a result, this company is being hit harder by the current downturn in their industry then its competitors. Shareholders’ confidence in the new strategy and the leadership is deteriorating.

Now, wouldn’t it be great if.... Instead of...

Wouldn’t it be great if this company would have been able to fully utilise their ability to adapt to change and peoples eagerness to learn, improve and grow?

Just imagine how different the picture could have been:

Many people within the company are aware of early signs of developments in the industry and changing customer needs. They are the first to discuss these changes with their customers and develop new solutions, in close collaboration with their customers.

Step by step, in a continuous endeavour, the business is being progressing towards a shared picture of the future state. All departments (such as manufacturing, R&D, sales, technical services, marketing and solution centres) are collaborating with each other, with vendors, partners and clients and make things happen and are pursuing the same business priorities.

 

For sure, they had some set-backs and they expect more to come -  after all, things often go different than originally expected.

However, nobody considers these set-backs as failures and these are by no means a threat for careers. These set-backs are crucial learning points to adjust strategy and actions and to continue thriving for success. People and departments support each other in doing what is needed to get things done and keep momentum in the innovation.

How to make this happen?

There are three key perspectives, which seem to make the difference for sustainable success. These perspectives define how we manage our businesses and how we engage people to change without creating obstacles or resistance.

Performance: 

Sustainable and increasing success is achieved by continuously pursuing opportunities, adopting to changes, learning and building smarter capabilities for strong performance.

People:

People are considered to be eager to grow, develop and drive change when they believe in the reasons for change and they are not pushed into a defensive fight-or-flight mode. These good reasons are based on a compelling purpose and vision, not on burning platforms, financial business cases or shareholder-value.

Customer Value:

Customer value goes beyond the availability of your great products and technology. There are so many more ways to be valuable and relevant to the success of customers and their value creation process. With this broader view, you will recognise more customer needs and challenges, transcending product requirements and related maintenance services.

Practical example of modern management practices

The following are a few examples of modern management practices - driving sustainable success by mobilising people and maintaining momentum -  which are based on these new perspectives.

Most of them can be easily implemented by just starting to more more of it - gradually - step by step.

 

Live a shared and compelling purpose and vision - every day...

Keeping this picture alive will rally all people in an organisation.

They see and believe in the opportunities to do great things and grow as a company, as a team and as an individual. Everybody has a common picture of the direction in which the company has to develop. This picture is much more compelling than “double digit growth”, “being customers’ 1# choice” or “being industry leader”.

Keep the voice of the customer alive - every day...

A living and up-to-date picture of customers’ challenges, needs and expectations will drive the right decisions, actions, ideas and intrinsic motivation for innovation as well as daily operations.

In practice? Start every meeting with a customer story or insight. In every discussion, review the impact of the topic for customers and search for positive impacts for customers. Let everybody in the company talk with customers about their views on the industry, their challenges, their strategy and their customers.

 

Extend customer insights beyond your business as usual - without blinkers...

Without this insight it is hard to develop and increase your relevance and differentiation for customers and develop your business to outperform the industry now and in the future.

Too often, customer insights and feedback which do not directly impact current products, services, marketing and sales are neglected. Sticking to your “core-business” can be a risky attitude.

Respond to (potential) changes outside - again without blinkers...

Have everybody in the company continuously build awareness about what is changing in the outside world. What is (potentially) changing in technology, politics, regulations, demographics, customer needs, habits, competition, other industries, etcetera.

What impact could these changes have on your work and your business? Which opportunities could arise? Which competencies and capabilities would you need? Which signs could indicate that the change is really happening - now? What can be done now to be prepared to respond rapidly when needed and do this quicker than any other actor in the industry?

Manage high performance through a strategic dialogue - ongoing...

Outcome based, bottom line targets show the direction and priorities for managing and developing the business into a fit organisation with the required capabilities and business model to perform.

Targets are aligned with priorities and strategic objectives. Stretched targets explicitly assume change is required to meet them - so work smarter, not harder or faster. Not meeting targets doesn’t mean somebody will be burned in the next business review meeting.

 

These business review meetings are transparent and constructive discussions about the performance, root causes, alternatives, measures and priorities. Discuss and agree how other teams or entities can contribute to achieve the objectives.

Align expectations and targets of these teams with the (new) priorities of the business and the specific teams and entities to really enable them to help.

 

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Want to know more? Read Van Veen's full original article here 

 

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John Cameron, General Manager, Trimble Field Service Management gives his expert insight into how companies can best make the shift away from manual processes to automated...

Field service companies of all sizes will be at different stages in their scheduling journey. Some will be very experienced with using scheduling automation whilst others are still using manual, paper-based systems to schedule work. Surprisingly, there are many field service businesses out there today that are still at the manual stage and looking to automate their processes for the first time.

With so many advanced scheduling solutions on the market today, it can be a daunting task knowing what type of technology and level of sophistication would be the best fit for a business, as well as how to tackle challenges around change management.

According to Aberdeen Group, 44 per cent of field service managers regard planning and scheduling to be the greatest opportunity for investment. The benefits realised by fully automatic scheduling and optimisation tools are undeniable; allowing the scheduling algorithms to automatically manage resources in the most efficient way not only improves productivity but allows the dispatcher to concentrate on other, more valuable tasks.

[quote float="left"]44 per cent of field service managers regard planning and scheduling to be the greatest opportunity for investment.

However, the change from paper to automatic scheduling is a jump too far for many. A stepped approach or journey is a more sustainable way to manage the business change and ensure that a field service business achieves its primary objective – getting the right technician to the right place at the right time with the tools to do the job, first time.

 

The following article explains the various scheduling strategies as steps, allowing businesses to select the stage that best describes its current operation and identify the goal for its future scheduling needs.

 1.     Paper-based

A dispatcher can typically manage 15-20 technicians via a paper based system. Whilst many service organisations still use paper-based processes today, this is field service scheduling at the simplest level and it can quickly start to fail when volume, complexity or volatility increases.

Often a day’s schedule is forced to change, due to such circumstances as a new high priority service request comes in, a job overruns or a technician gets caught in traffic and arrives late. When circumstances like this happen it becomes very difficult to reconfigure the schedule for the rest of the day, given the number of dependencies, geographic distances and demands of each individual piece of work.

2.     Manual Scheduling

Manual scheduling is characterized by ‘drag and drop’ features whereby a dispatcher can easily drag and drop work orders and tasks onto technicians’ calendars and dispatch work out to them electronically. Typically the system will do some automatic checks once the task is dropped. For example, to check if the technician allocated to a job has the skills to complete it. Manual scheduling offers a more automated and predictive solution to a paper-based system, helping businesses to save time and improve accuracy.

However, as human intervention is heavily involved, it can prove difficult to manage complex scheduling processes via this system.

3.     Intelligent Advisor

A Semi-Automatic scheduling service is invoked by a user, to start an automated process. Although this scheduling system is automatic, it still requires some level of human interaction, which is something few vendors provide yet many businesses prefer as it allows them to maintain some level of control and trust.

[quote float="right"]Having decision making tools built in to a scheduler can also help to alleviate a lot of headaches experienced by a field service manager.

Having decision making tools built in to a scheduler can also help to alleviate a lot of headaches experienced by a field service manager.

 

For large field operations, emergency jobs often come in that need to be added to the day’s schedule so having a tool that advises on the impact of what adding this job in will have before it is assigned can help to prevent the de-railing of a field service operation. Often known as a ‘what-if’ tool or an ‘intelligent advisor’, such a feature allows dispatchers to make quick, informed decisions to keep the best possible quality of the schedule.

For these reasons, transiting from a manual to semi-automatic system is recommended instead of diving head first into a fully automatic process.

4.     Automatic Scheduling & Real-Time Optimization

Some companies may not have the time or resources to drag and drop work orders into manual and semi-automatic systems and check all the details. It can also prove difficult to keep on top of scheduling all of the in-day emergency tasks. Fully automatic scheduling takes the intuitive nature of automated scheduling even further. Such a tool quickly and easily builds schedules automatically and dispatches work to technicians out in the field based on pre-defined parameters. The process completely eliminates manual intervention.

A Case in Point: Pacific Telemanagement Services (PTS)

PTS achieved a 95% job completion rate and 75% productivity increase transitioning from manual to automated scheduling.

The company operates a fleet of 90 mobile workers who service pay phones and pay internet kiosks, as well as perform freezer cleaning and maintenance for their ice cream distribution company, Arctic Express. Until recently, it was using a manual scheduling process to assign tasks each day, which lacked efficiency and productivity suffered as a result.

[quote float="left"]We used to just throw a group of tickets at our technicians in an assigned region to see what they could get done in a day...

“We used to just throw a group of tickets at our technicians in an assigned region to see what they could get done in a day. Each morning they would print out a list of their tasks, then spend a half hour planning routes based on their own knowledge of the area. We saw that this way was not always most efficient,” said Justin Keane, Chief Operating Officer of PTS.

 

The company tried using a map feature to sequence the stops but this took an hour a day for each regional hub, and as they manage 8 regional hubs, it took 8 hours a day to build the routes.

PTS implemented Trimble’s cloud-based scheduling solution to help it improve the efficiency of its scheduling process and raise the productivity level of its workers. By transitioning from manual to semi - automatic scheduling, PTS has been able to cut 3 hours a day spent on routing per dispatcher to about 45 minutes a day — a productivity saving of 75%, or about 9 hours per week. Furthermore, technicians no longer have to plan their own routes, saving an additional 90 hours per week of their time so that they can spend it on completing more jobs per day.

 

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In this the latest edition of the Field Service podcast Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief of Field Service News talks to Nick Frank and Dag Gronevik of specialist service management consultancy Si2 Partners about the importance of understanding the KPIs you set and how they can be used as a tool to not only monitor performance within your field service team but also to improve it.

You can listen to a brief sample of the podcast above and if you would like to listen to the full podcast then you can download the full 45 minute conversation by clicking the link below:

Download the full podcast here

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Related articles discussed in the podcast: 

Driving success in service operations through leading indicators

Monetizing digitisation: start with the customer experience and work back

What impact will the IoT have on field service operations?

 

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