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September is a busy time for conferences, and if you are in the UK there's an opportunity to attend two very down to earth events.  Here’s a preview by Nick Frank,  who also reports on the latest developments in a campaign to re-invent manufacturing and service in the UK.

30th September: The Service Community

Hosted by the Aston University in Birmingham. A very different event for service industry professionals. We are expecting over 40 participants to discuss and debate how Big Data is being used to affect customer outcomes. Practitioners from Rolls Royce, Pitney Bowes and Inca will be discussing their personal experiences.  In addition we will have a view of the future from Andreas Schroeder of the Aston Business School. This event is unique: there are no sponsors, no hidden agendas, just professionals talking to professionals…a true community. To sign up see the Service Community website

6th October: Creating Value through Service.

A one-day conference hosed by the Cambridge Service Alliance . Although a paid conference, I always find the CSA events well worth going to as they present ideas that are on the leading edge of services development in industry.

Something up in UK manufacturing

There is something up in the UK which will have tremendous implication on field service in the future. I was at the House Commons with Professor Raj Roy and his team from Cranfield as well as senior leaders from some of the UK’s leading manufacturing and engineering companies when they presented a case for a National Policy for Through Life Engineering Services to MPs.

Through Life Engineering Services can be described as ‘Engineering for Life’ – making things work better for longer; delivering lifetime value from products, assets and infrastructure

Cranfield’s EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing has been working on the engineering expertise that underpins the ability for companies to provide their customers with AVAILABILITY and/or OUTCOME based contracts. These contracts reflect a world where customers no longer want to purchase the asset, but are redefining their needs in terms of outcomes - Rolls Royce’s Power by the Hour is one of the best known examples.

Research has shown that the TES market in the UK generated £23bn revenues for the UK. The exciting thing for the UK is that politicians, technology and industry are starting to realise that manufacturing must re-invent itself, if it is to be sustainable and competitive. They see that manufacturing is no longer just about the product. With the IoT, data and analytics it has become much much more fuzzy. This has tremendous implications for field service. A National Policy will speed up this change and hence the new skills sets required to effectively operate in these re-defined business environment. We will return to this subject at a later date.

Welcome back from summer!!

 

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Faced with high fuel costs, congestion, driver shortages and changing delivery patterns, the UK road transport industry has to change radically to improve profit margins and survive. Servitization is the solution, recommends this report by Eleanor Musson and Dr Ali Bigdeli  of the Aston Centre for Servitization Research and Practice

The road transport industry is crucial to the UK economy; 68% of freight goods are moved by road according the UK's Department for Transport Transport Statistics 2014. But the industry faces the challenges of fuel costs, driver shortages, congestion and regulation. Moreover changing consumer behaviour in the UK is turning the industry on its head; 74% of adults bought goods or services online in 2014, compared with 53% in 2008, according to the Office for National Statistics, Internet Access in Households 2014, and the demand for flexible, fast delivery is growing rapidly according to the Guardian newspaper.  These are just some of the factors behind the low profit margins in the industry: 3% for operators , reports the  Freight Transport Association in its 2014 Logistics Report,  and 6% for manufacturers.

This industry has to change radically. There is little to be gained from piecemeal changes to products or pricing; the customer’s priorities and requirements must be placed at the heart of operational strategies. This is achieved through what we call advanced services, which are implemented in an organisation through servitization. Advanced Services are provided by manufacturers and technology innovators with an intimate understanding of the customer’s business priorities, and their difficulties in achieving these. They are a package of a product, and the services that go around the use of the product, consumed as a single offering, which help the customer achieve its requirements.

In order to understand how advanced services and servitization are being adopted in the road transport industry, we interviewed a panel of senior executives from within vehicle manufacturers, component manufacturers, operators, fleet management companies and technology providers, and we outline some of our findings here.

There are three categories of advanced service currently been offered in this industry: [ordered_list style="decimal"]

1. The first is vehicle condition and safety related services. Real-time reporting about the condition and performance of the vehicle helps the service provider (e.g. manufacturer, fleet management company) to see how the vehicle is being used by the customer, which mitigates the contractual risk and gives opportunities for service and product improvement. Data are used to help fleet managers monitor costs and identify problem vehicles, either by sharing the information with the customer, or by the manufacturer providing this function as a service. For fuel efficiency and safety, manufacturers test tyre pressure and tread depth, with real-time reporting to alert drivers to problems, and service operatives on hand to make repairs or replacements.
2. The second type of services is driver-related services. Through the use of telematics, the manufacturers and operators are able to assess how the truck is being driven, to examine any incidents such as harsh breaking, speeding and idling, and to inspect driving and rest periods. This data is analysed to identify training requirements and in some cases pay performance bonuses.
3.   The third type is route planning and delivery services. Real-time reporting allows operators to manage routes, taking into account live road conditions. Data on deliveries made compared to schedule and route information enable managers to identify opportunities for improvement.

Advanced services have a three-fold impact in the industry:[ordered_list style="decimal"]

1. Efficiency
   The greatest efficiencies are achieved by maximising the uptime of vehicles, planning routes efficiently, and processing orders. To illustrate:
   • The use of technologies and data by skilled route planning staff reduces mileage driven by up to 10%
   • Uptime is maximised by reducing roadside failures thanks to greater visibility of the vehicle, its condition and how it’s being used
   • Operators can expect at least a 5-15% reduction in vehicle maintenance and service costs as a result of condition monitoring according to telematics specialist Microlise
2. Safety and better image
   Driver-related services have had a significant impact on driving standards, and in turn the image of operators and the industry. In this regard:
   • Microlise reports customers see annual reductions in speeding incidents of up to 90%, and a reduction of up to 60% in the number of accidents.
   • The same report states operators are seeing a 5-15% reduction in carbon emissions as a result of optimised routes and better driving.
3. Cost Savings By enabling improvements in driving performance and better, more informed route planning, technology is helping to deliver cost savings in terms of fuel usage. According to the Freight Transport Association's Manager's Guide to Distribution Costs, fuel represents on average of 30% of the cost of a vehicle . The average unit costs £49,000 per year in fuel. Microlise reports an average 10% (£4-5000) saving on each unit’s fuel consumption being achieved by customers using driver management and training tools.

Recommendations

While the leading organisations demonstrate what can be achieved, our research demonstrated that advanced services are not being adopted universally or uniformly in this industry. In order to accelerate this, we recommend that manufacturers ensure advanced services are properly led and embedded. Servitization is a wide ranging, complex process that requires transformation and coordination of an entire organisation. In most companies, it doesn’t fit neatly within the realm of one department. Just like any other organisational change, servitization needs a champion to lead it and generate buy-in across departments.

Servitization provides an opportunity to ‘be closer to the customer’ which can also be facilitated by innovative pricing models which assure the prospective service user of the level of commitment, and create alignment of objectives between service provider and user. Selling and supporting services is a very different proposition to selling products, requiring different skills and reward structures. Manufacturers will need to invest in training their staff, and consider the incentive and reward structures that will generate the desired outcomes.

The full whitepaper report Delivering Growth can be downloaded here:

 

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Marne Martin CEO of ServicePower gives us her insight into why the company continues to focus on evaluating and developing the latest technologies for field service...

Disruptive new, connected technologies are changing the workforce management industry, by leap and bounds.

ServicePower Technologies Plc, is incorporating the latest in technology innovations into its leading field management software solutions. These new technologies, including social, mobile, cloud, analytics, IoT and M2M, and collaboration, drive efficiencies and productivity, reduce costs and increase first time fix rates. Most importantly, they transform workforce management to improve customer satisfaction, recognized as the overall measurement of success.

Schedule optimisation is the cornerstone of workforce management software, and the key on which the success of operations rely. Without real optimisation, the software won’t deliver on its ROI promises. There are generally three types of scheduling approaches: 

1. Basic scheduling: Managers build and manage a schedule manually, using no logic to decide the best tech or the best place on a schedule for a job.
2. Automated/Simple Rules-Based Scheduling: Simple, rules based systems, including computerised logic automatically builds a schedule, filling an open slot on the schedule, with no reshuffling of existing jobs to achieve a less costly schedule.
3. Intelligent Route Optimisation, as offered by ServicePower.  The schedule is built automatically based on configurable parameters and sophisticated optimisation algorithms to minimise costs, maximise margins, reduce response times and improve customer satisfaction, while ensuring that the best field tech is assigned with the right skills and parts. It also re-optimises the schedule in order to reduce costs.Place your list items here

ServicePower pioneered true intelligent, configurable route optimisation,  providing its ServiceScheduling software since the late nineties. We’ve continuously enhanced the engine which is offered through competitive partners as well. In 2015, we incorporated a modern Management Console which provides managers the ability to monitor key metrics, scheduled jobs, staff location and collaborate with remote team members.

We’ve enhanced lat/long travel matrix capabilities, long and complex job functionality, as well as crew and third party scheduling, and are working on evolving our scheduling algorithms to the next generation in artificial intelligence technology.

We’ve improved planning and forecasting using the latest map layering technology and coupled it with a true, non-production modelling environment and robust, cloud self-service Business Intelligence to ensure results.

Most importantly, we’ve realised that at times integration budgets or timelines stand in the way of deployment. Optimisation as a Service (OaaS), our newest product, provides enterprises and SMBs alike the power of true, intelligent, automated, route optimisation, in the cloud and on demand, by offering schedule optimisation as a service, priced transactionally. For field service organisations that want the productivity and cost savings of optimised routing, but don’t necessarily require the power of continuous optimisation, OaaS enables them to book jobs, optimise them, creating the best, least costly schedule available.

OaaS enables any organisation, even SMBs which previously were priced out of the technology, to benefit from real optimisation, moving past manual or simple rules based solutions. Likewise, enterprises looking to supplement existing ERP or CRM solutions without a full workforce management software deployment, or those with sales, stocking, or depot work not requiring travel, will also have the option of utilising OaaS.  OaaS will revolutionise how route and schedule optimisation is deployed.

We’ve also extended our M2M Connected Service product through a partnership with UK-based Concirrus, a top 10 Platform-as-a-Service UK company, and named by Gartner in its report: Cool Vendor in the Internet of Things 2015.   Concirrus adds cloud based IoT services to our scheduling software, creating new opportunities in the insurance sector and other industries with high levels of early IoT adopters, as well as new countries around the world. Additional partnerships are also under discussion in interesting new segments of IoT and application development.

We’ve enhanced ServiceMobility, our cross-platform mobile application, with additional payment and pricing features, estimates, product catalogues real time collaboration and most importantly, configurable, rules based forms. Rules provide the ability to rapidly define when data or forms are to be visible to a technician on a job-by-job basis, deploying new strategies in the field without code changes.

On the back of OaaS and ServiceMobility,  ServicePower launched Nexus FS, in September, providing the same mobile features with a SaaS business management portal that any business, from enterprise to SMB, can use to manage customers, vendors, jobs, and field employees. Combined with OaaS, those enterprises seeking a true end-to-end mobile workforce management solution can rely on ServicePower as a single source vendor for all field service operations requirements.

ServicePower is continuously evaluating new technologies to ensure that clients achieve the highest levels of customer satisfaction today, as well as future proofing our workforce management software so it supports our clients tomorrow as well. In 2015, our new products and partnerships are leading the way in technology innovation for field service businesses.

 

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In-built telematics and all-inclusive intelligence platforms are replacing the traditional navigation devices that van drivers have used in the past and changing the future of fleet management, writes Sergio Barata, General Manager EMEA, Telogis.

We’re so accustomed to having location and navigation tools at our finger tips, it’s perhaps hard to believe that GPS began only really began to be fully adopted in consumer and fleet vehicles around eight years ago. Since then, we have seen a dramatic shift in the way devices are sold and the data used to power them. With telematics software in particular, GPS-led vehicle tracking has given way to smart, intuitive and comprehensive intelligence platforms, based on drawing insights from the extensive data sets that GPS has produced. And almost without exception, this is leading in-built telematics and all-inclusive intelligence platforms to replace the traditional devices that van drivers used previously.

So how did the GPS landscape change after the boom, what effect did this have on fleets and what does this change in telematics look like?

The changing consumer landscape

From the high point of Personal Navigation Devices (PNDs) after the boom, the popularity of devices led to increased competition within the sector, driving down costs as new players began to enter the market. Through this shift, the emphasis on development first transferred to OEM partnerships in consumer vehicles and in the last few years has focused on the development of apps. The scale of change has been so significant that many major brands previously synonymous with PNDs have had to branch out into the likes of cameras and even watches, while other competitors have opted to pursue investment in and the development of new, cutting-edge navigation technologies.

What does this mean for fleets?

This fundamental shift has been mirrored within fleets, but in a distinctly different manner. While for consumer GPS technologies, the change has come in how the data is presented, in fleets, the very source of the data is changing. Whereas fleet navigation information was previously based solely on satellite-based, global positioning information, and provided little driver-specific information, it is now becoming more social and personnel-led thanks to telematics. In other words, it is increasingly both supplemented and influenced by real-time feedback from drivers on the road, and telematics information live from fleets.

With Telogis for instance, real-time performance data is streamed from each van, which enables fleet managers to track its location, fuel consumption and driver behaviour, as well as monitor for any safety and maintenance alerts. Much of this data is based on driver behaviours, with many metrics designed to encourage safe driving habits (and highlight bad ones). These include features such as driver behaviour scorecards and optional in-cab alerts that provide an audible alert when a driver is speeding, braking too hard or accelerating too vigorously. Telematics supports the process by transmitting vehicle data from the van to a dedicated Telogis website via an embedded cellular connection, allowing location data from a GPS module to be directly embellished by information sourced directly from the van’s electronic systems.

 

The future of GPS

GPS has changed dramatically over the last decade, so what does the future hold? Will it be social?

To continually drive efficiencies and keep the edge against your competition, you need real-time data and you need it in the hands of drivers. With this in mind, gamification will undoubtedly add a social aspect to the future of GPS, revolutionising the role of the white van man by pitting drivers’ performance against each other, and doing more than just rewarding conscientious driving through one-dimensional initiatives, which can’t be classed as innovation any more.

We developed the market’s first driver feedback mobile application for Android and iOS, Telogis Coach, which uses real-time intelligence to empower those behind the wheel. There’s a growing trend to put the onus on the drivers themselves to self-assess and self-correct dangerous behaviour; we enable them to take responsibility for managing their own safety out on the road.

Given that the majority of telematics platforms now offer a plug-and-play approach, it’s fair to say that the role of in-cab GPS has fundamentally changed for the white van driver. And this change is set to continue as telematics begins to become universally adopted, with many fleet managers imploring their van drivers to improve their driving based on their key performance insights. With the development of autonomous vehicles already at an advanced stage, the way in which fleets navigate the roads will continue to develop apace. This might change the traditional role of the White Van Man. But as the last ten years have shown their role, and interaction with technology, will surely continue to adapt to the times.

 

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Utilities firms are looking to Big Data and smart technology to move away from costly reactive maintenance. Marina Stedman, ClickSoftware, explains why...

Utility companies that typically manage vast networks of locations, staff, and supplies have the unenviable task of keeping the lights on regardless of what Mother Nature chooses to throw at them. It is an industry sector that is constantly investing and innovating but the impact often goes unnoticed, with customers and regulators only really paying attention when something goes wrong, a service is not delivered or when their bills increase.

The unpredictable nature of many countries’ climates and weather means that utility companies face many challenges to keep everything on an even keel. Add to that the fact that many organisations in the sector utilise subcontractors to support their engineering and maintenance activities, it leaves these companies largely operating in a vacuum, reacting to events when they occur.

This is corroborated by a recent OFWAT report that stated that 90 per cent of maintenance work is reactive and 33 per cent of down time losses are a result of unplanned maintenance, which costs utilities organisations 50 per cent more to deliver than planned maintenance.

These are huge figures in a sector that is traditionally run on very tight margins. It is a situation that is not sustainable, especially in the face of mounting consumer and political opposition to increasing bills and the well-known risks and issues of maintaining supply. Instead, we are seeing more and more companies pursuing a proactive system for both planned and unplanned maintenance.

The ability to manage and schedule field service staff while on the move is one of the key technologies driving the transition. The proliferation of connected devices integrated with sophisticated scheduling software is transforming the way that utility companies work in the field. With instant access to staff availability, asset data and interpretive scheduling software, the decision and communications process can be managed on a real-time basis.

While much has been made of big data for several years now, we are finally seeing companies beginning to confront the opportunities it presents. The key for this new proactive approach is in the immediacy of data collection and the availability and interpretation of that data.

 

Previously companies would require field workers to manually complete job data on sheets on site and only be able to update central databases from a central location. That equated to a lot of downtime and wasted effort. There was also a reliance on data being accurately completed on-site and then transcribed into the central office system, something which is not always easy to do in remote off-site locations.

Engineers using smart, mobile devices can now log data as they go along, provide progress reports, take photographic evidence, collect signatures after jobs have been completed and order in supplies all while still on site. This helps utility companies to have more visibility over the way both direct and subcontracted work is completed, to help them schedule resources with maximum accuracy and plan for next jobs and actions. Using real-time big data to analyse and then schedule people with the right skills to the right tasks in a way that minimises downtime and no longer requires them to return to a central point will help utility companies move from being reactive to proactive.

As staff are able to instantly update job status and see new jobs being scheduled while out on the road, a more finely tuned operation will create value for both the company and the customer.

In addition to the smart devices engineers now carry with them, we are starting to see the introduction of smart objects. Connected pylons, life buoys, sensors in the road and automatic weather sensors will all become available. These devices will be used to track a multitude of environmental factors that are key to the smooth operation of a utility company. As well as external smart devices tracking environmental factors, we are already seeing these kinds of devices in our own homes with smart meters that show both the consumer and the utility provider what’s being used.

Taking a proactive approach to scheduling based on a combination of environmental, logistical and organisational big data, delivered directly to field staff via mobile smart devices is a developing science but one which many forward-thinking utilities firms are introducing today.

However, given the speed at which smart technology and big data interpretation is developing, we expect to see the number of reactive responses start to drop and be replaced with pro-active, forecasted and tailored scheduling. It will be a virtuous circle as more preventative work will reduce the number of reactive situations companies need to manage. The cumulative effect will be less pressure on operating margins, more effective use of skilled field resources and ultimately a better customer experience.

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As we continue our serialisation of the 40-page eBook The Service Manager Handbook published by Advanced Field Services we now look at what obstacles you must overcome and what plans you must put in place if you are to achieve service excellence.

Download the full 40 page ebook for free by simply clicking here and completing the brief registration form

It’s a given that the customer is your number one priority. Typically, service is affected by a combination of factors that result in the customer not getting what they want, when they want it.

However, there are crucial failures we see in many companies that can hamper them from even beginning to build a coherent strategy for achieving service excellence. These can of course vary from company to company but some of the most regular culprits in blocking a customer service strategy from ever becoming more than a tick box exercise include:

• A lack of integrated, real-time communication between the field engineer and the customer service representative - your engineers are the gateway to your customers, they are the ones who can make or break even the largest of commercial relationships. As such,  give them both the tools and the training in order to not only just do their job but to do it brilliantly to ensure your customers remain loyal with you for the long term
• Poor visibility of current stock levels across multiple systems and manual entry – you can have the best engineers in the world, they can be experts in their field and fantastic customer service folks as well. However, if they can’t access the right part for the right job, right away, even they are going to struggle to keep your customers happy as they see their downtime escalating due to your company's inefficiencies.
• Time-consuming manual processes hindered by unnecessary paperwork make it difficult to respond with agility to customer requirements. Nobody likes red-tape, your customers hate it, your engineers loathe it – they just want to get on and fix things, and in today’s age of mobile computing, endless paper work is simply unnecessary and a waste of your engineers' valuable time.
  • At the same time your engineers should also have all of the tools they need at their fingertips both to do their jobs as effectively as possible but also to keep your customers informed throughout any repair.
  • Field service engineers without the ability to quickly see and advise customers in advance that a part may be delayed, or without the ability to order a part quickly and easily themselves whilst on site are likely to face an uphill struggle in today's business environment.

However, whilst problems like the above can grow to become significant issues for some organisations, the good news is that the technology is in place to help support your business, allowing you to avoid such issues and firmly become part of your clients' on-going business operations.

Here are six steps we believe are crucial to field service management in today's market…

Keep the lines of communication open

Whether you operate in the B2B or consumer/domestic markets, you’ll need to consistently meet basic criteria, such as responding within a set timeframe or appointment window.

A field service solution helps you to deploy your engineers with maximum efficiency and equip them to do a proficient job.

Technology gives you the option to send the engineer’s estimated time of arrival – and alerts on any unexpected hold-ups – by SMS or email to the customer. They are more likely to tolerate a delay if they know the reasons why, along with the new ETA.

Capture live data onsite

The information your engineers enter remotely through their mobile devices should automatically feedback to your control centre and back-office reporting and billing systems.

Customers can be sent up-to-date compliance certification within minutes of job completion. Sending an invoice promptly while the job is still fresh in the customer’s mind will also avoid queries and delays further down the line. While not strictly speaking a customer service issue, having fast efficient billing processes reinforces your image as a professional service provider and helps speed up payments and improve cash flow.

Collect and analyse customer feedback

Without bombarding customers with survey requests, you can collect their feedback using standard forms on the engineer’s mobile device or schedule a survey to be emailed to them after the job is complete.

You’re showing you value their views and it’s an opportunity to capture valuable insight into your customers’ thinking and identify possible opportunities to upsell the contract and services, where appropriate.

Create a unified, shared view of the customer

A customer relationship management (CRM) solution, integrated with your service management software, will capture and share information across your whole business, giving managers access to critical information at all times while managing your sales pipeline and opportunities.

You’ll gather intelligence on your customers during the course of doing business with them. This will enable you to offer better service while providing your teams with organisational knowledge, information and the expertise to make complementary sales where appropriate.

“Due to circumstances beyond our control…”

Timely, consistent service delivery is essential. If anything impedes this, capturing data on the spot with time-stamped photos will protect you from becoming open to penalties and demands for refunds.

Improve service with self-service through a web-based customer portal

Many service organisations now approach many of their major clients as strategic partners, working in collaboration with them to build a long-term, mutually beneficial partnership.

A customer portal gives authorised representatives in the customer’s organisation the ability to create jobs, view their service history, access contract agreements and run interactive reports on their KPIs.

This type of self-service access will ensure your clients are kept firmly in the loop, cementing your status as a preferred service partner without adding to the workload of your service administrators. In fact, you free your call-handling and back-office staff to focus on the queries, issues and exceptions that genuinely need their skills and experience.

Download the full 40 page ebook for free by simply clicking here and completing the brief registration form

 

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Trimble Field Service Management's John Cameron takes a look at what intelligence means in field service today...

Today, a field service operation is characterised by the running of multiple technologies, from GPS and vehicle-tracking systems to telematics, fleet management and workforce management solutions.

Each of these technologies generates vast amounts of data and businesses are increasingly realising the importance of reviewing and monitoring their performance using the data they collect. However, being able to organise and analyse data in an effective, simple and reliable way is a major challenge and without the means of turning it in to something actionable, many businesses just don’t take advantage of it. Business analytics and reporting tools have come to the fore as a solution able to tackle this and empower field service organisation’s with the information they care about to make faster, better informed decisions.

Fostering business intelligence through business analytics and reporting tools

Understandably, no field service organisation has the same reporting requirements. Many have different metrics and performance indicators to manage, from driver behaviour to vehicle usage and maintenance to overall worker performance. Many also need to report on metrics relevant to their role eg: finance, risk, customer service and operations.

Advances in business analytics and reporting tools provide businesses with the ability to view all of their data in one place then configure and cross reference it in a simple, easy way. Businesses are then able to make better decisions and better decisions mean a more effective, efficient operation.

 

Many business analytics and reporting tools offer users the chance to view the information they want, when they want it. Using drag and drop metrics, dashboards can be constructed tailored to reporting needs, to show the most important metrics and represent those metrics in ways that users choose.

For example, productivity can be looked at alongside driver safety and vehicle performance to ensure that while SLAs around completed jobs are being met, safety isn’t being compromised.

The dashboards can be utilised to run on-demand reports from any number of metrics which can then be interrogated and filtered to the level needed for individual requirements. The purpose for this data is to then be distilled to generate concrete, actionable details, which can then be used to benchmark and identify trends which will in turn help businesses to determine which assets and employees are the most productive.

Immediate and long term benefits

Fleet and workforce management systems give managers the ability to review a day’s work and measure performance results against company standards.

With the use of business analytics and reporting tools, managers can extract the data from these solutions to identify top performers, determine which schedules and routes produce the best results, and compare results from one vehicle or worker against the entire fleet. Performance analysis can also help with job assignments, helping managers match the skills of field technicians to specific service calls. This increases the prospect of first-time case resolution.

Telematics solutions alike can capture a wealth of useful information, from mechanical and emissions to driver safety habits. With the use of reliable, analysed information, knowledge can lead to action.

A manager who knows which drivers have bad driving habits is better equipped to coach those drivers; up-to-date information on the health of vehicles leads to better maintenance, which in turn leads to safer vehicles, improved fuel consumption and less wear and tear.

 

These are some of the immediate benefits, but understanding data also brings long-term benefits, as companies engage in strategic planning based on historical patterns and predictive analysis.

For example, a company which focuses on repair could make use of its historical data to know when a specific part on a specific machine is likely to fail. This could lead to preventative maintenance by fixing or changing a part before it fails, helping to deliver excellent customer service, reduced downtime and significant cost savings. The work becomes less about being reactive and more about precise, well researched planning.

Analysis of operational trends and patterns also reveals what areas businesses need to target for improvement. Perhaps drivers are using shorter routes that actually take more time because of traffic patterns, or technicians are returning to customer sites because they lack the knowledge or part to complete the job, or vehicles are left too long on idle and wasting fuel. With intelligence and analytics tools, organisations can drill down into the data to benchmark and identify situations where problems are occurring.

For more information and insight into how you empower your field staff to make more intelligent business decisions, visit: www.trimble.com/fsm

 

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“I think a lot of the fundamentals are the same in terms of business logic” Kowalkowski explained “but the problem with some of the business model concepts in general is that two key components are missing. One is culture and how to foster a service culture; that’s often much harder than just acquiring the necessary resources.”

“The other one would be leadership and how to really drive this because it is a change management process. How to motivate the employees at all levels within the organisation to form a strong coalition and to be able to show short term gain on this journey – because it’s a long journey” he added.

One of the interesting concepts Kowalkowski raised in his own presentation was that of ‘reverse servitization’ where some companies are offering advanced services and complex solutions, which they have been offering for many years, or even in some cases decades.

For these companies Kowalkowski asserts, the main challenge is not to come up with new complex solutions but rather to scale down those service initiatives, unbundling them and recombining service elements and providing  them in a more efficient and standardised manner.

 

Indeed Kowalkowski believes there are many companies that are operating on a business model very close to that of servitization without necessarily having ever planned to do so, who arrived there simply through adopting a highly customer centric business outlook.

Air France KLM

Indeed,  one very high profile company in attendance at the conference had done just that: Air France KLM are the oldest and second largest airline in the world.  Harman Lanser who heads up the product development and logistics division within the airline's maintenance and engineering division was another of the keynote speakers at the event.  During his presentation he outlined how he realised that the organisation was actually operating on a very similar system to servitization.

“Last year I was at a presentation where Tim Baines showed me the concept of servitization and I realised we were doing something similar to that, not knowing how close it was.  I have been going through the process of moving from component availability to total aircraft care to an integrated service support for the airline KLM.  Now I am exploring if this is something we can offer to customers”

“Doing it for the airline you work for is one thing doing it for an airline where you only do the service for, where your not responsible for the end product of the airline is different. What does it take to be able to give a completely integrated services product to a third party customer?"he asked.  “The trust you need, the reliability you need and the dependency you create between the companies.”

And herein lies perhaps one of the biggest keys to unlocking a successful servitization model. It is fundamental that there is trust built up over many years of good relationships with customers to get their understanding and buy-in of how and why you are proposing to move to an outcome-based business model.

“For these kind of services, you need at least ten years of working together, I would say,” confirmed Lanser “

 

Technology is an enabler

In addition to strong customer relationships, and the culture and leadership that Kowalkowski referred to, the other key enabler discussed at length during the conference was the technology.

Indeed, Kowalkowski believes that technology is the final key enabler that is allowing such companies to now make the final transition into being a fully servitized businesses.  “You can find academic papers that go back 90 years that talk about selling transportation instead of cars, selling mileage instead of tyres but back then you didn’t have the technology,” he explained. “Today with all the digitalisation you can do so many new things. Technology really is the key enabler”

With so many layers to discuss and in depth explorations of what is a truly exciting area, one that will of course have huge implications for the delivery of field service the more the movement gains pace, the Aston Spring Servitzation Conference proved to be an engaging two days for this vibrant global community.

"One of the things we’ve tried to do and have managed to do successfully is to try and keep the whole community together as we go through some forty presentations and to do that in one room over two days has been a very demanding thing to do but it’s been the right thing to do because we, as a community, debated these concepts”

“I’m delighted that we’ve demonstrated that we are moving forward in this space so overall it’s been a great two days, it’s been an exhausting two days but it’s been really worthwhile and next year…. we’re going to do it all again.”

 

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As European service continues to modernise, service executives gather to envision the future and share successes in Amsterdam this October. On the heels of its American counterpart, Field Service Europe promises a collaborative look at the greatest issues and opportunities specific to European service operations in 2015 and beyond.

 Service, powered by developments in technology and technician training, is being redefined as a profit centre for companies as well as a key differentiator in markets where competitors may otherwise offer similar products and value propositions.

This year, Field Service USA 2015 saw a robust turnout of executives from diverse industries, with discussion focusing on the role of technology in relation to technicians, and how both will continue to evolve symbiotically towards ever-greater efficiency and a preventative maintenance paradigm. Now, as European heads of service prepare to meet in Amsterdam this October for their counterpart conference, Field Service Europe, the discussion will continue along similar lines with an added focus on emulating the ability of American operations to transform into profit centres.

In 2014, 7% more American companies than European companies reported that their service operations were profit centres

Bringing a value driving approach to European service will demand a restructuring of how companies envision their operations. As opposed to a historical approach to service, espousing a “get in, and get out” mentality that emphasises speed in response to malfunctioning products, new technology is increasingly supporting a preventative maintenance approach, and thus freeing up time for service calls that emphasise relationship building and preventative maintenance to minimise the possibility of downtime.

In fact, in the near future many service operations are hoping to achieve a goal of zero downtime structured around schedules of preventative visits and communicative machinery that can call in to be repaired before component failure. The greater the ability to surprise and delight customers with a heightened standard of service, the more the door is left open for technicians to adopt a consultative role, identifying complementary services for customers.

 

This relationship building element is being recognised as a key piece of collateral when it comes to not just making more sales to customers, but actually identifying and unlocking value around solutions that are applicable to their wants and needs.

Training technicians to serve as scouts for sales will play a role in unlocking the revenue generating value of service for European companies. Going forward, defining the trainings that will be necessary to ensure that technicians can meet these new requirements will be a process heavily influenced by the relative levels of technology supporting these workers in the field. With a greater emphasis on mobile support and remote diagnostics, it becomes considerably more feasible for a new breed of customer facing technicians to thrive in the field while delivering the same, or higher quality service that customers expect.

Exploring the changing role of the technician as it is influenced by technology

As machines become more communicative, and mobile and remote diagnostic technology provides more support in the field, the role of the technician is set to change in response. In many operations, a bifurcation of the role may occur, wherein less experienced technicians trained for the “soft skills” of interpersonal communication and relationship building are remotely supported by a class of master technicians, well versed in the higher level systems and communicative components of more advanced machines.

In others, a consolidation of roles is expected to occur. This means that technicians will be expected to support both a customer facing set of skills, and a high level mastery of technical systems. In both scenarios, a premium will be set on communication ability, which has historically been viewed as a less essential component of technician training. This change is reflective of the new focus being espoused by service operations at large; surprising and delighting the customer.

The nature of the European market, with its distinct blend of cultural preferences, places unique challenges in front of service executives

Defining Service Level Agreements (SLAs) in Europe, where cultural differences can vary greatly on a nation-by-nation, or even regional basis, presents significant nuance compared to servicing primarily domestic US markets. Within the scope of a reinvigorated customer focus, Field Service Europe’s agenda will connect the dots around how to create comprehensive picture of customer wants, and then address them in a preventative and proactive manner.

It may not be enough to create rigid tiers of service with the attitude that customers can select the one that most closely aligns with their needs. European service executives have an opportunity to use the technicians creating relationships on the ground, as well as the information being gathered constantly by smart, connected products, to more closely define the specific needs of their clients and then serve them on a more customized basis. Ultimately, the executives who are able to meet this level of customer satisfaction will win a massive advantage in the European and global service market.

 

 

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