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The field service engineer fulfils a unique role in an organisation – directly interacting with customers more than most people within the company. However, the need to reduce overheads is a driver impacting organisations. Reducing the cost of service technicians, by recruiting less trained individuals for example, can enable the business to provide service at a lower price.

Over the last few years this approach has been adopted by many after sales support organisations, but as a result questions have been raised over the quality of service provision. For example, a recent study reveals that just 42 per cent of service organisations have consistent SLA processes in place^[1]. One concern being raised against the quality of service provision is the lack of business intelligence being in the field. A recent report found that just 33 per cent of organisations have a business intelligence initiative which has been in place for more than two years^[2].

One track mind in the field

Martin Rulton, technical operations director at Centrex Services explains the disparity shown when it comes to intelligence being demonstrated in the field, “When a system goes wrong, often the fix will go as it should. Problems arise however when the issue is non standard, such as an unpredictable error that an engineer is unfamiliar with.

“When faced with these types of problems some field service engineers refuse to present a fix. Sometimes they just don’t have the skills to provide a solution, so shirk the responsibility.”

Some commentators suggest that a throw-away culture, so prevalent in the years leading up to the economic crash, meant that skills to repair electronic items were not in high demand, and so began to diminish.

Martin comments, “One of the major causes of current SLA failure is a result of an environment that did not call for highly skilled engineers and technicians.

“Many industries have de-skilled their workforces as a result and this is hampering the service efficiency of organisations and their ability to provide a differentiated experience, which is crucial to meeting increasing customer expectations from SLAs.”

Action is the measure of intelligence

Recent research suggests that one of the biggest complaints against service companies is the length of time it can take to fix issues from a field service standpoint^[3].

Martin explains, “The length of time repairs can take is a serious industry problem. It can be related to an engineer’s lack of technical know how, or unscrupulous after-sales support companies looking to milk issues for additional revenue, when they could be fixed much more quickly.

“This is the crux of the service failure mentality that blights the industry; for too long businesses have been content to under-perform within an SLA, because they’re maximising the bottom line through this failure. However it’s a short-sighted approach.

“If an organisation cannot deliver upon its service expectations it impacts upon the end customer. For example, if all the tills in one supermarket are out of order, most customers will take their weekly shop elsewhere, and may never return.

“If a problem isn’t fixed quickly by the field service engineers the company can potentially suffer long-term consequences, including lost revenue, custom and reputational damage. In the worst case scenario, it may even put an organisation out of business.

“On the other side of the coin, if a repair firm takes too long to find a fix, and I’ve seen cases where organisations take up to five trips just to get the right part, they may gain a reputation for poor service.

“Multiple repeat visits for a problem that could be fixed first time is unacceptable, and I believe this will lead to more companies taking their business elsewhere, potentially placing repair organisations in a similarly perilous situation.

“The industry needs a wake up call before it’s too late; firms must act to change the perception of service SLAs, or risk commercial underperformance and the real threat of losing customers.”

Intelligence is a solution that didn’t exist before

Successful companies arm their field service professionals with the technology to demonstrate effective intelligence in the field, and are able to perform tasks more quickly, serving customers more proficiently as a result^[4].

Martin believes the need for field-based business intelligence is greater than ever. He comments, “To change the current service mentality within the industry organisations must put more power into field service engineers’ hands. Out of the box thinking is critical for simplifying the complexities of after sales product services. This is key to laying the foundation for long-term business success.”

Paul Barr, a senior engineer at Centrex Services, provides some examples of how intelligence in the field is being applied, “A fast food retailer had problems with its point of sale system. Staff would lean on the screens, causing them to snap off. Rather than simply fix this issue each time at cost to our customer, we produced our own metal bracket, which added support to the screen. Now they no longer break and the retailer has benefited from some major cost savings.

“In another example, a major retailer had some serious problems with the performance of its tills. We recommended a system-wide fix that improved memory. This solution made a huge difference to the business; with its systems operating at full capacity it was able to reduce valuable seconds from each transaction, enabling it to make more sales.

“We also worked with a supermarket chain which had ten damaged point of sale screens because staff were using the wrong wipes to clean them. Rather than fix each unit individually, which would have been costly to the business, we sourced and manufactured our own, which could be inserted into the system at a fraction of the price. In this case, intelligence by field engineers meant that the supermarket was able to save thousands of pounds.”

Thinking ahead to get ahead

Business intelligence appears to be an essential ingredient for the industry if its wishes to continue meeting customer expectations. Martin concludes, “The old rules are changing, customers demands on quality, efficient service, and value are increasing; they will not put up with poor service or quick-fix answers that don’t hold up over time.

“We must move our focus away from short-term gains and analyse where strategic value can be added. This is essential to building long-term relationships with customers.

“Our partners require tailor-made solutions; if one organisation cannot fulfil customer requirements, it is very likely that they’ll turn to one that will. There is an urgent need for a highly skilled workforce with the ability to provide out of the box approaches to problems.

“Organisations must allow their engineers to adopt a business intelligence approach; it can have a profound impact on service level delivery, which is crucial for the long-term prosperity of our industry.”

In this exclusive interview with Motion Computing's UK Supremo Ian Davies about his time in the industry, the changes he has seen and what he thinks the future holds for mobile computing...

FSN: What was the first piece of technology that made a huge impression on you? 

ID: Probably the first piece of technology, aside from the ubiquitous mobile phone or laptop that made an impression on me, was a touch screen device made by one of my previous employers that combined the Palm Pilot with a barcode scanner, essentially the pre-cursor to the rugged PDA that we know today.  I used to have it synchronised with my email, diary and address book on my PC, but as part of my job as a pre-sales consultant I could run Field Service or Retail supply chain ‘Apps’, although I guess they weren’t known as ‘Apps’ in those days.  My wife-to-be and I were in the wedding list service department of a well-known department store. 

I’ll never forget the contrasting looks I got from my wife and the sales assistant as we were handed such a device and I was asked if I knew how to work it.  At which point, with a cheesy grin I got my device out of my pocket.  Mine happened to be ‘marketing’ issue version that was made from clear plastic rather than the industrial grey, so it looked a bit flash too.  My fiancé was sighing in despair at my geekyness and the sales assistant was astonished that I knew how to use it, let alone owned one!

FSN: Do you think that the consumerisation of mobile devices has led to a major shift in the design of field service hardware?

ID: Undoubtedly there is far greater awareness of options such as tablets due to the consumer units now available - especially in businesses where there was a reliance on handhelds or laptops in the field.  Likewise, from a design perspective there is an increased demand for usability and the goal is to deliver a consumer grade experience whilst out in the field - a serious point given the potential increase in productivity.

FSN: What are your thoughts on the BYOD trend in field service organisations – do you see this as a major threat to your business.?

ID: BYOD in field service will likely hit a serious issue - consumer devices are simply not able to take the knocks that happen every day out in the field.  This then causes lost productivity, employee dissatisfaction and of course, presents the IT department with a host of OS’s to support.  Field service is one of the key industries where it will make far more sense to issue standardized pieces of equipment with training on how they should be handled to maximise the ROI.

FSN: What is the most exciting/unusual application of ruggedised devices you have seen?

ID: In terms of demands on us as a supplier of the actual tablets, the use of tablets for field based drug testing by Cambridge Cognition sticks out.  Likewise the use of the tablets for live audio mixing at concerts or remote controlling drone aircraft for surveys are all far removed from the usual applications associated with ruggedised devices.

FSN: With the rise in computational power of tablet devices do you think we are seeing the final days of the laptop?

ID: Though the increases in computing power do play a role, I think the greater factor that is leading to drops in laptop sales is far more simple - tablets are easier to use and a lot more intuitive.  They correspond much more to the mobile phones that we all own and as such people are very in tune with how to work a tablet - even down to the software available for them.  We are definitely seeing a swing away from rugged laptops towards rugged tablets for field service applications.

FSN: What is the biggest trend in devices that you are seeing come to the market currently?

ID: Right now the top demands are usually around usability features - improvements in input, display and battery life are all helping the multi-use capability for organisations and users.  Rugged Tablet PCs combine the performance of a laptop with the mobility of a rugged PDA – reducing the number of devices a user needs to carry and the IT Department’s number of devices and operating systems they need to support.  Aside from this, the regular demands are actually about enhancing the workflow by mobilizing the software and apps as opposed to just the hardware.

FSN: What do you think the next big technological advancement in mobile computing will be?

ID: That is the exciting thing about technology!  It is constantly evolving, the next great thing always around the corner.  Trends we’ve seen include more intuitive, more intelligent interacting with the mobile device such as voice and touch input.  There is obviously a great deal of competition for improvements to operating systems and another area we are seeing big developments in is around increased security of data. 

The idea of technology is to simplify lives/work, not make them more complex so contactless technologies such as RFID, NFC and Zigbee are becoming more main stream as ways of collecting and interacting with data.  There are a lot of concurrent changes happening right now and any one of these could yield substantial opportunities. However I think the dominant force right now is customer feedback into mobile apps and the emergence of professional, enterprise mobility.

FSN: You also offer a range of in vehicle solutions… driver safety is a major concern for the field service industry currently, do you think dashboard mounted devices can potentially distract a driver and cause accidents? 

ID: This is actually solved pretty quickly and easily - screen blanking technology exists to ensure that a driver cannot be distracted by a docked unit while the vehicle is moving.  Likewise the technology is clever enough that should the same mounted device be needed to be operated by a front passenger and is swung away from the driver, full access to the device can be obtained maximising ‘appropriate’ productivity whilst mobile.  These are critical concerns as safety will always trump productivity.  At present we are seeing a lot of innovation in this area coming from the Field Service and EMS sectors specifically and we have learnt a great deal so far.

FSN: You personally have been involved in this industry for about a decade – what is the biggest difference between when you started in the industry and today?

ID: When I first started, enterprise customers would gladly spend several thousands of pounds per device for then, leading edge technology capable of and designed to do single and often simple, but important tasks.  Adoption by users though was challenging.  Limited computer skills amongst users meant the technology was reluctantly used in many cases, and required significant investment in training as part of the overall project. 

Today devices can do so many things and have so many technologies built in to them that you might think there would be greater reluctance to overcome, but probably the biggest difference now compared to 10 years ago is the rapid adoption of the technology by the users. Personal IT knowledge honed from using technology at home or in their smartphone on a daily basis not only helps them embrace the technology changes their employers are adopting but they are continually pushing their employers to adopt new technologies to improve efficiencies and productivity like never before.

FSN: You have worked with a number of leading hardware providers to the field service industries, including Motorala, Intermec, Honeywell. What was it that drew you to Motion Computing and what sets them apart from their competitors?

ID: Traditionally, the technology I had been involved with prior to joining Motion was very application specific.  With the adoption of Tablet technology in the consumer space and the desire for organisations to do more with a mobile device, the opportunity in this ‘new’ wave of point of activity computing was a huge attraction for me.  I say ‘new’, but for nearly 13 years Motion has been leading the development in computing for users who were standing or walking, so I was confident they had something good going on!  The piece that really made sense to me though was the range of peripherals that Motion brings to the table to specifically suit the Enterprise Field user’s workflow. 

To use one of my colleague’s phrases, “it’s not all about the tablet”, and that is where Motion excels.  From a hardware perspective, charging, mounting, carrying and storing mobile devices is key to user adoption, and corporate responsibility for the vehicle based mobile user is an ever increasing requirement that Motion has really stepped up to.  Providing complete hardware solutions that truly offer point of activity computing sets Motion apart.

Gamestec, the largest gaming and amusement machine operator in the UK, provides services for over 35,000 machines in 10,500 locations. With many decades’ of experience, the company prides itself on the level of service it offers its customers which include pubs, leisure venues, clubs, bars and service stations. They provide an end to end solution for the operation of the gaming system with 364 days per year customer care facility and over 1000 field based teams to ensure local experts are on hand.

Managing field workers and field service

As part of their commitment to customer care, Gamestec embarked on a project to replace their legacy Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system and improve customer service levels. Having evaluated many CRM options they chose to work with mplsystems to introduce a pioneering solution, utilising mplsystems’ iMobile technology that would not only provide a CRM solution but would also offer call and email handling, manage bookings and engineering visits and provide visibility of, and communications with, field workers.

The solution

Working with mplsystems, Gamestec devised a solution that was unique in that it collapses the service desk, planning and dispatch functions into a single ‘intelligent’ agent desktop, thereby enabling the contact centre to communicate directly with engineers’ smart phones. The desktop integrates Gamestec’s asset management; ordering and stock control systems and provides a mobile workforce management tool. iMobile smart phone app allows the company’s in-house contact centre to communicate directly with engineers’ PDAs, automatically allocating jobs according to the engineers’ skill, location and current workload. Should emergency appointments come up or clients change their bookings, schedules are dynamically optimised based on field engineers’ current locations and loading and real time updates sent to the appropriate engineer.

Agent Experience

The custom agent desktop is designed to provide a single view of everything that the agent needs to resolve Gamestec client requests. It provides the agent with a complete view of the client’s service history, specific assets, locations as well as managing service bookings and schedules. This integrated approach has allowed Gamestec to change the way customer service is managed; previously, all service requests were passed through a number of separate departments, opening up the opportunity for errors and delays. The new desktop solution brings these teams into a cross-functional role covering help desk, customer service and planning. Now, requests are dealt with by one person who dispatches the request immediately out to the field. This real time view, along with other process improvements, has enabled service response times to decrease by 28%, or 44 minutes over the 12 months.

Customer Experience

Providing real time customer updates: when a customer calls to check the progress of, or change to, a service request, the agent can provide an immediate update from a live map on their desktop showing in real time all engineers’ locations (via GPS), their skill sets and current loading.

End-to-end service request reporting improves customer satisfaction: management is provided with real time monitoring of service requests, escalations and SLA adherence. Using hour by hour and day by day reports, aged issues can be captured quickly, escalation effectively managed and communicated to both field staff and customers advising them of completion timescales.

Business benefits

Prior to the iMobile deployment, Gamestec had needed separate contact centre technology, CRM and handheld devices to maintain communications with engineers. These systems required multiple licenses and were expensive to maintain and support and were proving to be inflexible. By deploying the new solution to cover all 3 functional areas, Gamestec has experienced an 88% reduction in on-going IT costs and has enabled increased efficiency across the organisation in how service and field workers are deployed.

 

Many of the UK’s courier businesses are small to medium sized operations, frequently employing fewer than 10 staff. For smaller firms like this operating in a highly competitive space, service reliability and customer satisfaction is everything and couriers understand the importance of having the right technology to achieve a competitive edge. Scheduling and proof of delivery systems are essential elements for any courier company but in addition, social media offers an opportunity to both improve competitive advantage and build a compelling brand offering.

As well as helping to create a distinctive brand, social media activity has a direct impact on the effectiveness of a search engine optimisation (SEO) programme, since, properly done, it signals to Google and other search engines that you are communicating relevant content on a regular basis with your community. This will inevitably improve search rankings and mean your website is more likely to be found by prospective customers looking for courier services.

One of the issues with social media is that although entry costs are low and anyone can set up a Twitter or Facebook account, the process of communicating itself can be time and resource intensive. Given how important it is for SEO and inbound lead generation - how can courier companies and especially the small to medium sized providers - incorporate social media into their business offering?

Don’t delegate to the most junior person

The first point to understand is that regardless of how small a company is, they should be dedicating some time and thought to social media.  The second point is that social media is important and should not be relegated to an activity controlled by someone very junior at an organisation, even if they are an expert on Facebook or Twitter. Would you let a trainee loose with your most important customers? Probably not, so why let them be in charge of your company’s social communications? Whilst it is unlikely they will create a social crisis, their industry knowledge is probably lacking and this won’t help you to build credibility amongst customers and industry peers. Instead ask them to share their knowledge of techniques and combine this with your deeper knowledge to create more compelling content.

Plan the content calendar to balance quality with quantity

Next, decide what to say and what content to share. Planning needs to be done on a weekly basis and involves creating a spreadsheet detailing what messages are important and on what platforms they will be shared. Working this way means you won’t overlook key messages and also means you can be more time efficient because it becomes possible to schedule announcements. When compiling a content calendar for the week, be mindful of the quality vs. quantity balance. It is more worthwhile to make two or three valuable updates a day than be ‘twittering on’ about something inconsequential.

Demonstrate your industry expertise with blogs

For an effective social media strategy, relevant content is everything and having regular, well written blog posts to share is essential. As a courier firm using social media, your primary goal should be demonstrating expertise and the fact that you are more knowledgeable about your industry than competitors. This strategy will enable you to differentiate your offering more easily and win a regular following.

One of the top ways to demonstrate expertise is by posting relevant blogs. For a courier, this could be on topics such as e-commerce shopping trends, delivery efficiency levels or industry statistics - all of which would feature relevant search terms or keywords. Having keyword optimised blog posts means that they will be found easily online and become an important source of traffic to your website.

Introduce social customer service

Social media offers a chance to engage directly with customers expecting deliveries and parcels. Many couriers rely on text messages and emails, directing customers to a website for real-time updates. Social media is also a real-time and very visible medium so why not communicate via Twitter or Facebook to confirm delivery times and gain feedback on your service? Certain customers will prefer this to more traditional channels, so by adapting your approach to suit their needs, you will help to build stronger brand loyalty.

Be analytical to determine what works well

Finally, measure everything you do with social media to understand what works and what is less effective. Be prepared to see a wide range of results from different activities and be open minded enough to accept when a strategy is less effective and change the approach.

A cursory scan of the social media activities of different courier companies shows that whilst some are actively using Twitter and Facebook for instance, a larger number have yet to take the plunge. There is also a wide difference between the tactics used by those using social media already and some couriers are using it very effectively to communicate with customers whilst others are taking a less interactive approach and using it for one way communication primarily.

Top tips for creating interesting blogs

Ten ideas for potential blogs relevant to courier companies, which provide keyword rich content.[unordered_list style="bullet"]

• Any interesting / unusual parcels delivered on time and in perfect condition?
• Celebrate important new contracts won with customers
• Discuss the latest technology and how it is of commercial benefit
• Discuss how technology helps job scheduling and miles on the road
• Highlight any use of bio-fuels or green vehicles
• Contrast regional trends in customer behaviour, e.g. popular delivery times, delivery to home or business addresses
• Comment on industry developments – mergers, funding, new launches
• Fundraising and work in the community undertaken
• Highlight important media coverage and include links to the articles
• New personnel who have joined the company and further expansion plans

For any field service organisation there is often one simple key objective, to deliver excellent customer service whilst working as effectively as possible.

However, we are working in a market place where both economic pressures and customer demands have risen to greater levels than possibly ever before and sometimes it may seem like this ‘simple’ objective is becoming increasingly unachievable. Yet at the same time we are seeing technology at our disposal moving forward in quantum leaps, as we witness technologies emerge that can and will literally change the shape of the field service industry as we know it.

Multi-person video conferencing enabled by increasing mobile internet speeds is now a common place reality when not so long ago it was the domain of science fiction. The field engineer facing on site who doesn’t have the requisite knowledge to deliver a first time is now able to access a wealth of information and advice direct from his handset, he can see where the nearest parts he requires are and if their not readily available he can order them and schedule the appointment with Mr. Bloggs there and then. (First of course checking that Mr. Bloggs account has the correct privileges and if he doesn’t than the engineer can is perfectly placed to up-sell!!)

Then there is the Cloud… Many of the initial fears around cloud based computing, a large number of companies were hesitant to move business functions into the cloud with security worries at the top of the list of peoples reasons for hesitancy, are now being allayed and the reality is that cloud technologies offer an incredible opportunity for the service industry.

If having fast mobile devices is the key, then having knowledge bases, communications platforms and even central systems in the cloud, is the door that opens the way into a whole new world of service excellence.

Even better, unlike the majority of technologies, which are prohibitively expensive when they first emerge, the cloud is in fact the opposite. Suddenly expensive and complex service management systems that were once the exclusive domain of the enterprise organization are now available as Software as a Service, bringing the cost per person down in some cases to under $100 a head.

In a period of continuing economic uncertainty, where Service is a major battle field in all manner of industries, the combination of ever improving mobile data speeds and cloud computing is a clear example of how technology is changing the shape of the industry today.

Of course, not every company is able to or indeed should invest in every new piece of technology and software that comes along. Indeed what is cutting edge today could well be obsolete within a few short years, and no matter where we see similarities in service departments, and we see them in wide and diverse industries, the simple truth is no one service story can ever be the same. Companies, like individuals require a solution that is geared just for them.

However, having an understanding of the technologies available and the advantages they may bring to your service department is a core responsibility of every field service manager.

It’s vital that field service managers understand what the options available to them are, whilst taking the time to understand their own needs and weaknesses and then find the system or systems that are fit for purpose

There is plenty of good information out there (including of course this very website!) and another source of good and refreshingly impartial advice is Service Max’s new ebook “A Definitive Guide to Modern Field Service Management”. Which we are very pleased to be able to offer to you for free when you subscribe to our fortnightly newsletter.

Drawing on research from Gartner, Aberdeen, The Service Council and Forrester as well as a real life case study this ebook gives insightful and concise advice on how technologies such as cloud, SaaS, big data and analytics, smart phones and tablets and optimised scheduling engines can be brought together to empower organisations to adopt a fully 360° view of the service they deliver.

To download a copy of this excellent book please just click the link here and then complete the very brief (less than a minute) registration form.

Whilst building a service business entirely from scratch might seem like a dream for many Service Managers when facing the trials and tribulations that are often the result of many legacies, it is none the less a daunting task and certainly no mean feat. However, for Daryll Brown, Operations and Service Manager with Bürkert Fluid Control Systems this was exactly the task he was employed to do. In this exclusive interview he explains just how he has approached building a service division from a standing start... 

 

FSN: Building a service business from scratch must be both a daunting and exciting proposition, what was the approach you adopted in taking the first steps to achieving this goal?

DB: Our approach to building a service business from scratch is to first of all define what can be thought of as service in our industry. 

Fluid controls are a very complex business and there is not a clear description of what is traditionally known as service work.  We need to define what we class as service work and then develop products that would be attractive to our customers.

Some of our definitions of service include Installation of Bürkert products and systems, continuous service of Bürkert products and systems, planned maintenance and breakdown cover for Bürkert products, installation and commissioning, consultancy, design, calibration and training.  As things stand most of our products do not lend themselves easily to service maintenance.  This is because there is not always what you would call spare parts that need to be replaced.  Also a lot of our products are designed for one time use and they may last for years.  So we need to be very creative with our offering.

FSN: What approach have you taken to scheduling software, are you using a manual, automated or optimized system? Why did you take this approach? Which provider are you working with and what made you choose them?

DB: This is unique for us as we do not necessarily need scheduling to cope with high volume demand we need it more to manage our complexity.  Having had experience in implementing field service software in my previous company I knew that the generic service software packages out there were not going to be as flexible as we would like.

Most offer an out of the box solution which never seems to do exactly what you need.  You then seem to spend time (and money) on modifying the software to meet your needs.  I think a lot of software companies fall into the trap of thinking all service businesses are alike.

For us this isn’t the case so we have decided to develop our current quality and asset management software (Q-Pulse) to be able to manage our service work.  This has the added advantage as we are already very familiar with the software and we have a lot of scope to develop and modify to suit our needs.

FSN: What logistics solutions do you have in place to ensure that your field engineers can get the right parts as soon as possible?  

DB: As mentioned our service work is quite complex and some visits have to be planned months in advance.  This gives our logistics team time to plan when and where our parts can be delivered and stocked.  Bürkert’s UK core business is mainly distribution of product from our Plants in Germany and France so we are already well versed in managing the logistic supply chain.  When the business grows we will need to think of innovative ways of supporting our service teams with some of our faster moving items.  Again from past experience I have found that having a partnership with a flexible logistic partner is worth its weight in gold.

FSN: How are you monitoring driver behaviour? What tools are you using (GPS, telematics etc)?

DB: Roads in the UK are becoming busier and this presents a challenge for any service business.  We have put a lot of thought into using the outside of our service van to market our business and products so we do not want our drivers to give us a bad name.  So we have had all those who drive our van read our companies driver handbook and then sign a declaration that they will comply.

We have also made this an agenda point at our Management review as ideas have been raised regarding advanced driver courses.  This would have the added advantage of potentially lowering insurance costs.

We do not have this issue of needing to know up to the minute the location of our Engineers.  Nor do we currently have any trust issue which would warrant GPS tracking.

FSN: Who else within the organisation do you liaise with when making decisions that will impact upon how the service department operates?

The Bürkert UK business is ran by a small Management team of five members.  These represent areas such as General Manager, Logistics, Finance, Quality and Sales.  Due to our business structure and all of these areas need to be involved in the decision making process.  As we are only a small business here in the UK every action has a reaction and this means all departments have to work closely together.  As past experience has taught me this is no bad thing.  For me even in larger organisations if all departments are working closely together and not in silos key decisions revolving around the service business are made more quickly and effectively with less risk.

FSN: Have you been able to integrate the service division with other divisions within the organisation such as sales or client services? What challenges did you face?

DB: We are still in the early days of developing our service business.  For now our project engineers are also doubling as our service engineers.  This is not necessarily a bad thing as we are starting with our service already integrated into other areas of the business.

For me all areas of the business working closely together is critical.  All processes tend to cross over into different areas of the business and often this is where most processes come unstuck.  If ran as a process and not a interlink of different activities in different areas the service business will run a whole lot better. For instance in the past I have often been called to meetings with the logistics departments to complain about the amount of stock in the service business.

If managed as a process then the logistics teams who are setup to manage other needs of the business can account for the service business. This will help them to adjust themselves to meet the completely different demands of service.

FSN: You personally also have a wide skill set holding an advanced certificate in Sales and Marketing (Institute of Marketing Management ILMM 2007). What led you to a career as a service management professional? What are the key skills that you think are required to be a good service manager?

DB: I spent 24 years with my pervious company and I worked in several different departments including operations, quality, sales and customer service.  This gave me a good understanding of the overall business and a good grounding in organising teams and coping with different demands.  For this reason I think the senior management thought I may be a good choice as a service manager.  Service has been by far my biggest challenge as it seems to involve so many variables and crosses over more boundary lines then I had seen before.  In my old business service was managed as part of the sales business.  If I were still there today I would have definitely recommended managing service as a separate cost Centre. This is because the needs of a service customer are completely different to that of other customers.  This should be managed by a focused service team with no distractions and to key performance targets that are service related and not just sales related.

FSN: What are the biggest challenges you think the field service industry faces and how have you set up the service business at Burkert to overcome these challenges?

DB: Of course there a different types of service businesses which will face different challenges.  However, there are challenges that are generic and affect all service businesses.

For me one of the biggest challenges is the modern lean business trends.  This drives a cost cutting culture in all industries which makes customers demand more for less. When you are selling service there tends to be a lot less overhead to play with.  One extra day on site due to an unforeseen issue and your margin disappears. So at Bürkert our way of overcoming this issue is preparation (and lots of it).

Planning needs to accurate, costing needs to be accurate and the timing needs to be spot on!  This is of course easier said than done.  So to endeavor to make this happen as mentioned before we have developed our software package to effectively manage our service business.  Our logistics are integrated with our service offering so that we have the parts available when our customers need them.  All areas of our business are part of our decision making to facilitate us managing our service as a process and not as a group of individual activities.

However, we know we cannot afford to sit still we need to look for ways to continually improve our service offering.  For this reason our marketing team is working closely with our customers to keep up with the latest developments in our market.  We have put together key performance indicators that are based on areas that our customers value.  We hold regular improvement events to review the feedback that these items give us so that we can continue to develop our business to be customer focused and deliver value.

Bürkert  at a glance:

Industry = Fluid Controls

Number of Field Engineers UK only = 3 (these also double as Project Engineers).

Number of Dispatchers = None (not set up as yet)

Average number of jobs per Engineer = 1 (our work is quite technical)

 

More and more extreme weather events are occurring around the globe and the UK in particular has experienced a strengthening in the severity of extreme weather over the past few years. In recent days we have seen terrible and tragic after-effects of severer weather in The Philippines and Sardinia. Only a few weeks ago we saw southern England brought to a standstill as hurricane-force winds and torrential rain battered the region with gusts of almost 100mph ripping up trees, causing flash flooding and leaving at least 220,000 homes without power.

The severity of extreme weather events varies.  Sometimes the damage is limited but in some cases, and indeed following today’s events, there is widespread damage such as flooded basements, broken gas lines, impassable roads and interruptions in cable and phone service.

There is a lot of pressure on field service organisations to respond to these disasters. Road-clearing crews and utility workers, for instance, get dispatched as soon as the situation permits. Plumbers, electricians, construction workers and HVAC technicians are sent to the scene to reconnect services and rebuild damaged structures.

Telematics, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping, GPS and cellular communications have been playing an increasing role in guiding field service teams, tracking progress and assigning workers in the aftermath of extreme weather events where safety is a concern. As an increasing number of organisations take advantage of these technologies they are becoming more sophisticated, offering new ways to be efficient and responsive.

Field service technology for the unexpected

An increasing number of Field Service organisations are adopting next-generation workforce management solutions which leverage Fleet Management technology and GPS data to deliver real-time information about worker and vehicle locations and the progress of their work. It provides dynamic scheduling tools to optimise in-day and scheduled work, and performance analytics that help make on-the-spot resource deployment decisions as well as prepare for future events.

The technology provides dispatchers and managers full visibility into work in the field so they can better plan and track the work. Centralised consoles and dynamic GIS maps offer real-time visibility on crew locations. A dispatcher knows exactly when a worker(s) arrive at a job, how long they spend there, and when they leave. So when an assignment is completed, the dispatcher can send the crew to the next task in a smarter, more efficient way and, rather than sending a crew across town for the next assignment, the dispatcher looks on the digital map to see where the nearest job is. Shorter distances between jobs mean less time traveling and more time restoring service.

The technology also collects data on the experience and preferences of workers. If a field worker is more familiar than others with a certain area of town, it makes sense to send that worker to assignments there because the worker already knows back roads, shortcuts and the general lay of the land. In addition, next-generation workforce management solutions feature self-learning tools that “learn” workers’ preferences on geography and types of tasks, which helps fine-tune the assignment of workers to needed tasks. It also helps to reduce overtime costs, travel time and missed assignments.

As the workday progresses, managers and dispatchers receive a constant stream of information on GPS location coordinates and the amount of time spent on each assignment. If certain roads are impassable, dispatchers can plan alternative routes to avoid delays. Using fleet management, dispatchers can route drivers around roads shut by fallen trees or flooding. This helps optimise routing and worker productivity, while improving worker safety.

When workforce management is in use, an exception management tool takes note of when tasks are at risk of being missed and a customer may be in danger and not receiving critical service. Alerts are sent to dispatchers about such situations and other scheduling issues so that they can react and reassign field teams as needed.

Future planning

Beyond field situations, workforce management delivers analytics about the performance and responsiveness of each worker and team. Organisations compile the data into reports for review to spot trends and the need for improvements. For instance, if crews took too long to arrive, managers can better plan standby crews for future situations.

Use of analytical data helps improve productivity, making it possible to complete more jobs per day, and helps control costs. For field service organisations, squeezing more jobs into one day in the aftermath of a disaster accelerates the resumption of operations, which helps to minimise lost revenue and bring employees back to work more quickly. It also creates goodwill among customers, who often get frustrated when service restoration takes too long, especially after a storm or strong winds.

Workforce management increases accountability as well, by collecting accurate, reliable information on field operations and associated costs. Managers are better equipped to make the right decisions regarding resource deployment during emergencies and on a daily basis. Beyond that, organisations that base decisions on accurate, meaningful information that reveals historical patterns, trends and metrics can respond more effectively to not only day-to-day tasks but to the next storm, flood, heat wave or blizzard.

International examples

The municipal utility in Anderson, IN, USA has adopted Trimble Field Management, a GPS-based field services management technology. Before that, when ice storms, blizzards or thunderstorms pulled down power lines in Anderson, the utility department tracked its crews by making phone calls and writing their positions on a chalkboard. “When there were storms, the board looked like a chess game. Now, we know exactly where each vehicle is and can schedule repairs by a truck’s proximity to the outage,” says Jason Tuck, GIS consultant and former GIS Manager for Anderson Municipal Power & Light Division. “We can see our trucks real-time on a map and make faster and more confident decisions because we know their locations are more accurate.”

The public works department in Brookline, USA, can immediately respond to stranded crews by tracking their progress constantly. “Now if there’s a snowstorm and a truck breaks down, we know exactly where to find it and the driver,” says Mark Parece, the town’s fleet manager.

At White Mountain Oil & Propane, North Conway, NH, Trimble Fleet Management technology has proven invaluable in such cases. “Managers can receive off-hours service or emergency calls (when dispatch is closed), log in, and in a minute know exactly where the problem is and send help,” says Todd Miller, the company’s manager of administration. This can be lifesaving when power outages from an ice storm or blizzard leave the elderly or families stranded in freezing temperatures without heat.

The explosion of mobility and connected services means that fully integrated fleet management, route and job allocation is now a compelling option. Sergio Barata, General Manager of EMEA at Telogis explains.

Traditionally fleet management systems, navigation, route optimisation, workforce management and job allocation are different disciplines, provided by a different set of vendors, and used by different functions within the enterprise. Typically these systems didn’t talk to each other, creating silos of data. However, with the current proliferation of remote working, reliable connected services and affordable mobile devices, enterprises are now starting to recognise that the systems should be integrated and, indeed, there is no reason for them not to be integrated.

Maintaining a piecemeal approach to mobile resource management is a huge overhead in terms of both resources and cost, individual solutions lack scalability and at best provide a patchy service in terms of meeting the objectives of the organisation. A lesson that many enterprises are now learning and a situation that many are looking to rectify with a fully integrated location platform approach.

One-stop-shop, global visibility

Recently developed, a platform approach to location intelligence means that one company provides everything to do with managing mobile resources, whether vehicles, equipment or personnel. This supports enterprise-wide strategies for handling mobile IT.  A single platform reduces costs, risk and overhead.  A platform approach can be rolled out across disparate regions, giving international visibility across the entire organisation.

A single platform giving scheduling, route optimisation and fleet management in one place is able to provide a dashboard to cover all, customisable to the individual user so that they see exactly what they need to see in order to do their job most effectively.  With one system, users log in just once to see everything on one screen.

Cloud delivery, faster ROI

Delivery via the Cloud brings a whole host of additional benefits.  Faster return on investment (ROI) is often the initial attraction, but longer term reduction in maintenance overheads, and a total lower cost of ownership, are also significant cost factors.  With no upfront capital costs, cloud solutions eliminate the need to purchase or upgrade servers, operating systems or database versions.  Cloud services minimise costs by leveraging existing IT investments, so expenditure on infrastructure and the staff to maintain it is minimised. Business benefits include access to a global solution, full integration between disciplines enabling better operational planning and execution, and business decisions taken based on fact.

In addition, cloud solutions are continuously updated, so you get the best.  Cloud solutions provide new and valuable capabilities through the lifetime of the service, ensuring that your solution keeps pace with business requirements and changing technology.

Harness technology, empower staff

A cloud delivery model coupled with hardware agnostic solutions, enables organisations to use existing kit, with no need to upgrade or replace devices already installed in vehicles or issued to staff.  When all you require is a web browser, there is no need to standardise on hardware and in many cases enterprises are able to take advantage of the consumerisation of IT and ‘bring your own device’ (BYOD) trends.  Subject to some restrictions due to security considerations, staff can use devices of their choice.  This keeps staff happy and can reduce hardware spend.

Improved access and mobility means staff are freed up to concentrate on the next job, rather than spending time going back to base. Workers have constant access to real-time data which support decision making. Supervisors and managers can ensure that the best person in the right location with appropriate skills and equipment, is allocated the job.

One version of the truth

One system, one version of the truth, updated in real time enables enterprises to streamline business operations and drive efficiency.  The ability for multiple people to work on one cloud-based solution helps to drive efficiency with one-time data entry. Managers/supervisors/workers can capture job/work allocation information, using smartphones. Field updates are reflected instantly for all to see allowing users in multiple locations to collaborate.

The real time nature of cloud solutions means that (restricted) access can be given to subcontractors or even third parties, when working in collaboration.

Operational benefits

The case for a platform approach delivered via the Cloud is compelling in terms of ROI on the systems in a replacement/technology refresh situation, however, the operational benefits from such systems are also highly attractive:

Workforce Efficiency – routes are optimised, staff are allocated jobs based on equipment, skills, location, and any other criteria required

Fleet management – vehicles are maintained, service requirements monitor, mileage accounted for, including out of hours usage

Fuel savings - Analysis of information from accounts/fuel receipts, mileage, routes taken, ensures best value

Driver behaviour – in-vehicle telemetry alerts to poor driving behaviour such as harsh breaking/acceleration, sharp cornering, driving without seatbelt etc, enabling training to be given to ensure safety is maintained

Better customer service – knowing the location of staff and resources means information can be given to customers on estimated time of delivery/arrival, helping to improve customer relations

For more information about how your organisation could benefit from a Location Platform approach please visit: www.telogis.co.uk

Coastway is the largest chartered land surveying and geospatial engineering company in Ireland. Headquartered in Naas, Ireland with overseas offices in London and Poland, Coastway specialises in capturing, processing and managing geospatial data.

Terrestrially based technologies make the land surveying of quarries and similar large, external facilities time-intensive.  As this time passes there is the risk of the survey becoming inaccurate as the land changes and the quarry alters or further equipment is added.

This necessitates the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to enable quicker, more comprehensive topographical surveys.  UAVs also enable safer working practices and typically have less impact on the environment.

To ensure an accurate survey, control of the UAV is paramount.  A tablet PC is the natural choice.  However, using the tablet specified by the UAV manufacturers, Coastway soon hit a series of challenges: a short battery life, lack of ruggedisation, excessive weight and limited functionality interrupted work flow.   As a result, Coastway turned to rugged tablet specialist Camtech to specify and implement a better solution.

Darrell Newman, Technical Services Manager, Camtech explains: “The typical work flow for the Coastway team would be to use a tablet in the office to conduct pre-flight checks, then file a flight plan.  The device would then need to remain on standby as the team travels to the site, in order to enable any revisions to the scope of the task or the flight plans.

“The survey team will usually handle around three jobs per day, with around four flights per job of approximately 20 minutes per flight.  This profile of activity and the environment in which the teams operate made battery life, portability and ruggedisation critical concerns.  As a result we specified the Motion CL910 with additional peripherals to enhance the weather proofing.”

The CL910 enables the team to have a full working day with up to seven hours of battery life.  At 1.9kg the CL910 is portable and in the field, the 10.1” screen delivers bright visibility and the ruggedisation of Corning® Gorilla® Glass.  The display supports both "Touch" and "Pen" input, enabling fine control of the UAV drone.  When the survey is complete, the integrated Wi-Fi enables quick transmission of the data.  Specific job data and individual flight footage are kept separate by backing up flight footage to the SD card in the internal bay.

Motion CL910 Tablet Overview: