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Oftentimes field service directors and managers can see the importance of investment within a dedicated Field Service Management (FSM) ahead of their colleagues in the boardroom. In this series of articles Kevin McNally, Sales Director, Asolvi outlines how to build a case for investment to drive your field service operations forwards.

In the first instalment in this series, we looked at how FSM systems can deliver easy Return on Investment, in part two we explored how investment in FSM solutions can help you achieve better staff retention and in part three we explored how the implementation of an FSM solution can improve worker health and safety.

Now in the final part of this series, we look at the benefits an FSM system can bring to Customer Engagement as well as offer some concluding thoughts on the series...

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Customer experience and customer engagement have become buzz phrases of recent times amongst senior executives within almost all organisations and the good news for field service professionals is that this shift of focus on service has meant an increased importance on ensuring field service management teams are able to deliver their service programs as efficiently, and effectively as possible.

Service indeed has now become the core differentiator within industry and field service is an excellent opportunity to make your service standards shine.

By investing in an FSM solution you're enabling your field service engineers to be true brand ambassadors of your organisation. By investing in an FSM solution you are giving them the tools they need to understand the specific needs of the customer they are visiting/history/asset history etc.

By investing in an FSM solution you are giving your field service engineers the tools to deliver the service excellence that will keep your customers loyal.

However, customer experience can also be enhanced through the implementation of FSM solutions in other ways than by empowering the field service engineer...

For example, many modern FSM systems also allow you to provide dashboards to your customers to offer greater visibility into how their assets are performing and how your service organisation is performing against any set SLAs.

Such transparency is very much valued in today’s digital economy where such metrics are becoming increasingly less of a USP and more of an expectation.

Indeed, many of the aspects of automation that an FSM can bring to your service delivery such as automating creation and delivery of work reports, messaging updates on engineer arrival times or even invoicing will improve both the efficiency of your service delivery and the levels of customer satisfaction you are able to achieve.

Conclusions: Avoiding a Competitive Disadvantage

For a long time, the key sales point for investing in an FSM solution was to gain competitive advantage.

However, we must now acknowledge that this is a maturing market and that maturation has been increased by the development of the Cloud-based systems.

So the question now is how much of a competitive disadvantage will you be in if you don’t implement a modern FSM solution – whether that be moving away from manual processes for the first time or upgrading to a new solution from a legacy product.

Investing in an FSM solution can improve your ability to meet health and safety requirements and protect your staff, make your customer’s happier, reduce field service employee turn over all while paying for itself within a relatively short time frame.

The question is no longer if you should invest in an FSM solution, but how to identify the right solution provider for you.

Want to know more?! There is a full white paper on this topic available to fieldservicenews.com subscribers. Click the button below to get fully up to speed!

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According to Statista, there will be 30 billion Internet of Things (IoT) devices active by 2024. To tap into this trend, plant managers can choose between two main methods of connecting new devices to the IoT — wired or wireless.

Here Maria Torrisi, business development manager of industrial automation specialist JMartans Automation, suggests three questions to ask before choosing between wired and wireless technology.

Wired automation is more mature than wireless technology and offers a fast and reliable option. Wireless technology is a newer entrant to the field, boasting reduced automation costs and smaller space requirements.

A good understanding of your technology and how to connect it is essential during any automation project. To choose the best form of connectivity for your application there are three primary questions to address.

How much space do I have?

A wired system can require a large amount of cabling to connect components and devices, which can be bulky and expensive. One of the main advantages of wireless

systems is that they can be installed in almost any location, even those where space is limited. To discuss which option is best suited to your facility you can arrange for a specialist, like JMartans, to review your plant and recommend the best type of industrial automation equipment for you.

How much am I automating?

If you are connecting a small number of devices to the IoT then wired technology is a good fit for your purposes, as the technology is fast and reliable. However, — adding additional cabling or rerouting the existing cabling of a wired system can be incredibly challenging. Wireless systems, therefore, offer a more scalable option for businesses that are planning on expanding their level of connectivity in the future.

Where’s the value?

Wireless technology can offer a cost-effective option for businesses connecting a large number of devices. While the upfront costs can be high, the flexibility offered to grow businesses can lead to better value in the long term. However, if your company aims to automate a single part reliably and securely then wired automation can make good business sense due to its fidelity. Remember that the larger the wired network, the more expensive it is to install, maintain and manage.

As the IoT continues to grow towards the 30 billion devices forecast by Statista, businesses are faced with decisions about how best to connect their equipment. While wired technology offers a trustworthy option, businesses looking to scale up their connectivity in the long term may find wireless technology is more suited to them.

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Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief welcomes back Kevin McNally, Sales Director of Asolvi as they look through five key considerations to factor in when trying to build a case for investment within a field service management solution including, definable return on investment, health and safety compliance, increasing customer engagement, reducing staff turnover and avoiding a competitive disadvantage....

Is building a case for investment in FSM a key topic for you?! There is a full white paper on this topic available to fieldservicenews.com subscribers. Click the button below to get fully up to speed!

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Berg Insight presents a unique database covering the 350 largest cellular IoT deployments identified as part of the company’s world-class IoT market research activities since 2004.

The extensive list includes various types of projects and product categories deployed across all types of vertical markets including aftermarket automotive, fleet management & MRM, healthcare, OEM automotive, retail applications, smart homes and buildings, utilities, wearables & consumer electronics as well as industrial M2M and other. The database includes project size and geographical distribution by the end of 2017 as well as a 5-year forecast for each individual project.

“The projects included in the top-350 list together account for approximately 214 million active cellular IoT subscriptions”, said Rickard Andersson, Principal Analyst, Berg Insight. He adds that this corresponds to as much as 33.0 percent of the total number of cellular IoT connections worldwide at the end of 2017.

The 350 projects on the list are in the coming years forecasted to grow to 521 million units by 2022, corresponding to an overall compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.5 percent. “More than 40 deployments on the list have surpassed 1 million subscriptions and the top-10 projects alone account for over 80 million units”, continued Mr. Andersson. Fleet management & MRM is the largest vertical in terms of the number of projects that made the top list, followed by retail applications, aftermarket automotive and OEM automotive as well as smart homes and buildings.

When comparing the number of active subscriptions represented by each vertical for the entries in the top-350 list, OEM automotive is instead the largest vertical, accounting for 46 million units, ahead of utilities at about 34 million units and fleet management & MRM representing 31 million units.

Download report brochure: The 350 Largest Cellular IoT Projects Worldwide

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A recent survey has revealed that 88% of field engineers see no opportunity to progress in their careers.

This less than favourable statistic comes from specialist field engineering recruitment consultancy, Concept Resourcing’s latest Field Engineering Salary and Engagement Survey where they delved into average salaries across the industry as well as fluctuations and expectations in pay, employee happiness and ranked the most desirable perks and benefits.

Engineer’s reports of a lack of career progression were backed up by the fact that 81% of Concept’s respondents reported having more than 10 years’ experience in the industry, and yet 75% of them were still in the same role. Not only does this pose a problem for those who are feeling stagnant in their career, but it does very little to help draw the next generation of engineers into the sector, with progression seemingly curbed.

Between an ongoing battle with the STEM skills shortage and burgeoning concerns over an ageing workforce, some would say the field engineering industry has its work cut out when it comes to attracting new talent. When we look at how the sector has changed in recent years, from advancements in innovation - such as automation and augmented reality, to a natural increase in customer demand for instant resource in the digital age - it comes as no surprise that the sector is crying out for new talent.

Aside from attracting individuals into the industry, retention of existing skilled employees is equally as crucial. Particularly to facilitate knowledge transfer to new starters to ease the pressure on the ageing workforce. With that in mind, it comes as something of a surprise that the survey revealed that 44% of field engineering professionals are feeling undervalued at work.

Retaining your field service engineers

It’s easy to assume that field service organisations would be desperate to retain their existing workforce and would be bending over backwards for them as a result. This may well be the case, but if employers are concentrating their efforts in the wrong places – their engineers simply won’t reap the benefits.

Of course, salary is always going to be a big factor to employee happiness, but with a whopping 79% of field engineers stating that they were dissatisfied with their salaries, the industry may well have a problem on its hands.

"Just 9% of those who requested a pay rise were successful, and of those, 62% were still dissatisfied with their salaries, an indication that perhaps the salary increases weren’t significant enough..."

Just 9% of those who requested a pay rise were successful, and of those, 62% were still dissatisfied with their salaries, an indication that perhaps the salary increases weren’t significant enough.

A potential reason for this could be the commoditisation of traditional field engineering sectors and the skillsets of engineers becoming increasingly focused on replacement over repair, meaning salaries have been driven down.

It seems as though the sector as a whole is missing the mark when it comes to giving their workforce what it wants, not through lack of trying – but simply through not knowing what they truly value where non-financial benefits and rewards are concerned.

Thankfully for employers, it’s not all about money. Feeling valued at work can overshadow a less than desirable salary. However, it’s worth noting that it works both ways, 80% of those who said they didn’t feel valued at work were actively looking to leave the company within the next 2 years.

Making your workforce feel more valued

Whilst salary naturally came out as the most important factor when choosing a job, company culture-related factors such as job security, work-life balance and a good work environment all followed.

When asked which benefits made the most difference to their happiness at work, field engineers ranked having a generous annual leave package, access to a good pension plan, a company vehicle and fuel card as their top priorities.

We saw a direct link between employee happiness and training. While only 6% of respondents felt that they didn’t have the necessary skills for their role, the gesture of being supported with personal or professional development clearly had a positive impact. Of those who said they were ‘happy’ and ‘very happy’ at work, 94% had been on a training course in the last 12 months.

Dan Sholl, Concept Resourcing’s Business Development Director for the field engineering division had this to say, “The results of the salary survey have been really eye-opening, to say the least. It’s clear that the sector has some work to do when it comes to both employee retention and attracting new talent.”

“Not every organisation has the budget to be able to provide regular substantial pay increases, but there’s a lot that can be done to make field engineering employees feel valued and happy at work. In our experience as a field engineering specialist recruiter, we often advise our clients on the significant impact that things like regular training can have on engineers and their happiness. Evidently, it’s these additional benefits and perks that can make all the difference when it comes to bringing the next generation of field engineers into the sector.”

If you’re interested in learning about average salaries in field engineering, or if you’re working on your hiring strategy for the year and would like some extra insight, read the rest of Concept’s Field Engineering Salary and Engagement Survey here.

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Oftentimes field service directors and managers can see the importance of investment within a dedicated Field Service Management (FSM) ahead of their colleagues in the boardroom. In this series of articles Kevin McNally, Sales Director, Asolvi outlines how to build a case for investment to drive your field service operations forwards.

In the first instalment in this series, we looked at how FSM systems can deliver easy Return on Investment, in part two we explored how investment in FSM solutions can help you achieve better staff retention and now in part three we turn our attention to how the implementation of an FSM solution can improve worker health and safety.

Is building a case for investment in FSM a key topic for you?! There is a full white paper on this topic available to fieldservicenews.com subscribers. Click the button below to get fully up to speed!

Sponsored by:

Data usage note: By accessing this content you consent to the contact details submitted when you registered as a subscriber to fieldservicenews.com to be shared with the listed sponsor of this premium content who may contact you for legitimate business reasons to discuss the content of this content.  

Perhaps the easiest argument to put forward to an executive board when seeking approval for investment, aside from outlining a clear ROI, is when that investment will mean ensuring the working environments you place your employees in meets any necessary health and safety requirements.

Of course, in a field service scenario, it is not necessarily possible to control the environment in which your field workers will be undertaking their role.

Therefore, monitoring their safety and ensuring they follow all due protocols and procedures is of huge importance.

So let’s take a quick look at some ways in which FSM systems can help you keep your field service engineers and technicians safe.

Geo-Fencing And Lone Worker Support

One reason field service technicians and engineers are particularly vulnerable is simply the fact that they are often working alone - so should an accident happen it could go unnoticed for some time, delaying any necessary medical attention.

There are many lone worker solutions out there, but it is optimum if you can identify a solution that can integrate into your wider FSM system so it can take a data feed of where the engineer is scheduled to be at any given time.

In fact, once that data feed from your scheduling solution is in place, it is possible to establish geo-fencing to make sure that should your engineer either stray outside of where they are supposed to be, or should they fail to arrive where they are supposed to be within a parameter of acceptable margin, alerts can be triggered helping to avoid potential tragedies that can arise from lone worker scenarios.

Indeed, this is one of the key areas in which the importance of the easy flow of data across your field service eco-system can be most easily highlighted – as the benefits literally could mean the difference between life and death.

Smart Scheduling To Ensure Your Engineers Are Safe

The next item on the list is an obvious one, and one that any good dispatcher even working without an FSM solution will pride themselves on doing – however, by automating it we can remove the potential for human oversight and error.

Many FSM systems will allow you to set clear parameters against a job during set up so that should maintenance or repair need to be scheduled then unless those parameters (such as the job requiring specific qualifications or more than one technician being required) are met the job cannot be scheduled.

This relatively simple, yet highly effective inclusion within an FSM system can ensure that the right engineer(s), with the right qualifications, are sent to the job, helping to avoid any potential health and safety issues that could result from under qualified or undermanned service teams being sent out.

Guide Your Engineers When Onsite To Safe Processes Every Time

Even the most experienced engineers can make mistakes – and these are oftentimes the result of simple complacency – again something that can be overcome through the use of mobile tools often found within an FSM solution.

For example, by building a checklist on the engineer’s mobile device that is built into their workflow you can ensure essential steps aren’t overlooked.

It may seem like an obvious thing for the experienced engineer to be told to switch off a core valve or even mains power to an asset before undertaking maintenance, but it only takes one rushed moment of forgetfulness on a bad day to cause an accident that could potentially be fatal.

But your FSM solution could help avoid that entirely by only allowing the engineer to begin work on the asset once they have completed the H&S checks on their mobile device.

Want to know more?! There is a full white paper on this topic available to fieldservicenews.com subscribers. Click the button below to get fully up to speed!

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Artificial Intelligence has increasingly become a key discussion in all industries and its impact in field service management is predicted to be hugely significant, but how should field service organisations leverage this powerful twenty-first-century technology? In the part one of this two-part feature Marne Martin, President of Service Management, IFS outlined why AI in field service is about far more than chatbots, now in the concluding part, she outlines how AI can bring a touch of genius to your field service operations...

Is Artificial Intelligence a key topic for you?! The full white paper on this topic available to fieldservicenews.com subscribers. Click the button below to get fully up to speed!

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Solving Problems When One Isn't Albert Einstein

Human agents are capable of optimally dealing with a customer, and AI can free them up for the most interesting and demanding tasks. In the case of scheduling technicians in the field, humans are just not up to the numerical challenge of adjusting a schedule in an optimal fashion as humans typically focus in on an aspect of a problem to solve rather than finding the best solution overall.

A dynamic scheduling engine (DSE) driven by AI algorithms is designed to solve complex scheduling problems in real time—problems much too complex for any human dispatcher or customer service agent to handle, especially when at times individuals will act myopically based on their area rather than for the greater good of the company and its customers.

"Even a static service schedule can be handled in myriad different ways and decisions regarding which technician to send to which of several jobs in what order are often made based on suboptimal heuristics..."

Even a static service schedule can be handled in myriad different ways and decisions regarding which technician to send to which of several jobs in what order are often made based on suboptimal heuristics.

“Steve’s son is in daycare in this part of town, so I will schedule this appointment last, so he will be close by.” Sometimes jobs are scheduled based on first-in, first scheduled, regardless of the actual urgency of requests that come later.

Manual or traditional software-based scheduling may be a workable solution for service organizations with a very small number of technicians each engaged in a small number of jobs during a day. But it does not take many technicians or jobs for the number of possible solutions to outstrip human computation capabilities either individually or as a group.

Even at the low end of the spectrum, a human dispatcher cannot quickly identify all the possible solutions and pick the best one. With two technicians and four service calls there are already 120 possible solutions— different combinations of technician, job and order. Two technicians, and five service calls yields 720 possible solutions. Four technicians and 10 service calls present a dispatcher with 1,037,836,800 possible solutions.

But the time you get to five technicians that must complete six calls each—a total of 30 calls, you have 12,301,367,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000 possible solutions.

Finding the optimal solution becomes even more complex as additional and rapidly-changing factors are added into the mix:

• Emergent jobs come in that must take precedence over those already scheduled
• SLAs and other contractual requirements demand that some jobs be completed within a given timeframe
• Technician skill sets that influence which tech is sent to which job
• Tools and materials currently in stock on each service vehicle
• The current location of a technician in proximity to each job and to drop locations for inventory that may be required for a job
• The duration of each service call, both in terms of estimated time required to complete the call and whether a current job is running over the estimated time, resulting in knock-on effect on subsequent jobs

Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, in his book Deep Thinking: Where Machine Intelligence Ends and Human Creativity Begins, makes clear that even his mind is not capable of computing possible solutions and outcomes as rapidly or effectively as an AI algorithm.

"Automating the schedule through AI not only enables a much higher level of service but frees up dispatchers to handle those “beautiful or paradoxical moves” that may delight a customer or solve a tough problem...“

The human mind isn’t a computer; it cannot progress in an orderly fashion down a list of candidate moves and rank them by a score down to the hundredth of a pawn the way a chess machine does,” Kasparov writes. “Even the most disciplined human mind wanders in the heat of competition. This is both a weakness and a strength of human cognition. Sometimes these undisciplined wanderings only weaken your analysis. Other times they lead to inspiration, to beautiful or paradoxical moves that were not on your initial list of candidates.”

Automating the schedule through AI not only enables a much higher level of service but frees up dispatchers to handle those “beautiful or paradoxical moves” that may delight a customer or solve a tough problem.

In the end, collaborating with intelligent machines will get us further faster than going it alone. According to Kasparov, the best chess is now played as grandmasters use computers to analyze positions, opponents’ games and their own games—elevating the level of play. In an interview with the Financial Times, Kasparov, who famously had matches against an early chess supercomputer, described how the best chess is now played by combining “human intuition and understanding of the game of chess with a computer’s brute force of calculation and memory.”

“I introduced what is called advanced chess; human plus machine against another human plus machine,” Kasparov said. “A human plus machine will always beat a super machine. The computer will compensate for our human weaknesses and guarantee we are not making mistakes under pressure … the most important thing is not the strengths of the human player. It is not the power of the computer. But it is the interface. It is the corporation.”

Legacy Approach to Inventory Logistics

Service management for many businesses relies on inventory … if completion of a service call requires inventory and you are out of stock, you cannot meet your commitment to the customer. When a service request cannot be closed on the first visit, it is often because the right part is not on the truck or immediately available.

So, service management software should encompass inventory management functionality, and that functionality should include automated reorder points for each part. The ability to take parts availability into consideration is a critical data set for AI to work on as parts are a critical determinant in first-time fix and job completion where parts are a factor. It also is a key aspect to successful SLA and outcomes-based commercial relationships.

Once inventory data is available and integrated, a powerful DSE may also be configured to influence inventory logistics so parts and materials are housed in warehouses, satellite offices or inventory drop locations closer to anticipated demand, with inventory matched to jobs in a forward or current day schedule. In one very large implementation of IFS Planning and Scheduling™ Optimization—in the London underground transit system—inventory and tools are dropped ahead of each service visit so technicians who ride the subway to the service site can pick them up.

This is only possible with a high degree of coordination between the service schedule, inventory logistics and an AI-driven scheduling tool.

Conclusion

Service organisations should recognise the tremendous potential AI holds—they can harness it to transform their operations, outflank their competitors and disrupt their markets. We are only starting to tap into the different ways AI can be used to better solve the problem of delivering optimal service in a rapidly changing environment as adoption is still lagging despite the real benefits AI brings. The good news is there are several straightforward and easily accessible ways service executives can harness AI technology right now, today.

Is Artificial Intelligence a key topic for you?! The full white paper on this topic available to fieldservicenews.com subscribers. Click the button below to get fully up to speed!

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