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John Cameron outline some key areas of focus for organisations looking to improve the cash flow of their field service division...

 

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For equipment dealers and companies that manage large service operations, service-to-cash cycles can be a headache. Indeed, the gap between when a technician is assigned a job to when accounting receives payment and recognises the revenue, can turn out to be one of the most stressful tasks if it is prolonged. Why? Because it can put a squeeze on your cash flow and profits.

Aberdeen Group reports that the average service-to-cash cycle is 34 days, with the best performers able to reduce this to around 26 days.

 

What Causes Long Service to Cash Cycles? 

A recent Trimble study1 amongst equipment dealers and service organisations found that most payment delays will often lie in the service-to-invoice process.

The main reasons for this being:

1. Paper forms are still being used by technicians to capture job details

40 per cent of those surveyed either do not use mobile devices to capture data in the field or are still in the process of rolling it out. If technicians must wait until the end of the day to enter job information, or if back office staff must manually enter job data into a separate billing application, the closing of work orders will be delayed.

2. A lack of visibility into customer data 

When a work order is closed, not having instant access to view customer data, such as discounts, service contracts, warranty info and equipment data may delay the work order process in the back-office.

3. A lack of process automation

When an invoice is generated and sent to the customer, there is a lack of process automation that would otherwise enable invoice creation and email upon work completion. Automated workflows also lack when exceptions occur eg: if additional parts are needed during a repair. 39% of those surveyed admitted that it takes 14-30 days to get an invoice to a customer once the job has been completed.

4. A lack of visibility into job details for the customer

When a customer receives an invoice, there may be little or inconsistent job details added, so the customer disputes it. There may also be no process automation or easy-pay options causing the customer to be dissatisfied and payment is delayed. 48% of those surveyed had no process in place for their customers to pay online.

 

What is the Impact to the Business?

Long service-to-cash cycles tie up excessive amounts of cash for working capital, instead of using that money to grow the business. When the service workflow and cross-departments are not connected, there is no real-time view of what’s going on in the field. What’s more, if paper-based forms are being relied upon to inform billing departments, the service organisation can suffer from both delayed and missed revenue.

For example, all too often, a technician will arrive at a job to find out that there are multiple items that require a fix. He may perform these fixes, run over his allocated time for the job and forgets to jot his extra hours down as he urgently moves on to the next job. This may end up in customers not being billed for all relevant hours, resulting in missed service revenue.

 

How Can You Improve Your Service to Cash Cycles?

Turning service-to-cash starts with identifying obstructions that are holding you back from receiving payment quickly and accurately. These can be identified by mapping out your service workflow, from the back office, through schedule and dispatch, to those out in the field.

Since each customer has different service requirements and service delivery can be complex, connecting your entire service workflow with a flexible and automated solution and following a three-step “manage, mobilise, monitor” process, is vital to making sure that no money is left behind.

Manage

An advanced service workflow solution automates workflows and completely removes the unnecessary and error-prone task of having to manually enter the same information, multiple times, into different systems and duplicating work. Being able to pull up work orders, billing information, parts inventory, service contract information and customer data in real-time, from a single source, gives the customer a more tailored experience in a consistent, professional and timely manner.

It is important to ensure that the service workflow solution is fully integrated with other systems, such as ERP solutions, telematics devices and CRM platforms.

This should include a workflow that communicates in real-time with every other part of the business and allows for streamlined business processes that are repeatable, predictable and instantaneous. When done right, companies get service revenue into their business as quickly as possible.

Mobilise

Equipping technicians with a mobile device out in the field enables them to connect and share real-time information with the back office, customers and equipment. They can capture the exact parts used on a job and change work orders to accurately reflect what services were performed onsite, which means that no profit is left on the table. Additionally, if the technician was able to perform some preventative maintenance at the same time, they wouldn’t need to plan a return trip. Mobile service apps give the technician flexibility to pass this information back to the office at the push of a button.

Monitor

Adding GPS into the equation means that you can verify that technicians are at the job when they say they are. Tracking your technicians through their smart device or vehicle telematics allows you to accurately bill for the amount of time the technician was actually onsite. If a task overruns because its actual complexity wasn’t originally planned for, not only are you able to reschedule the following tasks, but you will also be able to recognise that additional time in the billing process.

The back office can be instantly alerted of job completion through both signature capture on the service app and geofencing to notify that the technician has left the area. This process enables invoice generation automatically, reducing the billing cycle.

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John Cameron, is General Manager, Trimble Field Service Management 

 

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

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All companies within the Kinaxia Logistics Group have had TruTac software installed to ensure that the Group is operating safely and efficiently, whilst being fully compliant with regulations.

Kinaxia employs a dedicated team of compliance professionals to manage the Group fleet, which comprises of over 630 vehicles, therefore it is essential for the team to have full visibility of compliance data across all of the companies. In need of a modern, flexible compliance analytics software that can provide comprehensive reporting, Kinaxia chose to work with leading tachograph analysis software and compliance products provider, TruTac.

Utilising the TruTac product, TruView, the Kinaxia compliance team has access to a full compliance dashboard that provides data from across the Group in one central place. It offers all-around compliance control; tachograph management, driver de-briefing and compliance reporting.

By effectively monitoring, reviewing and managing driving performance, Kinaxia works to ensure that the companies within the Group are compliant with legislation and are operating in a safe, efficient manner.

Responsible for the roll-out of TruTac across the Kinaxia Logistics group, Trevor Dickenson, Group Health Safety and Compliance Manager, says “TruTac is a clear and concise way for us to ensure we document and review our Drivers’ behaviour. It gives us full visibility across the Group and keeps our drivers and others safe on the roads.”

“With real-time, easy access to accurate information and the ability to pull a range of the reports, we are able to work with our Drivers to get a full understanding of their needs and any risks or issues that we can tackle. The TruTac system is a great addition to our Group.” added Trevor.

Kinaxia Logistics is currently looking at additional TruTac products that may help to support compliance and operations, such as TruCheck, an app for driver vehicle checks, which is currently being trialled at Mark Thompson Transport.

 

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Though still a young company, SensLynx has quickly established itself as one of the foremost brands in the fleet and asset management industry.

Some of the credit goes to its co-founders, both of whom have long-standing track records as executives with other wireless entities and top tier fleet tracking companies. But SensLynx’s world-class GPS tracking hardware and software, as well as its full suite of mobile solutions for companies of all sizes, is another driving force behind its sterling reputation.

Since its inception, SensLynx has broadened its scope into many other IoT areas but sees a powerful opportunity for unlimited growth in the fleet tracking arena through a network of newly minted resale business owners.

IoT fleet management continues to be one of the fastest growing markets globally and is forecasted to be worth over $15 Billion by 2024.

Yet, it is also one of the most under-penetrated, opening a wide window for agile entrepreneurs in a broad range of verticals, such as Transportation, Plumbing, Heating/Air Conditioning, Landscaping, Electricians, Food Delivery, Utilities/Oil/Gas, Construction, Non-Emergency Medical Transport, Airports, Waste Management and Public Safety/Security.

The GMAP program is built around SensLynx’s bundled solution components, which include Fleet & Asset Tracking, Electronic Logging Device, Routing Application, Video/DashCam capture and Workforce Management for smartphones The new SensLynx GPS Management Accelerator Program (GMAP) can either enable start-ups or enhance existing business portfolios with the addition of tracking solutions. GMAP requires no upfront investment or inventory warehousing and is structured to deliver recurring revenue via new sales channels, while also being compatible with legacy business models to capitalize on similar customer profiles.

And because SensLynx white labels its solutions under certain criteria, entrepreneurs earn significant margin on hardware sales (up to 75%!) plus monthly subscription income from the customers they will own outright.

“We believe in the entrepreneurial spirit,” said Rob Garry, Co-Founder and CEO of SensLynx.  “Not only does this Accelerator Program help us grow our IoT Fleet sector on a grassroots level, it inspires others to strike out on their own or expand.”

The GMAP program is built around SensLynx’s bundled solution components, which include Fleet & Asset Tracking, Electronic Logging Device, Routing Application, Video/DashCam capture and Workforce Management for smartphones. At the heart is its comprehensive fleet/asset tracking software, packed with features like Data Handling, Parsing, Database, Mapping, Alerting, Reporting, Dispatch, Maintenance Logging, e-Logs, Local Posted Speed Limits, Addressing, Geofencing, Interstate Miles, Open API-based software and more.  The complete bundled solution with software, hardware and data connectivity is attractively packaged at one guaranteed monthly price.

SensLynx’s GMAP program provides every tool necessary for companies to succeed, including initial training, planning for roll-out, conducting telemarketing for launch, developing website content, providing custom branded marketing materials and online demo support, accessible through the streamlined GMAP Reseller Portal where businesses can also easily manage supply chain and customer accounts.

Tom Maguire, Co-Founder, COO and CMO of SensLynx said, “We’ve worked hard to create a superior, all-encompassing, yet simple program that will ensure our resellers see measurable results in record time with dedicated support from us.”

GPS Tracking makes customer fleets, assets and personnel safer and more productive while reducing operating costs and increasing profitability overall.  The SensLynx GPS Tracking Solution delivers everything and then some.  And the low expenditure, high return GMAP program allows sales professionals to become successful proprietors in an emerging industry rather than employees and augments existing businesses with a leading-edge technology. The future of IoT Fleet Management is very bright.

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Healthcare Estates 2018 is a two-day event consisting of the UK’s largest trade exhibition for the healthcare sector, the prestigious IHEEM (Institute of Healthcare Engineering & Estate Management) Annual Conference, and the Healthcare Estates IHEEM Awards Dinner. It will take place on 9th and 10th October 2018 at Manchester Central.

Asolvi will be exhibiting at the event on stand Bz2, focusing on its longest-running service management solution, Tesseract. A market favourite since 1985, Tesseract continues to optimise the service chains of thousands of field service organisations all over Europe.

At the exhibition, the Asolvi team will be on hand to discuss and demonstrate the benefits of Tesseract in the context of the healthcare sector. The software is currently used by a number of medical facilities & equipment providers to manage and maintain thousands of life-saving devices in hospitals and health centres, everything from ventilators to defibrillators to ultrasound machines.

Cited by healthcare professionals as one of the most important events of the year, Healthcare Estates has been running for 60 years and attracts over 3,000 delegates and visitors.

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In this excerpt from a recent Field Service News webcast sponsored by rugged computing specialist Xplore Technologies FSN Editor-in-Chief, Kris Oldland is joined by Steve Priestly and Cliff Adams of Xplore and Bob Ashenbrenner of Durable Mobility Technologies as they discuss some of the key questions around device choices field service organisations should be making including asking whether the lines between rugged and consumer are blurring, how to decide which form factor is right for your service technicians and just how often should field service companies be seeking to update the devices that they have deployed within the field.

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The full webcast is available to fieldservicenews.com subscribers and if you are a field service industry practitioner you may qualify for a complimentary industry subscription.

Visit fieldservicenews.com/subscribe to apply now!

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With mobile computing and field service operations now becoming inextribably linked many field service organisations will benefit greatly from the full 4G coverage and in the not so distant future 5G could possibly make interactions between the field and the back office lightning fast and seamless. It will, therefore, be of interest to US field service organisations that Ericsson announced last week that the company has increased its U.S. footprint by expanding its 4G partnership with Verizon to include new markets.

This extended partnership includes Ericsson Radio System 4G LTE equipment which, in addition to enabling the latest advances in 4G LTE capabilities, will provide a 5G-ready platform that will allow Verizon to rapidly transition sites to 5G when they deploy the service in those markets.

The new markets will be deployed using Ericsson’s latest baseband and dual-band radios, an optimized solution for widescale high-capacity deployment. The solution will be software upgradeable to 5G and will deliver CAT-M and NB-IoT for Massive Internet of Things use cases, as well as industry-leading network capacity.

Verizon and Ericsson have partnered closely to drive the evolution of LTE by using LTE-Advanced features, enhancing capacity and speed on the Verizon 4G LTE network. In 2017, Verizon and Ericsson used these latest technologies to hit several industry milestones, including:

• Achieved 953 Mbps by combining licensed and unlicensed bands with four-carrier aggregation, 4x4 MIMO and 256 QAM in a real-world network environment in Florida
• Exceeded 1 Gbps speeds on the Verizon 4G LTE network using three-carrier aggregation

Verizon and Ericsson reached another milestone in 4G LTE-Advanced technologies that will serve as a stepping stone to 5G by completing their first deployment of FDD (Frequency Division Duplexing) Massive MIMO (Multiple Input – Multiple Output) on Verizon’s wireless network in Irvine, CA.

Ed Chan, Senior Vice President of Technology, Strategy, and Planning, Verizon, says: “We continue to be committed to bringing the best network to Verizon customers. Working with Ericsson allows us to deploy the latest technologies on our 4G LTE-Advanced network will be an important component of our rapid transition to 5G.”

This 4G LTE deployment will improve both spectral and energy efficiency, increasing network capacity for current devices in the market.Yossi Cohen, Head of Customer Unit Verizon, Ericsson North America, says: “We continue to work closely with Verizon to expand the strategic partnership between our companies, enabling Verizon to unleash the latest in 4G technology and simultaneously prepare to launch 5G in these new markets.”

This 4G LTE deployment will improve both spectral and energy efficiency, increasing network capacity for current devices in the market. Further enhancements are expected as the 5G ecosystem evolves. For customers, the result will be faster speeds for using apps and uploading and downloading files.

To prepare for 5G, Ericsson has released its first commercial 5G RAN software, allowing operators to turn on 5G in commercial networks when ready. In addition, the installed base of Ericsson Radio System radios from 2015 onwards can run 5G NR technology with a simple remote software installation.

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Grundfos is a well-established company with a 180-year heritage and some active assets in the field over 30 years old still requiring maintenance, at this year’s Spring Servitization Conference they outlined why they see advanced services at the heart of their future...

Grundfos is an organisation with a long, proud and traditional history, yet at this year’s Spring Servitization Conference in Copenhagen, it was their vision of a brave new world, a world in which advanced services sit at the heart of their offering that was the focus of their presentation.

Thomas Rosenkilde Anderson, Group Vice President for Services at Grundfos A/S outlined the thinking behind the Danish Pump Manufacturers shift towards a servitized business alongside his colleague Marianne Kjeldgaard Knudsen, Senior Director, Head of Digital Commercial Offerings at Grundfos A/S.

“Service has already been embedded into the way we serve our customers,” Anderson begins as we sit down after his presentation and he gives me the opportunity to dig a little deeper into the conversation.

When we took the strategic decision from an executive level that now is the time to create a service business unit,“Previously, service was basically just a support function for our sales. It was also something that had evolved differently in each country we operate in. Sometimes it was well structured, sometimes it was very unstructured. So when we took the strategic decision from an executive level that now is the time to create a service business unit, it required a hell of a lot of planning and exercising on how to actually do it.”

“We actually held workshops across all countries across the globe in less than three months. We would be sitting together with the local country manager and their leadership teams and asking ‘how do you approach services here’, ‘who is doing service here?’”

“Then name by name, we went through the personnel undertaking any service work and identified those that were doing 50% of their role in a service capacity as someone who should become part of the service business unit. If they did less than 50% then they should stay where they are - and we did this all around the globe.”

“This was the first time that we really knew exactly how many service people we actually had. This was critical as when I first started I wanted to know what was our service business - how many people did we have and what was our profit margin, but we didn’t have easy access to those questions.”

It is interesting to note that at this point the service business was operated as a cost centre and it was Anderson’s drive to move the service operations to becoming a profit centre that demanded that such lack of visibility be overcome. However, moving to a profit centre was just part of the reasoning behind undertaking such a significant task as bringing transparency across the service operations globally for Grundfos.

However, one thing that Anderson stressed very clearly in his presentation was that such a significant shift in focus within an organisation is not possible overnight. It is a long iterative process - in his presentation, Anderson outlined Grundfos’ own roadmap which stretches across ten years.

Yet, when Anderson first arrived having transitioned from the high-tech sector, this was not necessarily the case.

We were selling basic service contracts in 15 different ways across 60 different locations across the globe, so there were a lot of basics such as tools and processes that we needed to fix first“Coming from a high-tech background I was used to working at a much faster pace, so such introducing change over such a long period wasn’t the original plan,” he explains.

“However, I realised that here the starting point was a bit more unstable, we were selling basic service contracts in 15 different ways across 60 different locations across the globe, so there were a lot of basics such as tools and processes that we needed to fix first. If we had tried to do everything at once and bring very advanced services to the market in one go there would have been chaos”

“In short, we needed to build a solid foundation before we could move forwards further and that takes time,” he adds.

The next phase of this development Anderson explains is to build financial transparency.

“We need to get a firm understanding and have total transparency on what is the cost of service, what revenue are we currently making from services? Then we can have a firm grasp of how service is impacting on our bottom line,” Anderson continued.

“Once this is all in place then we can start the big task of really fully developing our service portfolio and of course building out our tools, processes and customer support and getting that standardised across the globe.

“Then, of course, there is the consideration around the people part of this equation. Service businesses are people businesses. We need to make sure we take care of our people and that we attract the best people - so a lot of our investments are going into leadership positions.”

“We are looking at leadership development, financial training for those that will have commercial responsibilities and technical training for those who are focussed in that part of the sphere.”

What is clear is that whilst the end goal of a servitized business promises great opportunities the road to that goal is long and complex.

However, Anderson and his colleagues have a very thorough and well-defined roadmap to guide them on their way - something that it is essential for any company looking to follow in their path develop for themselves before they start the journey themselves.

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Service Fusion, a field service management software provider helping small and mid-sized field service companies streamline their businesses and increase customer satisfaction, has announced a $10M Series A investment from leading B2B software investor Five Elms Capital.

The financing will be used to fuel growth and accelerate the release of new functionality for its customer base of over 2,000 service contractors.

"We are thrilled to bring in a partner with so much experience in the B2B software space," said Max Paltsev, CEO of Service Fusion.

"Nearly 70% of service contractors don't use a specialized software to manage their business. This results in higher operating costs and missed opportunities to delight customers, and we are changing that with our software."

Nearly 70% of service contractors don't use a specialized software to manage their business. This results in higher operating costs and missed opportunities..."We are beyond excited to partner with Max and the team at Service Fusion," said Ryan Mandl, Partner at Five Elms Capital. "We believe the field service industry is in the early innings of a multi-decade shift to utilizing modern software solutions to more effectively manage operations and provide a better customer experience. Service Fusion has developed an industry-leading product and reputation for serving the needs of its customer base really well, both of which we plan to build on as we work together to fuel the company's next phase of growth."

Service Fusion's rapid growth will create a significant number of new jobs in the North Texas area as the company expands its engineering, customer support, and sales operations at its headquarters just outside of Dallas. "As one of the fastest growing technology companies in Texas, we are extremely excited to be able to create more career opportunities in this region," said Paltsev. "This investment will allow us to better serve our customers' needs by adding top-notch talent to every team at Service Fusion."

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A new report commissioned by Aberdeen Standard Investment’s AIPUT fund (Airport Industrial and Property Unit Trust) has highlighted the scale of progress and future potential for the adoption of automated transport and logistics technology at the UK’s airports, including London’s Heathrow, which recently received the formal support of Parliament for its third runway plans.

AIPUT currently holds 2 million sq ft of buildings at Heathrow, dedicated to supporting the airport’s freight and logistics service providers.

The report, produced jointly by specialist UK aviation real estate consultancy, ChappellKing and Dornier Consulting International GmbH, explores the potential efficiency gains from automation across a plethora of airport-related functions such as cargo-handling and logistics operations, as well as passenger transportation both to and within airports.

Commenting on the report, AIPUT Fund Manager, Nick Smith, said:  “Autonomous technology promises enormous benefits to airports and the service companies that support them, transforming the way airports work and improving efficiency and safety, both for passengers and other airport users. At Gatwick, for example, 90% of the airport’s airside vehicles are stationary at any one time, which is both hugely inefficient and demands a vast amount of space.

A much smaller pool of electric-powered autonomous vehicles would drastically cut costs, free up land, reduce emissions, and improve safety. In Düsseldorf, a newly-developed robotic car parking system has demonstrated a 60% reduction in required parking space compared to human drivers.”

“Airports and airport real estate providers need to be ready for the introduction of automated technology as soon as operational and safety regulations permit.  AIPUT intends to stay ahead of the curve by embracing automation, working with our tenants and partners to build autonomous technology into our site masterplans; which we believe will adapt and future-proof our UK estate assets, ensuring that our clients’ buildings and facilities will be able to accommodate and benefit fully from the rapid development of autonomous technology.”

This winter in Norway an autonomous snowplough was tested at Fagernes Airport, with a single machine able to clear an area of 68 acres in a single hour.Trials of a variety of autonomous technological applications have already taken place at a number of UK airports. The first trials of automated air-side vehicles have been completed at Heathrow in collaboration with IAG Cargo and Oxbotica.  Gatwick, meanwhile, recently became the first airport in the world to trial the use of autonomous vehicles to shuttle staff across the airfield, demonstrating that autonomous vehicles can operate safely in highly-complex airfield environments.

This winter in Norway an autonomous snowplough was tested at Fagernes Airport, with a single machine able to clear an area of 68 acres in a single hour. Autonomous technology increases the precision with which snowploughs operate, improving safety during the removal of snow and while driving information and low visibility.

The UK Government has signalled its support for the industry, with the announcement of £22.4 million of funding under the Industrial Strategy for off-road self-driving vehicles, which it believes will revolutionise productivity in a range of sectors, including mining, ports and airports.

As in many other fields of technological development, airports are providing the testbed for a plethora of different autonomous applications.  AIPUT will be ensuring that it is at the forefront of planning for and providing the cutting edge facilities that greater automation will require.

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