ARCHIVE FOR THE ‘field-service’ CATEGORY

As part of an excellent analysts paper commissioned by ServicePower, Bill Pollock has provided an in-depth look at the service requirements for the security sector, here we take a look at an excerpt from that paper...

There are now more security systems players than ever, bringing refined ways of doing business and new efficiencies to the marketplace. In addition, there has been a complete transformation of the security installer/service technician into an “everything as a service” professional, supported by service delivery models that embrace Cloud technology, interactive services, predictive diagnostics and customer self-service.

The most successful companies will ultimately differentiate themselves with unique and seemingly indispensable services and solutions that make it easier for a consumer (or business) to be smarter, safer, and more cost-effective.

For those organizations that install, monitor, and maintain commercial or residential security systems, ServicePower enables faster, smarter service, so they can deliver on today’s consumer service preferences and expectations, while also reducing operational costs and driving new and more predictable revenue streams.

The five primary factors to focus on when evaluating alternative Field Service Management (FSM) and Warranty Management (WM) solutions for the security services segment are critical to the success of the vendor/solution evaluation and selection processes.

They include:

• Customer Engagement – by offering a customized, self-service portal to enable customers to log in with their account number and report issues or order add-on security services, schedule the appointment, watch their installer/ service technician en route, and communicate with him or her, if needed; also to suggest relevant new cross-sell and/or upsell services during this key interaction opportunity.
• Smart Scheduling – the ability to pair parameters such as skills, certifications, and geography with the latest in Artificial Intelligence (AI) for real-time scheduling to ensure that the best installer/service technician is assigned, at the least cost; and provide the opportunity to re-optimize schedules and routes in real-time to accommodate intra-day changes, increase on-time arrival and completed jobs per day, and decrease travel costs.
• Mobile Tech Enablement – to ensure that the installer/service technicians arrive with everything they need to get the job done the first time, driving consistent quality service delivery, improved productivity, and increased completion rates; also to provide a value-based experience by personalizing the customer’s experience via fully configurable mobile functionality which also improves schedule compliance and first-time installation/ fix rates, and proactively offer additional value-added security solutions while onsite to increase revenue.
• Contractor Management – to facilitate better management of outsourced or supplementary third-party contractor staff to quickly expand geographic reach or support changing demand; the ability to dynamically choose a contractor based on rank scores, credentials, crowd-sourced Better Business Bureau (BBB) info, and dynamic rules configuration; and confidently being able to book an appointment based on available time-slots, coupled with the ability to view the current job status and track overall progress.
• Reporting & Analytics – the ability to use real-time Business Intelligence (BI) to measure performance metrics, fine-tune future operations, and enhance the customer experience; along with the ability to access Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), scorecards and reports in real-time, from either mobile devices or the desktop, and share them both inside and outside the organization, as warranted.

The best FSM and WM solutions will also be those that include additional functionalities, such as:

• Claims Management
• Work Order Management
• Inventory, Asset and Contract Management
• Outsourced Managed Services

The main benefits that can be realized through the implementation and use of a Field Service Management (FSM) and Warranty Management (WM) solution designed specifically for the security services segment are many, and quite compelling, as follows:

• Improve management control over service provisioning
• Reduce manual processes to create and manage field schedule routes, thereby reducing travel times
• Increase appointments, per day
• Less time spent on-site
• Enable improvements in overtime, travel, skills, and spares
• Grow revenue
• Increase customer engagement
• Serve customers more efficiently with convenient scheduling, increased first-time installation/ fix rates, and improved service levels
• Use Business Intelligence (BI) to better measure and improve service operations KPIs
• Research has shown that for a typical Fortune 1000 company, just a 10% increase in data accessibility will result in more than US$65 million additional net income, according to Forbes.com.

These benefits, albeit on a smaller scale, can also be realized by small-to-medium-sized security services organizations as well.

---

Be social and share... 

In the third from our series of articles looking at the key speakers at this year's Aftermarket business conference, Copperberg's Mark McCord reflects on an exciting presentation given by Mika Karaila, Valmet on the potential of Augmented Reality in field service delivery...

---

The schedule for Aftermarket 2019 is already being put together and it promises to be a key date in the calendar once again. This is an event that almost always sells out so head over to aftermarketeurope.com now and secure your place at this important industry event...

---

 

Maintenance technicians are busy feeling their way around a new power station in northern Finland – even though the plant hasn’t been built yet.

They’re part of a team that’s breaking new ground with augmented reality (AR) technology, working within a virtual model of the facility, even “walking” its rooms and machinery two years before it’s completed.

In this digital environment the technicians are familiarising themselves with the Oulu Energy Co power station’s layout and using the platform to make alterations to its design before construction begins next year.

 

"It means there are no delays and there is no downtime when the plant eventually opens, the engineers will know every centimetre of it when it’s open..."

 

“It means there are no delays and there is no downtime when the plant eventually opens, the engineers will know every centimetre of it when it’s open,” explained Mika Karaila, research director at Valmet, the Finnish services and automation firm that’s developing the power station and which created the software for them. “They are designing everything there.”

Karaila is a leading expert in the application of AR, and its cousins virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) to maintenance and support services, a subject he elaborated on in detail at Aftermarket 2018. He foresees a future in which crucial training and maintenance will be carried out remotely and virtually.

“The technology is there already and we are using it,” he said.

For more than 30 years, Karaila has been developing and putting into operation distributed control systems and integrated controls systems, and has more recently turned to artificial intelligence and visual technologies.

In his presentation, Karaila donned a pair of high-tech digital glasses and headset to demonstrate how the Valmet software can add virtual elements to a real-life environment. Via a giant video screen linked to Karaila’s headset, assembled delegates watched a huge paper processing machine materialise in the room. As Karaila walked around, his view of the digitally visualised machine adjusted accordingly.

Still, in its infancy, the technology is being driven mostly by the gaming industry, where players demand increasingly immersive and life-like experiences. But Karaila says AR, MR and VR’s application in industry will grow in sophistication as it becomes more widely adopted.

Its potential for field services and aftermarket services are enormous, he said.

“Facilities that are located many miles away can be monitored remotely,” he explained. “That, we can do now, but in the not too distant future it could be used so that an engineer can be at a facility as a telepresence, guiding the actions of a technician at the facility in repairs and maintenance.”

 

"Eventually, of course, we will be able to use this software in conjunction with robots to perform repair and maintenance tasks remotely..."

 

Lasse Laanikari, head of area customer service management at Liebherr, said the technology would be suitable for his company.

“I see training benefits in this,” Laanikari said. “We have earth movers 3,000 kilometres from our base, which we may see once a year and when we send a technician they may never have seen it before. They may travel there and realise they do not have what they need for the job. So you stay there, wait for someone to ship it over and start again. This could offer expert help in the field when they operators don’t know what to do.”

The Valmet technology enables collaboration between multiple engineers in the same virtual space. In a demonstration, Karaila showed how other team members are represented as simple plain head-and-shoulders avatars. But he said soon the software will be able to project images of those individuals’ faces onto their digital forms.

“Eventually, of course, we will be able to use this software in conjunction with robots to perform repair and maintenance tasks remotely,” Karaila said. “The possibilities are endless.”

Interview Conducted by Mark McCord at Aftermarket Business Platform 2018

 

---

Be social and share... 

With field service becoming increasingly dependent on mobile computing and the IIoT the advent of 5G could be a significant boost to productivity in many ways so it was interesting to note that earlier this month Intel and Huawei announced that they have successfully completed 2.6GHz 5G NR Interoperability and Development Testing (IoDT) based on the 3GPP Release 15 global standard September version.

The IoDT test is the world's first 2.6GHz 5G interoperability test under SA network and is a key milestone towards accelerating the maturity of the 2.6GHz 5G NR ecosystem With Intel’s 5G Mobile Trial Platform (MTP) and Huawei's latest 5G NR (New Radio) base station supporting the 2.6GHz with 160MHz bandwidth, the two companies jointly completed the IoDT and successfully enabled the first call under SA network.

The successful completion of this IoDT test not only marks the end-to-end successful interoperability of 5G in the 2.6G band but also lays a foundation for large-scale commercial launch. It will promote the development and maturity of the 5G end-to-end industry in the 2.6G band.

In the future, Intel and Huawei will continue to carry out more test and commercial verification and promote the rapid maturity of the ecosystem, laying a solid foundation for the future 5G commercialization.

 

---

Be social and share... 

With 2020 on the horizon, it’s the perfect time to think about new ways to improve your field service business. Paul Whitelam, ClickSoftware outlines nine key areas that you need to be targeting to ensure your service delivery remains competitive as we move into the third decade of the twenty-first century...

You’ve probably been hearing a lot about new trends and visions for the future, and it’s probably a little overwhelming. An easy way to get started is by throwing away some of the outdated practices you’ve been following. To help you out, we’ve compiled a list of field service practices you might want to leave behind in 2019.

Manual scheduling

Field service scheduling requires making several quick and calculated decisions. You need to consider everything from travel time and routing, technicians’ schedules and skill sets, equipment tracking, and SLA compliance. It’s much easier to rely on an automated scheduling solution to make optimized decisions for you, so you can focus on the bigger stuff—like your customers’ satisfaction.

Using separate solutions

The only way to gain true visibility into field service schedules is to manage everything in a single solution. This includes schedules, capacity planning, long- and short-cycle work, crew allocations, and more. Limiting field service management to a single solution also gives you the flexibility to manage your workforce more efficiently and ensure that you’re equipped to handle urgent work.

Not prepping technicians for customer service

Your field resources are often the only face-to-face contact your customers have with your company. This means it’s crucial they are equipped to give the best customer service possible. Start thinking of your technicians as your brand ambassadors, and ensure they have the soft skills to make a great impression on your customers.

Lack of visibility into technician location

With Uber you can hail a ride and know exactly where your driver is and when they will arrive. And Amazon provides updates when your package is shipped and as soon as it’s delivered. Your customers know this level of visibility is possible, and they expect it in their service too. Allow customers to track their technician’s location and send them reminders and updates about the status of their service. On top of giving your customers’ peace of mind, this also helps you avoid no shows and last minute cancellations.

Long Appointment Windows & Exact Time Slots

According to our Field Service Report, more than 60% of consumers across all countries said a long wait time between their service appointment being booked and carried out led to a bad customer service experience. It’s no surprise because today’s customers expect service fast, and definitely, don’t want to be waiting around all day to get it. Use optimized scheduling and appointment booking to ensure shorter, two-hour service windows for your customers.

Leaving the customer site before booking a follow-up appointment

Sometimes a repair is more complex than originally thought or a technician doesn’t have the right part to complete a job. When a follow-up appointment is needed, don’t leave the customer site until it is booked. Instead of simply ordering a part and asking the customer to call and schedule when they receive it, do it for them. The customer will feel more at ease knowing that even though the problem wasn’t fixed today, it will be fixed as soon as possible.

Not measuring customer effort score

When it comes to measuring customer experience, the Net Promoter Score (NPS) and customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores are usually the go to. But in today’s on-demand world, convenience and ease are becoming more and more important to customers. Many organizations have started measuring customer experience by the amount of effort customers are putting into getting an issue resolved. Add this to your list of KPIs so you can ensure future customer engagements are simple and seamless.

Not using live traffic updates

As customer expectations continue to rise, the importance of route optimization and getting resources from place to place is ever increasing. Many organizations are taking advantage of predictive travel and applications like Google Maps to accurately estimate travel times and plan routes ahead of the service day. However, it’s also important to consider real-time, live traffic updates on the day of service to account for unforeseen traffic and roadblocks.

Leaving out change management

When your service team has been doing things a certain way for several years, bringing in a new solution can be overwhelming. Even if the previous solution was inefficient or completely manual and paper-based, change can be scary. When implementing a new field service management solution, it’s important to get everyone on board and comfortable with the new solution—so don’t skip out on change management. Emphasize the benefits of FSM—such as efficiency, cost savings, and customer satisfaction—and make sure everyone is properly trained on using the solution.

While no one can know exactly what the field service management landscape will look like in 2020, it’s safe to expect increasing customer expectations and new technologies. Start preparing your organization for what’s next today.

 

---

Be social and share

Ultra Consultants, Inc., an independent research and enterprise solutions consulting firm serving the manufacturing and distribution industries, today announced the availability of a complimentary ERP Toolkit eBook.  The in-depth eBook provides comprehensive ERP education to help teams work effectively through business process improvement, enterprise technology evaluation, selection and implementation. The resources curated in the eBook draw upon Ultra’s decades of expert methodologies and deep knowledge of manufacturing and distribution.

Developed for project teams at manufacturing and distribution organizations considering an active ERP project, the ERP Toolkit delivers in-depth educational resources, including videos, white papers, podcasts and more.

Project teams are invited to download the ERP Toolkit eBook to prepare for 2019 planning.

Key resources include:

• Educational assets to get started and plan for an effective technology project
• Tips to organize a project, reduce risk of failure and drive change management
• A curated guide to help teams understand what it takes to evaluate, select and implement enterprise technology

“The decision to upgrade or implement a new enterprise technology system is likely one of the most complex and resource-intensive initiatives a company will face. The manufacturers and distributors we speak with have told us that it’s difficult to understand how to begin an enterprise technology project,” notes Ultra Consultants Founder and CEO Jeff Carr. “This toolkit gathers insight and leverages Ultra’s unique perspective as trusted, independent advisors serving manufacturing and distribution teams. We encourage project teams to download the eBook for insight specific to their organizations.”

 

---

Be social and share... 

In this final excerpt from an exclusive fieldservicenews.com presentation Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News is joined by John Hunt, Managing Director, EMEA, Astea as they discuss the ubiquity of mobile devices in field service operations today and just how the rise of mobile computing has truly revolutionised the way we approach service delivery in today's world. 

 

 Want to know more? The full length video of this presentation is available as premium content to fieldservicenews.com subscribers...

---

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.  

---

Be social and share...

The UK’s largest provider of fridge and freezer trailers has launched a new 24-hour emergency service specifically for the care home industry to provide extra storage space ahead of Christmas.

Coldtraila has just launched the unique service for care homes across the whole UK in desperate need of extra space to store meats and other produce in the build-up to Christmas, whether that be due to their freezers malfunctioning or just running out of space.

Ross Pushman, Managing Director of Coldtraila, said: “This new Christmas service will ensure care homes won’t run out of storage space this winter.

“We know how vital this time of year can be for care homes as they look to keep residents warm, comfortable and well-fed in the harsh winter months. That’s why we decided to offer a bespoke 24-hour emergency service to ensure they can provide more than adequate space for their turkey and geese ahead of the big day.

“If a trailer is needed, our new service will ensure it will be delivered and set-up within 24 hours of contacting us. That’s the Coldtraila promise.”

Coldtraila recently acquired two new trailers exclusive to the UK market; the Chill-Tow and Freeze-Tow.

The trailers’ heavy-duty chiller capabilities, which include surplus cooling power and rapid temperature recovery, offer the most cost-effective solution to storing frozen produce.

They also come equipped with a special multifunctional digital display unit that can manage and control the temperature of produce being stored.

For more information on the new service, call 01684 311811. Alternatively, for more information on Coldtraila, please visit https://www.coldtraila.co.uk/.

 

---

Be social and share... 

Blockchain and its potential has been mooted in field service circles for years. Is it time we stop thinking big and instead build smaller use-cases before we lose sight of what’s actually important, the end-user? Mark Glover, Field Service News’ Deputy Editor finds out more.

In 2008, a person (or a group of people) known as Satoshi Nakamoto conceptualised the first blockchain. A year later, this digitised digital ledger was a critical accessory to the group’s (or his) headline act, the now ubiquitous cryptocurrency Bitcoin.

The impact of this decentralised digital currency on financial markets and a curious, confused society has been fascinating to follow. That the persona of the inventor or the inventors remains unknown adds to the plot.

Yet, without blockchain, the currency wouldn’t function. This smart ledger, driven by a peer-to-peer network has the potential to stamp itself on industry and in particular field service. But can the sector adopt the technology in a way that will ultimately benefit the end-user?

Firstly though, and apologies to all those who have a handle on the technology, what is blockchain? Scouring the internet for a simple definition is tricky, eventually, the excellent forward-thinking mission.com offered this: “Blockchain is the technology that underpins digital currency (Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum and the like). The tech allows digital information to be distributed, but not copied. That means that each individual piece of data can only have one owner.”

 

"The tech allows digital information to be distributed, but not copied. That means that each individual piece of data can only have one owner..."

 

Straightforward enough. But let’s expand it to industry. How can it fit into the aerospace sector and specifically a plane engine? Parties involved include the airline, the engine manufacturer and the service company all of whom are squirting data into that asset’s blockchain.

The jet engine is a high-end valuable piece of equipment, the blockchain systems enable a single, irrefutable history of that asset. The linking of parties (blocks) removes the requirement for inter-party consultation before extracting required information meaning critical decisions can be made quicker and more effectively. It’s also secure and visible to everyone and accurate and trust, therefore, is enhanced around the chain. The benefits are tangible. So why aren’t all companies rushing to implement it?

“Like all emerging technologies there are only going to be one or two applications that are going to come up for this kind of thing in the very early days,” says Stephen Jeffs-Watts, Senior Advisor – Service Management at IFS. Stephen is an expert in blockchain, a keen enthusiast of its benefits but warns that fields service shouldn’t get too carried away just yet, particularly as sectors are only starting to dip their toes in the murky blockchain water.

 

"We have to try and bear in mind that it [blockchain] is also directly proportionate to the type of kit that’s been installed...“

 

A lot of the use cases that are coming up at the moment,” he tells me, “are in very high-value assets and very highly regulated supply chains; in aerospace, defence, nuclear and very-high-end medical applications,” he pauses. “There aren’t too many Phillips Medicals out there.”

In field service, blockchain technology can potentially trace parts, verify assets and look-up maintenance and operations history, but according to Stephen, it needs to bed-in with modern hardware before its benefits can be felt. “We have to try and bear in mind that it [blockchain] is also directly proportionate to the type of kit that’s been installed,” he warns, “Are you really going to use blockchain to authenticate the asset history or the maintenance and servicing history for a ten-year-old piece of equipment?” Another pause, “You’re not.”

Let’s go back to the jet engine blockchain analogy; the engine itself is a high-end piece of equipment.

The airlines and engine manufacturer, themselves are high-end companies:  BA, KLM, Lufthansa, Rolls Royce, GE, Northrup Grumann, for example. All are big companies keen to monetise blockchain, the only real way to do this is through data-ownership but in a high-asset blockchain, this isn’t always straightforward.

Who owns the data from a jet-engine? Is it the airlines?

The thrust from their plane goes through that engine and what about linking that to the pilot who’s flying that aircraft and jet engine through the air? That’s the airline’s data too. They also have a hand in the plane’s load: the number of passengers and baggage, fuel etc. That’s also data from the airline.

The engine itself? Rolls Royce might run it on a power-by-the-hour contract, so it’s their engine, so do they own the blockchain data? Like that other revolution IoT, blockchain becomes an issue of data ownership. What can be done to grease the chains to make the process run smoother?

“You’re going to have to get industries and supply chains to actually come together and solve the underlying data ownership issue,” Steve offers. “There is going to have to be some kind of consensus; an informal consensus through co-operation; the introduction of some kind of industry standard or ultimately an enforced consensus through legislative means,

Be it an Industry standard or a regulatory framework, large-scale blockchain implementation ultimately needs sectors to work together, to come together in agreement and as Steve explains, it also becomes an issue of trust. “Let’s say there are ten people involved in the supply chain: the operator, the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), there may be a service operator; they’re all contributing data to that chain.

“But does the end operator actually have enough trust in the OEM to question if they are going to use their data and benchmark it against its competitors”, he ponders.

Issues around data-ownership, trust and unfit equipment unable to handle what is essentially a large-scale, shared google document are indicators that large-scale field-service blockchain implementation isn’t as close as we might think. Perhaps we are setting our sights too high? Maybe the use-cases should be carried out on a much smaller scale?

After all, cryptocurrency, the original thread of blockchain was designed for electronic financial transactions, not necessarily jet engines. Stephen agrees, referencing a well-known tracking device, he suggests we should keep things simple. “We could use blockchain like a glorified RFID tag that authenticates, verifies and gives you a reference point,” he says. “I can look at the blockchain and I can see who made it, when it was made, how it was transported.

“Where they may be just a couple of parameters about its last usage, you can look at that by a component-by-component type level, specifically in those cases where that kind of information is critical, or the authenticity is critical.

 

"There’s got to be a realistic level of ambition and some specific use-cases that prove the technology and prove the value of the technology before there comes any mainstream adoption..“

 

There’s got to be a realistic level of ambition and some specific use-cases that prove the technology and prove the value of the technology before there comes any mainstream adoption,” Stephen urges.

My conversation with Steve has been fascinating and his contribution to this article I’m sincerely grateful for. The insight he offered - most of which I’m unable to fit into this wordcount – was invaluable, yet despite all its potential of blockchain Stephen left me with a thought that goes beyond the blockchain hype: “So what?”

So what if an asset is pumping with blockchain data? All the customer wants is the device to start working again so they can get on with their business.

“What value does that bring to me as a customer,” argues Steve. “unless I’m in a highly regulated environment. When do you start loading up past-maintenance history? Is it good? Is it worthwhile? Probably not. So what’s the use-case that going to give killer value?

Steve continues from the end user's perspective: “Great, you’ve got blockchain. What do I get from you having blockchain? What do I get from being able to prove every last working second of this particular piece of kit? Why should I care?”

It’s an excellent point that perhaps gets lost in this fourth industrial revolution we find ourselves in. Among AI, and IoT and machine learning and blockchain should we not just focus on the customer needs and their requirements? Or will we continue to pursue the hype?

---

 

Be social and share... 

In today’s digitalised world, employees must have access to databases and communication applications wherever they might be and on whatever device they wish to use. The fixed workstation generation is over. With more than 140 employees in 20 countries across the globe, iba’s IT infrastructure has to be able to support mobile working, while being reliable and providing the right levels of performance.

iba AG approached data centre specialist and cloud service provider Proact to help its staff enter today’s mobile paradigm and to also optimise its existing infrastructure. Everything started with analysis - to define goals and the services that were needed. After this Proact’s experts developed a cost-efficient and future-proof concept that integrated enterprise-class technology with existing solutions to create a highly unified solution.

As a result of Proact’s solution, all workloads, including the development environment, are now underpinned by two identically equipped data centres. To establish a truly turbo IT platform, Proact consolidated data and included symmetrical replication to ensure effective disaster recovery, centralised management, data protection and efficient use of resources. Ultimately, iba AG now has the performance capabilities so staff can access IT services as and when they need them.

“Proact understood our requirements for this solution right from the start and thought very efficiently and customer-oriented when designing the systems and licenses,” says Marc Besten, IT Infrastructure & Security at iba AG.

To learn more about this exciting partnership and the benefits IBA is gaining through this solution, please visit: https://www.proact.eu/en/case-studies/iba-ag/

 

---

Be social and share...