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The internet of things (IoT) is fast becoming a field service priority as the revelation that IoT can drastically increase customer satisfaction while reducing costs comes to fruition. IoT has the potential to eliminate unplanned downtime, more accurately meet SLAs, inform product development, and improve business decisions and forecasts when it comes to field service processes. IFS's Tom Bowe takes a look at the challenges being faced by companies looking to embrace this brave new world... 

Adopting IoT technology can change the dynamic of how your service organisation is run and provide vision into future possibilities and opportunities.  None of this is disputed; clearly the benefits of IoT are huge.  But field service organisations still face a myriad of challenges, particularly when it comes to meeting growing customer expectations with new market technology that disrupts internal processes, transfer of knowledge, and more.  How can field service organisations take the challenges of adopting IoT head-on, and achieve an infallible competitive edge?  Here are some suggestions.

Challenge: Lack of a Shared Infrastructure and Common Standards

IoT is actually a complex combination of hardware and software that constitutes a platform for developers and organisations, and the vertical nature of this platform contributes to the fragmentation of its infrastructure (Rachel Kalmar, Forbes 2014). With limited open source platforms, IoT devices are currently installed in their own platforms and ecosystems, which can run up costs and make IoT projects more technically complicated. Additionally the industry has yet to be standardised, including communication protocols and methods.  This makes integrations challenging and can hinder scalability as well.

Solution:

Implement technology that has developed IoT functionality but preferably has not tied itself to a specific platform or IoT vendor.  Solutions with open APIs will allow easy integration with sensors, etc. and will allow you to grow as the industry changes and develops.

Challenge: Data Control and Data Sharing

Large scale adoption of IOT technology is hindered by issues with data control. Decisions around who can access data, especially private data, must be made.  This can be a slippery slope which has yet to be addressed effectively.  With remote sensors and monitoring, there is a need for heightened sensitivity to data control.  This goes for data sharing as well. Since there are currently little to no compliance frameworks to address IoT’s unique issues, partner vetting needs to be even more critical and details about use of transmitted data will need to be clearly laid out.

Solution:

Don’t wait for standards to be fully defined and approved.  Develop your own “standard-inspired” approach by working with your technology vendors on a flexible, OS agnostic pattern and protocol that meets your most important (rev 1) requirements.  Make sure that data auditing is part of your software functionality, and align your IoT with existing company security and privacy demands.  Consider using the AllJoyn framework which is a developing open-source device agnostic IoT standard with the strongest community and downloadable SDK’s. And keep a watchful eye on the top IoT standard competitors including OIC, IIC, Thread (Google) and IEEE (P2413) for ideas, patterns and best practices.

Challenge: Security

The more devices that IoT connects, the greater the risk of malware and breaches.  Devices and sensors are also at risk of being physically comprised.  The latest debate of cloud security also applies here.

Solution:

Work with software vendors that have addressed IoT and cloud security.  Prepare your IT department to keep up with safety and security measures and explore your platform options before implementing.

Challenge: Implementation and Training

Another challenge that field service organisations potentially face in adopting IoT is in the implementation of sensors or other IoT technology.  Will this be a responsibility of your field technicians, or a third party?  Either way, re-education and new training will likely be needed.  This may lead to more upfront costs and internal adoption challenges.

Solution:

Use forecasting and planning software to predict the change in service demand before, during, and after the roll-out of an IoT initiative.  Explore what-if scenarios to see if your current field force can manage an IoT implementation effectively.

According to GE’s Global Innovation Barometer report, 67% of organisations agree that agility and speed in adapting and implementing emerging technologies into their organisation is essential to innovation (Ray Wang, 2014).  Being an early adopter of IoT, especially in field service, opens a world of opportunity in regards to new value creation, business models, and revenue streams.  It will allow your organisation to create new value for customers, bringing the concept of delighting them to a whole other level.

Face newcomer challenges head on, work with vendors that take an open and scalable approach to new technology, and work to make your field service technology nimble.  By doing this, and avoiding a rip and replace mindset, your organisation will be able to reap the intrinsic value of this new technology.

 

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Across December and January we asked our readers to nominate candidates for the inaugural #FSN20, a list of the twenty most influential people in field service. We received nominations from across the globe through social media, email and even a phone call or two directly into the news-desk.

Armed with a list of candidates, a Field Service News panel selected the final list of twenty based on the number of nominations, their impact on the industry (past, present and future) and their sphere of influence in both the physical and digital world.

After much long deliberation, heartful debate (read arguing) and enormous amounts of coffee we managed to whittle our list down to a final twenty which we pleased to present to you here the inaugural edition of the #FSN20. You may not agree with our selection and if you don’t tell us, tell your friends, tell your colleagues, hell tell the world – because at the heart of it that’s what this list is all about, getting people talking about excellence in field service and raising the profile of those leading us to a better future.

We are now announcing who made the list in alphabetical order in four sections across four days. So without further ado we are pleased to bring you the third five of the #FSN20

William McNeil, Principal Analyst, Gartner

Gartner, alongside Aberdeen, remains one of the most influential organisations in the field service industry. Their Field Service Magic Quadrant report, which outlines which organisations are leading the way in terms of innovation in field service technology, is hotly anticipated and widely quoted each year.

McNeill, who co-authored the most recent report alongside Gartner colleagues Michael Moaz and Jason Wong, has extensive experience analyzing the latest developments across predictive support, remote service monitoring, service parts planning and optimization, and warranty management and is a regular commentator on the field service industries whose work is widely respected.

Follow William @wmcneill

 

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Peter Molyneux, UK President, Getac

Rugged manufacturer ,Getac, has not only managed to develop one of the rugged spaces most consumer feeling tablets last year grasping the consumerisation nettle with both hands, but unlike some of their competitors, they have continued to invest in rugged laptops acknowledging the niche they serve – i.e., in some corners of field service where heavy data input is required, a tablet screen just doesn’t cut it.

In Molyneux, they have a man who not only fully understands his product set, but also his customer base, and is about as well versed in all things rugged as anyone on the planet.

Follow Peter @GetacUK

 

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Professor Andy Neely, Director, Cambridge Alliance

Another of the key figures within the growing movement of ‘servitization’ which could have a massive impact on the operation of field service.

Having held appointments at Cranfield University, London Business School and Cambridge University, Neely is widely recognized for his work on the servitization of manufacturing, as well as his work on performance measurement and management.

His organisation continues to work with leading companies such as IBM and BAE on research into ways to provide, implement and employ complex new service systems.

Follow Andy @AndyNeely

 

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Sarah Nicastro, Editor-in-chief,  Field Technologies Online

Whilst here at FSN Towers we think we’ve done a pretty good job of reporting on the tends and technologies of the Field Service industries over the last year. We’re humble enough to admit that we’re the young upstarts and we are very much walking a path led by our U.S. cousins at Field Technologies Online.

Having been at the helm for half a decade, a large slice of the credit goes to Nicastro for the respected position the magazine holds today both in their native America and beyond.

Follow Sarah @FTOnline

 

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Laurent Othacehe, Director, Cognito

Othacehe is internationally regarded as a guru when it comes to scheduling and optimization, a reputation fully deserved after founding 360 Scheduling. The company, whose scheduling engine was built upon research with Nottingham University to establish effective scheduling for the emergency services, was later acquired by Service Management heavyweight IFS.

Unlike many who would have perhaps taken the easy life after building such a success with 360, Othacehe’s passion for the industry was evident when he returned to the market with Cognito – and his acceptance of therole there was seen by many in the industry as a significant endorsement as well as a statement of ambition for the UK-based company.

 

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See the rest of the list here: Part One, Part Two, Part Four

 

 

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Service MAnagement software providers and scheduling experts IFS have looked at the numbers donr the calculations and identified that Santa’s sleigh travels at 25 times the speed of sound to deliver 120 million presents worldwide...

Every year Father Christmas sets off from his HQ in Lapland tasked with delivering presents to children the world over. As Santa is receiving more orders than ever before and client expectations are continually rising, IFS thought Santa could use an Elf Resource Planning system to help do things more efficiently.

Using Mobile Workforce Management software with dynamic scheduling, the Elf Resource Planning system calculated that Santa would need to travel at 19,210* mph from bedtime to sunrise in in order to travel the 144,000 miles required to deliver presents!

It turns out that Rudolph and team will need 3,660 tonnes of carrots to fuel them through the night. The reindeer, in turn, will pull over 180,000 tonnes of toys (and packaging) in the magic sleigh.

IFS Mobile Workforce Management with dynamic scheduling can be optimized by a number of criteria in order to increase profit, reduce cost and ensure service level agreement (SLA) compliance. Success stories with IFS Mobile Workforce Management include 15 percent reductions in travel and overtime costs, 40 percent improvement in technician productivity, and more than 20 percent improvements in SLA compliance and on-time delivery.

At the heart of IFS Mobile Workforce Management lies the IFS Dynamic Scheduling Engine(DSE), which is deployed around the world by more than 6,000 users to optimize the scheduling of all kinds of field resources from technicians to assets alike. It uses powerful algorithms to automate and optimize scheduling decisions based on configurable and reconfigurable business constraints, transforming a service operation into a more efficient profit center, all while delighting customers.

Calculating Santa’s optimal route using our scheduling engine required a number of assumptions to be made in order to arrive at the total of 120 million presents to be delivered:

• About one third of the world’s population are culturally Christian and thus celebrate Christmas
• Kids under three have no idea who Santa is and over eight they no longer believe in him. (Fact.)
• Assuming U.S. demographics hold true, about 10 percent of the population is this age range: so that’s 200 million potential believers worldwide
• Assuming 10 percent of kids work out the “Santa” situation sooner, 10 percent have parents that don’t uphold the Santa myth for ideological reasons, 10 percent who don’t uphold gift-giving for financial reasons and 10 percent who have different beliefs on Christmas – that leaves an estimated number of potential believers at 120 million.  Assuming two kids per family, that’s 60 million chimneys to squeeze down.

The route allows one minute per 10 million population, to unload at each country. Thus not all of Christmas Eve will be spent travelling: a lot of time is spent loading and unloading the magical sleigh. The actual distance travelled will be 144,000 miles assuming he needs to visit every country.

To see how IFS helped Santa this year, view the video or check out the route above. Follow the conversation on Twitter – search #IFS4Santa.

Many thanks for IFS for taking the time to improve CHristmas and share the findings with us all.

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Contact information:

Key Contact: Ms. Christine Murphy
Phone: 01494 428991
Email: christine.murphy@ifsworld.com
Web: www.ifsworld.com

Services Provided from IFS:

• Software for Field Service & Asset Management
• Optimised Workforce Scheduling
• Mobile Workforce Management</li>
• Service Contract Management
• Field Service & Asset Management

All about IFS:

IFS Enterprise Service Management –software solutions for service and asset management, real-time scheduling and mobile workforce management.

IFS develops, implements and supports unique workforce and planning software, built to respond immediately in real-time to real-world events, giving the insight you need to drive service delivery improvements.

IFS is a leading global enterprise software vendor to industries where asset management, manufacturing, field service management, supply chain management, or project management are core disciplines.

More than 2,100 companies in over 60 countries rely on IFS Applications™, a component-based suite for product & asset lifecycle management that can be configured for ERP, EAM, project-based ERP, field service management, or a combination of all four. IFS Applications has been evolving to meet changing customer needs since 1983 and is configured for agility, usability and low total cost of ownership in its targeted industries. IFS employs 2,800 worldwide.

Latest video from IFS:

Latest Resources from IFS:

White Paper: The business benefits of enterprise mobile solutions

The most significant moments in business begin with the arrival of an idea. An idea that is so profound and far-reaching that nothing will ever be the same again.The idea in question is mobility. Martin Gunnarsson, Director of research and strategy IFS discusses the benefits of enterprise mobile solutions in detail. Click here for instant access (no registration required) 

 

 

Three strategies for field service resource scheduling software

IFS explore how companies implementing enterprise technology to optimise field service scheduling and management have a wide range of options, with a variety of software available to help manage the route and schedule of field service technicians and others that need to be dispatched to remote sites in order to carry out their work. Click here for instant access (no registration required)