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In a world of connected field service, new exciting oppportunities are being created by new technology such as Augmented Reality. Michael Murphy, VP International Operations, Librestream Technologies explains...

The Field Service industry is in the midst of digital change – investments are being made in different digital transformation technologies to help expand their service offerings to customers.

According to Forrester1, 32% of enterprises are focusing on digital transformation, and in two years, that number will increase to 49%. Augmented Reality (AR) is one key technology that organizations are deploying as part of these digital transformation initiatives.

It is difficult to define AR as capabilities rangefrom deployable now to future applications. The future capability can be considered ‘extreme AR’ - think of 3D digital models of assets that you can pull apart and manipulate. However, most organizations don’t have the content or infrastructure available for this form of AR even though this is the type of AR many refer to first.

In reality, the more deployed form of AR includes applications such as remote assistance and digital work instructions.
Within field service we are seeing this ‘deployable now’ AR gain significant traction. In working with industrial customers, we have identified three main drivers behind this growth: aging/ loss of experts, change in customer demands and service offerings, and ecosystem readiness.

These three drivers are propelling service organizations to adopt AR tools that can leverage expertise across a broad product set and customer base. Early adopters within industry have already proven results with performance improvements in first-time-fix rates, asset uptime, and overall issue resolution time. Embracing AR capabilities can be difficult if you don’t know where or how to start, and there are critical factors that can make the deployment a success or failure.

Here are the three main stages of successfully deploying AR technologies:

Get Started
The first and most crucial step is articulating the problem or need - Are you experiencing a loss of expertise within your organization? Are customers demanding stronger SLA commitments? If there is more demand on your service organization, AR technology can help meet these demands.

Once the need and goals are identified, the next challenge is choosing the AR technology and vendor that best fits your needs. Ask if they have other customers like you. Can they provide you with best practice suggestions? Starting with applications like digital work instructions and remote expertise will expedite results as they are proven already. In addition to wearables, these solutions can be used on smart devices, such as smartphones and tablets, that your workers likely already have in their pockets.

Work with your team to figure out the potential use cases for this technology and document them. Creating a library of use cases will help a lot in the deployment stage.

The last important part of the ‘get started’ stage is getting the right people involved from the start. That means IT, project champions, and the executive buy-in. Having all these groups on board will help make the deployment a success.

Make It A Success
AR technology is usually a learning curve for new users. Making this technology deployment a success is key when users adopt the new tools. You will see the most benefit from AR when deployed in scale – if one user has the technology it’s hard to see it success.

Think of the network effect. If only two users have the technology, there is only one connection that can be made, but with 100 users enabled, there are 4,950 potential connections. The next most important step to success is in creating an achievable adoption plan.

Work with your team and your AR vendor to properly introduce and train on the technology. And communicate your use cases and successes to help with the adoption.

If users understand how and why the technology is being used, the chance of them actually using the technology grows.

Think About the Future
The future of AR within service is virtually limitless, and enterprise businesses are testing a range of wearables as part of various AR applications. While wearables add hands-free capabilities, they add cost to the initial deployments. Many enterprises are deploying test groups with wearables while enabling workers to use the applications on their mobile devices to expand the value.

Capturing field intelligence data and providing expanded analytics are also major topics within AR. Applications such as remote expert and digital work instructions capture valuable information from the field including IoT data. Solutions are also moving toward working with IoT sensors to grab valuable data in real-time or to record in step-bystep workflow.

Using the data you’ve collected from the AR applications, you can add to your predictive maintenance and service analytics. The field intelligence data you capture also must be available within your existing systems such as your ERP or knowledge management system.

To achieve this integration, connectors and APIs are a ‘big thing’ in AR - and ad-hoc or silo systems are no longer acceptable. Enterprises expect a completely integrated solution. Practical AR solutions are proven to improve performance, especially in the field service industry.

With AR the main drivers of the ageing workforce, ecosystem readiness, and the change in service offerings and customer demands,
service organizations are realizing the need for innovation and digital change.

As the industrycontinues to embrace the digital space, AR will become the norm within field service.

IoT has long been touted as a transformational technology within field service management, and its impact will be felt by smaller organisations just as much as their larger peers writes Craig Chantler, Head of IoT, at simPRO...

Field Service is being transformed thanks to technological developments such as machine learning and the Internet of Things (IoT). The ability to remotely monitor equipment and transmit data back to the business in real-time has previously only been available to larger corporates with deep pockets. The reality is small to medium enterprises can also benefit from an agile operational environment and it doesn’t need to cost the earth.

Let’s take a look at the key benefits IoT brings to small to medium-sized field service operations.

Trigger automated actions
IoT connected assets are monitored for anomalies,and error messages can trigger alerts and create work orders. There doesn’t need to be any human interaction in this process which reduces the impact it can have on limited resources. If a part fails, the correct parts can be ordered and then the job can be assigned to the suitably qualified and located engineer for the job.

Increased first-time fix rate
Repeat service visits are costly, especially for smaller businesses with limited resources. IoT can help to provide more efficient and cost effective service delivery. Accurate reports on the behaviour of connected assets help to reduce unnecessary visits but when a problem arises, the right person with the correct parts can solve the problem on the first visit.

Predictive maintenance to provide better service
Moving to a predictive maintenance model, where equipment can notify us when they are operating outside of normal parameters or predict when failure is imminent, can hugely benefit businesses. By only sending an engineer to site when required can reduce costs and administration as well as improve equipment up-time and customer satisfaction.

What are the practical applications for IoT in smaller field service businesses?
When looking to implement an IoT solution, it’s important to evaluate all options. It’s not only about cost, but the full end-to-end solution. Consider whether new equipment is required or whether the technology works with existing installations. One of our customers did exactly that when they looked at how they could use IoT in their business.

The business in question is an installer and maintainer of specialist plant equipment found in the plant rooms of many prestigious commercial buildings. They were seeking a solution that could deliver live operational data on the performance of their equipment to support their ongoing maintenance and servicing activities and even help create new revenue-generating services.

Having persevered with another IoT system for close to two years and getting nowhere, they implemented simPRO IoT and had it up and running in a very short space of time. The simPRO plug and play sensors can be retrofitted to existing equipment quickly and
easily, along with the easy connection of existing sensors in place on the equipment. These sensors communicate with the gateway to the simPRO platform through thick plant room walls that other approaches were struggling with.

The sensors are used to monitor key areas of system performance such as energy usage, water levels (using pressure sensors) and water flow (via pulse meters). Thanks to real-time updates through the cloud, the provider can be instantly alerted of these metrics, along with faults on the local equipment console. This has allowed them to improve the operational performance of their equipment and add value to the customer by reducing costs, increasing asset uptime and facility performance. They are able to “sweat the asset” and get more out of the equipment long term.

Moving away from reactive and prescriptive pre-planned work, towards cost-effective proactive management of the equipment, has had a positive impact on their bottom line. Lowering the cost of operations has enabled them to use resources more efficiently
which ultimately benefits the customer.

By integrating the core simPRO solution, which combines comprehensive asset and job management, with the IoT enabled live window into asset/equipment operational performance, simPRO delivers an end-to-end solution. Small businesses can benefit from this one-stop-shop approach where all hardware and software are provided, installed, configured and supported by the one vendor.

The simPRO solution allows smaller service providers to punch above their weight, and bring innovative new services into their portfolio to bring a tangible source of differentiation. With the real-world practicalities of simPRO IoT increasing in usage by small to medium enterprises, the onus falls on the field service industry to embrace it for the wide array of benefits previously unattainable for these businesses.

Concluding our series our experts, Bill Pollock, Strategies for Growth, Marc Tatarsky at FieldAware, and Richard Pratley from SimPRO, identify potential areas of concern for service companies to look out for in 2019.

In The Big Discussion we bring together three industry experts and put four key questions for them to answer to give us a balanced view of the major trends impacting the field service sector. This week, the panel end our series by picking out areas of concern for the sector that could surface in 2019. 

What is the biggest area of concern that field service companies should address in the next 12 months?

BILL POLLOCK, PRESIDENT, STRATEGIES FOR GROWTH
The biggest area of concern for field service companies in the next 12 months will be, if they’re already somewhat behind the technology curve (or with respect to the competitive landscape), what do they need to do today to ensure that they will not fall further behind? And, it’s not just a matter of technology either; many FSOs will need to alter their corporate philosophy and mentality as well.

Technology goes hand-in-hand with the personnel that use it, so attention must also be given to how the organisation goes about replacing, and/or supplementing, its existing field force with new hires or the use of outside, third-party “feet on the street” support.
The services world is evolving so quickly, that any missteps along the way can be devastating – so every step, every move counts.

There will also be no time for any intra-mural infighting – only for collaboration and inter-departmental cooperation. Equipment will keep on breaking, and end-of-lifecycles are getting increasingly shorter. As such, there will always be the need for services organisations to deliver their support! However, only those that have the technological and corporate wherewithal to continually improve the way in which they deliver their services will rise to the top of the competitive order – and stay there!


MARC TATARSKY, SVP MARKETING, FIELD AWARE
The phrase ‘doing more with less’ is common in field service and that can be in relation to numerous resources and assets.
The workforce is a key element in this equation and can preoccupy a great deal of management time. There are concerns over an aging workforce in field service, a high turnover of workers and a shrinking pool of talent as demand increases.

Technology plays a critical role in any succession and resource planning. This may be empowering the workforce with automation to streamline operations, bring in best practice and increase productivity without the need to increase numbers. Using technology differently or embracing emerging technologies to enable remote expert capabilities, so a more experienced worker assists others.

Also attracting new workers, especially millennials, for whom, the latest technology is a big part of everyday life. The technology has to be right for both worker and the organisation to get maximum benefit

RICHARD PRATLEY, MANAGING DIRECTOR UK, SIMPRO
Technology is changing at a rapid pace. The technology we use today is very different from that we used five years ago so businesses will always have the challenge of how they can ensure the systems and technology they use are still current. Taking a long term view of the business requirement is vital.

Many businesses consider an off-the-shelf solution won’t fit the unique needs of the business. But think again! Overtly customised solutions can lead to restrictions with software updates and integrations with other systems in the future - not to mention a great deal of ongoing expense and time that should be spent on running the business.

Cloud-based software providers frequently release new updates (that are included in the licence fee) to help businesses stay ahead of tech trends. By ensuring the systems you use now are fit for-purpose, you’ll be able to keep up with future technological developments.

You can read the first instalment of The Big Discussion here, the second here and the third here. 

In the third of our four-part series, our industry experts Bill Pollock, Strategies for Growth, Marc Tatarsky at FieldAware, and Richard Pratley from SimPRO, identify key areas of focus for field service managers in 2019.

In The Big Discussion we bring together three industry experts and put four key questions for them to answer to give us a balanced view of the major trends impacting the field service sector. This week, the panel pick out trends for field service managers to look out for in 2019, including AI, data integration and connectivity.

What do you think should be the key areas of focus for field service managers across the next twelve months?

BILL POLLOCK, PRESIDENT, STRATEGIES FOR GROWTH
The next most important areas of focus for field service managers in the coming 12 months will likely be among the following three items:

(1) embracing the “new” technologies to support an expanded and enhanced capability to deliver their respective service offerings. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning have been around for more than 50 years, but are still relatively new to the services segment – but, it’s time to build them into your service operations!

(2) Changing the way in which you deliver – and price – your service offerings. Traditional break/fix service is essentially “dead”. Long live predictive diagnostics and predictive maintenance! Have you spoken to any chat bots lately? Well, you will!

(3) Re-engineering the way you measure performance metrics, or KPIs. MeanTime Between Failures (MTBF) and Mean-Time-to-Repair (MTTR) will not mean anything in an environment where services are being performed remotely on an ongoing basis. It will be time to replace some of the old “tried and true” KPIs with new ones that can measure systemic productivity, rather than merely individual field technician productivity. It’s time to rethink the entire service delivery process – and adjust to it!

MARC TATARSKY, SVP MARKETING, FIELD AWARE
Integration capability tops software selection criteria consistently for field service leaders. Even those who have been hesitant to integrate in the past, can now see that integration capabilities are far more advanced. Working with the right FSM software creates rapid time to value and ensures minimal risk.

Essentially the integration of FSM solutions into existing business systems of record means there is no disruption to ERP, CRM and accounting systems. Ultimately the real value is delivered through synchronized workflows, enhanced reporting and extending results beyond the current systems. Data integration yields actionable outcomes and connectivity to the wider business.

Field service has long been seen as simply a business cost, but leaders now recognise that integration can elevate their service operation, transforming it to a value-driving organisation that delivers broader business results. The evolution of field service through integration should be a focus to unlock this business value.

RICHARD PRATLEY, MANAGING DIRECTOR UK, SIMPRO
We continue to see businesses turning to software and technology to improve the efficiency of their workforce and to support customer service.

Smart connected products and IoT technology is transforming field service operations and we’ll see more adoption of this over the next twelve months. The predictive model not only reduces the cost of reactive maintenance but it addresses any issues before they become critical. For the customer, they won’t ever need to worry about needing to deal with a broken asset ever again.

We already have a number of customers running trials of our IoT technology. Not only are they winning new contracts off the back of it but it’s helping to increase the lifetime value of their existing customers.


The final part of The Big Discussion. You can read the first instalment here, and the second here. 

In the second of our four-part series, our industry experts Bill Pollock, Strategies for Growth, Marc Tatarsky at FieldAware, and Richard Pratley from SimPRO, tackle the area of IoT and its role in field service.

In The Big Discussion we bring together three industry experts and put four key questions for them to answer to give us a balanced view of the major trends impacting the field service sector. This week, the panel look at the impact of IoT in field service and whether it will become a necessity for firms to embrace if they are to keep ahead of the service curve.

IoT has become an increasingly key discussion amongst field service companies in recent years - do you think it will soon be essential for field service companies to embrace IoT?

BILL POLLOCK, PRESIDENT, STRATEGIES FOR GROWTH
I believe it is already essential for field service companies to embrace the IoT. That ship has already sailed – and those FSOs that run their services operations on an IoT platform are already beginning to see the return on their investment.

The enormous amount – and wealth – of data that is now being generated through the use of an IoT platform is turning many of the traditional ways of thinking upside-down. For example, it has created an environment where the “old” (i.e., last year’s) way of measuring performance is becoming almost instantly outdated. For example, last year, an FSO might have been assessing its service delivery performance on the basis of asset uptime or SLA compliance, etc. However, this year, they may need to gauge their performance via an entirely “new” set of KPIs!

Measuring your performance in providing “power by the hour” or “airplanes in the air” is quite a bit different than measuring on the basis of the number of monthly site visits, PM calls and asset uptime.


MARC TATARSKY, SVP MARKETING, FIELD AWARE
Undoubtedly, IoT has the potential to revolutionise field service in terms of moving to a predictive model of service, increasing efficiency, reducing cost while improving customer service. But any move to IoT is dependent on various operational factors. These include the prevalence of assets and existing IoT sensors, the ability to add IoT sensors to new sources to collect meaningful data and the technology maturity of the organisation and the FSM platform.

These factors can be dictated by numerous elements – company size, the industry and type of clients they serve, the complexity of the work, the value of assets and equipment they supply and service, and their leadership.

It is important for organisations to establish where they need to be in their operational and technological maturity to help the business thrive. For some companies transformative technologies, like IoT, are a key element of their planning and for others they may not figure at all.

RICHARD PRATLEY, MANAGING DIRECTOR UK, SIMPRO
IoT is fast become an essential service offering that customers will ultimately demand of their service providers and it  helps meet the requirement to deliver more for less for customers particularly for those installing and maintaining high-value assets!

When connecting these ‘Things’ to the Internet, using the live operational data and machine learning to analyse performance, it opens up the possibility of variable-based services based on machine condition and utilisation, rather than prescriptive frequency based visits and reactive calls.

This proactive approach can help lower TCO and increase uptime for customers and asset owners, whilst lowering the cost of operation and providing differentiation for the Service Provider. If you want to stay relevant in a competitive evolving market, now is the time to be considering how this technology can be incorporated into your own processes and service offerings.


The third part of The Big Discussion will be published next week. You can read the first instalment here.

Ericsson has unveiled the next steps in the evolution of cellular IoT and launched new solutions that will enable service providers to address a larger part of the IoT market with diverse use cases across verticals including automotive, manufacturing and utilities
In line with its cellular IoT vision, Ericsson is launching enhanced functionalities for Massive IoT and new solutions for Broadband IoT. One example of Massive IoT enhancement is the NB-IoT Extended Cell Range 100km, which stretches the standards-based limit from around 40km to 100km through software updates without changes to existing NB-IoT devices.

This opens huge opportunities in IoT connectivity in rural and remote areas, particularly for logistics, agriculture and environment monitoring. Ericsson has deployed NB-IoT data connections up to 100km with Telstra and DISH.The Broadband IoT solutions being launched include drone detection and link control, radio access network (RAN) slicing, Advanced Subscriber Group Handling, and Multi-Gigabit LTE for 2Gbps data throughput and around 10 millisecond latency.

The new solutions will enable a wide range of use cases in automotive, drones, AR/VR, advanced wearables, smart manufacturing, and smart utilities. Fredrik Jejdling, Executive Vice President and Head of Networks, Ericsson, says: “Cellular IoT is moving from early adoption with Massive IoT to global rollout. We are now describing ‘what’s next?’ for our customers and how they can make the most out of their 4G and 5G investments on the same network and address more advanced IoT use cases across industries.”

Ericsson’s evolution concept describes how cellular IoT can move from the more basic use cases of Massive IoT such as asset tracking and smart metering to increasingly sophisticated use cases enabled by Broadband IoT (for example infotainment in cars, AR/VR, drones and advanced wearables), and then by Critical IoT (for example, autonomous vehicles), and Industrial Automation IoT (for example, collaborative robotics in manufacturing).

This stepwise approach will make it easier for service providers to match cellular IoT capabilities with current and future use cases by continuing to enhance LTE networks while preparing for 5G. With effective use of techniques such as network slicing, service providers can support all four segments in a single network, allowing them to optimize their assets and tap into revenue opportunities within industries.

According to the Ericsson Mobility Report, the number of cellular IoT connections is expected to reach 4.1 billion in 2024 – increasing with an annual growth rate of 27 percent.

Patrick Filkins, Senior Research Analyst, IoT and Mobile Network Infrastructure at IDC, says: “Ericsson has come up with a uniquely clear vision for cellular IoT with well-defined segments for service providers to address new business growth opportunities from industry digitalization. Ericsson’s cellular IoT evolution concept will support service providers to incrementally allow add-on use cases even within a single vertical.”

Big Data, the Internet of Things (IoT) and Sensors will be the technology trends most impacting mobile workforces over the next 12 months, say mobile technology buyers in research published by Panasonic.

When asked to rate the importance of technology trends for use by their mobile workforce, buyers rated Big Data (52%) the most important, closely followed by IoT (51%) and Sensor technologies (41%), including atmosphere, temperature and biological sensors. The main drivers for the technologies were improved business efficiency and productivity. 

Unsurprisingly, the mobile device buyers thought that the IT Department would benefit most within the organisation from every technology trend. However, looking at the second department to benefit most threw up some interesting insights. Respondents believe business management would benefit from Big Data, the IoT and Wearable technology. Sales would benefit from virtual reality developments. Logistics from drone technology and Research and Development would benefit from augmented reality, sensor technology, blockchain and artificial intelligence.

Looking further into the future, over the next three years, buyers could clearly see the impact on their mobile workforces of Big Data to improve service offerings, improve processes and reduce costs. With IoT, they saw the mobile workforce benefits as improving processes, improving service offering and helping to improve the functionality of mobile devices.

Considering how mobile devices will need to change over the next five years to take advantage of these new technologies, buyers prioritised improvements in device and data security (43%), processing power (31%) and communications for faster data transfer (31%).

Mobile device buyers also predicted the increasing importance of foldable tablets over the next five years and the continued rise of rugged devices as critical tools for mobile workforces. However, the largest group of buyers did not expect to change the type of mobile devices they were buying until two-to five years out.

However, the adoption of smart technologies for mobile workforces already looks well underway. Many buyers said that the implementation of smart watches, wrist bands and drone use had already been completed or was imminently planned for mobile workforces. 

Cost (27%) and reliability (19%) were the biggest issues preventing organisations from adopting new technologies faster. “Although a wide range of exciting future technologies are being watched closely, there is clear evidence from this research that businesses are adopting and looking to capitalise on the benefits of Big Data, IoT and Sensor technology for their mobile workforces,” said Jan Kaempfer, General Manager for Marketing at Panasonic Computer Product Solutions. “As these technologies are deployed, we move ever closer to the age of Edge Computing, where processing power is required at the edge of the network, much closer to where data is collected. This means the role of the mobile workforce computing device becomes even more critical in the gathering, analysis and communication of data, and the provision of services and in improving productivity.

A copy of the whitepaper, Future Technologies and their Impact on Mobile Workforces and their Devices, can be downloaded here. 

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According to a new research report from the IoT analyst firm Berg Insight, the market for lone worker protection solutions and services in Europe and North America is forecasted to grow from €110 million in 2017, to reach more than €260 million in 2022.

The number of users of dedicated lone worker safety devices based on GPS and cellular technology on the European market is estimated to grow from 500,000 users in 2017 to reach 1.1 million users at the end of 2022. In North America, the number of such users is estimated to grow from 155,000 in 2017, to reach 375,000 at the end of 2022. In Europe, app-based solutions are today estimated to account for around 20 percent of all solutions, while in North America more than 40 percent of the solutions are based on apps for smartphones and tablets. In both regions, app-based solutions are forecasted to account for an increasing share of lone worker safety solutions in the coming years.  

The lone worker safety market is led by a handful of specialist companies based mainly in the UK and Canada, where legislation specifically addressing the safety of lone workers has fostered growth. SoloProtect and Send For Help Group has grown to become two of the world’s largest providers of lone worker safety solutions and services. Send For Help Group mainly serves the UK market and operates under the three subsidiaries Peoplesafe, Skyguard and Guardian24. SoloProtect is active in the US, Canada and other parts of Europe in addition to its main UK market. Both SoloProtect and Send For Help Group, also operate their own alarm receiving centre (ARC). Additional companies with notable market shares in the UK include Reliance High-Tech and Safe Apps. In Canada, the main providers of safety devices and services for lone workers are Blackline Safety, Tsunami Solutions and Aware360. Blackline Safety has been known for developing technologically advanced safety devices for lone workers using both cellular and satellite communications technology.

The market drivers for lone worker safety solutions include occupational safety regulations, increasing employee insurance costs and higher awareness of risks associated with lone working. The number of individuals working alone is also expected to grow as businesses strive for increased efficiency. A job previously performed by two persons or more is now being done by a single worker. “Traditionally, lone workers exposed to the highest social or environmental risks have been found in industries such as security and protective services, social care, field service maintenance and in heavy industries such as oil & gas and construction”, says Martin Bäckman, IoT Analyst at Berg Insight. He adds that companies in other industries are now also starting to see the benefits of these services. “There is now an increasing demand for lone worker safety services from employees in retail, financial services, education and more, which fuels market growth”, concludes Mr. Bäckman. 

Download report brochure: People Monitoring and Safety Solutions

 

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Want to know more? Check out our recent podcast featuring Chris Proctor from Oneserve and Mark Glover Deputy Editor at Field Service News, discussing the role IoT can play in lone worker safety...

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A year into his tenure heading-up ServiceMax Scott Berg is in a positive mood. Field Service News’ Deputy Editor Mark Glover went to meet the CEO to discuss life after GE’s acquisition, Brexit and why IoT still has more to offer...

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Note: This interview was held prior to the announcement of Silver Lake's acquisition of a majority stake within ServiceMax which sees GE to continue as a minority investor. Find out more about the acquisition here 

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Ahead of my interview with Scott I go online to read a handful of the firm’s customer case-studies. I browse with the intention of spotting a pattern, a pool of similar companies that can give me handle on the ServiceMax success story. Of course, the firm have always operated in diverse sectors: aviation; food production and pharmaceuticals to name a few.

As I delve further the specialism of the companies narrow into impressive and exciting-sounding niches: centrifugal pumps manufacturers; architectural coating companies; bio-analytical measurement system providers all extolling the values of ServiceMax’s solutions. With this in mind, I start by asking Scott how he keeps a handle on this array of industries, a forest of complex verticals. “You’re talking about large workforces that have scheduling needs at a real primitive level who have a real despatch and scheduling element,” Scott tells me in a meeting room at GE’s London offices.

“I think that unifies all those vertical industries for us. At the bottom of that, for the most part, there is either a complex piece of equipment and it’s really that machine or that piece of equipment that we that’s at the centre of what we do. “We tend to provide solutions for those with complex asset types of services which could be a wind turbine or a power plant, a centrifuge, or a brain-surgery machine in a hospital. When you look at it that way, there’s a lot of similarity across them.”

It will be a year this January since Scott took up the post as CEO of ServiceMax coinciding with GE’s acquisition of the firm. Despite being part of a multi-national conglomerate, a company who this ranked 18 in this Fortune 500, has the technician-focused ethos remained “This is a company that cares quite a bit about assets and equipment and machinery and engineers,” Scott says.

“I think there’s something close to 25,000 employed service engineers. There’s a real love and affinity which has been good and benefitted us.” Since the acquisition, ServiceMax have gained traction beyond Europe in countries where previously it had been difficult to get a footprint. Of course, investment has helped but Scott suggests GE’s global respect has also been a factor. “In the past 12 months we’ve had a number of customers in the Middle East fuelled by the positive brand and reputation of GE in that part of the world.”

 

"This is a company that cares quite a bit about assets and equipment and machinery and engineers..."

 

Europe though remains a strong area for the outfit with clients spanning the continent. On the day I meet Scott, Britain is reacting to Theresa May’s draft Brexit proposal, and my mobile buzzed and bleeped with news notifications as I made the train journey down.

The process of Britain’s extraction from the European Union has been fraught and complex with political commentators and business leaders offering various doomsday scenarios if negotiations falter. I ask Scott what effect, if any, Brexit could have on its European footprint? “I don’t want to get political and be on one side or the other and I can’t say I fully understand it,” he says wisely, “but there’s a demand out there for global operation in the world’s largest corporations and people are going to have to get through trade barriers and deal with the consumer on a worldwide basis regardless.”

We’re both happy to swerve further discussion on Brexit so I steer back to where it all began for Scott, in pharmaceuticals at Eli Lilly and Dendrite in the early 90s where he held Business Director and Senior Director roles respectively. A role at Connect offered a peak into the field service sector dealing with territory management systems, introducing large volumes of laptops into white-collar knowledge workers. “I had an early glimpse of the mobile workforce and what that was going to look like,” he recalls. At the time, California was the focal point of US software development. Fuelled by a growing interest in technology, Scott, originally from New Jersey headed to “chase the dream”. Fast forwarding then to 2009 and Scott is interviewing at ServiceMax.

As he plotted his experience, he was able to align his previous roles to the field service sector. “Even as I was about to join the company,” he says with a smile, “I was remembering all the things – even from pharmaceuticals – about remote working and parts ordering. We would deploy thousands of laptops to a sales team and none of those laptops had the means to service them, repair them, return then, ship them and prep them. Back in those days we had to run a full-on field sales operation because how else would 2,000 reps get what they needed.

“I had no idea how pertinent that would end up being first-hand experience of aftermarket or a parts operation where frankly where we trying to deliver a software solution.”

We work out that “back then” was 35 years ago and we both wince slightly at the speed of time passing. “My daughter calls me old,” Scott, 50, jokes. Still, the last four decades have seen a revolution in technology and software advances; the advent of the internet underpinning most applications. I ask Scott, given his experience, if he thinks the world wide web was a watershed moment, or perhaps something else? “I think the big change that I’ve seen for has been mobile,” he offers.

 

"The internet is not as ‘everywhere’ as people believe. It’s blocked in hospitals and airports. It’s enhanced by smart-mobile devices that have these rich capabilities but we also have to deal with the reality that they will sometimes lose connectivity..."

 

“Of course, this would be nowhere without the internet but going from luggable, yet heavy and fragile laptops to really smart affordable mobile devices; I think that’s a big deal.” And what about the internet? “ It’s been a bit of a double-edged sword,” he says. The internet is not as ‘everywhere’ as people believe. It’s blocked in hospitals and airports. It’s enhanced by smart-mobile devices that have these rich capabilities but we also have to deal with the reality that they will sometimes lose connectivity.

“We acknowledge the mobile workforce and the internet connectivity and getting data to people; we acknowledge the mobile devices and how important they’ll be but the only way to really do this properly is to think about that device and software operating in a connected and dis-connected way,” he pauses. “It’s a balance of the two. Relying on connectivity, the Internet of Things (IoT) goes beyond laptops, smartphones and tablets. Monitoring our heating and air-conditioning and even dimming our lights, its potential impact across heavy industry is huge."

In a previous interview with Field Service News’ Scott said that IoT had been an “unfulfilled promise”. Does he stick by the statement? “I think what needs to happen now, and this is where the real value will come from IoT,” he says recalling the earlier Interview.

“I think what needs to happen now, and where the real value will come from IoT, is when input from a machine can be fed into more predictive models using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning. Only then we will get truly predictive services, and only then will you get a learning model rather than an alert system.” He elaborates further: “Part of the early benefits for our customer base have been error logs and early warning systems. Now, what we offer for field service management and asset performance management can be through IoT and the predictive side; and then measure whether or not that had the impact that was wanted.”

 

"I think the version of autonomy that applies to complex services is a smarter machine that asks for help before it needs it..."

 

So, not only pre-empting but learning from pre-empting? “Exactly,” he affirms.

“We talk a lot about the closed-loop mentality; where you’re predictive about the maintenance instruction, then you capture the service that was actually executed then feed that back and now the model gets smarter over time.”

Despite the speed in which technology is progressing Scott believes the technical role of the engineer will remain.

He’s wise and experienced enough however, to know it is changing.

The asset, assisted by IoT and Machine Learning, will come to complement the technician. He references the term autonomous, suggesting – perhaps correctly – that people only associate it with self-driving cars. “I think the version of autonomy that applies to complex services is a smarter machine that asks for help before it needs it, a smarter machine that provides realtime data to advise the technician,” he says.

While IoT is certainly changing the field service marketplace, the hype around the technology is bringing a side-effect, a bi-product that requires effort for an end-user to control: data, reams of data. Scott is sympathetic towards clients who find themselves drowning in error-codes.

He tells me about a client he met the previous day - a provider of cancer surgery equipment.

“Every morning,” he says shaking his head, “the technician woke to an email reporting 2,000 potential error codes. And it’s all on this technician to decide what’s meaningful and what’s not. Sure, it’s a good IoT application that’s come up with 2,000 codes, but which one actually matters?”

The issue of data-overload affirms Scott’s earlier point, that IoT needs to be reined in by a strong predictive model that can filter the relevant information.

“That’s where things are really advancing now,” Scott affirms.

“To go from IoT spewing data at people, to layering a predictive model on that to advise and lead a technician’s actions, delivered through a smart mobile device that can present the relevant information.”

All of this ultimately adds up to efficiency, a key factor for those organisations whose business models are asset-heavy; the wind turbine or nuclear reactor for example. The effect of down-time across an assembly line, for even a short period can have serious financial consequences.

“They can’t afford for it to be down,” Scott explains, “and you can’t just call anyone to come and fix it. This isn’t a Google or a Yelp search to get someone with credentials to climb 300ft and fix a wind turbine.”

 

"The effect of down-time across an assembly line, for even a short period can have serious financial consequences..."

 

With good timing, a week before our meeting, a GE press release lands in my in-box announcing the launch of PreDix ServiceMax Asset Service Management software aimed squarely at these heavy-asset sectors. I’m drawn to the safety and compliance element of the software where the solution creates documentation for workers to check the correct Personal Protective Equipment is fitted.

“Even a simple checklist at the start of each technician’s day that asks if you are equipped with the right boots, or hard-hat or eye wear; just the reminder can contribute to a reduction in safety incidents,” Scott says.

Importantly, signed employee safety and maintenance documentation creates evidence of compliance. Scott outlines the process: “It [the documentation) shows that every technician, that morning acknowledged that safety procedure and that instruction, the documentation can prove it occurred. Along with the maintenance documents, it shows that everything that needed to get done was done.”

Checklist management has been a focus at ServiceMax. 

The firm have produced capabilities around form-data capture, the uploading and capture of photograph as well as video; all feeding into the battle against inefficiency. To make this point Scott cites describes wind-turbine maintenance, which to take place, a technician must climb 300ft, a journey that can take several hours.

“Imagine the tremendous inefficiency if you weren’t perfectly ready with everything you needed when you got up there. “You don’t want to get all the way and not have the right bulb,” he says, only half-smiling. You have to be perfectly ready to execute because you’re about to spend four hours getting to a destination.”

I wrap up the interview by asking Scott what inspires him to do what he does?

He lists the variety of industries that they serve, clearly enjoying the different experiences this brings.

However, he finishes – unsurprisingly, as is the ServiceMax ethos – by bringing it back to the engineer.

“I think the field-service technician is an underserved, individual skill,” he says. So, perhaps serving, literally, millions of technicians is part of what drives me.”

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Scott Berg is CEO of ServiceMax

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