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Trimble has recently announced that it has added new features to its Field Service Management (FSM) solutions to significantly improve workflow visibility and streamline operations for businesses and their mobile workers in the field.

New features have been added to Trimble's Work Management solution, an intelligent scheduling engine and FieldMaster Technician, a downloadable mobile app that enables workers to access and update information in real-time. These solutions work together to enable real-time information sharing between mobile workers and the back office and are part of Trimble Horizon, a new dynamic platform for Trimble's FSM solutions and service. Cloud-based and modular, Trimble Horizon enables organisations to drive an agile, dynamic field service operation.

"Empowering workers in the field with the collaborative tools and immediate information they need to manage their day effectively is a necessity when delivering service out in the field," said John Cameron, general manager of Trimble Field Service Management.

 

"These workers are constantly looking to solutions that provide them with the instant visibility to get to the right place at the right time with the information they need to do their job correctly the first time. The enhancements we are announcing today are integral to creating a more streamlined workflow and enabling a more dynamic workforce."

Work Management - Intelligent Scheduling

The new Work Management 3.1 solution will now support multiple crew assignments and equipment bookings. Several technicians can be assigned to a task for improved efficiency. In addition, a scarce or specific piece of equipment can be booked against a task to help organisations better manage their assets and resources and increase first-time case resolution.

FieldMaster Technician - Mobile App

New features in FieldMaster Technician include the ability for a technician to copy or create a task on site so they can carry out and account for work immediately. Site history can also be accessed and viewed in the app, allowing the technician to arrive with the necessary knowledge of work previously carried out. Details of each crew member assigned to a task and the tools that have been booked can be viewed, enabling the improved visibility of resources. In addition, technicians are now able to upload forms and photos to attach to a task or job.

FieldMaster Technician 1.2 will also send the mobile workers' location from their GPS-enabled smartphone or tablet in real-time. This allows businesses to better understand the progress of their field operations and dispatch work based on a technician's accurate location.

 

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Paul Adams of Solarvista looks at one of the most important, yet often mis-managed areas of field service, inventory management...

Leading edge practitioners have long recognised that effective visible inventory management and stock control are very different from simple inventory reduction. As a result of a sophisticated inventory management system, a world class cost-effective service operation can differentiate itself from the competition, lower costs and drive up customer satisfaction.

There is continued pressure for service to produce the right part in the right place at the right time and to do so at the lowest possible cost to the business. Consequently this effective inventory management has become a fundamental issue in achieving the right level of customer service and paramount to competing effectively in a fiercely competitive market.

 

As the true value of accurate and effective inventory management becomes apparent however, many companies have realised that a totally effective logistics operation is difficult to establish without the proper mechanisms in place.

The right approach.

The traditional tools and skills are struggling in some businesses to meet the service level demands of customers; with the financial imperatives faced by all businesses, more must inevitably be done with less.

One of the most important factors when considering managing your business’s inventory is to know how to achieve equilibrium between having enough inventory and yet not having too much.

Inventory is an expensive part of any business and not just accounting for the purchase cost but all other associated costs such as storage, handling and insurance. Reducing stock also reduces the risk of damage, obsolescence, theft and deterioration, which could potentially become expensive.

By ensuring that the business has a fully competent system that can order appropriate quantities required for specific jobs, it is therefore reducing these costs as well as the risks associated with carrying surplus stock.

Technology, technology…

Operational strategies supported by effective technology solutions, processes and infrastructure will allow the service organisation to deliver cost efficiently, while improving margins and increasing the resilience of the operation to face up to any potential market difficulties. Offering optimum levels of service and providing competitively priced services will position the business to take advantage of upturns in the market. The business should be able to live up to the promises made on its behalf, and deliver cost-effectively increasing customer satisfaction, retention and margins.

Normally the challenge to achieving this type of operating solution is that most service companies are working within an existing infrastructure where they are continually changing “on the run” to keep up with the shifting environment. Using a fully integrated service management solution enables a business to create an infrastructure that is designed to be able to accommodate continual refinement, and able to keep up with the shifting environment, at times even anticipating it to allow positioning ahead of the competition.

 

The improved use of communications should be seen by the business and customers as a positive move to provide better information about customer needs and requirements to both. The target is to minimise the fixed cost element of the operation keeping it variable where possible minimising overheads and creating high flexibility to deliver customer satisfaction.

Conclusion

Through systems integration the business is able to support the customer requirements by understanding customer requirements and providing support across the whole operation.

The ability to out-do competitors and sell cost effective solutions to customers requires differentiators, and these will come from an integrated systems solution enabling the business to have in-depth knowledge of customer requirements provided by top quality staff throughout an effective operation supported by a fully integrated technology solution.

There are a number of inventory management systems, although it is worth conducting some research and being sure to choose a package that is right for your business; the benefits of such a system will far outweigh the costs.

 

“Effective inventory management will give businesses in any industry a distinct competitive advantage over their competitors.” Chris Welsh, Solarvista

 

 

 

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John Cameron, general manager of Trimble Field Service Management looks at how technology can play in a part in the whole field service cycle...

Mobile technology is redefining the workday as field technicians increasingly leverage mobile devices for tasks that previously required time-intensive phone calls and paperwork.

Today this technology is helping to streamline workflow by mitigating daily challenges that used to derail even the best laid plans. In a recent Aberdeen study, 82 per cent of organisations identified mobility as a strategic initiative to gather real-time intelligence for issue resolution. Clearly, this technology offers significant benefits in enhancing end-to-end processes. The following are five ways we see mobility transforming the workday:

1.     Operational Efficiency

Mobile devices and apps connect field workers to back-office personnel, customers and equipment, facilitating a real-time end-to-end flow of information that allows field service personnel to make critical decisions so they can move on to the next task expeditiously. At any one time, an in-day schedule change might require calling a dispatcher or having to drive back to the office to pick up paperwork, but with mobile technology, information is delivered to technicians’ devices, making them more efficient and better able to perform their tasks no matter where they are.

2.     Work-driven Collaboration

By connecting field techs with each other and back-office personnel, mobile technology keeps everyone within the organisation aligned. A truly mobile workforce transcends the limitations of geography. Workers can access information anywhere, anytime, regardless of their location, and in many cases, are more connected than if they were confined to a desk. From the field, they can use mobile devices to request information or assistance from other co-workers already in the field, preventing costly disruptions in their workday caused by trips to the office. The mobile worker can contact teammates in the event of a problem such as needing a part to complete a job. If a nearby co-worker has the part, the technician doesn’t have to waste precious time and fuel driving to a warehouse to retrieve it. It is this enhanced collaboration that leads to increased productivity and, ultimately, a more efficient workday.

3. Streamlined Service

Real-time access to route and schedule information and unplanned schedule updates help field technicians to not only get to their assignments faster but also helps them resolve issues more quickly. Mobile technology provides the technician with easy access to information such as customer and equipment repair histories, invoicing and billing issues, and locations of nearby technicians to request assistance in case of problems or to notify them of jobs at risk. This access solves the immediate issue and reverberates through the workday in the form of enhanced efficiencies, time management and increased service excellence – three of the key challenges facing field service organisations today. 

4. Enhanced Integration

While mobility is extremely valuable to field service organisations, the value increases exponentially when properly integrated with other platforms, including workforce management. Integration facilitates the real-time flow of essential information, automates tasks such as the capture of location and performance data and job-related notifications and allows immediate access to information such as invoices and customer histories. Greater integration leads to greater efficiency, which leads to streamlined operations and that leads to an enhanced bottom line.

5. Tactical Planning

Field mobile devices, in-cab equipment and M2M sensors attached to field machines constantly capture and transmit data to back-office systems, where it can be stored and analysed for optimal decision-making. Whether it’s proactive maintenance to mitigate equipment failure or enhanced routing and scheduling to increase productivity, quantifiable insights delivered by the data can make the difference between running a good operation and an excellent one. Data from the field helps refine operations and identify trends and areas for improvement, which leads to enhanced performance and happier customers.

For more information about the new FSM features, view Trimble’s interactive infographic for empowering the end-to-end field service workflow at: www.trimble.com/FSM/solutions

 

 

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Alan McNamara of Ultan Technologies gives us a run down of some key considerations for implementing mobile workforce technology....

1: Use Existing Phones/Devices

In the not-so-distant past, most on site applications were running on Windows handhelds. These already expensive tablets were usually ruggedised at an even greater expense, along with high maintenance and support costs. As a result, using technology on site was considered to be too expensive for most companies.

Nowadays, a smartphone or tablet will suffice for the vast majority of applications, which can either be provided by the company, or workers can use their own if a BYOD (bring-your-own-device) arrangement is in place.. These relatively cheap devices are easily replaced, and workers are used to using their own devices, meaning it’s an infinitely easier change to manage than it once was, with far less training involved.

2: Integration - Do it Simply

With any workforce management system, a huge project can be put in place to integrate it completely with back end systems. This sometimes misses the point. It’s best to get incremental improvements in productivity with minimal resistance to change and with minimal cost. Large-scale integration costs time and money and can sometimes delay a project to the point where it is shelved. It’s better to accept that some manual steps will still be required as part of the initial operation. Over time, more onerous manual steps can be automated.

3: Phone vs Tablet vs Laptop

This will depend on the type of data you want to collect. If there are huge forms (see next tip) and lots of writing required, then often laptops are easier for the workers. In most cases, though, tablets and phones are better. They are cheaper, lighter and they will force you to make your forms easier to use - thus ensuring a greater chance of success.

4: Small Forms

Many companies will have their workers fill in extensive paper forms when they’re out on site, much of which is unnecessary for a particular scenario or job. When it comes to digitising this form for use on a smartphone or tablet, companies are eager to cram all of the paper version onto the new format, believing that it’s easier to have everything on the one form. As a result, you end up with cumbersome forms that will see low worker buy-in, as it will be easier to use the paper version instead.

The best way around this is to split the form up into several, smaller and more manageable forms, particularly at the beginning. Make them all as simple and easy-to-use as possible. What data do you really need? What data must the worker fill in and what data can be automatically captured?

One of our most successful implementations has been with a company where their first form had one field and space for a photo!

5: Allow for Client Access?

Allowing your clients to access the back-end of your MWM (Mobile Workforce Management) system can result in a number of tangible benefits. Firstly, it helps portray the idea that yours is a company that is completely transparent with their clients, by giving them the opportunity to use a custom login to access reports of work done on their sites.

Secondly, having the functionality to allow your clients to see evidence of the work being carried out for them in real-time can be used as a USP when vying for new business. In our experience, clients don’t actually use this feature very regularly, but are content in the knowledge that it’s there if required.

 6: Report Generation

Deriving quality reports from the system is a top priority for many of our clients. For the most part, this involves being able to customise reports to suit them, rather than tailoring the information they collect to fit a pre-defined template. We find that companies are far more likely to adopt a system that allows them to create a customised form for their workers, which in turn results in a customised report to fit the company’s needs.

7: Photos/Videos/Voice?

Will your MWM system require media such as photos, video recordings, and voice memos? For most mobile workforces, photographs are essential to show evidence of work done, but the other two are perhaps not as prevalent. We’ve found that video and voice capturing work well in tandem for reporting on any unforeseen incidents or accidents that occur on site. They can give a much clearer picture as to what the problem is on site, allowing for Site and Health and Safety Managers to act accordingly, and minimise work stoppages.

8: Asset Management

Some MWM systems have the functionality to track assets from the warehouse right through to installation. If this added functionality is something that could benefit your business, it’s worth enquiring as to whether or not this is provided by any systems you are evaluating.

One of our clients in the UK track roadside broadband devices from the moment they leave the warehouse, right through to when they are installed. This allows them to assign responsibility to a specific worker for this expensive equipment, as well as providing them with the ability to monitor battery life and warranties on each piece of equipment after it’s installed.

9: Native App vs Online

One of the final considerations to take into account is opting for a system that is app or web-based. Whilst this may seem like a trivial enough decision, there are many important differences to take into account when choosing a system. For example, native apps can run offline, allowing for your workers to gather data even when they’re out of network coverage. This is obviously imperative for companies whose employees predominantly work on sites with poor network coverage. Additionally, native apps usually have a more intuitive and better-designed UI (user interface), as they are designed specifically for the device that it is downloaded on.

On the flip side, browser-based systems will work on any system that can connect to the internet, which can be handy for companies using a BYOD approach - as workers will invariably have an array of devices they will be using.

 10: Licence Model

Choosing the right licence model for your business is key to successfully implementing a MWM system from the off. For a lot of smaller businesses, a per-user per-month licence will be the most attractive versus a yearly or “once off” licence.

A per-user per-month licence negates the impact of making a large payment up front, only for the system to prove unsuccessful once trialled. It also means the system can be easily scaled as you see fit,  allowing you to start off with a small number of users to trial the system, and then add more licences as you see fit.

 

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Enterprise collaboration tool Intellinote recently announced its new Field Service Management Solution, developed to help field service companies lower costs, increase revenues and provide a significantly enhanced customer experience.

Delivered as a user-friendly cloud-based tool, Intellinote for Field Service Management lets users capture, document and collaborate around service requests and other fieldwork using iPads, iPhones and desktops. Built for the field & the office, Intellinote for Field Service Management is easy to deploy and no IT is required.

The solution provides customers with the ability to:

• Document fieldwork with fillable PDF forms, notes, pictures and geo-tagging.
• Share, in real-time, details of completed fieldwork with key stakeholders including customers, supervisors and accounting departments.
• Provide field workers with real-time access to Policies, Service Catalogs, Form Libraries and Training/Reference Materials
• Integrate with Billing Systems, Work Order Databases and other in-house developed/3^rd party applications
• Work in both offline and online modes[/unordered_list]

“The old way of managing field work required a chain of events that wasted time and money as each service request, work order or job went through many manual and often error-prone touch points,” explained Intellinote CEO, Tony Lopresti. “As the field service management space continues to demand cloud-based solutions, we’re excited to provide companies with a solution that helps them collaborate better between field and non-field employees, and ultimately deliver a superior customer experience. Intellinote for Field Service Management is a powerful, competitive differentiator with clear advantages for users.”

Intellinote for Field Service Management eliminates the many inefficiencies that have plagued services companies: paper forms, incomplete task information, lack of clarity, lack of visibility into the real-time status of a service request and manual handoffs between field workers, supervisors and customers.

 

With Intellinote for Field Service Management, the entire process is greatly simplified. Customers realize ROI from handling more work orders every day, eliminating form errors, avoiding the 2nd or repeat service call, avoiding overtime pay, reducing customer disputes and by arming field workers with service catalogs and other tools on their mobile devices to upsell customers. For a mid-sized company, these could add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars of savings and additional revenue every year.

“We choose Intellinote to help us do three things. One: Help our field workforce document each job - from initial requirements to installation. Two: Help management monitor progress and collaborate in real-time with our on-site team. Three: Keep our customers informed on the status and progress of their jobs," said Chris Newsome of A Place For Everything Closets. "Intellinote is delivering on these fronts. Our team is more productive and we are able to serve our large and growing customer base better with it," Newsome added.

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In part one of this exclusive interview with ServiceMax COO Scott Berg we looked at the the similarities between widely differing industries, the rapid rise of ServiceMax and why the IoT hasn't quite got fully up to speed as yet.

Here in this second section of the interview we begin with the another key significant technology trend, Big Data and why it was the at the heart of the headlines coming out of the ServiceMax CIO summit a few months earlier.

As our conversation turns to this Berg begins nodding agreement.

“We think we are in quite a unique position to make Data actionable.” he says. A pretty bold claim.

He begins to expand further “These Data lakes and all the other terminology around Big Data, all this predictive stuff and data science is all great but somebodies got get it into the hands on a technician in order to benefit from it. To maybe direct their next step or predict their next move. There will always be people involved in the chain, so we think its really our unique place to play as we make Big Data actionable.”

 

“We have a configurable process, we have the mobile device, so if there is going to be any directing or leading or sharing and tapping into knowledge its probably going to be done on a disconnected mobile device under ground at the top of a scaffolding or something like. So our interest in it is trying to connect data science and Big Data into that actionable footprint that you can put in front of the technician.”

This focus on the end user leads us to another current topic of conversation in software circles – is customisation the root of all ills or an acceptable process to refine off the shelf solutions?

 

“I think the whole nature of customisation has changed” answers Berg as I put the question to him “As you know we are on the Salesforce.com platform, and I don’t think that customisation is necessarily a bad word because its so controlled and its such a configurable and extendable experience anyway.”

“We certainly do stress configuration to the extent that this year we’ve really tried to repackage our implementation and delivery offerings. For small businesses we have something called Express, which is an out of the box ‘trust me this is what you need’ solution. If you work with us in three weeks you’ll be live and it’ll look just like the demonstration.” He says

“So we’ve tried to get certainly more prescriptive about it but I do think that peoples notions of customisation are ERP. So obliterated unrecognisable sets of code that drop you off at the road map and that quite frankly it’s a large part of our success I think. Because there is so much of that in Siebel today, one of our big customers has three versions of Siebel all of them deprecated so their off support and they’re faced with this problem its unrecognisable, its un-upgradeable they may as well just go buy another solution.”

“I think that the Salesforce platform has really changed everything. The way that we have to operate in that platform as an independent software company on someone else’s cloud means everything has to go through vulnerability, security and compatibility automated checking. So anything your customer would do on top of that, or anything we would do for a customer, basically inherits that stability. I think that’s just a radically different technological model than traditional ERP”

 

Of course Salesforce.com ended up proving a lot of their far bigger competitors wrong and now it seems that this is a rush to catch them up. It’ll be interesting to see if in the future all companies will follow their route.

As Berg himself outlines “ I think you’ll see a lot of the vendors out their trying to follow Salesforce’s lead and trying to follow some of Salesforce’s approach and try to become that platform as a service provider. You see them all launching market places and trying to attract people. Microsoft have been making a lot of noise around this and trying to launch the Dynamics platform. “

“But as somebody who jumped into the Salesforce.com bandwagon early on and as someone who every year we periodically reassess our situation I can say that nobody has really built the breadth and depth of a business application platform that those guys have.”

It is obvious to all that the connection between Salesforce.com and ServiceMax is particularly close. But is it too close? How reliant is the continuing success of ServiceMax on the Saleforce platform I ask.

“Having been involved with several start-ups in the past I think that they [Salesforce] were extremely critical for us especially in the early days.” Responds Berg.

 

“If you think of what it would have taken for us to launch a data centre and secure it, to build all the platform capabilities and redundancy, also that some of our first 12 customers were in the Middle East and Europe and there we were with two founders selling everything themselves out of northern California… how could that be right?” he pauses leaving the question hang for just a second before continuing.

“All because of the global reach and the global acceptance level of the Salesforce.com platform. So yes it was very important early on.” He concludes.

However as Berg explains the relationship has changed overtime as ServiceMAx themselves have grown to stand on more of an equal footing.

“Overtime I think that the value of the relationship has shifted a bit.” Berg concedes “Salesforce has become much more of a platform, and we don’t tend to get as many outright business referrals from them as before.”

“And it is certainly a big credibility statement to pass our EU safe harbour framework certifications and things because we’re in it but we’ve expanded so much in our own intellectual property investments around the mobile devices, iPad, and frameworks for our configurable workflow that I think when you stack up all the functionality in our product today, its heavily tipped to us now.” He admits.

Look out for the final part of this exclusive interview coming next week... 

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The telecoms market is undergoing a huge transition in the UK and across continental Europe. A number of high-profile acquisitions have been made with analysts expecting further consolidation of telecoms companies still to come. The reason behind this spate of acquisitions? The attempt to bring to the market a quad play offer for consumers writes Tim Faulkner, Vice President EMEA ClickSoftware 

Quad play is a term that has been around for a while now. The idea is that a telecoms company can offer a fixed telephone line, broadband, TV and mobile service. For consumers, they get a one-stop shop for all their services. It means dealing with less providers, consolidated bills and makes the overall service much easier to manage. 

 

The last element of the quad play offer is perhaps the most important one. In research conducted by ClickSoftware last year, we found that over a third (34%) of consumers have either cancelled a service or stopped using a brand altogether as a result of poor customer service[1].

A staggeringly high figure to think a third of the customers that businesses come across on a daily basis can be so quickly and so emphatically put off spending any more money with them.

For quad play to be a compelling offer to consumers, it needs to improve the customer service aspect and ensure that there is consistency in service delivery across the company. Regardless of the role, every employee and contractor needs to be provided with the training, tools and information they need to perform a good job.

Whether it’s discussing a service over the phone or an engineer installing a solution at a customer’s house, everyone working for the company is a brand ambassador and the end user shouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the levels of service. In order to succeed, customers need to feel like they are dealing with one company rather than four different suppliers.

When it comes to cost, industry commentators are undecided about whether it will lead to cheaper bills for consumers, however they are in agreement that bringing all of these services together should lead to better customer experiences. That said, in any acquisition, merging the companies together can be a difficult task.

This is further complicated when considering the multiple suppliers each company deals with and how these are integrated. For quad play to take off, companies buying others will need to work out their supplier roster quickly to minimise disruption during the transition.

For the telecoms companies, each should now be in a more powerful position to deal with suppliers. Because there will now be less telecoms companies to work with, the suppliers will need to compete more fiercely than ever.

The purchasing power will be in the hands of the telecoms companies but it will be up to suppliers to provide the best possible offer.

What we will see as a consequence of a quad play market is the development of a marketplace bidding system. Suppliers will need to tender their services via a marketplace platform and the telecoms company will then have to take its pick of the supplier it feels provides the best service.

This new way of working will also benefit the telecoms companies as they will be able to have full visibility across all field resources, including contractors. By extending the same technology utilised by the company to its contractors, they can better ensure consistent processes and level of service are carried out across the organisation.

 Regardless of which service provider is performing the task, the visibility should ensure consistency and a better customer experience. Not only will this achieve greater customer satisfaction but also does so without the need for additional staff overhead, by increasing capacity only when it is needed to maintain service performance levels through demand spikes.

The rest of the year will see the issue of quad play develop. We will see telecoms companies aggressively promoting the offer in order to acquire customers. It will be crucial that for quad play to really take off, the customer experience element improves right off the bat.

Utilising service providers in this new marketplace model is one way of ensuring this takes place

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[1]UK Service Industry Consumer Frustration Index

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Service management software provider ServicePower recently announced that a professional services company that provides global commercial and residential property services has successfully gone live with ServiceScheduling.

The technology platform, which was delivered on time and on budget, will enable the client to more easily fulfil highly competitive facilities management/service management Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for some of the world’s largest organisations, while at the same time improving both the productivity and control of operations in the field.

ServicePower’s patented scheduling and connected mobile platform enables the client, which has tens of thousands of employees, to optimally schedule field based resources, fully mobilise field based processes and monitor activities in real time, so that services are optimised and SLAs met. The first phase of the service management project went live for UK based field based resources, with subsequent phases planned for France, Brazil, and Mexico.

 

"The property management sector is highly competitive,” said Marne Martin, CEO of ServicePower.

 

"With our service management platform, field-based companies know they can build a ‘connected field organisation’. This means business processes are highly automated and visible across the service chain so that they can move faster and offer more favourable service level terms to clients than the competition.  Additionally, with ServicePower’s focus on investment in latest cloud, mobile, analytics and M2M technologies, they know that they can expect flexible, cutting edge technology.”

Recently named by Gartner as a Visionary in its 2014 Magic Quadrant for Field Service Management, December 22, 2014 by William McNeill, Michael Maoz and Jason Wong, this latest deal demonstrates how ServicePower’s focus on technological innovation translates into real business benefits for companies operating in the service management sectors. For example, as M2M connected devices continue to penetrate the property sector, ServicePower’s M2M Connected Services and Smart Scheduling Broker service management technologies will allow the client to act proactively with a predictive response to pre-empt equipment failure at properties before they becomes a problem.

As it operates in a highly changeable sector, the configurable nature of ServicePower’s service management technology was deemed important to the client because it will be able to rapidly adjust the platform to internal and external change at minimal cost.

"The selection of SevicePower for another global organisation further underlines our increasing momentum,” continued Martin. “Companies increasingly understand the importance of technology to take their businesses to the next level; they also recognise that with our unique, connected and highly flexible technology, ServicePower is best positioned to support them today and in the future in this objective.”

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For nearly 40 years, Servequip have been in the business of supplying and maintaining foodservice equipment, with customers ranging from Prezzo and Frankie & Benny’s to celebrity chefs like Gordon Ramsay. Two years ago, they decided to improve their systems by incorporating Tesseract’s service management software.

Servequip have their fingers firmly on the pulse of the foodservice equipment industry. While they don’t actually manufacture the equipment, their parent company Jestic exclusively imports selected brands from Europe and the US and sells it to catering establishments within the UK. For example, Jestic exclusively sells Henny Penny cooking equipment to KFC. Servequip are then responsible for maintaining the equipment during the warranty period, although high customer satisfaction means they are often called upon to continue maintaining it post-expiry of the warranty.

The maintenance work undertaken by Servequip involves a team of over 30 engineers working all over the UK. Given that most of the equipment maintained by Servequip is premium, energy-saving and highly technical, these engineers have to be proficiently trained and factory approved. They can be called upon to deal with a variety of cooking equipment issues.

 

Servequip’s impressive first-time fix rate, currently at 88%, demonstrates how it important it is for them to be backed by an efficient service management system.

The old program

Pre-Tesseract, Servequip relied on an older, less user-friendly service management program. Stock management and service calls were controlled by separate systems, and stock management involved a degree of manual intervention. It was also difficult to see internally what all of the engineers were doing.

They had to look at each engineer individually, which took time and effort. As Servequip are determined to provide a first-rate service, fast response times and first-time fixes, they decided they wanted some consolidation and a greater degree of visibility and efficiency.

“The other problem was that the old program had started to creak and groan and occasionally fall over completely,” says Neill Pearson, Service Director of Servequip. “We wanted to future-proof ourselves by investing in a fresh, new and more adaptable system.”

Tesseract comes aboard

Servequip were aware that other similar companies were already using Tesseract, such as Manitowoc Foodservice, which also supplies and maintains kitchen equipment. In addition, Tesseract’s software was in operation at Jestic, a foodservice equipment company which bought Servequip in 2011.

Jestic is responsible for the distribution side of the business, while Servequip concentrate on the repair and maintenance of the equipment.

With that in mind, Servequip cast their eyes over 10 to 15 service management systems, although they only gave serious consideration to three, including Tesseract. Of those three, Tesseract came out on top.

 

“We looked at Tesseract in operation at other companies,” says Pearson. “It just seemed to do everything, from servicing and scheduling to parts ordering, stock control and invoicing, and it seemed to handle parts and stock a lot better than other systems we looked at. It was also much more user-friendly than our old system, and the fact that it really worked for a number of similar companies to ours led us to make the decision to go with them."

Servequip’s old program was internally installed on their own servers, and while Tesseract does offer centrally hosted, cloud-based software, known as SaaS, Servequip elected to implement the internal version of Tesseract’s service management system.

“We already had a good IT infrastructure, so we wanted Tesseract to integrate with that,” says Pearson. “The other advantage of an internal system is that you don’t have to rely on an internet connection, so if the internet goes down for any reason, we can carry on working.”

One of the numerous benefits of SaaS service software is that it is updated by the host or provider rather than the customer, and on a much more frequent basis than internal service management programs. “This isn’t a problem for us,” Pearson explains.

“Even though we don’t get automatic updates through the cloud, Tesseract is very good at regularly accessing and updating our system. So from our perspective there’s not much difference.”

How have things changed for Servequip?

Tesseract has been in place at Servequip for nearly two years now. Servequip make use of Tesseract’s Core Control Centre, Parts Centre, invoicing and customer asset tools, as well as its reporting service.

Furthermore, Servequip had a working financial system already in place when Tesseract came aboard. Thanks to Tesseract’s  inherent malleability, this was successfully integrated with the rest of the system. The majority of Servequip’s processes are now managed by one integrated system rather than several.

“Tesseract has improved our business by giving us much greater visibility,” says Pearson. “It has sharpened our business. While no business can claim to be perfect, Tesseract helps us to see our mistakes as soon as they are made. This puts us in a much better position than other companies.”

 

Tesseract has also helped improve efficiency and save time. Pearson explains, “Stock is much easier to order now, because the system guides us as to what to order and when. Parts go out a lot quicker to our engineers and the whole process is more reliable because we have cut out human intervention and therefore the risk of mistakes.”

What this means is that Tesseract is helping to have a direct impact on Servequip’s first-time fix rate, which continues to steadily increase and be something that Servequip take great pride in.

What does the future hold for Servequip?

Being a service business, Servequip are always looking for new ways to improve their efficiency and productivity. Currently  they are using Tesseract Service Centre Version 5 and they are looking to upgrade to Version 5.1 at some point in the near future.

They are particularly interested in  getting more usage out of Tesseract’s reporting tools, as they would like to be able to report directly to their customers.

“Our first priorities are to review the reporting side of things, incorporate some new features and upgrade to the latest version,”  says Pearson. “After that, we intend to look at what else Tesseract has to offer.”

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