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In a thought provoking and perhaps slightly controversial article, Sergio Barata, General Manager EMEA at Telogis, explains why the telematics industry as we know it is on the way out.

With the prevalence of smartphones and the power now available within these devices, traditional telematics has become all but redundant he writes...

As the tech that enables the exchange of information between fleet vehicles and a central manager, telematics has been billed as a game changer for any business that uses a fleet.

But while awareness of its benefits has increased significantly recently, telematics is not revolutionary: this data and the means to understand it has been available for over a decade.

As more and more businesses wake up to the benefits of telematics there is a new kid on the block; Mobile Enterprise Management (MEM) threatens to blow traditional telematics out of the water.

Traditional telematics is archaic

Whether it’s on a truck driving through the remotest parts of Scotland or a delivery van in Cornwall, telematics data is typically created using GPS units with on-board computers.

The hardware uses cellular networks to transfer real-time data to central offices which is interpreted for effective fleet management. The data covers everything from location, movement, status and behaviour of a vehicle or fleet of vehicles to how a driver is operating them.

[quote float="left"]Whether it’s on a truck driving through the remotest parts of Scotland or a delivery van in Cornwall, telematics data is typically created using GPS units with on-board computers.

This information allows managers to get a birds-eye view of an entire field operation, checking the overall health, profitability and productivity of the fleet, whilst ensuring the workforce is operating the vehicle as intended. The headline benefits include vast fuel savings through route optimisation and increased driver and vehicle safety.

 

This is of significant benefit to any fleet-based business, but there is so much more to a mobile workforce than simply understanding the location and speed of a van or truck and what the driver does inside it.

This is because fleet managers, and those in the field now have the power to understand the mobility of an entire workforce.

Forget telematics. It’s about MEM.

Almost everyone now has a smartphone in their pocket. Deloitte puts the figure at 76% of Brits. This means that devices, workers and assets are now mobile and connected in an extremely powerful way – a far cry from the simple GPS link that old telematics hardware uses.

Added to this, more and more organisations are becoming experienced at using technologies such as Cloud and Big Data to harness insights from this mobility.

Research from Adapt claims that almost 90 percent of UK organisations now use cloud services, while the Government claims 12 per cent of companies are analysing their data. These two technologies, plus the power and mobility of the smartphone are giving unparalleled insight into operations.

[quote float="right"]Research from Adapt claims that almost 90 percent of UK organisations now use cloud services, while the Government claims 12 per cent of companies are analysing their data.

This is where MEM comes in.

 

MEM is the tech that allows all constituents of a fleet to communicate and interact with data and gain insight from it in real time.

From sprawling international supply chains to small commercial fleets, by using mobile and the Cloud to connect an organisation from the front line to the back end - and all the individuals involved between - businesses can totally optimise their operations.

This includes traditional telematics information, but also planning, navigation, routing and compliance data, and an unprecedented understanding about use of assets like cranes, plants or trailers.

And because this tech is smartphone based, iOS and Android capabilities open up possibilities for businesses even further. Think about the way consumers interact with their smartphones – an app can be created, simply, to solve almost any demand within a fleet operation.

One example is gamification products are being developed to get drivers to compete on fuel efficient driving, encourage better driving safety and fuel efficiency.

MEM can help businesses become dramatically more efficient, smarter and safer in a way that simple telematics can’t achieve.

The future

Organisations are under immense pressure to improve cost efficiency while also evolving the way they work to keep up with rapidly changing customer and employee demands.

Telematics can help bring down operating costs and is the first step in using tech to help transform a business. But to be able to stay at the cutting edge by totally optimising all parts of a mobile organisation, fleet-based businesses must forget telematics, think bigger and embrace full mobility with MEM.

 

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Resource Type: eBook
Published by:  Telogis
Title: Shorten Service Windows and Provide Better Customer Service
Download: Click here to Download the full ebook

By downloading you agree to the T&Cs listed available here

Synopsis

Almost all field service engineers have mobile phones, and 80 to 90 percent of them use smartphones. This puts convenient Internet access and a powerful computing device in the field. Smartphones equipped with advanced mobile/location intelligence apps help workers in the field be more efficient and shorten that window from event/customer request to resolution. This eBook covers some of the ways mobile technology is helping improve customer service satisfaction and  reduce costs.

Overview

All mobile service professionals work toward two main goals: making service more predictive and more proactive. The current business model relies heavily on break-fix occurrences, where a failure has occurred and the customer engagement is entirely reactive. By that time, the customer experience has started out negatively.

The not-too-distant future will bring us HVAC and other building components/appliances that talk directly to service providers who can address mechanical issues before they grow into bigger failures (much like heavy equipment and vehicle fleet managers do today). That level of proactivity is near as everything becomes more connected.

Sharing Information/Filing Resources:

Smartphones are for more than Facebook and Instagram – they enable real-time research and information sharing with colleagues and back-office personnel.

This could be as simple as a web search or communicating through the text messaging capabilities of the phone, or as advanced as the incorporation of a work order management app that provides access to important documents. This can include paperless forms, service agreements, customer profiles, instructional material, how-to videos or graphics, parts catalogues – anything that will make life a little easier for the field engineer.

Connecting to Other Mobile Workers

Knowing the location and status of other mobile workers (and their vehicles) in the field can significantly improve customer service. Mobile fleet management apps can relay information on what parts and tools are on a vehicle, and the skill-set of the driver. In the past, if a field engineer was missing a part or a tool, they would travel back to their shop or to the nearest supply store.

Now – with a connected workforce – that field engineer can pull up the real-time location and activity of colleagues in the area, locate the needed part or tool on one of their vehicles, and get back to work sooner.

[quote float="left"]In the past, if a field engineer was missing a part or a tool, they would travel back to their shop or to the nearest supply store. Now – with a connected workforce – that field engineer can pull up the real-time location and activity of colleagues in the area, locate the needed part or tool on one of their vehicles, and get back to work sooner.

 

Navigate and Route Better

Today’s professional navigation and routing applications take into account real-time feeds of traffic and weather information.

This can provide benefits as simple as avoiding major congestion or accidents and routing to the next job in the fastest way possible, or it can help the engineer reorder their day based on the weather.

Dynamic Job Planning/Delivery

We live in an ever-changing, decentralised work environment.

Work order management applications can deliver new plans and jobs directly to the field service engineer without requiring them to return to the office.

Progress

Much of customer service satisfaction is based on expediency. No one likes hearing that help will arrive in a window between noon and 5:00 PM.

Location-based fleet management technology can notify the back office when an engineer has left one job and is on their way to the next, which then allows them to notify the customer that an engineer is on their way and their ETA.

The Future

These are just a few ways that current mobile and location-based technologies help shorten the service window and help businesses provide better service to their customers.

 

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Telematics looks set to take centre stage over the next couple of years. In one arena, it will play a critical role in the connected car revolution; in another, there are predictions that the way companies buy fleet and workforce management solutions will be transformed. Sharon Clancy reports...

Fleet managers already appreciate the benefits real-time information telematics systems can deliver is deliver such as real-time vehicle location and driver performance data.

Increasingly they come with a range of other features that help field service companies manage both the vehicle fleet and driver behaviour.

This can include compliance with tax and working hours regulations, time-sheet management, vehicle maintenance scheduling and encouragement of more economical and safe driving by service technicians. It’s part of a trend where platform-based modular services for mobile workforce management have been growing in popularity.

 

Modular platform solutions encourage users to choose those apps and services which best suit their operations, providing customisation within an out-of-the-box offering. They are also user-friendly – you can start with the apps and processes that will deliver a quick ROI and add more functionality when business needs demands and when everyone in the organisation is familiar with new work processes. What’s all this got to do with telematics?

 

Well, the shift to web-based software-as-a-service means there’s no shortage of platform providers offering tracking and other telematics functions.

Not everyone calls themselves a telematics company, however.

Some telematics services have been added to other platforms as software-as-a-service companies seek to other one-stop solutions to their customers. Vehicle tracking companies, for example, now offer driver and vehicle performance monitoring tools.

Some telematics companies are using their telematics and fleet management expertise to offer a wide range of mobile workforce management: Fleetmatics is leveraging its web based fleet management platform to offer job management and other services. Microlise has developed its Clear solution specifically to answer the needs of field service organisations, while Telogis’s platform has been designed form the start for what the company calls “connected intelligence”.

 

Arriving from a different starting point is Trimble, which has added fleet management and telematics to its cloud-based field service management solutions.

 

So there are plenty of cloud-based solutions out there that will help you manage your fleet and activities in real-time.

Whatever the platform is called and whatever its original purpose, what they have in common is that all the modules are developed by the platform provider.

There might be partnerships with some third party providers, but it’s all controlled by the platform provider, not the application developer.

Unless you are TomTom, that is.

The Dutch company has moved the goalposts when it comes cloud-based services for mobile workforce management.

Whereas other companies in the telematics space are building their own eco systems with their own apps that customers can choose to customise their solution, TomTom has taken the innovative step of opening up its platform to third-party app developers.

“We want to make sure we have that end-to-end process and we also want to make it very easy,” explains Geroge de Boer, International Alliance, Manager, TomTom.

“All the apps in our app centre have out-of-the-box off-the-shelf compatibility with our Webfleet platform. All you have to do is plug them in,” he explains.

 

“Just as consumers are finding it to install an app on their smartphones, we want to make telematics as easy for our customers.”

 

Meanwhile, in the US, Telogis has become a partner with Apple, developing connected vehicle apps for the iOS platform.

The connected vehicle 

There’s a lot of current discussion about connected vehicles and the impact this will have on how we drive and used our vehicles.

Any field service company with a fleet management or telematics solution in place might wonder what all the fuss is about - telematics means they already have connected vehicles.

After all, telematics is all about real-time connectivity and data capture.

Data is collected from the vehicle, sent to a cloud-based platform where it is used for a variety of purposes depending on the app. It might be a location update, a video clip of a driving incident, or fuel consumption data.

However, with vehicle manufacturers’ focus now firmly on the connected vehicle, and with legislative pressure both in Europe and the US, the role of telematics is changing.

 

Connected vehicles are going to underpin safety initiatives such as Europe’s eCall, designed to ensure emergency services reach the scene of an accident in the shortest time possible by automatically sending an alarm.

 

After all, once that real-time connectivity is on the vehicle, why waste the opportunity to build-in more functionality?

Taco Van der Leij, Vice President Marketing with TomTom thinks the concept of connected vehicles will catch on fast.

“Usually when new developments such as connected vehicles are starting to evolve you need a killer app that proves there are benefits to customers. But fleet management and vehicle tracking is already happening – as an industry we already have millions of vehicles connected globally.”

With more connected vehicles out there, the number of apps using that connectivity will multiply, predicts Van der Leij.

“Field service companies will have much bigger scope and different possibilities to enhance their business. Imagine what it will be like if all vehicles are connected. You are looking at a different kind of application.”

“There is still a long way to go but that makes it interesting and challenging.”

Some manufacturers are developing their own  telematics solutions, others are not reinventing the wheel but turning to experienced partners to provide the platform.

Ford, for example, has turned to Telogis to provide the platform for its telematics solutions in the US and Europe. Other manufacturers are teaming up with local partners.

Business intelligence 

The more intelligence you have about your operations, the better equipped you are to be both proactive and reactive in making any changes to the business and the happier your customers will be.

 

Business intelligence can help you identify trends and patterns across all elements of the operation and discover where the bottlenecks and inefficiencies are, delivering insights into productivity, business process efficiencies, costs and customer service levels.

 

Telematics platforms play a key role: they receive the real-time data from vehicles and mobile device, cut-and-slice it the available data.

However, perhaps the biggest break through of all in the telematics space of recent years is that the technology is no longer restricted to the enterprise.

A raft of pay-per-user software-as-a-service models make the tools available to SMEs, enhancing their competitiveness, levelling the field and bringing thee benefits of up to date telematics systems to the wider market.

With the benefits of implementing a telematics solution both well documented and wide reaching, including improving driver behaviour, fuel efficiency and even reducing insurance premiums it makes sense for any field service company to adopt a telematics program of some sort.

 

Add to this the impending arrival of the connected fleet and the lower cost of implementation in the space and the barriers to adoption are also becoming fewer, which should also increase the widespread use of telematics in our sector.

 

However, as mentioned above the telematics providers market is a crowded one, with a number of differing approaches to be considered and assessing the pros and cons is an article in itself.

The biggest consideration however, must surely be to take a look at your service management suite as a whole and think how telematics can enhance your existing systems as well as how it can integrate with them.

For while the data produced from a telematics solution can be invaluable, as with any form of data it can also become quickly redundant if the data is not both easily accessible and effectively utilised.

 

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Resource Type: eBook
Published by:  Telogis
Title Gaming the System to improve driver behaviour
Download: Click here to Download the full ebook here

By downloading you agree to the T&Cs listed available here

Synopsis

As a field service manager you might be wondering how gamification can help your business, or perhaps you’re ready to start but you’re looking for ideas on the best way to implement.

This eBook published by Telogis can help you find the answers to these questions and understand how different employees might respond to gamification based on their personalities.

Overview

Gamification is a word that you will be hearing more often, with industry experts picking it as a growing trend in business applications.

The term arose back in 2002 but it wasn’t until 2010 that it started to gain traction. Software developers began using the engaging traits of electronic games to increase participation in business programs. Before long, business applications that allowed users to socialise, collect achievements and be rewarded started to pop up.

Over the years gamification has matured. More real-world testing has helped “gamified” business applications to evolve beyond a simplistic points system. This ebook explores the three fundamental elements of integrating Gamification into your business:

1. Mission
2. Alignment
3. Deployment

Phase 1: Establishing your mission

A business without a mission is like a ship without a rudder. Even if you already have a mission, it’s worth reviewing or updating it to match the current business environment. While your mobile workforce may be a subset of a larger business, there’s no reason it shouldn’t have its own mission, one that aligns and supports the overall corporate mission.

Once the mission is established, it’s time to break it down to individual goals or objectives that support the mission. Keep your objectives as specific as possible. No sport would ever get popular if the goal was vague, moved regularly or unclear to the players.

 

No matter what your objectives are – increasing productivity, decreasing fuel costs, improving driver safety or increasing asset utilisation – the secret to achieving them is keeping them Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound (SMART).

Phase 2: Align your mission objectives

To make sure you stay on track to achieve your objectives you need to check your alignment.

This means reviewing your objectives, to check they align with how you operate as a business. For example, if your company puts more emphasis on working as fast as possible without respect for safety, then setting an objective to reduce speeding won’t align.

Get your company influencers (normally managers or supervisors) involved and review your objectives with them. They’ll let you know quickly where they think alignment is lacking. It’s important that your managers are onboard with the new objectives – they will play an important role in influencing others and ultimately help achieve a successful outcome.

After reviewing and refining your objectives, aligning them with your organisation, you’re ready for implementation. It’s time to deploy.

Phase 3:  Deployment

The size of your organisation will determine the scale of your deployment planning. In the case of using Telogis Coach mobile app, small companies may only need brief training that includes a quick-start guide to explain how it works and instructions on how to download, install and log in to the app on their mobile device.

Large enterprises would benefit from the tailored implementation provided by Telogis Professional Services. Their expertise and deployment experience can help avoid common pitfalls and roll it out right the first time.

 

Monitoring results

First of all, you want to make sure everyone in your organization knows what your objectives are. If one of your KPIs is to reduce speeding by 50% then let the whole team know, not just management. A team wins when it knows what it’s playing for.

You’ll also need a scoreboard. Telogis Coach includes an enterprise dashboard that shows real-time results for specific KPIs - you can log in from anywhere and get an up-to-date score, either across the entire fleet or individual crews.

Celebrating wins

You don’t need to do cartwheels in the office every time a driver gets a perfect score but there should be recognition and reward. In most cases the size of the reward is not important; it’s about making sure they know you know, and it means something to you.

Recording the game time

Decide on how long each “game” lasts. Employees will soon tire of a game with no end in sight. You can choose any reasonable period but in general, for achieving fleet KPIs, a period of 90 days is most common. At the end of each period, results are tallied, players rewarded and recognised and the game starts over.

Gamer types

Not only will you have some of each gamer type personalities in your organisation, there’s also a little of each type in all of us. You should remember this with your gamification program and make sure you’re keeping each type happy.

Killers need sufficient competition. Achievers need plenty of recognition and rewards. Socialisers need lots of interaction with other players and Explorers need the opportunity to be creative with the game. Check from time to time that you have the balance right.

Give your team time to adjust to the new gamification approach, be generous with recognition and rewards and stay focused on your mission.

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Want to know more? Click here to download the full ebook

 

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US communications network operator AT&T and Telogis, the connected vehicle technology provider, are to collaborate to offer integrated, reliable connectivity  solutions for businesses around the world.

Telogis provides intelligent data solutions to companies including Ford and Volvo and with AT&T will be able to implement an advanced network solution to deliver a reliable, highly secure stream of data nearly anywhere in the world.   The AT&T service management platform allows Telogis to easily manage the data, devices and services that support its customers. AT&T also is working with Telogis to help with over the air updates and provide unique split billing capabilities.

“We’re offering Telogis a complete wireless network that enables two-way, real-time data communication between the vehicle and office,” said Chris Penrose, senior vice president, AT&T Internet of Things (IoT) Solutions. “We look forward to driving new innovative services together in the fleet marketplace and offering true global solutions to our mutual customers.”

“Telogis provides mission-critical intelligence for some of the world’s largest mobile businesses and automotive manufacturers, and our customers demand the quality and reliability that only a provider like AT&T can deliver,” said David Cozzens, CEO, Telogis. “As we continue to capitalise on a rapidly growing, multi-billion dollar global market for connected vehicle and equipment technologies, AT&T provides the scalable infrastructure and backbone Telogis requires.”

 

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In-built telematics and all-inclusive intelligence platforms are replacing the traditional navigation devices that van drivers have used in the past and changing the future of fleet management, writes Sergio Barata, General Manager EMEA, Telogis.

We’re so accustomed to having location and navigation tools at our finger tips, it’s perhaps hard to believe that GPS began only really began to be fully adopted in consumer and fleet vehicles around eight years ago. Since then, we have seen a dramatic shift in the way devices are sold and the data used to power them. With telematics software in particular, GPS-led vehicle tracking has given way to smart, intuitive and comprehensive intelligence platforms, based on drawing insights from the extensive data sets that GPS has produced. And almost without exception, this is leading in-built telematics and all-inclusive intelligence platforms to replace the traditional devices that van drivers used previously.

So how did the GPS landscape change after the boom, what effect did this have on fleets and what does this change in telematics look like?

The changing consumer landscape

From the high point of Personal Navigation Devices (PNDs) after the boom, the popularity of devices led to increased competition within the sector, driving down costs as new players began to enter the market. Through this shift, the emphasis on development first transferred to OEM partnerships in consumer vehicles and in the last few years has focused on the development of apps. The scale of change has been so significant that many major brands previously synonymous with PNDs have had to branch out into the likes of cameras and even watches, while other competitors have opted to pursue investment in and the development of new, cutting-edge navigation technologies.

What does this mean for fleets?

This fundamental shift has been mirrored within fleets, but in a distinctly different manner. While for consumer GPS technologies, the change has come in how the data is presented, in fleets, the very source of the data is changing. Whereas fleet navigation information was previously based solely on satellite-based, global positioning information, and provided little driver-specific information, it is now becoming more social and personnel-led thanks to telematics. In other words, it is increasingly both supplemented and influenced by real-time feedback from drivers on the road, and telematics information live from fleets.

With Telogis for instance, real-time performance data is streamed from each van, which enables fleet managers to track its location, fuel consumption and driver behaviour, as well as monitor for any safety and maintenance alerts. Much of this data is based on driver behaviours, with many metrics designed to encourage safe driving habits (and highlight bad ones). These include features such as driver behaviour scorecards and optional in-cab alerts that provide an audible alert when a driver is speeding, braking too hard or accelerating too vigorously. Telematics supports the process by transmitting vehicle data from the van to a dedicated Telogis website via an embedded cellular connection, allowing location data from a GPS module to be directly embellished by information sourced directly from the van’s electronic systems.

 

The future of GPS

GPS has changed dramatically over the last decade, so what does the future hold? Will it be social?

To continually drive efficiencies and keep the edge against your competition, you need real-time data and you need it in the hands of drivers. With this in mind, gamification will undoubtedly add a social aspect to the future of GPS, revolutionising the role of the white van man by pitting drivers’ performance against each other, and doing more than just rewarding conscientious driving through one-dimensional initiatives, which can’t be classed as innovation any more.

We developed the market’s first driver feedback mobile application for Android and iOS, Telogis Coach, which uses real-time intelligence to empower those behind the wheel. There’s a growing trend to put the onus on the drivers themselves to self-assess and self-correct dangerous behaviour; we enable them to take responsibility for managing their own safety out on the road.

Given that the majority of telematics platforms now offer a plug-and-play approach, it’s fair to say that the role of in-cab GPS has fundamentally changed for the white van driver. And this change is set to continue as telematics begins to become universally adopted, with many fleet managers imploring their van drivers to improve their driving based on their key performance insights. With the development of autonomous vehicles already at an advanced stage, the way in which fleets navigate the roads will continue to develop apace. This might change the traditional role of the White Van Man. But as the last ten years have shown their role, and interaction with technology, will surely continue to adapt to the times.

 

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The great and the good of the service management industry came together at this years Service Management Expo held in London's Exel and Field Service News was at the hear of the action hosting the FIeld Service Solutions Zone.

Here we speak to Dan Lancaster of Telogis about the importance of telematics in field service...

 

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Service Management Expo 2015 saw a number of excellent debates including a panel discussion that focused on the challenge of replacing an ageing workforce. As the millenials take over the work place, moderator Kris Oldand asked the panel just what will the changing face of field service look like?

The challenge for service companies was not so much the age of their current workforce but the aptitude and willingness to learn new skills, said Andy Beer, European Service director, Pitney Bowes. "As technology changes, the engineer's role may change from being field-based to carrying out remote diagnosis on a Help Desk. Regardless, they still need an underlying skill set and it's important those skills sets are up-to-date. Do they have the aptitude to learn and adapt?"

In field service, solutions are knowledge-based, pointed out Susannah Richardson, Marketing Director at mplsystems. "What is important is to get that knowledge documented - and your ageing, very experienced workforce can often be the best source for that. See it as an opportunity to get that valuable knowledge out of one engineer’s head and into the wider workforce. Once you've secured that knowledge, your service levels won’t drop if key staff leave or retire."

Formal, documented knowledge can also improve customer service, she added. "Once available, it can be used by the Help Desk engineers for remote diagnostics and repair, or even to guide customers on fixing problems themselves via a help area on your own website."

It is important that during the process of documenting knowledge, experienced engineers do not feel threatened, said Beer. "The solution is to show them you appreciate that knowledge and involve them in the process - such as sending them the final document for approval."

How important is technology in attracting tomorrow's engineers?

The consensus on the panel was that technology would play a key role in attracting the Millennials who will be the next generation of field service workers. As Professor Howard Lightfoot of Cranfield University School of Management said: "Young people don't think about technology, they just use it. They access everything digitally, including training and education."

 

Service companies need to remember that Millennials would also form a large part of their customer based in future said Lightfoot. "They'll expect a different sort of service and engineers will need training in soft skills. Managing clients and client behaviour, coping with complaints on a face-to-face basis will become an important part of the skill set."

A service sector that used modern technology would help attract the next generation and get buy-in from existing engineers when work processes were changing. "Giving engineers an iPad to work with wins hearts and minds," said Beer. "We found giving them permission to use the device in their personal lives made them excited and got them thoroughly engaged in the changes we were making in the business."

The sharing generation

Service companies could also benefit if they grasped the fact that the millennial generation, whether customers or engineers, are used to social media and sharing of information, remarked Richardson. "In the workplace, millennials will want to be part of a social community that shares information, interacts and is collaborative.  This generation are more likely to communicate via Instant Messaging than make a voice call. Millennial customers wouldn't be phased by requesting a service via an app, not via a call to the help desk. "

It might also drive earlier resolution of a problem, she added. "Technology enables a three-way web chat, for example, with the customer calling the help desk who then brings in a field-based engineer to discuss the problem."

Trusted advisor or sales person?

The panel was asked whether a new generation of engineers would be less resistant than older workers to the idea of leveraging their position as “trusted advisor” to become a “trusted sales advisor". All were adamant that while this might be appealing for service companies, there were also inherent risks.

"There is potentially a lot to be gained, but if the field engineer starts to act in a more overt sales fashion, there is also the risk of losing that trusted advisor status with the customer," commented Beer. "Field engineers see themselves as trusted advisers and fixers. Many will resist the ideal of becoming sales representatives and customers, indeed, can see through overt sales tactics. "

Richardson however, thought some engineers would welcome a sales/upselling role. "Incentivising engineers for sales rewards them monetarily, but can also be attractive from a career development point of view."

Technology for training

"Skills training needs to accept that there is a wide spectrum of workers, from those who are scared of a mouse to those comfortable with a smartphone,” remarked Professor Lightfoot. "Training is no longer just talking to people, it’s more interactive these days,” he added.

 

Baby steps and the gamification concept was the way forward, thought the panel with Dan Lancaster, Field Service Specialist with Telogis, advising "Set questions in a dynamic format. The process can be heavy at the start but you soon reach the point where you can get them to filling in questionnaires to test their skills levels."

Ageing workforce: crisis or opportunity?

Having already identified the need to interact with Millennial workers, each of the panel members were asked whether they considered if an ageing workforce represented a crisis (all that knowledge disappearing from the company) or an opportunity (with all those young people with a new outlook, enthusiastic about embracing the technology) that is going to be essential for service delivery over the next couple of decades.

"There are over 1 billion mobile devices out there: your workforce will be using them anyway, so tap into that mindset," urged Lightfoot.

"Technology is delivering the opportunity to document a vast amount of knowledge and get it out there to the wider workforce and customers," pointed out Richardson.

Finally, Lancaster added: "Younger people expect to be engaged in what they are doing, at work or play. So engage them. It's a fantastic opportunity to look at your operation in a different way."

So, in conclusion, our panel unanimously agreed that any potential crisis in terms of loss of expertise as older workers retired could be overcome and that service companies should explore the different aptitudes and mindset of a younger generation to drive process change and transform customer service strategies.

The face of field service is changing, but as with anything change can be both frightening and exciting at the same time. The trick is to walk the line in the middle so you are prepared for the pitfalls and ready to embrace the opportunities. Is your company up to the challenge?

 

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Running across the 16^th, 17^th and 18^th of June the Service Management Expo remains one of Europe’s key field service events and Field Service News is pleased to be hosting the free educational sessions in the Field Service Solutions theatre once again this year.

So as we continue our series looking at what you can expect at this years Service Management Expo we turn to Day Two the 17^th of June where as well as an excellent calendar of events there will also be our daily networking session where you can continue the debates fostered by our mix of presentations, interviews and panel discussions over a beer or glass of wine amongst your peers.

Once again our day begins with an opening session from our theatre co-sponsors IFS and Field Service Management who open the proceedings with a presentation at 11:30am.

Following on from this session we turn to our first live interview of the day. Kris Oldland, Editor of Field Service News will be back in the hot seat as our question master and moderator for the day as he interviews Pitney Bowes, European Director of Customer Care, Andy Beer.

The session entitled “Service management 2.0 implementing a service management system across Europe” will have a focus on how the franking and posting giant’s recent pan-european implementation of a field service manager we will be looking at the pain points Beer and his colleagues went through when going through such a significant transformation to their field service operations, what they identified as key components of the new system and what benefits they have felt since making the transition.

We return to the presentation format once more as we welcome Sergio Barata of Telogis to the podium to give his 1.45pm presentation entitled "If you can connect it you can transform it" during which Barata will give us his expert insight into the fast paced, ever evolving and increasingly exciting world of the connected vehicle.

With vehicles now becoming central hubs for all applications the connected vehicle is no longer just driving transformation, but is now driving disruption. With experts predicting that by 2020 it's predicted over 50 billion things will be connected to the internet Barata’s session promises to give us vital insight into how we can keep in step with the revolution and still meet your customer's own ever increasing needs?

 

Importantly for us field service professionals we will be able to see how we can use connected intelligence to lead and differentiate our own service businesses and still double the ROI from our fleet operations.

Barata is not only has a deep background in fleet automation, but is also an intelligent and eloquent speaker so this promises to be a fantastic session for fleet and field service managers alike.

Following on from Barata’s presentation we return once more to the interview format with Oldland this time speaking to Professor Howard Lightfoot of Cranfield University. As well as being one of the founding thinkers in the area of Advanced Services, Lightfoot is now playing a critical role in the development of the next generation of engineers with the pioneering work he is doing at Cranfield University.

In a session entitled "Training the next generation of system engineers" we'll look at how Lightfoot is uing a mix of the latest technologies including both Augmented and Virtual reality to train tomorrow’s workforce so they are ready to deal with the explosion of technological evolution we are currently facing including IoT, Big Data and 3D Printing Lightfoot is in a unique place to give his insight into what makes the so-called millennial generation tick. What motivates them, what are their weaknesses, what are the skills they have that the ageing ‘boomer generation they are replacing lack? And most importantly how suited are they to the field service industries?

 

Lightfoot also returns for the final session of the day with Oldland moving form questioner to moderator as with hold the second panel session of the event. This panel discussion which also sees the return of Barata and Beer tackles the ‘Changing face of Field Service’. 

The aim of this panel discussion will be to asses just how big the threat of an ageing workforce really is for field service companies and is there really such a big difference between the outgoing and incoming generations of field workers? What are the common traits of the next generation of workers – both the good and the bad, not only from Lightfoot’s academic point of view but also from the real world perspective of Beer as a Senior Service Director? And finally how big a role will technology play not only in attracting the best of the next generation, but also in shaping the very format of the field engineer of tomorrow.

 

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Register for Service Management Expo by clicking this link 

 

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