In the Big Discussion we take one topic, bring together three leading experts on that topic and put four key questions to them across four weeks to help us better understand its potential impact on the field service sector...
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Aug 05, 2017 • Features • Future of FIeld Service • Mark Brewer • Mark Homer • Paul Whitelam • ClickSoftware • IFS • IoT • servicemax • The Big Discussion
In the Big Discussion we take one topic, bring together three leading experts on that topic and put four key questions to them across four weeks to help us better understand its potential impact on the field service sector...
This time around we turn to a brand new topic which is the Internet of Things and our experts are Paul Whitelam, ClickSoftware, Mark Homer, ServiceMax from GE Digital and Mark Brewer, IFS...
The first question of this topic was "Just how big is the potential impact of IoT on Field Service?" whilst the second answered was "Is IoT now making the shift from early adoption to mass adoption amongst field service companies?" and last week the questions was "What are the challenges of implementing an IoT strategy within field service operation?
And now the final question on this topic
Question Four: Are field service companies who are not adopting IoT at risk of becoming non- competitive?
The urgency around IoT adoption varies from one vertical industry to the next, but the cost of service delivery and need for greater visibility are universal concerns. The old business adage “you manage what you measure” certainly applies.
If your competitors have a level of insight that enables them to increase the number of jobs per technician per day or reduce critical failures by 90% thanks to preventative measure, the business benefits are powerful and quantifiable.
Increased efficiency and productivity, and slashing the cost of missed SLA penalties, that has direct impact on customer satisfaction and profitability. IoT can deliver exactly these types of insights and business outcomes, and only service organisations that invest in IoT capabilities will reap these rewards.
In a word, yes. This is much more than just a ‘nice to have’ scenario. In most industries, margins are too thin and competition is too fierce to simply guesstimate how much capacity a piece of equipment can cope with, and it seems positively archaic to run a reactive break/fix service mentality in today’s connected age.
Industrial downtime is no joke. Unplanned downtime in just about every industry has a significant impact.
The Aberdeen Group last year reported that the cost of downtime across industries went up to $260,000 per hour on average between 2014 and 2016. That’s a huge jump with a considerable hit on any business.
On top of that, most companies don’t know how best to optimise uptime availability in different conditions, such as managing volatility, meeting peak demand or managing performance in extreme conditions. If your competitors are addressing this problem and you’re not, you’re surrendering market share. Digital disruption is set to wipe out 40% of the Fortune 500 companies in the next 10 years and the Industrial Internet will play a big part in that disruption, as well as the survival and success of companies.
The question isn’t why would you, but rather why wouldn’t you?
Definitely!
The potential gains in cost efficiency and improved service offerings are tremendous. IoT has the potential to disrupt entire industries. Organisations that aren’t educating themselves on the potential, road mapping an IoT strategy, or structuring their organisation to be IoT-ready may not see the risk now but they will definitely be laggards in 5-10 years.
IDC predicts that the installed base of IoT endpoints will grow to more than 30 billion by the end of the decade from just less than 13 billion units in 2015.
As a consequence, machine-generated data will comprise an increasing share of stored data: by 2020, 10 percent of the 44 zettabyte digital universe will originate from IoT devices.
In five years, there will be seven times more IoT data than there is today.
Look out of the next topic in our Big Discussion series coming soon...
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Jul 28, 2017 • Features • Future of FIeld Service • Mark Brewer • Mark Homer • Paul Whitelam • ClickSoftware • IFS • IoT • servicemax • The Big Discussion
In the Big Discussion we take one topic, bring together three leading experts on that topic and put four key questions to them across four weeks to help us better understand its potential impact on the field service sector...
In the Big Discussion we take one topic, bring together three leading experts on that topic and put four key questions to them across four weeks to help us better understand its potential impact on the field service sector...
This time around we turn to a brand new topic which is the Internet of Things and our experts are Paul Whitelam, ClickSoftware, Mark Homer, ServiceMax from GE Digital and Mark Brewer, IFS...
The first question of this topic was "Just how big is the potential impact of IoT on Field Service?" whilst the second answered was "Is IoT now making the shift from early adoption to mass adoption amongst field service companies?"
So let's move onto the third question of the topic...
Question Three: What are the challenges of implementing an IoT strategy within field service operation?
One of the biggest challenges of marrying IoT and field service is developing the technological infrastructure to capture, process, and respond to the data collected by IoT-enabled assets. Turning voluminous data into business intelligence will require service organisations to completely rethink their operations.
If a machine can tell you an uncomplicated part needs replacement, will you be able to dispatch a junior (and therefore less expensive) resource to provide maintenance; or simply deliver the part to the customer by drone? Will you be able to do so without human intervention? Will you be able to use IoT data to optimise scheduling preventive maintenance while reserving capacity for emergency work?
In order to fully realise the benefits of IoT, field service organisations will need to incorporate artificial intelligence driven service automation solutions that integrate with their other systems. IT support will be increasingly important, as well as expertise in data science.
There are still some hurdles to overcome in the wider context, such as security, data storage, infrastructure demands, and the knock-on effects across a company’s wider IT systems. But many of the data protection issues and cyber threats have been addressed by the development of more sophisticated edge computing devices and edge to Cloud technologies, as well as putting some of intelligence and logic (AI) power and computing next to the critical asset. Very few companies have the expertise in-house required to protect industrial data, so you should engage data science cyber security specialists where it makes sense.
There’s also the question of who in a company can best lead the digital charge. Companies need a person or team that can bridge the gap between IT, service and operations so that all competing priorities are met. It’s an easier issue for larger companies to address as they have a greater breadth of talent pool and a wider range of skills.
I also think mindset can be an inhibitor or an accelerator. Most people can think big, but the potential of the Industrial Internet means you can think bigger. You’ve got to sit down and look of the art of the possible and then map a digital strategy to it. There’s lots of help available in this area, such as dedicated foundries, maturity assessments et al, but people don’t know they exist.
Like many things, it depends:
If equipment is high-value and expected to have a long life, you need to retrofit them with sensors.
Those sensors may be 3rd-party.
Many facilities, even today, have limited bandwidth available to them. This can make transmitting data from many sources challenging.
For third-party service providers there’s the question of data ownership. Who owns information collected about how equipment is being used and is performing? The service provider? The OEM? The customer?
Fundamentally, the biggest challenge with adopting and implementing IoT is having the right structure and systems in place to maximise its value. It doesn’t serves an organisation to have the ability to collect data from assets if that data is not processed and actioned in real-time.
Organisations need business process intelligence, optimised field service management, and real-time visibility to truly maximise the potential of IoT.
Next weeks the final question of this topic: Are field service companies who are not adopting IoT at risk of becoming non- competitive?
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Jul 21, 2017 • Features • Future of FIeld Service • Mark Brewer • Mark Homer • Paul Whitelam • ClickSoftware • IFS • IoT • servicemax • The Big Discussion
In the Big Discussion we take one topic, bring together three leading experts on that topic and put four key questions to them across four weeks to help us better understand its potential impact on the field service sector...
In the Big Discussion we take one topic, bring together three leading experts on that topic and put four key questions to them across four weeks to help us better understand its potential impact on the field service sector...
This time around we turn to a brand new topic which is the Internet of Things and our experts are Paul Whitelam, ClickSoftware, Mark Homer, ServiceMax from GE Digital and Mark Brewer, IFS...
The first question of this topic was "Just how big is the potential impact of IoT on Field Service?"
And onto this week's question...
Question Two: Is IoT now making the shift from early adoption to mass adoption amongst field service companies?
Although IoT in field service is still relatively new, early adopters like manufacturers of capital equipment are approaching greater maturity. They’re leapfrogging other industries in terms of first-time fix rates and overall operational efficiency.
Other industries are beginning to recognise the potential benefits, and we’re seeing conversations around IoT shift from wide-eyed wonder to practical next steps. Utility and telecommunications providers are well positioned to benefit by making the infrastructure they maintain smarter and better connected. Consumer-facing organisations can better empower customers to participate in diagnosing and repairing problems.
The Smart Meter initiative in the UK is a perfect example where mass adoption by consumers will force manufacturers to advance. A couple years ago IoT in service was largely seen as tomorrow’s problem.
Today service providers are eager to take the next step.
IoT hasn’t reached mass adoption in any market just yet, but certainly field service is seen as the ‘killer app’ for businesses. And it’s making fast progress.
Senior management are realising that service is the hidden gem within their organisations, largely due to the untapped potential of the Industrial Internet, and it’s something we’re seeing in our own global customer base.
Fuelled by the shift to outcome-based service models, shrinking product margins, and globalisation, and the Industrial Internet, industry watchers have been predicting that service revenue will eventually eclipse product revenue. Smart, connected, optimised equipment assets are accelerating that shift.
As companies begin to properly monetise service with sensors at the edge, they have the opportunity to increase service revenues and margins further, providing an effective hedge in a downturn economy.
That’s why we’re seeing greater adoption and acceleration in this space.
Yes. The concept of IoT and IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) isn’t a new one.
It has been around for more than 20 years. But now, thanks to advances in technology and digital transformation, it is at the forefront of business opportunity. There are many field service sectors that have already been working with sensors and IoT technology for a few years now, such as the medical industry (like the IFS customer Sysmex).
Over the next five years we will no doubt see the number of IoT implementations rise among field service organisations as the industry becomes regulated and more best-practice cases are publicised.
Next weeks question: What are the challenges of implementing an IoT strategy within field service operation?
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Jul 14, 2017 • Features • Future of FIeld Service • Mark Brewer • Mark Homer • Paul Whitelam • ClickSoftware • IFS • IoT • servicemax • The Big Discussion
In the Big Discussion we take one topic, bring together three leading experts on that topic and put four key questions to them across four weeks to help us better understand its potential impact on the field service sector...
In the Big Discussion we take one topic, bring together three leading experts on that topic and put four key questions to them across four weeks to help us better understand its potential impact on the field service sector...
This time around we turn to a brand new topic which is the Internet of Things and our experts are Paul Whitelam, ClickSoftware, Mark Homer, ServiceMax from GE Digital and Mark Brewer, IFS...
And so onto the first question on the topic...
Question One: Just how big is the potential impact of IoT on Field Service?
The Internet of Things is already transforming field service. Service has traditionally been a reactive practice. Something breaks, a technician is dispatched to fix it, and sometimes the repair is successful the first time. IoT enabled devices provide ongoing visibility into the status of a piece of equipment, as well as a richer view of the severity and source of any issues, and the ability to make predictions based on this information.
The service organisation no longer waits for a panicked phone call from a customer. They can proactively maintain equipment, replace components before they break, and use an understanding of asset lifecycle and usage patterns to inform future product design.
Customers increasingly expect to pay for uptime instead of equipment, and define SLAs based on their business targets. Eventually, all service organisations will have to live up the expectation of seamless service and minimised disruptions.
The potential of IoT – and more importantly IIoT (the Industrial Internet of Things) – is immense. So much so, that it’s making service a game changer, fundamentally changing how we optimise equipment and capital assets, and predict their maintenance and service requirements.
By harvesting and applying intelligence that previously would have been impossible to obtain, companies are seeing a major step change this area - that’s why more forward thinking companies are combining IoT-enabled field service management with asset performance management.
This is emerging as the real disruptor because for the first time, customers have meaningful performance and service intelligence at their fingertips to understand potential equipment issues, and pre-empt them or act upon them quickly and efficiently with the correct tools and parts.
It’s important to remember that prescription is equally as valuable as prediction - prescription to make adjustments or refine parameters to improve productivity or throughout, or keep something running to the next planned service outage. That’s one of the things that makes the Industrial Internet so powerful – you can do load balancing, and share the flow and volume across multiple appliances or machines using condition-based monitoring to switch machines in high volume usage areas when required.
IoT has huge potential to transform field service organisations. The concept and technologies allows organisations to take data collected from remote sites and equipment to:
Gain better insights into the usage of equipment.
This will help determine when to perform optimal service. Rather than send technicians to sites on a schedule, you can send them only when you need to. For example, say you service a solar park. One of the main things that can lead to damage solar modules is wind. By remotely tracking the wind speeds, you can better estimate when to perform service.
Run a leaner service organisation.
One challenge service organisations encounter is that they’re reactive in nature. They respond to equipment failing. And without real-time information of equipment, when the equipment fails is unpredictable. This requires the organisations to maintain a fair amount of slack. Both within the inventory they manage, and the people that they’re made up of. Knowing when equipment will likely need service or when it will reach its end of life allows you to better plan.
Improve the competitiveness of your service offerings.
IoT, combined with machine learning, allows you to address problems before they occur. This results in higher availability of your equipment and lower service costs. You can pass this to your customers by improving your service terms and conditions. Higher SLA targets and compliance delivered at lower cost is a win-win all around.
Next weeks question: Is IoT now making the shift from early adoption to mass adoption amongst field service companies?
Field Service News is published by 1927 Media Ltd, an independent publisher whose sole focus is on the field service sector. As such our entire resources are focused on helping drive the field service sector forwards and aiming to best serve our industry through honest, incisive and innovative media coverage of the global field service sector.
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