WHITE PAPER FIELD SERVICE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE FOR ENTERPRISE COMPANIES

WHITE PAPER FIELD SERVICE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE FOR ENTERPRISE COMPANIES

CONTENT LEVEL 1... 1 LEVEL 2... 2 LEVEL 3... 2 LEVEL 4... 3 DYNAMIC SCHEDULING... 4 PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS... 6 CONCLUSION... 7 ABOUT IFS... 8

FIELD SERVICE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE FOR ENTERPRISE COMPANIES BY TOM DEVROY SENIOR PRODUCT EVANGELIST IFS FIELD SERVICE MANAGEMENT Field service management (FSM) software can be used by any sized organization; for instance a trade contractor, service provider organization or product delivery organization with any number of technicians. Integrated customer communications, technician dispatch, parts inventory and work order management in a single application like FSM is universally beneficial. When a service organization grows to encompass hundreds or thousands of field service technicians, often working across a diverse and distributed geography, different methods and technologies are required to properly manage the complex organization. In this whitepaper, we will discuss how business and technology needs change as the size and sophistication of the organization increases, and discuss FSM software strategies to meet the challenge. As a field service organization grows both in size and complexity, management needs to determine where the company falls on a continuum between basic and advanced FSM needs. LEVEL 1 The small to medium-sized service management organization has relatively simple needs for FSM software, at least in relation to the depth and breadth of a modern and comprehensive solution like IFS field service management software. Management knows, without technology interventions, what technicians they have in terms of skill set and certification. Due to the size of the field service workforce, little technology is required to track their location. Management has a direct line of sight into the work load, workforce and other factors and can assign work accordingly. As daunting as the challenges faced in day-to-day business may seem given the available resources, the size of the organization means there is direct communication between the person dispatching the technicians, the customer and the technician. This intimacy between the various internal and external parties involved in field service work means that there is by definition a certain degree of transparency even without extensive technological intervention. 1

In this environment with limited assets or sites to be serviced and mechanics that might number into the dozens, little administrative overhead is required to figure out who should do what work on what equipment at what time. At this juncture, a basic footprint of FSM technology may help management more profitably run the operation, generate invoicing and manage parts. Other more advanced back office functionality might be implemented, but these often speak to needs of the management organization rather than the field service management workforce. Mobility gives management the ability to schedule techs based on their current location and workload. And it gives techs real time access to a variety of data that helps them service the customer better, including routing, spares and repairs inventory and more. LEVEL 2 At this point, the organization employs quite a few technicians, enough to make it difficult to maintain visibility into their locations at a given moment in time. This means that management must assign jobs to someone they suspect can do the work. But they may lack complete confidence in these decisions. This scattershot approach may result in sending a technician a great distance, which is costly, only to find out they lack the proper skillset or the right part. In the meantime, a more appropriate technician may have already been nearby and available. At this point, it makes sense to equip technicians with mobile FSM technology so management can do a better job of managing the workforce in real time given their current locations and workload. LEVEL 3 Once mobile technology is deployed, management has visibility and real-time control over the field service workforce. The next step is to deploy the right person for each task. Once an organization has a larger workforce of technicians, perhaps staged over a number of offices rather than a single headquarters or central office, it becomes a burden to figure out who is going to do what work when. Because this is so difficult to do in an optimal way, many organizations take a shortcut. They put people into zones. A single technician will, for instance, be assigned to a specific facility or geographic territory. This may not be compatible with the realities of the situation. 2

Not every technician will be ideal for every job. Skill sets, certifications, current location and seniority levels can all mean one individual or class of individual ought to be dispatched for a given task. And not every job has the same priority. Service level agreements (SLAs) may mandate that one job receive priority over another given commitments made to the customer. So in a zone service management environment, how does management account for differing levels of expertise, certifications and skill sets of different technicians? What if there are urgent jobs located just over the boundary of a technician s territory? Can jobs or sites share technicians across boundaries based on emergent need or specialized skill sets? Who decides what location will, regardless of predefined zones, get each technician at which time? In order to resolve the problems inherent in management by geographic zones, management may add more administrative people. Or they can outfit the people they already employ with more efficient technology that can automate some of these administrative processes. Ideally, the FSM technology ought to be able to determine, based on predefined rules, which technician needs to be dispatched to which job when. That decision may be driven by automated technology like scheduling automation. Advanced scheduling functionality can look at multiple variables in a real time and suggest the right resource based on business priorities. These variables could include SLA compliance, shortest drive time, proper skill set, least cost resource or first available resource. These computations and schedule optimizations will take place in real time, allowing for better handling of emerging projects and priorities, and exceptions, yielding higher customer satisfaction and the lowest cost possible. LEVEL 4 By this time, we are talking about a fairly large and sophisticated field service operation that could benefit from predictive analytics. FSM software usually will include an automated scheduling engine, mobile equipped workforce, and a fully functioning and integrated back office application. But management still must look forward to make better decisions about the future of the business. What changes could I make Businesses operating a very large FSM workforce will need more extensive software functionality, and growing organizations will want to ensure their software choice can support them as they scale up to that enterprise level they aspire to. So let s take a quick look at the functional requirements FSM software must meet to satisfy these needs of the enterpriselevel field service organization. 3

to get more out my existing field service workforce? What are the implications of adding new products, geographies or service offerings? How many technicians, with what skill sets, would be required, and where geographically will they be based? Perhaps in an existing location, the company has 100 technicians. If the company expands into an adjacent geography, do they need to hire an additional 100 technicians, or can some technicians be shared across geographies? At this pinnacle of FSM software sophistication, we find embedded predictive analytics that facilitates what-if proactive management of the rapidly growing field service organization. Any number of FSM software solutions may deliver basic functionality or even acceptable mobile functionality. Fewer will offer true real-time automated scheduling automation. Fewer yet will be able to deliver predictive analytics for proactive decision making about the future of the organization. Businesses operating a very large FSM workforce will need more extensive software functionality, and growing organizations will want to ensure their software choice can support them as they scale up to that enterprise level they aspire to. So let s take a quick look at the functional requirements FSM software must meet to satisfy these needs of the enterprise-level field service organization. DYNAMIC SCHEDULING Optimized scheduling is delivered in a FSM environment through a dynamic scheduling engine (DSE). A DSE is really a black box that receives your data for optimization. It optimizes that scheduling data and sends it back to your FSM software optimized to accomplish more with fewer techs and dispatchers, or to achieve other goals you tell the DSE are important to you. What is inside of that black box is a set of algorithms that takes your business rules, applies them to those algorithms and creates a very powerful and flexible computing engine for scheduling. The DSE uses powerful, proprietary algorithms and applies them to a data framework which describes resources, skill sets of technicians, activities and the relationships between these variables, along with the business rules defined by management. Historical data, and the actual performance achieved against expected plan are retained and can be analyzed to determine areas of the business which are underperforming and why. This drives decisions and corrective actions. In different parts of an organization, at different times, management may want to schedule technicians in different ways. A scheduling tool ought to facilitate all of these decisions and automate them. If reducing drive time is a priority for an organization due to an unexpected hike in fuel prices, the business rules that drive the DSE can be configured to schedule technicians accordingly. If service calls are anticipated in a particular locale at a given time, for instance due to inclement weather, the DSE can account for that and keep technicians available in the vicinity in a proactive fashion. 4

A dynamic scheduling engine (DSE) will automate the scheduling of each technician according to business rules defined by management. Across all scheduling systems, there are different methods of scheduling. A DSE ought to be able to deliver one or more of these simultaneously, depending upon business needs and priorities determined by management. But not every DSE on the market can deliver all of them. An advanced scheduling engine will accommodate all forms of scheduling preference, including: RESOURCE AND SHIFT PLANNING Planning resources for set shifts over a long timeframe. STATIC SCHEDULING Planning resources for a fixed number of resources and a fixed number of projects to be completed. Most service management systems in the market provide static scheduling. EPISODIC SCHEDULING This type of scheduling solution will use available information to generate a schedule on a periodic basis, making at least some attempt to adjust the schedule for changing circumstances, delays, new jobs in the queue, etc. but on a fixed cycle. APPOINTMENT BOOKING As the name suggests, setting appointments to meet customer requirements. This requires the identification of available capacity given the current workload for each technician. Once the appointment is set, it can then go into a scheduling algorithm to deliver the detailed plan. 5

DYNAMIC SCHEDULING WITH CONTINUOUS OPTIMIZATION This is what IFS s DSE delivers that is unique from other offerings. The DSE optimizes the scheduling continuously as opposed to periodically. This approach takes the scheduling task beyond pairing up resources and work, looking at scheduling as a multidimensional problem with variables that are constantly changing. That is why, as any of the variables or business priorities of the organization change, the DSE can make the adjustment on the fly and ensure that the schedule reflects these new priorities. SCHEDULE INTELLIGENCE This is business intelligence (BI) for scheduling, allowing long-term measurement and analysis of things like deviation from the planned scheduling-related key performance indicators (KPIs). Once an enterprise-level organization has a DSE in place, they are in a better position to make decisions for how the field service organization ought to be run, based on business needs, and then automate execution of their decisions. PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS While few FSM software products offer full and comprehensive DSE functionality, even fewer offer predicative analytics that allow executives to anticipate needs of the organization given changes in workload, service levels, product offering (demand) or other variables. Predictive analytics for FSM must model and predict the future performance of mobile FSM in three dimensions resources available/needed, forecast workload (demand) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Much of the data used to drive these decisions stems from the DSE, enabling management to rapidly evaluate and explore different options. The authoritative insights of planned or anticipated changes lead to enhanced decision-making through better knowledge, and reduced business risk thanks to a deeper understanding of sensitivities and variations in each business scenario. Management will be able to quickly answer questions such as; What resources will I need to service a new contract? How many staff are required, with which skills, and where? How can I improve my Service Level Agreement (SLA) performance and satisfy more customers? 6

CONCLUSION Any number of FSM software products can satisfy the needs of companies with relatively simple needs. But the enterprise level company will need to scrutinize software offerings closely to ensure they meet their most demanding requirements. In FSM software selection, the enterprise executive must take into consideration their more demanding and complex needs. And smaller but growing organizations will need to determine how well various FSM software options will meet their needs as they grow. Tom Devroy is a Senior Product Evangelist for IFS s field service management software product line. He has over 30 years of experience in high tech service operations including work with hardware, software and consulting firms, as well as premier global service organizations like Ericsson, DHL, Xerox, and Ingenico. He holds a degree in business administration from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. 7

ABOUT IFS AND IFS APPLICATIONS IFS is a public company (OMX STO: IFS) founded in 1983 that develops, supplies, and implements IFS Applications, a component-based extended ERP suite built on SOA technology. IFS focuses on agile businesses where any of four core processes are strategic: service & asset management, manufacturing, supply chain and projects. The company has more than 2,100 customers and is represented in some 60 countries with 2,800 employees in total. If you are interested in further information, e-mail info@ifsworld.com or contact one of our regional offices or visit our web site: www.ifsworld.com AMERICAS....+1 888 437 4968 ARGENTINA, BRAZIL, CANADA, ECUADOR, MEXICO, UNITED STATES ASIA PACIFIC... +65 63 33 33 00 AUSTRALIA, INDONESIA, JAPAN, MALAYSIA, NEW ZEALAND, PHILIPPINES, PR CHINA, SINGAPORE, THAILAND EUROPE EAST AND CENTRAL ASIA...+48 22 577 45 00 BALKANS, CZECH REPUBLIC, GEORGIA, HUNGARY, ISRAEL, KAZAKHSTAN, POLAND, RUSSIA AND CIS, SLOVAKIA, TURKEY, UKRAINE EUROPE CENTRAL...+49 9131 77 340 AUSTRIA, BELGIUM, GERMANY, ITALY, NETHERLANDS, SWITZERLAND EUROPE WEST...+44 1494 428 900 FRANCE, IRELAND, PORTUGAL, SPAIN, UNITED KINGDOM MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA................................................+971 4390 0888 INDIA, SOUTH AFRICA, SRI LANKA, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES NORDIC...+46 13 460 4000 DENMARK, NORWAY, SWEDEN FINLAND AND THE BALTIC AREA.... +358 102 17 9300 ESTONIA, FINLAND, LATVIA, LITHUANIA www.ifsworld.com THIS DOCUMENT MAY CONTAIN STATEMENTS OF POSSIBLE FUTURE FUNCTIONALITY FOR IFS SOFTWARE PRODUCTS AND TECHNOLOGY. SUCH STATEMENTS OF FUTURE FUNCTIONALITY ARE FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND SHOULD NOT BE INTERPRETED AS ANY COMMITMENT OR REPRESENTATION. IFS AND ALL IFS PRODUCT NAMES ARE TRADEMARKS OF IFS. THE NAMES OF ACTUAL COMPANIES AND PRODUCTS MENTIONED HEREIN MAY BE THE TRADEMARKS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. IFS AB 2014 En6215-2 Production: IFS Corporate Marketing, January 2014.