Field Service Automation: Turning a loss into a profit (page 1 of 2)

Traditionally, one way of ensuring high profits is by keeping costs down. This is particularly the case in field service where, unless tightly controlled, operating costs can threaten the survival of the entire operation.

Since spending large amounts of money on application software has traditionally gone against the grain of any seasoned service manager, the adoption of field service automation has lagged behind its counterparts in other enterprise applications like supply chain and ERP. But that may no longer hold true as the world of field service continues to change.

Why are we suggesting you go against conventional wisdom? Because in today's world, by ignoring field service automation you may be losing out on a chance to cut costs and improve your competitiveness.

If you are still scheduling with spreadsheets and tracking inventory with an unrelated database or asking your technicians to provide debriefs on paper, you may want to pay attention.

Thrifty Scots Cut Costs
Consider the case of Scottish Water. Utilities in general are not known for risk-taking and yet for Scottish Water the move to field service automation made the difference between remaining the local provider of choice to more than 5.2 million domestic and commercial customers, or losing the lion's share to competitors in neighboring England.

In January 2002, Scottish Water initially implemented a pilot program involving several field service applications that, if successful, would replace legacy systems in the organization's call centre, as well as paper-based systems in the field.

Dubbed the 'Promise to Resolution' project, the scope called for massive transformation of field service processes pertaining to everything from managing ruptured water mains to fielding incoming customer calls.

"We wanted our customers to hear a human voice in our call centers, but we also wanted their problems dealt with as soon as possible," explains Cheryl Black, customer service director of East of Scotland Water. "Automation is helping our engineers out in the field provide the best service we can, as fast as we can."

The project connects 150 call centre operators with 100 field service agents via laptops using mobile technology.

With updated information flowing back and forth between operators and field agents, they now have the flexibility to schedule appointments on the spot and provide up-to-the-moment progress reports on standing orders.

The successful pilot is now being moved into production and Black is confident this will translate into higher productivity. "This will allow more jobs to be done in a day as engineers are relieved of the burden of paperwork associated with briefing and debriefing of jobs."

How Can Automation Drive Profitability? Let Me Count the Ways
Automation helps boosts your profits through increased efficiencies. Four key areas where automation opens the door wide for lower costs and higher revenues include:

• Eliminating paperwork and redundant, error-prone data entry;

• Accelerating billing cycles by streamlining payment methods;

• Increasing the visibility of the mobile workforce and communicating with them in real time;

• Reducing time between service calls and facilitating faster customer response.

For customers like Scottish Water, the net gains have been better planning, higher productivity, happier customers and increased profits.