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T he continuous development of technologies makes it easy to process more and more data efficiently. Large amounts of data offer many advantages, but a confusing flood of data quickly tempts people to lose sight of the big picture. The most important resource here - your field force employees. If companies schedule their workload optimally and keep an eye on agreed KPIs, field service operativess can achieve the highest possible productivity.

KPIs IN FIELD SERVICE - HOW TO MEASURE ORGANISATIONAL EFFICIENCY

In business administration, KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) stand for key figures that can be used to measure the progress and degree of fulfilment of corporate objectives. The suffix 'key' forms the centre, because the key figures are a 'key' to success. There are generally little applicable or even cross-sectoral metrics. Which ones are in focus for the company must be determined individually on the basis of short-, medium- and long-term goals. Defining and monitoring field force KPIs helps the company to analyse the operational performance of the field force. The following KPIs for field service are essential to analyse on-site service performance.

FIELD SERVICE KPI 1 - FIRST-TIME-FIX RATES

The field service of a company covers a wide variety of areas. Among the most common jobs are maintenance tasks. The error correction rate, or first-time-fix rate, indicates the number of jobs where a repair was successful on the first customer visit. A high rate shows the company that problems are solved quickly and at the same time cost-effectively. High fault resolution rates are also appealing to customers, as they recognise that the field service achieves quick success. This increases customer satisfaction. A low first repair rate can arise for various reasons: Elaborate repairs, for example, require multiple customer visits for troubleshooting, while small orders experience delays and inefficient project planning due to confusing deployment schedules.

FIELD SERVICE KPI 2 - AVERAGE WORKING TIME

For a clear and effective analysis of the on-site service, the average order processing time plays an essential role. The lower this KPI is, the faster the order processing, which increases the profitability of the field service. If the company does not track this KPI for the field service, it simply cannot improve. Various optimisation methods can reduce the average processing time. For example, the right route scheduling planning software takes care of route planning and optimises the order sequence, which already significantly reduces the average processing time.

FIELD SERVICE KPI 3 - ACTUAL PRODUCTIVE HOURS

Not every hour of work can be assigned/charged to clients. Administrative activities and organisational tasks take up a lot of resources. With the billable working time percentage, companies find out whether working hours are used economically. To do this, the billable hours are divided by the total number of hours worked.

FIELD SERVICE KPI 4 - UTILISATION

Economical field service KPIs can only be achieved with an effective field force. To measure work efficiency, the number of tasks completed per day per staff member should be monitored. The key value shows the efficiency of the entire field force and individual engineers/operatives. This field service KPI is important to responsible project planners because it allows them to better estimate the number of assignments that can be assigned to the field service staff.

FIELD SERVICE KPI 5 - WORK ORDERS INVOICED

The percentage of work orders invoiced is one of the most important field service KPIs. This key value shows the liquidity of the company. If the KPI is too low, the company needs faster invoicing. If the KPI is low in the long run, this can trigger serious cash flow problems. After all, the company is paying in advance for order processing.

FIELD SERVICE KPI 6 - RESCHEDULING RATE

Efficient planning is critical to the success of any field service team. If all orders are executed as planned, the company is in a good financial position. On the other hand, recalculations and rescheduling cause the success rate to stagnate. The effectiveness of planned work can be calculated with the help of the rescheduling rate; the number of rescheduled work orders divided by the number of all orders. This can be used to calculate the proportion of incorrectly planned work. In the long run, companies should keep this ratio as low as possible.

COMPANY SUCCESS THROUGH TRANSPARENCY

Field Service Management (FSM) is becoming increasingly important in the coordination of field service. High quality, reliability and cost savings through maximised use of staff on site are crucial. The positive results of Field Service Management also include offering customers the shortest possible waiting times, predictability of potential problems and low idle times. To benefit from these advantages, it is important to choose competent and reliable tools such as a scheduling and route planning software. This professional digital solution replaces confusing Excel spreadsheets. With digital route and assignment planning, a poor ratio between working time and travel time can be identified and significantly improved. If the initial repair rate is too low, this is usually due to a lack of spare parts - here, too, digital solutions can provide initial impetus to increase efficiency. FSM solutions such as route planning software also offer reporting functions to create and analyse field service KPIs and thus become the ideal tool for performance analysis and reporting. With the gain in transparency, you always have your company's success in view.