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OPTIMISE YOUR FIELD SERVICE: TOP 10 BLOG ARTICLES 2024

3 min. reading time

18. December 2024

James Alex Waldron

H ow do you determine what success looks like in field service? And as an operator, where do you begin a project to optimise for the long term? Intelligent, dynamic AI technologies are already available and market tested, and growing revenues. With your ecosystem already working for you, which workflows will you boost with well-placed assistive AI?

As we move into a new year, we highlight the articles that offer field service and field scheduling best practice to advance your operations and move to optimisation. What was the industry most interested in this year?

The major field service topic is value creation: Not in cost savings, but implementation in ongoing business and everyday management. This is what the industry was reading:

MAXIMISE FIRST-TIME FIX RATES WITH BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE DATA

'First-time fix' means resolving an order during the first field appointment. Any further customer contact or second appointment for the same service call is no longer a first-time fix. In addition to the customer perspective, this indicator is also important from an organisational perspective because it has a direct impact on margins, turnover, and operating costs.

How can you use BI to improve your first-time fix rate? The first step is to determine your rate, with accuracy. For example, a field service organisation with a first-time fix rate of 75% indicates they must schedule 25% of their appointments as follow-ups.

EXTRACTING VALUE: DATA-DRIVEN FIELD SERVICE DECISIONS

Successful field service management is built on decisions made with accurate, real-time data. Replacing intuition and guesswork with comprehensive data analysis increases your organisational advantages: Better customer insights, enhanced strategic planning, and cost savings for efficiency and productivity gains.

With FLS MANAGEMENT INSIGHTS, companies gain access to the valuable factual data found within FLS VISITOUR that allows them to further analyse, understand, and optimise their processes. Dashboards, KPIs and reports transform raw data into meaningful and useful information as the basis for strategic decisions, such as insights that support growth and expansion strategies.

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AI FOR FIELD SERVICE: VALUE CREATION PROJECTS WITH THE POWEROPT ALGORITHM

Field services continue to seek longer-lasting value from their operational technology projects, especially at a time where digital transformation has turned customer service and service models on their head. An example: Companies are competing for contracts that recognise customers decide for themselves when, where and how they want support. To realise this value, all processes must be tailored to meet customer requirements.

The key to modern, permanent value creation lies in technology that utilises intelligent algorithms and machine learning. In short: Artificial Intelligence.

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INNSERVE: HISTORIC PLANNING DATA HELPS PROVE THE CASE FOR SCHEDULING AUTOMATION

Innserve Ltd is an established service provider specialising in the supply, installation and maintenance of beer and soft drinks dispense systems. 400 field operatives 'Keep Britain pouring' across more than 90,000 premises in all parts of England, Scotland and Wales.

Working with Innserve's IT, Operations, and Service Delivery teams, FLS took historic planning data and presented the outcomes FLS VISITOUR would have instead designed; a resource that proved critical when it came to move into a trial.

DYNAMICS 365 FIELD SERVICE: WHEN IS THE TIME TO INTEGRATE A SPECIALIST SCHEDULING ENGINE?

Operational efficiency and making the right strategic choices will always be at the heart of field service profitability. Dynamics 365 Field Service has taken much of the calculation work from Dynamics NAV, Dynamics AX, and Business Central.

FLS' Microsoft integration gives you seamless access to the unique scheduling and route optimisation algorithm, PowerOpt, within your Microsoft Dynamics environment. This is where field service organisations with 100s to 1000s of field resources supercharge their scheduling and route planning operations. Read more.

REAL-TIME ROUTE OPTIMISATION SOFTWARE: FEATURES FOR FLEETS

Operating a vehicle fleet involves several challenges that service organisations must track and manage to ensure efficiency and safety, and generate sustainable revenue. Modern challenges include fuel costs, CO2 emissions, and skills retention. On top of that, daily vehicle checklists include restocking and refuelling – and for most fleet operators, this unavoidable time can weigh into critical productivity hours.

RECOGNISE INDIRECT COSTS AND CREATE AUTHENTIC VALUE

Designing Value: The Case for Real-time Field Service Optimisation

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FLS EXTENDS FOOTPRINT INTO HEALTHCARE WITH HEALTHNET HOMECARE

HealthNet Homecare works with over 160,000 patients throughout the UK and, depending on the conditions to be treated, in-home nursing services are required to administer medications or care. New and expanding contracts have led to doubling the number of nurses over the past 12 months and this growth looks set to continue.

This additional workload highlighted how the current software solution to coordinate visits remained undeniably manual and time consuming. It was challenging to agree suitable appointments with patients and to produce efficient routes for the nurses. The company decided to evaluate how a new technology could remove these pressures.

HealthNet Homecare chose FLS VISITOUR to improve the productivity of appointment booking and resource planning: Scheduling the best nurse for each home visit with the appropriate qualifications/skills and ensuring other objectives are met with a quick response, including efficient same day visits when required. The FLS VISITOUR solution will provide optimised appointment choices within seconds and also support patient self-service appointment booking in future.

HOW TO PLAN FIELD SERVICES WITH ACCURATE TRAVEL TIME

A planning team that schedules field appointments without considering realistic time-of-day dependent travel speeds is sacrificing accuracy and transparency. Conventional route planning from point A to B neglects the ripple effects that a new service request can have on the entire schedule.

Don't miss this significant opportunity to improve your Job Completion KPIs.

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LOGISTICS UK: FIVE YEARS OF SUCCESSFUL VEHICLE INSPECTION SERVICES SCHEDULING WITH FLS VISITOUR

Logistics UK is the only organisation in the UK to represent the entire logistics industry, with more than 20,000 members across all modes of transport. As part of this offering, they are the largest national supplier of field-based Vehicle Inspection services.

Five years later, new operational priorities extended use of the system to include On Site Compliance and Consultancy and Standards teams. "We continue to work on our processes to ensure we balance our three key areas – Engineer satisfaction, Customer service levels and efficiency."

SOLVE EV RANGE ANXIETY WITH DYNAMIC FLEET ROUTING

With an increasing number of all-electric field service fleets, the demand for EV charging points remains high. With a focus on the consumer market, retailers and housebuilders are driving the roll-out effort. Last year the UK's EV charging points numbered around 42,000. However, outside of major hubs, fleets find long waits, high prices, and even 'charging deserts'.

Dynamic fleet scheduling is your solution to range anxiety and supports your move to green fleets.

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BONUS: RESEARCH DEEP DIVE: TAKE THESE QUALITY MEASURES INTO YOUR PROJECT!

FLS VISITOUR has been in use at Netze BW GmbH since 2008. Today more than 600 field technicians are managed in their daily work and almost 400,000 operational tasks are completed each year. In this research write-up (and with over a decade of FLS VISITOUR experience) meet the Head of Data and Applications who generously shares the challenges and outcomes of designing field workforce management processes within a complex utility company.

Before you start your next project, learn the aspects of measuring and mastering quality, plus the characteristics of good deployment control.

Field service optimisation specifically describes the process to continually increase workflow and service quality to ensure cost-efficient order processing and satisfisaction for both customers and employees.

Do you want to learn more about field service RoI? Take a look at our e-book: "DESIGNING VALUE: THE CASE FOR REAL-TIME FIELD SERVICE OPTIMISATION". Our e-book guides you with true costs and real-life results to inspire decisive confidence towards adopting a best-of-breed solution to realise authentic operational value.

Plus! Be sure to follow our LinkedIn Newsletter to keep our developments, webinars, and events in your timeline.

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Author
JAMES ALEX WALDRON
UK Marketing Manager

+44 1183 800189
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James Alex Waldron has worked in written communications for over 15 years. Since 2021, he has written for FLS and the Solvares Group on the topics of digital field service transformation and mobile workforce management, and regularly provides insight to the industry press.

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