To ensure that your field service department operates as efficiently as possible, a good planning tool is required. These are 4 important features that a field service planning tool should have:
Easy to use
The (field) service planner wants to work efficiently and pleasantly. That becomes easy with a graphical dispatch board. This immediately shows a complete overview of scheduled work orders and to whom they have been assigned. And of course, which work orders still need to be assigned. The service planner is helped even better when the presentation of the graphical dispatch board can be changed and personalized. And when work orders can easily be assigned and adjusted with "drag & drop".
Real-time connection with technicians
A real-time connection between back office and technicians means that the planner always knows where technicians are located and what they are doing. Vice versa, the technician always consults the most recent service planning and has up-to-date and correct information with regard to work orders. The service planner can, for example, see which technician is closest to an emergency job and assign the emergency job to him/her. Technicians are notified of newly assigned work orders or changes to their schedules and they can check the parts availability.
Intelligent planning
Planning becomes easier when several parameters are taken into account by the planning tool.
For example:
- Preferred technician: Some customers want to have a familiar face to visit them for service and maintenance work.
- Skills: Technicians differ in knowledge, education and experience. When a work order requires specific skills, it is desirable that only the appropriately skilled technicians can be selected.
- Distance: Especially in the case of emergency work orders, the distance from the technicians to the service location is important. Perhaps you only want to choose out of engineers within a certain range.
Automated information
Nowadays there are numerous possibilities for information flow automation. The location of a service object can be shared with the back office. Or when an object gives an alarm or fault code, the system may immediately be able to select the corresponding job code and generate the work order. More and more manufacturers of machines and installations are able to read information about objects remotely. This allows them to intervene remotely, take preventive measures or give instructions.
Arend Jan Boersma is Senior Consultant at Dysel and specialized in optimizing and automating (field) service processes.
