are you hesitating on field services management software? · 2017-04-26 · software, they might be...

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Are You Hesitating on Field Services Management Software?

SPECIAL REPORT

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CONTENTS

Are You Hesitating on Field Services Management Software? 3

Top 10 Benefits of Field Service Management Software 8

Going Mobile: Now that mobility is ubiquitous inside plants, where is it taking us next? 12

SPECIAL REPORT

For organizations that manage work and assets in the field, standard enterprise asset manage-ment or computerized mainte-nance management software (EAM/CMMS) may not always be elastic or scalable enough to keep effective tabs on operations. Dedicated software solutions are emerging to meet the require-ments of this more geographically dispersed work, including sched-uling, dispatch, service and parts management. There is a continu-um of software products ranging from EAM optimized for mobile technicians working on their own organization’s distributed assets to field service management (FSM)

software designed for companies performing aftermarket service and other maintenance as a revenue generating activity.

Plant Services recently part-nered with IFS to conduct a sur-vey designed to assess the market demand and satisfaction for asset management solutions that can handle distributed operations and which scale with organizational demand. Results from the survey are being presented in a series of special reports, with this report focusing on the degree to which organizations have embraced FSM solutions to manage work-flow and drive revenue. In gen-eral, the results indicate a high level of satisfaction with available FSM solutions but day-to-day usage patterns which, in the area of condition monitoring, do not completely align with expected benefits.

BACKGROUND

To get a better understanding of our survey respondents, we asked some baseline questions. The job function breakdown for respon-dents was quite even across the range of job titles listed, with a strong representation by engineers (40.3%) and managers/executives (36.3%). The highest number of respondents identified as main-tenance managers were highest (21.5%), followed by corporate

executives (11.4%) and plant engi-neers (10.7%), and then followed by reliability engineers (8.7%), con-trols engineers (8.1%), maintenance engineers (7.4%), and application engineers (5.4%). Rounding out the rest are maintenance techni-cians (6.0%), reliability technicians (4.7%), IT (6.7%), and sales and marketing (6.0%).

Respondents also were pretty evenly split on the size of the maintenance and reliability staff: 2-4 people (25.0%), 5-10 people (23.0%), 11-50 people (26.4%), and 51+ (20.3%), with the rest of respondents (5.4%) outsourcing this function. Size of M&R staff was loosely aligned with both total number of plants managed by the organization (1 plant, 35.6%; 2-5 plants, 28.2%; 6-15 plants, 14.8%; 15+ plants, 21.5%) and annual or-ganization revenue (<$50M, 29.7%; $50M-500M, 28.4%; $500M-$5B, 17.6%; $5B+, 15.5%).

VERTICAL ADOPTION OF FSM

SOFTWARE

Looking at the vertical sectors represented in the survey, the larg-est portion of respondents work in energy (utilities/power-gen, 18.2%; oil & gas, 12.2%) and manufactur-ing (chem/pharma, 15.5%; auto-motive, 11.5%; food and tobacco, 9.5%; metals fab, 7.4%), with ma-chine builders (9.5%) and pulp & paper (7.4%) also well represented.


PLANT SERVICES: SPECIAL REPORT

Are You Hesitating on Field Services Management Software?Research data suggest that FSM

software can help users achieve or-

ganizational benefits that positively

impact the bottom line, but only if

you know where to look

By Thomas Wilk,

Plant Services chief editor

A strong majority of the 21.2% respondents who said they had already invested in a FSM solu-tion were in energy verticals, with utilities/power-gen registering the most investments. (These two verticals also accounted for the majority of respondents who said they were kicking investment 1-3 years down the road). Of the 6.6% who said they were leaving room in their 2016 budget, almost all were in chemical or pharmaceuti-cal manufacturing.

Finally, a run-down of those who reported no plans to adopt FSM software, which in particu-lar shows a split in the attitudes

and needs of the energy industry survey respondents:• 52% of utility/power-gen• 43% of automotive• 39% of chem/pharma manufac-

turers• 36% of metals fabrication• 27% of oil & gas• 14% of food & tobacco

GROWTH OF FIELD SERVICE

One of the more interesting data points emerged on questions designed to bridge the gap be-tween organizational growth and willingness to invest in a FSM solution. When respondents were asked to what degree field service was considered a growth area, al-

most 80% said it is a priority, with the other 20% indicating it was not a factor. When further asked if their organizations considered field service a revenue driver, respondents fell along very similar lines, with more than 70% claim-ing that it is a priority.

When asked about the willing-ness of their organizations to invest in an FSM software solution, only 41% were already using one or had it in their budget within the next three years. In other words, despite the ~80% of respondents who indicated that field service was considered a key growth area and/or revenue driver, half of those



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Figure 1. What vertical does your plant most closely align with? (Please check all that apply.)

apparently do not perceive the need for an FSM solution to be prior-ity enough to invest quickly. (The other 60% of respondents on this question say they have no plans to invest in FSM software, which aligns with the same segments above who were lukewarm as best about considering field service stra-tegic to their business goals.)

What explains the reluctance of one third of survey respondents to act quickly on their strategic field service goals? Some respon-dents, like those in the automotive industry, may be in industries that have less need to maintain distrib-uted assets. But part of the answer may lie in the difference between planning and experience – if some of those who were in the consid-eration phase actually knew where the low-hanging fruit was located in calculating the impact of FSM software, they might be more in-clined to implement a solution.

For example, of the survey respondents who reported that they had invested in FSM soft-ware, nearly 73% indicated that the software had a positive impact on their bottom line, with 22.7% reporting that FSM software had helped them achieve significant cost savings. In contrast, when we asked the same question to respon-dents who had not yet invested in FSM software, only 55% predicted



15.9%Parts life cycle management

(i.e., ordering, warranties, returns, contracts, etc.)

13.6%Inventory management

9.1%Asset condition monitoring

6.8%Repairs

9.2%All others

27.3%Planning and scheduling

9.1%Route management

4.5%Customer appointments

4.5%Mobility

59.1%No plans

21.2%Already using

6.6%In 2016 budget

13.1%Within three years

Figure 2. Are you currently using, or planning to invest in, a field service management (FSM) software solution?

Figure 3. Which of the following field service management (FSM) software features do you most commonly use?

15.9%Parts life cycle management

(i.e., ordering, warranties, returns, contracts, etc.)



6.8%Repairs

9.2%All others


9.1%Route management


4.5%Mobility

59.1%No plans

21.2%Already using

6.6%In 2016 budget

13.1%Within three years

it would result in a positive impact on the bottom line, with just 11.8% thinking that significant cost sav-ings would be within reach.

These respondent differences also extended into the area of FSM software feature set. For software users, when asked which features they most commonly used, their top answers centered on planning, scheduling, route management, parts manage-ment, and inventory management, suggesting that FSM software is helping these organizations op-timize inventory levels as well as increase workflow optimization,

Survey respondents who had not yet made an FSM software invest-

ment also were invited to choose which features they thought they would use the most. While many of their responses aligned with those of the software users, it’s worth noting two points of differ-ence: (1) asset condition monitor-ing – future users thought they would use these features more than actual users reported; and (2) parts and inventory management – the percentage of future users who thought they would use these FSM software functions (15.5%) was significantly lower than the 29.5% of respondents who cited these functions in actual use, suggesting that future users may be missing some key low-hanging fruit when laying out the business case to invest.

CONCLUSION

Taken together, these data sets suggest that teams in the consid-eration phase for an FSM software investment might feel a stronger sense of urgency if they were more familiar with the use cases of actual FSM software users, a majority of whom are reporting moderate to significant cost savings. Indeed, future users may not even know the extent to which current users are making gains. When current users were asked if they were satisf ied with their FSM system investment, 72.7% said “yes”; but, when future users were asked in they thought a lack of FSM was affecting their ability to compete, 58.2% said “no”.



9.92%All others

3.61%Personnel health and safety

7.31%Repairs

3.61%Testing

3.61%Asset inspections





8.22%Mobility

10.02%Parts life cycle management(i.e. ordering, warranties, returns, contracts, etc.)

Figure 4. Which of the following field service management software features are most attractive to you?

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Inside the four walls of a plant, maintenance management pro-cesses are well suited to standard asset management (EAM/CMMS) software. But for geographically dispersed work, greater coordina-tion, collaboration, and informa-tion mobility is required.

Most companies have at least a first-generation system in place to handle field service scheduling, dispatch, service parts manage-ment, and perhaps some degree of mobility. Others use EAM/ERP system extensions for more robust scheduling and dispatch capabilities. The worst-case scenario is manage-ment by spreadsheets and manual processes, which hamper productiv-ity and drive excessive costs.

An increasingly popular solu-tion is purpose-built field service management (FSM) software that automates and streamlines the complete service process, pro-vides connected and disconnected mobility, and integrates with the installed EAM/ERP system.

Highly distributed operations such as refineries, pulp and paper, mining, and transportation are ob-vious candidates for this approach, as field work is fundamental to their business model. Their assets and equipment are situated across wide geographic areas and require efficient condition monitoring, inspections, testing, repairs, and installation. Similarly, OEMs and third-party service providers require mobility in the delivery of point skills, specialized services, and domain expertise to remote customer sites and assets.

The utilities industry is a prime example. “Field service is perva-sive in utilities. Mobility is neces-sary for inspection, maintenance and emergency work, as well as short-cycle work, long-cycle proj-

ects, and customer appointments. Paperwork puts a drag on the pro-cesses,” says Jill Feblowitz, owner of Feblowitz Energy Consulting (www.febenergy.com).

FSM software is unique in sev-eral respects. Following are its top 10 advantages:

1. Automation: FSM software automates in a very streamlined fashion those activities that occur outside the four walls. From its robust planning and scheduling capabilities to providing the ability to adapt to changes throughout the day, it avoids the frustration and cost of wasted time and inef-ficient activities.

Consider, for example, the installation of a large CNC machine. A precise sequence of events is required: a subcontractor pours the footings; electrical per-sonnel run the power; an install technician arrives as the equip-ment is delivered, installs it to the power grid, and tests its basic capabilities; software specialists configure the electronics; trainers



Top 10 Benefits of Field Service Management SoftwarePurpose-built FSM software can

automate and streamline the com-

plete service process while integrat-

ing with core EAM/ERP systems

By Sheila Kennedy,

Contributing Editor

FSM software automates in a very streamlined fashion those activities

that occur outside the four walls.

teach the end users how to use the machine; and finally the machine is transitioned to support.

FSM software facilitates this type of task coordination with a dynamic scheduling engine that handles all the various planning and scheduling variables and dependencies. It takes the decisions out of the hands of a manual dis-patch environment and puts them into the software.

Another example is automated cost management and invoicing, as the actual service labor and as-sociated costs are recorded in-stantly. FSM software also knows which service is under warranty, and whether there are any special pricing considerations such as a pre-negotiated labor rates or parts discounts. The software drives bill-ing speed and accuracy, removing that burden from the technician.

2. Resource optimization: The assignment and routing of field personnel is optimized with FSM software, which is important be-cause this can directly affect profit-ability. “Dispatch optimization allows crews to do as many jobs in a day as possible. It minimizes drive time, increases productiv-ity, and reduces emissions and fuel charges,” says Feblowitz.

For example, Source Refrig-eration & HVAC (www.sour-cerefrigeration.com) replaced its manual dispatch processes with an automated FSM system in or-der to create more efficient routes. In one region alone, service tech-nician travel times were reduced by 35% while maintaining service

level compliance. “Instead of someone calculating this infor-mation in their heads, we needed a system to determine the plan in a uniform way across all sites,” recalls Hal Kolp, vice president of information technology at Source Refrigeration & HVAC.

FSM software facilitates crew selection by pushing visibility into skill sets, certifications, union work classifications, prox-imity, time commitments, over-time, contracted service levels, penalties for noncompliance, and other crucial factors.

3. Coordination: FSM software simplifies management of the com-plete field service life cycle, includ-ing the equipment, work orders, labor, service parts, warranties, returns, contracts, and projects.

For example, before implement-ing FSM software, oil and gas engineering services company T H Hill (www.thhill.com) struggled with a lack of coordination. Every step in managing a resource, from dispatch to reporting and the invoicing of the customer, was a disparate process with no standard workflows, controls, or database.



Figure 1. FSM software presents real-time, role-based information in an easy-to-understand graphical view. (Source: IFS)

“Dispatch optimization allows crews to do as many jobs in a day as possible.”

(Sou

rce:

IFS

)

“These were insurmountable prob-lems without adding a better and consolidated tool,” explains Scott Harrison, CFO at T H Hill. Its FSM solution solved these con-cerns: the company attributes its 38% revenue growth in 2011, and 34% in the first seven months of 2012, to the FSM solution.

4. Efficiency: With FSM software, when technicians are dispatched to a job, the task is sent to their mobile device along with the most efficient route to the site, parts and tools required, service history, contacts, applicable warranties and contractual commitments – every-thing needed to deliver timely and effective service.

As the work is performed, the tasks are checked off on the mobile device, keeping planners and

managers informed of the current status. The technicians can also re-cord service notes, diagnostics, test results, quality information, parts consumed and labor expended in the device, and capture as found/as left images or video using their mobile device.

“There are a lot of efficiencies yet to be gained, especially in power outage situations where there is still a lot of paper-based activity. Quick, safe resolution is required to maintain customer satisfaction,” suggests Feblowitz.

Equipment returns, refurbish-ments, depot repairs, and reverse logistics also are properly tracked and managed in an FSM solution. For instance, the software reveals when it is more cost effective to re-turn equipment for replacement or

repairs rather than dispatching an engineer to the field. Additionally, accurate parts dispositions ensure that refurbished equipment is not scrapped or overlooked.

5. Responsiveness: Lacking an intelligent FSM solution puts com-panies in a reactive state to inevita-ble changes. Situations in the field change rapidly throughout the day, causing static work plans to de-grade as soon as they are generated. Necessary parts or skill sets may be missing, or union rules may require an additional crew member. Travel time to the site or the work dura-tion may take longer than planned, the weather may not cooperate, the technician may fall ill, or a higher-priority task may arise.

The primary downside of a manual approach is the absence of real-time, tethered or untethered mobile communication with the field staff, leaving them unable to effectively deal with surprises. With FSM software and mobile devices offering real-time, two-way communication, schedulers and service teams can respond quickly to dynamic circumstances and alert the customer, reorganize priorities, and address any short-falls from the field.

6. Accuracy: Consolidating all FSM activity in a single tool promotes greater data and deci-



Figure 2. ROI from FSM software is quantifiable, as these examples suggest.

(Sou

rce:

IFS

)

sion accuracy. For example, the tracking of inventory in the service supply chain is more precise with FSM software. Parts are recorded as they are taken from stock and also when acquired from supply houses or colleagues nearby. This encourages optimal parts place-ment and inventory levels, and drives supply house relationship improvements.

It also facilitates work planning. “Some utilities have their work planned out so well that visits to the warehouse are infrequent. Field employees will load on the truck all the job packages needed for the week, and seldom have to return for additional equipment,” says Feblowitz.

7. Oversight: When GPS tracking is enabled, oversight of field work-ers is improved. GPS provides vali-dation of their precise geographic location, distance from the job site, and actual time of arrival. It can also alert when the worker travels outside of a prescribed area.

Regulatory compliance is also facilitated due to the structure and consistency afforded by FSM software. From their mobile device, field users can access and transmit required regulatory information and fulfill documentation require-ments, avoiding the fines and other costs of nonconformance.

8. Usability: The usability of role-based FSM software stands in stark contrast to ERP solutions, which are generalized and cumbersome with high functional and admin-istrative overhead. For instance, in one ERP system, upwards of 14 windows are accessed to add a service part. FSM software also compares favorably to error-prone manual and spreadsheet processes that create information silos and cause dual entry.

Users of ERP systems with limited field service capabilities also lack optimal agility. Though ERP systems can be programmed to do almost anything, it comes at the cost of flexibility and responsiveness.

9. Scalability: As service processes and technologies become more sophisticated and field service teams get larger, keeping the administration cost structure and profit margin intact becomes more urgent. This is where field service automation has its greatest pay-back. FSM software mitigates the complexity of meeting growing customer demands and aggressive service delivery levels, and bal-

ances all the moving parts that go into deploying field personnel to complete service work.

10. Flexibility: With modern FSM solutions, customers can choose the deployment model that makes the best business sense for their orga-nization. Traditionally, enterprise software was self-hosted on the premises. Today, companies can avoid or reduce their upfront capital expenditures with a cloud-based option – whether licensing the FSM application on a subscription basis, or opting for a fully managed cloud with all software and hard-ware hosted externally, and only the data managed on the premises.

Device flexibility is another advantage. FSM software is either device specific or device agnostic. Device-specific FSM software, written to support Apple iOS, Android and/or Windows mobile platforms, can take advantage of capabilities provided by the given platform. Examples include real-time, turn-by-turn mapping, GPS tracking, and cameras to capture photographs or videos of conditions found and left on site.



The usability of role-based FSM software stands in stark

contrast to ERP solutions.

The Plant Services Disruptive Technology series offers a quarterly look at technology innovations that are generating rapid changes in how plant managers and engineers approach their jobs. The series continues this month with a survey of how mobile technologies are reshaping the way that maintenance and reliability teams are doing their jobs. For this story Plant Services interviewed five industry figures who shared their insights on the drivers behind mobile’s move onto the plant floor, as well several technical innovations both at and just beyond the horizon.

Rohit Robinson, Director,

Portfolio Innovation at Honeywell

(www.honeywell.com)

PS: Where do you see mobile’s in-fluence for change as having been greatest to date?

RR: I think the largest one is in field services, operations, and logis-tics. Mobility is essentially turning those on its head. Everything from

preparation, route management, information gathering, check lists and reporting, is morphing. Why carry paper forms, why bring paper manuals to perform field proce-dures, and then why spend the effort in filing paperwork? Mobility allows us to automate and digitally transform the field worker into a truly “connected” worker! The field is just a geographic location; mobil-ity allows us to give them access to all systems, people and processes that are in the enterprise.

Mobility leverages a communi-cation channel between a remote employee and the office. Data and information flow both ways on that channel – one is inside-out and the other is outside-in. As mobile de-vices are being used to capture field data like meter readings, inspection rounds, etc., the ability to send this information back to enterprise is an outside-in use case. Moreover, mobile devices can now send audio and video, so how about sending the vibration noise to a subject matter expert across the globe and getting their opinion if you need to perform maintenance now or defer it?

You see, most plant supervi-sors and executives are responsible for the safety and uptime of their facilities. Yet, they are not in a control room looking at plant information – in fact, most are up and about whether in meetings

or visiting customers. One of our recently released products, Honey-well Pulse™ is a good example of an inside-out use case that allows these users to setup certain key alerts on their process information, such that, should a breach occur, they will get a notification on their smart phone. Not only are they informed in real-time, but the col-laboration feature in the app allows them to interact with their staff in a Twitter-like feed, figure out who has taken ownership to bring the problem to a resolution, and es-sentially manage the incident from anytime, anywhere – all through their smartphone.

PS: What are the risks?

RR: As with any emerging technol-ogy, there is a risk/reward profile. The number one risk identified, obviously, has to do with cyber security. There is no cyber without security! As mobile devices prolifer-ate the corporate environment, the potential of a threat does increase. However, mobile security is a well understood and managed area and with the right policies and enforce-ment of those policies, the rewards usually outweigh the risks.

Then there are softer risks like the risk of not embracing this mega-trend. How likely are you to attract the next generation of workers if your field tools are paper



Going MobileNow that mobility is ubiquitous

inside plants, where is it

taking us next?

By Thomas Wilk, Editor in Chief

based? Why do we use mobile apps at home but the moment we enter an office environment, we need to switch to a laptop? We are already seeing RFIs where mobility is be-ing explicitly called out. Our guess is that over time, these would start showing up as a must-have.

So, certainly, if you want to stay competitive with the rest of the companies around you, then mobility has to be a corporate strategy – not a tactical nice-to-have. Our mobility survey shows that about 40% of the companies do not have a strategy around mobility. I think they need to be worried about what the other 60% are up to!



are you hesitating on field services management software? · 2017-04-26 · software, they might be...

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