One of the clearest messages I’ve perceived during visits to a variety of service providers and through conversations with suppliers over the last five months is that there’s no such thing as a quick fix when implementing any new service management system. This was again endorsed when we asked the suppliers of scheduling solutions for their advice on how to gain the most from their various products.

Laurent Othacéhé, 360 Scheduling managing director, explained that most companies implement a scheduling solution during a time of change, planned or otherwise, resulting in the reshaping of their business processes.

‘Paper processes disappear and suddenly technicians’ roles are transformed, with different working routines and responsibilities,’ he said. ‘Complete visibility of what is going on in the field radically transforms the way the service operation is managed and held accountable.

‘It is important to realise that the scheduling solution in itself is not going to solve a business’ problems; it is not a panacea for all ills. The business must identify and understand the changing processes, train staff and communicate internally, so that everybody is aware that change is afoot.

‘Implementing the system will rapidly and painfully highlight the shortcomings of the existing processes. Those who just wallpaper over the cracks of the existing system and processes will inevitably fail,’ said Othacéhé.

Ateret Levin, ClickSoftware APAC regional director of professional services, was equally clear: ‘When adopting a scheduling system where no schedule automation existed before, remember: it changes everything. The initial impression might be that the only affected process is the assignment of jobs to service engineers.

‘Actually, the impact extends to customer relationships (appointment booking), parts management, asset management and more. It is critical to “think big”. It is equally critical to “start small”, and create a road map tuned to the current pains as well as the potential benefits.’

Levin explained that a road map should start with visibility, linking central office with the engineers’ mobile devices, sharing data and decisions that then raises efficiency. A critical ingredient is the measuring of baseline performance, helping to set future goals such as automation, optimisation, forecasting and planning.’

Larry Klimczyk, Blackbay managing director, endorsed this message: ‘When implementing a scheduling system ensure you need clear objectives. These could include the number of calls a day, meeting of SLAs, first time fix ratios, reducing costs or maximising revenues with customers. When developing our mobile applications we use these key objectives to build the appropriate solution.

‘Scheduling a large number of jobs might be great, but unless you can indentify in real time which engineer has the necessary skills and correct parts or tools on their van to complete the job, it could be a waste of time.

Many of our customers are no longer focusing on the number of jobs in a day, but are assessing their performance using a first time fix ratio. By linking scheduling to mobile solutions our customers have reduced the average number of visits needed to solve an issue from 1.3 to 1.1. This improvement of nearly 20% is significantly reducing costs and improving customer satisfaction,’ said Klimczyk.

Yuval Brisker, president and CEO, TOA Technologies, said that the eagerness of some service providers to improve efficiency had led them to purchase the wrong solution.

‘IT departments in most service and goods organizations are overextended and CIOs and CFOs, intent on keeping the number of applications in the overall portfolio to a minimum, are reluctant to add to their burdens by adopting the proprietary devices and dedicated hardware and software most legacy workforce management solutions require,’ she said. ‘So, they simply opt not to buy, or if they do pull the trigger, implementation is delayed.

‘Some workforce management solutions utilising a SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) platform have made it to market and those are the ones companies should be examining,’ Brisker continued. ‘The Web-based technology and seamless implementation that characterise them provide scalability, flexibility eliminate high, up-front cap expenditures and require no dedicated IT support. It’s possibly the most critical aspect of any enterprise-wide workforce management solution, and one that far too many vendors have failed to recognise.’

John Wisdom, Cybit sales and market director, endorsed the need for companies to access requirements in advance: ‘The bottom line impact of such [routing] systems on both productivity and customer experience can be substantial. Scheduling engineers in today’s environment is complex and often requires a highly intuitive and dynamic system. Without a system that can automatically recalculate plans whenever anything changes, the return on investment is likely to be low.

‘Of course, there has to be a process in place that updates the scheduling system,’ he continued. ‘A high level of manual intervention relying on engineer contact, for example through a contact centre, can be both high cost and inefficient.

‘Service companies are increasingly turning to telematics as a means of streaming live data into dynamic scheduling systems. Such systems give live location information updates to scheduling systems automatically. Dynamic scheduling solutions can then re-calculate plans as events unfold enabling staff to make informed decisions,’ Wisdom concluded.

Rikke Helms, Dexterra managing director of EMEA operations, said: ‘There are many challenges involved in optimising the productivity of field engineers, and indeed, it is not rare to see a companies on their second or third attempt at implementing a scheduling or optimisation solution.

To overcome these problems, companies are strongly advised to work with both their own field staff and mobility vendors to firstly identify the business processes that could be automated, and then to develop and deploy the most suitable solution.
‘One simple way of optimising these processes is to follow the paper trail.  Generally, wherever there is a manual paper-based process, there is an opportunity to produce a replica electronic application.’

Andrew Yeoman, Trimble MRM managing director, EMEA further emphasised the need for planning and preparation, because determining requirements, desired achievements and expected results need to be identified before the selection process begins.

‘Once you understand the scope of your project, data will be your next hurdle. The system data you are using in terms of tasks, customer information, skills etc is key as it will be the cornerstone of your project and only through maximum accuracy will the scheduling system to do its work properly.

‘Once you are up and running trial, trial and trial again as testing and proving the system will ultimately be the only way to guarantee its robustness for your business. From an internal point of view, change without reason is always met with negativity by employees so keep communication lines open both ways and give clear and understandable updates as to the goal, method and expected results as this keeps employees on side and lets them follow the project through.

‘The last thing would be to keep going and don’t assume that being up and running is the end of project: until any solution is producing the results you want and has become a BAU process, it isn’t finished!’ said Yeoman.

Mark Homer, ServicePower vice president said: ‘Once the project design is completed we work very closely with the software development group to ensure all aspects of the integration correctly implement the intentions of the business. When testing is complete, and rollout begins, we recommend a phased approach, and prefer to run an initial pilot with just 5% of the field workforce.

‘The pilot shows the customer an immediate improvement in productivity and customer service levels and will give an idea of the cost savings the system will generate for them. This validates the system and ensures the customer’s confidence in the remaining rollout process. Once the pilot stage has been completed, we continue the phased approach across the entire service network. 

‘We continue to work with our customers after implementation to make certain they are using the system to best effect and gaining maximum benefits for their business,’ Homer concluded.

Another important message for service companies implementing scheduling that failing to engage with their workforce can only lead to tears before bedtime. ‘They have many great ideas and by gaining their buy-in at the beginning of the project, you could save a massive amount of time when deploying the final solution,’ said Blackbay’s Kimcyzk.

His view was shared by ClickSoftware’s Levin: ‘Share the whole roadmap with the key stakeholders, including the engineers and schedulers: Their jobs are going to undergo major transformations. You will encounter some resistance. Don’t assume that it’s just the natural tendency to resist change. They can tell you what problems the current processes address, and what new problems the new processes might bring in if not designed correctly. Together with them, you can chart the voyage while avoiding the hidden reefs and reaping the expected benefits.’

Dexterra’s Helms said: ‘Companies are also advised to monitor the telephony flow both to and from their field engineers, and work towards producing an alternative, time-saving point solution wherever possible. Only by drawing on specialist expertise and the feedback of those in the field can companies offer themselves the best chance of fully optimising mobile staff productivity.’

ServicePower’s Homer also emphasised the need to include the workforce from the outset: ‘We have learned the best approach is to focus first on the business aspects of the implementation and to get buy-in from each group that will become users of the software and services. Right at the start we run project design workshops.

‘These workshops map out the implementation and training processes needed and create “evangelists” for the system who are then able to filter their knowledge down through the rest of the organization.’

360 Scheduling’s Othacéhé summarised by saying: ‘The industry is littered with train wrecks, a number of scheduling suppliers have fallen by the wayside or are in financial difficulties because they have not prepared their customers for change and been unable to help them steer the correct course.

‘Businesses must throw out the baggage of the past, prepare for change, and be prepared to change. Innovate, not replicate!’