White Paper

Modernizing
Your Field Service

Coresystems AG
www.coresystems.net
 White Paper: Modernizing Your Field Service

Content
1. Introduction 3

2. Modernize Your Field Service to Make it Your Most Valuable

Customer Touch Point 4

3. Growth Areas in Your Field Service Business 5

4. The Five Levels of Growth in Field Service Organizations 6

1. Best Effort 6
2. Cost Effective 7
3. Improve Quality 8
4. Competitive Advantage 10
5. World Class, Hard to Copy 11

5. Summary 13

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 White Paper: Modernizing Your Field Service

Modernizing Your Field Service

You can’t afford field service to be a cost anymore when it could
be your most valuable asset.

For Field Service Executives, COOs and CMOs of larger organizations providing
field service

1. Introduction
«Unplanned Many industrial organizations have historically been very successful at what they do,
building up a loyal user base that has provided a regular revenue stream for years.
production However, many field service organizations are now experiencing a change in the land-
scape, with less equipment being ordered and new competition from China and other
downtime is emerging markets. In order to continue being successful, businesses need to adapt to
this new environment. With the right level of investment, customer service is a rich
not an option source of new revenue and brand loyalty.
At the same time, customers are also under financial pressure to maximize revenue,
anymore» which again requires efficient use of capital and time. Unplanned production down-
time is not an option anymore. The cost of a proactive maintenance contract can
mean business continuity and can keep a small company afloat. Furthermore, people
are becoming used to higher levels of efficiency and personalization in customer ser-
vice.
Some industries had to start modernizing field service due to the time-sensitive na-
ture of the business, such as the medical or telecoms sector. However, most customer
service teams are still focused on fixing problems, routine maintenance and manually
producing reports, when they could be much more valuable to an organization with
the right tools and business model. These teams are perfectly positioned to become a
profitable unit in their own right as trusted advisors to your customers.
Coresystems has built up more than 10 years of experience helping organizations
across many industries and countries modernize their field service departments.
Many companies have been able to gain huge benefits from changing their expecta-
tions of field service. In this white paper, we present how field service teams evolve to
become one of the most valuable assets of their organization and a trusted advisor to
customers.

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 White Paper: Modernizing Your Field Service

2. Modernize Your Field Service to Make it Your Most Valuable

Customer Touch Point
We have identified five levels of growth that field service teams typically go through.
Each step gives incremental benefits, enables customer service teams to gain more
trust from customers, offers higher value services and operates on a more profitable
business model.
Each extra level pays greater benefits to the service provider and the customer, en-
abling both to operate more effectively with the resources available and ultimately
create a relationship based upon trust, advice and mutual benefit. The service provid-
er grows from delivering standard repairs to having a deep understanding of the cus-
tomer’s usage, and delivering a range of customized services professionally, efficiently
and profitably. As the provider makes improvements, the customer benefits too. Both
parties experience the joint benefits: more useful production time from a planned and
efficient maintenance approach; tighter planning from informative two-way commu-
nications; more knowledgeable future investments from a deeper relationship.
Field visits to most large scale installations require careful preparation. It might take
days or weeks to plan and source parts. All of this must be done meticulously before
anyone can go to the site. However, starting without detailed procedures, product
data and site information will extend preparation time significantly and introduce
mistakes. Having all of this information readily available reduces lead times and time
on site, meaning faster repairs, less downtime and less need to redo work.
A service call might take an hour, a day or a month for you to complete, but it may be
your customer’s most urgent issue. When something breaks, it could mean the differ-
ence between warm and cold, profit and loss, disease and diagnosis.
Wouldn’t it be better if things didn’t break in the first place?
Modernizing field service can not only improve internal processes, but revolutionize
your approach to customers.

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 White Paper: Modernizing Your Field Service

3. Growth Areas in Your Field Service Business

With a well-planned strategy, several areas of your field service department will grow.
When cumulative benefits start to appear, this creates its own momentum. Here, we
have outlined the important operational areas that comprise most field service teams:
− Services
− Processes
− Employees
− Customer Relationship
− Business Model

Services
Levels: 5
4
1. Best Effort
3
2. Cost Effective Business 2
Model Processes
3. Improve Quality 1
4. Competitive
Advantage
0
5. World Class,
Hard to Copy

Customer
Relationship Employees

Actual Score / Level

This chart can be used to show the maturity or level of modernization of a field ser-
vice department. As more areas achieve higher levels, these areas will make it easier
for the rest to improve as well. For instance, in this specific example, the department
has made good progress in developing internally and can now plan to reap major busi-
ness benefits from its investment. With improvements in processes, services, and
employee productivity, a business can also focus on a deeper customer relationship,
thereby transforming from a cost center into a profitable business unit.
Real improvement in field service requires a balanced approach to growth across all
of the above areas. Every organization will have a different mix of maturity levels,
since historically some areas will have had more focus than others. However, each
maturity level should be addressed to get the full benefit. Each step up builds on the
preceding step, so it is more realistic to plan incremental steps than to try and jump
forward to Level 5 in one go.
“Think big, start small”
It is also important to point out that although many companies still operate largely
manually, achieving the full benefits of modernization requires investment in soft-
ware to streamline processes and ensure that engineers are given the right informa-
tion at the right time (especially in order to attain Level 3, as shown in the diagram).
We have also included some real life examples of achievements and best practices
taken from companies who have implemented these strategies.

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 White Paper: Modernizing Your Field Service

4. The Five Levels of Growth in Field Service Organizations

5.
4.
3. World Class,
2. Competitive Hard to Copy
1. Cost
Improve
Quality
Advanage
Best Effective
Effort

In this section we have listed descriptions of typical scenarios found within each area
at each level and the impact these scenarios had on the business and the customer.
Senior management has traditionally seen customer service as a necessary, but rather
1. Best Effort
expensive unit. Service desks, staff, and warranty claims are pure costs that are not
balanced out by maintenance and overhaul payments. Consequently, there has been
little investment in this area, but cost-cutting instead.
Services Best Job Possible
Services performed are typically in response to ad hoc calls from the customer when
something has gone wrong or when service is required. The exact services delivered
depend on the engineer’s best judgment. The engineer will address problems accord-
ing to his experience.
Processes Reactive Scheduling
Processes are mostly paper-based. They have been developed over many years and
add significant overhead and time-lag to processing orders, calls, reporting and in-
voicing. These processes are based on legacy systems that may or may not still be rel-
evant, but there is little motivation to invest in improving what is perceived as a cost.
Employees Repair
Employees are highly skilled in maintaining and repairing products. They operate
from their years of experience to decide what needs to be done on site and what the
customer needs to know. In addition to hand-written reports, they use old internal
processes such as paper-based manuals that quickly become outdated or get stolen by
competitors. They are not expected to develop relationships with customers or give
advice. They are trained purely on the technical skills they need to fix and service the
company’s products.
Customer Relationship Cost
Field service retains basic customer contact and product information. The customer
has to initiate all service calls. There is minimal communication with the customer
when scheduling the visit or updates on progress. Emails, letters, and reports are cre-
ated by the field service team—or the engineers themselves—resulting in a variety of
improvised designs and content. Customers may not even know an engineer has visit-
ed to make the repair until the invoice arrives.
Business Model Cost Centre
Customer Service is purely a cost center, not expected to produce enough revenue to
cover outgoing expenses. Much of the cost is variable and dependent upon demand.
Services delivered are either under warranty or chargeable. Warranty repairs mean
unplanned costs that can make a big dent in company finances, if there is a spike in
Sales message, level 1: demand or highs and lows throughout the year. Services are resource intensive due to
administrative overhead and limited attempts to make visits more efficient. Some
“We’ll do our best to fix
contract sales are possible but difficult due to a lack of data on the customer’s user
a breakdown or per-
profile.
form a service as soon
as possible after you Since the customer service department is seen as purely a cost center, there is histori-
call us.” cally little motivation from the business to invest in the systems or people.

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 White Paper: Modernizing Your Field Service

By trying to do more with the resources they already have, the field service depart-
2. Cost Effective
ment reduces some costs by gaining efficiencies in information, planning, and admin-
istrative support.
Services Improved Efficiencies
After the customer makes a request, repair contracts are offered, and include a Ser-
vice Level Agreement (SLA) to guarantee how long it will take for an engineer to visit.
Together with improvements in processes, there should be a faster and more predict-
able repair timescale.
Processes Standardize, Better Informed
Some processes are optimized leading to efficiencies and cost savings. For example:
− Scheduled service calls can be efficiently planned with a routing system, en-
abling more visits per day.
− On-site visit procedures are introduced. Large, complicated machinery requires
high-value, professionally executed services with proper procedures and pre-
cautions in place. This starts with a client meeting to ensure the equipment is
ready (e.g. cooled down, empty of materials), and to confirm the work to be
done. This meeting also ensures an opportunity for a discussion to help diag-
nose faults and gather usage data, which in turn speeds up the service delivery.
After the service the customer will be presented with a report that states what work
was carried out, and also confirms that health and safety requirements are met (e.g.
that equipment is left in a safe state for use).
Employees Efficient, Better Work Instructions
Employees are more focused on efficiency and provided with tools to enable them to
achieve it. For instance, mobile data solutions ensure engineers know where they are
going that day, and receive updates to their mobile devices throughout the day as
plans change. The latest versions of manuals are available electronically for down-
loading as needed, so engineers don’t need to carry documents covering dozens of
machines with them.
Customer Relationship Efficient Equipment Use, Added Value
The customer sees an increase in the professionalism of services delivered with new
procedures in place and should see faster repair times and less redos of work.
The perceived value of the service has increased.
Business Model Above Level 1, cost savings come from more efficient processes and extra revenue
from repair contracts. However, the field service department is still operating largely
as a cost center.

Sales message, level 2:

“When things go wrong,
we’ll quickly get pro-
duction running again.”

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 White Paper: Modernizing Your Field Service

Level 3 offers major benefits for the provider and the customer in planning, adminis-
3. Improve Quality
tration, service delivery and reporting. For the provider, one of the biggest benefits is
a huge improvement in cash flow within the business that is gained from improved
processes.
Level 3 is the first step-up that requires more from employees in terms of managing
change. Whereas Levels 1 and 2 can be implemented mostly manually, Level 3 requires
integrated solutions software and digital working. Implementation should be planned
carefully to include staff.
Our advice is “Think big, start small.” Take one step at a time that will lead you to the
«Think big, end picture. For instance, scheduling on mobile devices is easier to introduce before
start small» checklists. If the digital system resembles the old paper system, then staff will see the
benefits more quickly and start to drive the process. Start with one office to give staff
and the company the chance to learn from the experience, so that improvements can
be made before the whole business is impacted.
Services Modular, Lean Processes, Proactive
Modular services sold from a catalogue make it easier for the customer to choose and
for staff to follow procedures. You may sell a dozen different products, but if the prod-
ucts all require tuning then that service can be sold online for a good price. When the
engineer arrives on site, he or she will have the necessary information to know what
is needed for each type of machine.
Rather than waiting for a customer to call with a fault, offer routine, preventative
maintenance contracts. A regular schedule is agreed upon for technicians to visit the
site and carry out preventative maintenance. This is designed to prevent errors before
they happen. Large-scale machinery breaking down in the middle of production can
have a devastating impact on profits, or cause telecoms’ failure in the stock exchange.
For example, this is why machines should be planned to shut down outside of produc-
tion runs, to ensure they stay up and running when they’re needed.
Processes End-to-End, Improved Cash Flow
An end-to-end digital system transforms the administrative tasks of booking, sched-
uling and invoicing service visits. Compared to common paper-based back-end sys-
tems, invoice generation speed is weeks or even months faster. The improvement in
cash flow from earlier payments can make a huge difference to the whole business
model of the customer service department.

Field Service Software Enables End-to-End Process

1. A service order is usually created in the ERP system (such as SAP).
2. An on-site visit is automatically scheduled for the next slot available with a team
of skilled engineers and confirmed by the customer.
3. All necessary data is sent to engineers’ mobile devices: customer details, location,
appointment time, contact info, description of the problem, checklist and the
appropriate manuals.
4. The engineer uses a mobile device to sign in upon arrival at the site and signs out
when he leaves, capturing large amounts of data during the visit such as materials
used, activity codes, test results, expenses, photos, video, etc.
5. The data captured is automatically synchronized with the office’s back-end sys-
tems.
6. The engineer generates a full digital service report for the customer on site, in-
cluding work completed, photos, warnings, recommendations, etc.
7. Customer signs the report electronically.
8. The invoice goes through a validation check before being sent out, usually within 2
to 3 days after the service has been completed.

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 White Paper: Modernizing Your Field Service

Employees Highly Efficient

Customer Relationship
Business Model
Sales message, level 3:
“We’ll keep your busi-
ness running.”
New end-to-end processes transform the engineer’s role into that of a highly efficient,
skilled employee. Optimized scheduling means more visits per day. Additionally, mo-
bile access to the office database means field service technicians have downloaded the
necessary information about the site installation. They know the work that needs to
be done, and they have the latest instructions at-hand digitally.
Experienced employees will know the paper process very well and may question the
need for its digitization. Conversely, younger staff who are used to mobile devices
may wonder why the process is still paper-based. This could even prove to be a barrier
to recruitment.
Better Interaction and Understanding
When customer relationships move up a gear, they have a much more positive impact
on the business. Faster service delivery and less unplanned downtime lead to a higher
yield from capital investments, which justify high-value services.
The engineer knows how equipment is used on-site and can offer advice and recom-
mendations to improve productivity. Also, the engineer can suggest additional prod-
ucts or training that might benefit the customer’s staff.
When the service is completed, the customer is presented with a report to sign. This
would normally include the number of hours worked on site, spare parts used, ser-
vices delivered, and a checklist of data gathered about the installation. A checklist
could include any relevant temperature readings, tolerances, measurements or pho-
tos. For large installations, the report could be hundreds of pages long.
Apart from delivering individual services, ongoing communications with customers
can be more regular and relevant, tailored to site operations rather than general mar-
keting. Communications templates are often professionally designed to echo the
brand.
All of this shows customers the high value of the professional service being delivered.
It also demonstrates how the service is keeping their business running continuously
and efficiently.
Fast digital processes, regular recurring revenue from maintenance contracts, and
vastly improved cash flow thanks to faster invoicing will transform the business mod-
el at Level 3. The customer service department will become a profit center for the
first time.
Better communication with customers and detailed reporting will also start to im-
prove the perceived value of services, and increase loyalty and brand value.
The investment and transformation required to reach Level 3 is not small, but there
are significant benefits.

Case Study – Alstom service technicians need to have saved all the relevant data
on the device before starting work. This affects checklists,
Alstom is the world leader in constructing plants and prod-
file attachments, plant plans and maintenance manuals in
ucts for the generation and transmission of electricity, and
particular. The standard version of the Coresystems Field
also rail infrastructure. Alstom employs over 92,000 people
Service App already runs in offline mode. Therefore, the
in roughly 100 countries and recorded sales of 20 billion
user can access his data, change it or add new information at
Euros for the 2011-2012 business year. A significant portion
any time. The data can be synchronized as soon as the user
of the French industrial group’s revenue is generated from
reconnects to the Internet.
the inspection and maintenance of power plants built for
their customers. Once all the work in the power plant has been completed,
the customer receives a detailed final report. The service
Switching the service processes to a mobile solution had
technician is then able to discuss the final report with the
an immediate effect on several thousand Alstom employ-
customer on the last day of the inspection and hand it over.
ees worldwide. To avoid having an adverse effect on the
operation and safety of the power plant, iPads are put into Excerpts taken from the full Alstom case study, which can be
offline/flight mode during the inspection. Therefore, the read at www.coresystems.net/case-studies

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 White Paper: Modernizing Your Field Service

At Level 4, the service provider starts to go beyond standard services, working more
4. Competitive Advan-
closely with the customer to gain trust and build the relationship, thus increasing
tage
loyalty.
Services Upselling, Product Improvement
In addition to the standard services, the checklist performed by the engineer will in-
clude several items that are not required for the immediate work, but can help form a
long-term profile of the equipment’s performance. For example, slight changes in
temperature readings or tolerances might indicate over time that a particular part
should be replaced before it fails, even if this timing is outside of a normal mainte-
nance service.
It is also possible to extract Information that is not included in the customer report,
but can be used by product development for improving future versions of the equip-
ment by providing insight into how it behaves in the field.
Processes Tasks Optimized and Configured, Reduced Calls
There is further optimization of the on-site procedures for the engineer. For example,
the site and work information downloaded by the engineer includes the extra check-
list items listed above, and the complete service history and dynamically created
manuals.
The initial task of creating the procedures, checklists, and manual segments, is sig-
nificantly sped up and made more accurate by the use of a software system. It helps
the operator organize the information in a common format and automatically makes
it available to be downloaded by the engineer. The system is flexible enough to in-
clude whatever tasks, measurements and tests are required for the job.
Rather than needing to refer to several manuals during the job, the relevant sections
from each manual can be automatically combined electronically into one virtual man-
ual for that particular job.
Self-service options for customers allow them to request service orders online, which
automatically feed into the end-to-end delivery process. Online ordering could be
through the website or some other method more appropriate to the product, such as
using a mobile phone to scan a QR code or using an automated sensor within a large
machine. This sensor will book an engineer visit via the Internet when a specific
threshold is reached, and operate within a pre-arranged service contract. In this case,
the engineer is called before the customer even knows there is a potential fault, but of
course, the customer is informed at each step of the process.
Employees One Step Ahead
The engineers on site will get a great deal of in-depth information about how the cus-
tomer uses the equipment and will be able to identify problematic situations in ad-
vance before they become critical. They can also recommend other products that
would benefit the customer.
It is important that staff do not feel they are required to be salesmen when making
recommendations. Their authority comes from their technical experience, which cus-
tomers highly value.
Customer Relationship Customer Self-Service
By allowing the customer to interact with customer service in innovative ways cre-
ates a tighter relationship, especially if it is tied into the customer’s business model or
reduces their overhead.

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 White Paper: Modernizing Your Field Service

All customer communication falls within the company’s overall branding and user
experience (UX) model. The customer service team is recognized as the prime post-
sales touch point with customers for ongoing revenue, and for repair and consultancy
purposes. The customer sees one company operating in an integrated and connected
way.
Business Model Through operational efficiencies, streamlined processes, service contracts, and other
additional upsell revenues, it is common to save 20-30% in costs. Streamlined pro-
cesses reduce call center inbound calls and average call times, while preventative
Sales message, level 4: maintenance reduces unplanned engineer visits.
“We’ll keep your
business running and
improve it.”

Case Study – Kardex Remstar
«We have already successfully reduced the time between
servicing and invoicing from several weeks to an average of
six days on more than 50% of our customer service calls»,
says Andreas Heinz, Head of IT at Kardex Remstar
Kardex Remstar develops, produces, and distributes dynam-
ic storage and provision systems. The Kardex Group of com-
panies has branches and manufacturing facilities throughout
Europe, America, and Asia.
The next item on the agenda was the optimization of the
service division. One of the main aims was to accelerate the
handling of service processes by reducing the time between
engineer interventions and invoicing, in an effort to avoid
unnecessary system transitions and paper reports.
Technicians are issued an iPhone equipped with the Core-
systems Field Service Software and can now record their
time and material expenses directly, in addition to getting
the customer to confirm their work on the device. Digital
reports can then be emailed directly to the customer. In line
with this project, a resource planner tailored to the mobile
app of the Field Service Software represents the key com-
ponent in customer service planning. The solution is fully
integrated into the existing ERP system and provides service
technicians with orders and information.
Excerpts taken from the full Kardex Remstar case study,
which can be read at www.coresystems.net/case-studies

At Level 5, there is much more focus on the customer’s individual requirements and
5. World Class, Hard to
how the company can offer more customized services. Brand loyalty and being ahead
Copy
of potential competitors are the key goals. The role of the engineer is critical as he or
she is recognized as the most frequent contact point with the customer, and becomes
an ambassador for the supplier.
Services Differentiation and Personalized Services
The standard services are now customized to align with the customer’s own proce-
dures and methods of working. The customizations can take into account the usage
profile of the machines, hours of operation, production targets, service history, etc.
There may also be additional, non-standard services that are only performed for this
customer. In this way, the customer is receiving high value services, which are aligned
to their own business objectives.
The work required to define and implement these services would make it extremely
difficult for competitors to offer alternatives.
Processes Tuned And Integrated Engineering On-Site
The digital procedures and checklists defined for standard services are easily modi-
fied to accommodate customizations and fine-tuning for individual customers. Once
«Brand loyalty trained, engineers will download all the information they require as usual. Customer
preferences may also be applied to back-end office tasks such as invoicing, scheduling,
and locking etc.
out potential
competitors
are the key
goals.»
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 White Paper: Modernizing Your Field Service

Employees Ambassadors
The engineer becomes an ambassador for the company, transitioning from solely car-
rying out technical work to become more customer-facing. This does not require sales
skills but rather customer relationship building and advising skills. It is likely that the
customer will see engineers far more frequently than sales staff, so it is advantageous
that they should take on a larger role, when appropriate and with supportive training.
The role enables them to be one step ahead of the customer’s needs, and helps them
recognize situations in advance before they become major issues. They can identify
ways to help solve problems.
Often there will be dedicated engineers for larger customers, based on-site to provide
a fast response. These ambassadors, in particular, can provide ongoing help and guid-
ance of extremely high value.
Customer Relationship Serviced by Preferences, Brand Loyalty
The customer now benefits from a very close relationship with a trusted partner, rep-
resented by ambassadors who understand their operation and want to help improve
it. Communication is extensive and two-way, through a variety of channels as appro-
priate to the business.
Services are delivered according to their preferences, in a professional and efficient
way that creates trust and benefits both parties.
Business Model The customer service team takes a more central position within the company as a
major revenue generating operation, perhaps with its own sales targets and market-
Sales message, level 5: ing.
“We offer business
continuity, trusted
advisors and high value
services.”

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 White Paper: Modernizing Your Field Service

5. Summary
Change the way you look at field service. Instead of seeing it as just a cost center, view
it as a valuable contributor to the future of your business.
Customers are expecting a more personal relationship and customized services that
align to their own business objectives. With the right services, processes, employees
and business models in place, you can offer very flexible, high-value solutions to cre-
ate loyalty and ongoing future revenue.

Stage 1 Best
Effort 2 Cost
Effective 3 Improve
Quality 4 Competitive
Advantage 5 World Class,
Hard to Copy

Field Service Best job Improved End-to-end, Upselling & Differentiation &
Focus possible efficiencies lean processes product personalized
improvement services

Processes Reactive Standardize, Modularize, Tasks optimized Tuned &

scheduling better informed improved cash and configured, integrated
flow pro-active reduced calls engineering
on-site

Employees Repair Efficient, better Highly One step ahead Ambassadors

work instructions efficient

Customer Cost Efficient, Better interaction Customer Serviced by

Relationship equipment use & understanding Self-Service preferences,
added value brand loyalty

About Coresystems
Coresystems is a leading provider of mobile and cloud-based field service and
workforce management software for mid-sized and large enterprises’ field service
organizations. Since Coresystems’ founding in 2006, more than 190,000 users
across the world have utilized Coresystems’ innovative, real-time field service
management software to improve their business and field service processes. Core-
Coresystems systems has also pioneered “crowd service” – which allows customers to leverage
CH: +41 56 500 22 44 an Uber-like platform to find available field service technicians in real-time. Core-
DE: +49 761 887 95 777 systems is headquartered in Switzerland with international offices in San Francis-
USA: +1 (415) 887-1944 co, Miami, Berlin, Freiburg, Shanghai, São Paulo and London.
www.coresystems.net

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