Why Metrics Are the Key to Field Service Operational Excellence

The first step in maximizing operational excellence is admitting you have a problem…

Service Executives across industries are looking for ways to maximize productivity, customer loyalty, employee engagement and most importantly service revenues. If you are looking at your service organization today and trying to make decisions based on gut feelings and guess work, it’s time to change the way you approach this reactive, break-fix model and shift to an analytics-based, predictive model. Metrics allow you to paint a clear picture of your organization in the present, so you can prioritize where you want to be in the future and determine your roadmap. Real-time visibility into these key areas creates accountability that will allow you to make informed decisions on how to maximize operational efficiency.

We provide our customers with the framework for successful field service implementations starting with these power metrics because if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.

First Time Fix (FTF)
With insights into first time fix rates you can learn how often your techs are getting the job done right, with the right equipment, the first time. With ForeFront Service Accelerators like Help Lightning and Best Tech On Call℠, field service organizations are improving FTF and Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) metrics, while transforming their service offering with a higher touch experience.

Warranty and Contract Leakage
Warranty leakage is the money a company loses while providing services that are assumed to be covered under warranty but are not. Leakage is defined as the, “free stuff” you are giving away because the warranty is not well defined to your technicians. By giving them the mobile tools they need like ServiceMax mobile, they can unlock warranty information in a single click. ForeFront has the know-how to deal with complex contracts with 3^rd parties and elsewhere to ensure coverage while eliminating inaccurate or confusing service bills.

Service-to-Cash Cycle
It’s the gap between when a technician completes a job and accounting receives payment. What’s bottlenecking your invoicing? ForeFront seamlessly integrates ServiceMax to any ERP and other back office systems so you can recognize this revenue faster.

We put the power in the hands of your field service technicians with mobile devices that allow real time updates and information at your fingertips, as well as merged reality video available for on the spot support.

Attach Rate
Attach Rate is one of those metrics that field service leaders have used to justify the implementation costs of a field service management solution because if you can move the needle even by a few basis points, you are contributing to your service revenue and EBIT. Make sure that your technicians are equipped with the knowledge and soft skills to maximize potential revenue and engage customers while on-site. Many service organizations are incentivizing their technicians for up-selling contracts, since they are typically the ones who have the relationship with the customer. By rewarding this behavior, technicians become more engaged employees and deliver a better customer experience.

Uptime
When a critical piece of equipment goes down, it can mean heavy SLA penalties, lost business, even potentially dangerous situations for a customer. The key to maximizing uptime is to harness the power of machine intelligence. ForeFront specializes in Internet of Things technologies and can integrate IoT platforms and analytics your ServiceMax instance so you can monitor performance in real-time and get ahead of failures through smarter preventive maintenance dispatches.

These business KPIs provide the insight to track and act on performance with true visibility into your operation, but metrics alone do not transform your service organization.

Strategies for Optimization
Still tracking work orders on pen and paper? Wasting hours on admin tasks that should be simple? Let’s start with a mobile strategy. We put the power in the hands of your field service technicians with mobile devices that allow real time updates and information at your fingertips, as well as merged reality video available for on the spot support.

Automatically generate work orders, optimize dispatch routes, and utilize ForeFront’s Best Tech On Call℠ to make sure you’re optimizing truck rolls and first time fix. Utilize dashboards that help you visualize the overall health of your field service organization.

These business KPIs provide the insight to track and act on performance with true visibility into your operation, but metrics alone do not transform your service organization. It is the people and processes behind them, which is why ForeFront provides a combination of powerful field service accelerators, industry leading insights, cross platform expertise and integration excellence so you can maximize the returns on your ServiceMax implementation.

ForeFront works smarter not harder. We leverage best practice methodologies like Agile, a more collaborative and iterative approach to quickly deliver software based on core business objectives. We also utilize our Maestro is a proprietary suite of methodologies, tools and best practices for seamless Force.com release management and test automation. Our combination of field service domain expertise with integration know-how translates to a best practice software implementation with ServiceMax that will deliver insights and control over your field service organization like never before. Contact us today to transform your field service organization.