Pitney Bowes Automates Field Service Communications
A wireless communications system for service technicians is expected to reduce emergency repair orders by 90%, cut service callbacks by 10%, and reduce inventory by 15%.
Field service representatives in all industries often face a common problem - that of communicating and exchanging pertinent information while on the road assisting customers. Technicians employed by Pitney Bowes, Inc. (Stamford, CT), the world's leading provider of integrated mail and document management systems, services, and solutions, once ranked among this group. However, this is no longer the case.
Three years ago, executives in the company's Global Mailing Division sought a means of increasing productivity and improving customer service levels while decreasing costs and boosting revenues. "Our ultimate goal," says Mark Davis, VP of customer service, "was satisfying customers' ever-changing needs and balancing that with meeting the requirements of shareholders."
The division had long used a homegrown service management application that resided on a legacy system. Yet, the solution was riddled with problems. In addition to its lack of scalability and flexibility, it was not well coordinated with Pitney Bowes' back end parts inventory and logistics systems. The reports it generated were difficult to understand, and diagnostics were often vague. "It was obvious that the only way out of our dilemma was a complete service structure revamp, namely, retiring the legacy system and starting afresh," says Davis.
Because its base of potential end users numbers several thousand technicians, Pitney Bowes investigated only field service automation solutions offered by large vendors. In mid-2004, the company deployed Antenna A3 for Siebel Systems from Antenna Software (Jersey City, NJ). "It was clear to us that this solution would be able to function with our current size and roll with the punches as we continue to replace legacy systems with integrated applications," Davis asserts.
Antenna A3 for Siebel resides on field service technicians' wireless handheld devices, such as the BlackBerry from Research in Motion (RIM) (Waterloo, Ontario), as well as on handheld computers. It uses the store-and-forward technology of A3 Mobile Foundation to securely transmit data between these devices, Pitney Bowes' network carrier, and its back end Siebel Systems (San Mateo, CA) CRM 7.5 customer relationship management system. Whether or not they are within network coverage, technicians thus have wireless access to real-time or near real-time information, including parts availability, customers' previous service history, and service agreement details.
The system also lets managers know which technicians are on what job and which parts have been used. Service calls can be prioritized based on individual situations and assigned in accordance with technicians' proximity to given sites, with the system then conveying the information to the proper mobile device. Inventory records are adjusted as technicians order parts from the field; requisitions for replenishments are then automatically placed when preset levels are reached.
Real-Time Information Improves Repair Rate, Cuts Inventory
"As a result of this implementation, we are enjoying higher-quality information than we had before, and technicians are able to make inventory/parts decisions independently, without talking to three or four people," Davis states. While it is too early to quantify the benefits gleaned from the project, a preliminary assessment indicates that it will meet or beat its objectives. Those objectives include a 90% reduction in emergency and rush orders, a 10% improvement in overall first-time equipment fix rate, and a 15% reduction in inventory. Other, less tangible, benefits include faster, more responsive customer service; less overtime; more accurate order management; improved forward/reverse logistics and tracking; increased customer loyalty; and the elimination of cumbersome paperwork and administrative tasks.