Trimble Simplifies Field Service Management With New Work Management Solution
By Sarah Nicastro, publisher/editor in chief, Field Technologies
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Trimble Field Service Management today announced the addition of a next-generation Work Management application to its portfolio of solutions, which also includes Fleet Management and Driver Safety. I recently sat down with Mark Forrest, general manager of Trimble’s Field Service Management division, to discuss the new Work Management solution and how it can enhance your operations.
What need does the upgraded Work Management address in the marketplace?
We know that lack of visibility into the location of field technicians and the status of their work can be very costly to field service companies, and we know it leads to customer complaints, overtime and poor productivity. We wanted to offer a solution that eliminates this information gap and enhances the productivity of mobile workforces through intelligent scheduling tools and state-of-the-art performance analytics. We wanted that solution (Work Management) to help improve customer service and reduce the cost of delivering that service, while increasing the profitability of the field service operation.
What are the key features and functions of Work Management?
Work Management offers real-time visibility into ‑ and lets you monitor ‑ a daily work schedule. It can warn of tasks at risk of being missed and then provide a solution to address the risks. Work Management also shows detailed metrics of field service performance, including comprehensive reports with comparisons and trends. The solution transforms this data into intelligent information so you can maximize the productivity of your mobile workforce to complete more jobs per day. In essence, it empowers you to deliver customer service excellence by making informed decisions, which should translate to higher service profits.
We’re offering two packages. Which package a company chooses depends on its specific needs:
Work Management Performance Insight, which offers performance management analytics through key service delivery metrics such as quality of service, efficiency and utilization, to identify trends and areas in need of improvement. The metrics in these reports are based on the GPS data received from each employee’s vehicle and can be customized to drill down by region, person, job type and team to identify clear patterns, helping businesses to drive efficiencies.
Because these metrics are based on GPS data, the information about the number of task visits, the arrival and departure time of those visits, the distance and time travelled, and stops at other types of locations are all based on accurately recorded location data. This avoids the problem of human error or misinformation when recording location and time-based data.
Work Management Performance Optimize combines performance management analytics with scheduling, route optimization and in-day exception management to help dispatchers plan, monitor and execute a “perfect” workday. This package has an advanced learning tool that allows Work Management to make future decisions based on historic behavior. The tool learns about the geographic preferences and skills of a worker and then allocates jobs accordingly which is invaluable tor optimal scheduling and meeting and exceeding customer expectations.
Is Work Management a premise-based or cloud-based solution?
Work Management is a cloud-based solution hosted on a flexible platform. Trimble develops cloud-based services for the Field Service market that allow our customers to securely access their account and information at any time from any computer, and manage their mobile workforce in real time. Our solutions are available through Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), which is especially well suited to organizations with field operations.
Explain the differences in focus and functionality between the Fleet Management and Work Management applications. Would a company choose one or the other, or use both?
Fleet Management enables field service companies to make intelligent decisions about routing and vehicle use based on real-time field status information. The decisions should lead to reduced fuel costs and vehicle emissions, enhanced customer service, and optimized assets.
Work Management improves worker productivity with tools that analyze in-day and planned tasks to optimize workforce efficiency. At the heart of Work Management is performance management analytics, which delivers critical metrics such as quality of service, efficiency and utilization, to help companies identify trends and pinpoint areas needing improvement.
Fleet Management and Work Management each deliver functionality for specific aspects of a field service operation. Together, Fleet Management and Work Management provide an integrated suite of solutions designed to optimize field operations. Through the combination of Fleet Management and Work Management, for instance, Operations Managers and Field Managers receive an unmatched dashboard of information that shows their key field service management KPIs.
With all the solutions available today, what sets Work Management apart from other applications on the market?
No other company offers the depth or breadth of our Performance Management Analytics (PMA), with its unsurpassed ability to splice and synthesize data. PMA lets you target the information you need to fully optimize your operations. The In-Day Advisor tool, for instance, shows how allocating a new task to a worker affects overtime and travel costs, such as fuel consumption and emissions.
As such, a dispatcher can make qualified decisions based on facts. The Self-Learning tool uses an advanced algorithm that quickly learns mobile worker strengths and assigns tasks accordingly. The tool has the intelligence to take this information and apply it to future decisions based on historic behavior. One of the keys to managing productivity is ensuring that the right people with the right skills get to the right job at the right time and the Self-Learning tool helps in achieving this.
Which types of companies can benefit most from Work Management? Is the solution geared toward certain industries or company sizes?
Work Management is geared to businesses with mobile workforces that deliver services to customers, such as installing or repairing equipment at customer sites, or maintaining a physical infrastructure, such as networks, cables and telephone exchange buildings. These companies may have a skilled mobile workforce of 10 or 10,000, typically juggle multiple jobs each day, and often have to respond to emergencies and in-day assignments.
A wide range of industries would benefit from using Work Management, especially those in the trades, such as plumbing, electrical and gas; communications and telecom; medical devices and healthcare; utilities, fire and security; pest control and landscaping; facilities maintenance; railroad service and construction.
Where/how can companies learn more about Work Management?
You can call 1-877-728-7623 or visit www.trimble.com/fsm. We also offer a free productivity assessment, which helps organizations determine if they are good candidates for Work Management. For more information on the assessment or Work Management in general, call 1-877-728-7623 or email fsminfo@trimble.com.