Wish Your Field Techs Had More "Wrench Time"? Give them Better Mobile Tech Tools

By Bob Ashenbrenner, Xplore

Did you know that nearly half of the field service technicians claim “paperwork and administrative tasks” are the worst part of their day? Or that, despite the “digitalization” of field service sector, technicians still waste an unacceptable amount of time looking for information to do their jobs? These revelations,uncovered in a study conducted by The Service Council,clearly indicate that it’s not enough to digitize some forms if you’re striving for greater technician productivity and workflow efficiency.

As noted in this Power Engineering commentary from ABB’s senior VP of the Enterprise Software group:

“It is one thing to scan a paper work order so that it can be transferred electronically. It is another proposition entirely to redefine workflows, plant- or fleet-wide processes, or entire business models because you have the ability to share critical information in a digital format. That is exactly the possibility that digitalization brings to the table.”

I’d modify the above quote by noting that digitalization can redefine, or even refine, the workflow. Removing impediments to work (redefining the workflow) and ensuring that more actions are done accurately (refining the workflow) can have a big payback from the start, while providing the framework to later add more capabilities (further refinement).