Most firstline mobile workforces of today have a varied makeup including veterans who’ve been on the job for decades, inexperienced workers recently out of school, and everyone in between. When you combine new digital solutions firstline workers must use with the diverse workforce and growing skills gap, many organizations are facing a significant training challenge. This guide explores that challenge, including why it exists and how to fix it.
Industrial operations leaders often face critical challenges related to their field workers, from improving efficiency to reducing accidents to improving the customer experience. Digital solutions can be the answer, but only if designed and executed properly—and many initiatives fail due to missing essential steps in the process. Learn the benefits of approaching technology initiatives as a continuous lifecycle, rather than a one-off project, in this resource.
Artificial intelligence is a hot topic in the service space. Automated assistance, through AI applications like chatbots and interactive voice technology, is on the rise. The growing sophistication of AI technologies is helping service professionals across many industries deliver better customer experiences, with greater efficiency and at less cost.
FSOs are looking for solutions that will help them automate work order creation, scheduling/dispatch, location tracking, and time/labor tracking, and grow along with their business requirements. All future-proof solutions should include these five critical capabilities.
Making smarter, data-based decisions is a key innovation focus. With cloud-based analytics, organizations can bring disparate datasets to one place and harness the insights with all relevant information at their fingertips. This can be achieved through machine learning, whereby data is moved from a rear-view (reports that tell you what has happened/what the trends are) to a more predictive forward-view which can help with business planning.
Leading organizations who have deployed telematics are looking to get more value from collected data to drive improvements in their operations. Businesses that invest in telematics are able to drive connected workflows and see many benefits, especially when combined with analytics to drive process improvements. To realize these benefits, it is important to have a tight connection with the workforce and the assets required to complete the assigned jobs. There are many instances where getting a real-time data feed from the field can result in dramatic improvements to the job workflow. Fleet and equipment telematics systems capture useful data, and organizations that are putting that data to good use are making strides in the market.
The rollout of mobile technology is reaching a tipping point in the market. Many organizations have well-established mobile applications that connect to cloud platforms that provide immediate views into the operational workflows of their business. It is estimated that by 2020 75% of all field service organizations will be using mobile tech for their operations. This will ensure that technicians have the most up-to-date information when they need it and enhance the data capture from the field.
The technology landscape for IoT devices is undergoing a big change. The data protocols used to connect assets to the cloud are being upgraded, providing new opportunities and use cases for a wide range of industries. Although the shift from 3G to LTE has been in place for consumer technology, its impacts on commercial telematics is just starting to be felt. This is especially true for North America where many of the large network carriers are rolling out new dedicated protocols and expanding to other markets in Europe and China.
In an industry marked by rising customer expectations and shrinking margins, field service leaders are looking for ways to do more with less. Technology is helping companies work faster than ever, whether it's automating routine tasks or supporting technicians in the field. But field service organizations can go even further by unlocking the full potential of AI and the IoT.
Analytics and automation have changed manufacturing operations. Now, augmented reality is similarly transforming human operations. Manufacturers that have embraced AR are seeing newer workers develop skills faster and workers of all skill levels become more effective and responsive.
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