Container inserts

Container deployment is a specific term in the Innosoft FSM environment that describes a special form of deployment planning. It refers to a “container” of tasks or services that are assigned together to a technician or team as a bundle. In practical terms, a container assignment can be thought of as a collective order: several individual activities or tickets are bundled in a container and assigned a time slot and a resource (technician/team) as a single unit. This is helpful when many small orders need to be completed in one location or within a short period of time. Instead of planning each micro repair order individually in the planning board, the dispatcher creates, for example, a container assignment “Customer service day X – Hamburg location,” in which all maintenance and minor repair tasks for that day for that customer location are packed.

In the Innosoft planning board, a container assignment can appear as a single assignment bar, but it comprises several subtasks. The color or identifier of the bar can indicate a mixed order type if necessary. The advantage is that the dispatcher only has to plan once and the technician receives a bundled order. If necessary, the container assignment can be moved to another day or technician without having to manually reschedule each subtask.

The software offers functions for managing resource allocation and sending assignment information to the technician for such containers (e.g., the technician receives a “container” with all the details in their app).

In the field, the container assignment enables the technician to organize their work efficiently: they see all the subtasks of the container in a list and can work through them in sequence. Once completed, they report the results, which are then assigned to the container order. For documentation and billing purposes, the individual subtasks are evaluated either separately or together, depending on the settings.

Container deployment increases clarity on the planning board when order density is high and facilitates the planning of routes involving many small stops. However, this concept requires discipline in its definition: only related or geographically close tasks should be placed in a container in order to maintain transparency. Overall, the use of containers is a tool for making complex deployment plans clearer and giving the field service more flexibility in processing them.