Skills

Skills are the qualifications, knowledge, and experience that a service employee has and that make them suitable for certain tasks. In field service, skills include, for example, specialized knowledge (electrical, mechanical, software), product knowledge (trained for device type A or B), language skills (such as English or French for international assignments), certifications (e.g., safety certificates, welding certificates), or even soft factors such as customer training expertise.

The management of resource skills is a central element in an FSM because it forms the basis for successful dispatch planning. A dispatcher needs to know which technician has the skills required for a job. In the Innosoft software, such skills can be stored for each user/resource (e.g., check marks for “can work with high voltage,” “knows product line X,” or stored skill profiles). If necessary, these skills can also be classified according to level, e.g., beginner, experienced technician, expert.

When a new assignment is planned, the system can provide support by, for example, only suggesting technicians whose profile matches the assignment. This requires that the requirements for service assignments for the respective machine or system have been stored in advance, analogous to the skills of the technicians. When the resource search is opened for an assignment, the skill profile for the assignment is transferred to the search, i.e., the system filters the resources based on the required skills.

In practice, the service manager or HR manager initially determines which skills are relevant in the system. There is often a skills catalog with entries such as “Certified refrigeration engineer,” “SAP expert,” “Spanish language.” Each technician is then assigned the appropriate skills and often also a level of competence (e.g., 1-5 or beginner/advanced/expert). This granularity helps with resource planning. A critical job may require an expert level, for example, so that only very experienced employees are considered.

For companies with many technicians and a wide range of services, skills management is essential for increasing first-time fix rates, because if the right technician is sent, the probability of the problem being solved immediately increases. In addition, skills in the FSM system can also be used for training planning. For example, you can see that only a few employees have a particular skill and offer targeted training.

The technician app can show the technician their own stored skills, but often not those of all their colleagues (for data protection reasons). The dispatcher, on the other hand, has access to a skills matrix.

Here is a clear example. A customer reports a CNC milling machine with a software error. The dispatcher looks at the order and sees that the skills “Siemens CNC control” and “software update” are required. The system filters the results: Technician A has both skills, while Technician B only has mechanical skills. Technician A is therefore assigned to the job because his skills match the requirements. Service excellence is achieved by matching skills and tasks. Skills are thus the “matchmaker” in resource planning.