Fully digitized service processes in mechanical and plant engineering: Vollert Anlagenbau GmbH has consistently digitized its processes as part of its Service Strategy 2030, relying on Innosoft’s Field Service Management solution. The driver for the faster than planned implementation was the Corona pandemic.
The decisive impulse to quickly digitize our service department lies in the beginning of the Corona pandemic,” explains Benjamin Schenk, Head of Field Service at Vollert Anlagenbau GmbH. As a classic machine and plant manufacturer, they had organized with a lot of paper and were not digitally positioned. “Of course, we had already dealt with the topic of digitalization beforehand. The strategy of our service organization includes the complete digitization of service processes as an important goal by 2030.” But then reality got ahead of this planning: “In March 2020, we all switched to the home office virtually overnight. The service calls still took place, of course, albeit to a lesser extent due to the pandemic restrictions. Only when a system was down did the technician go there, with all the requirements from test to mask that existed at the time.”
For Vollert, he says, the challenge then was to be able to structure and organize the service processes from the home office as well. “That was improvised and very rudimentary at the beginning, with deployment planning via Outlook, for example. And the technicians sent reports and photos by mail to Planning and Sales, for further processing. Nothing was done via the traditional paper route.”
When the situation relaxed again, it was clear to Vollert that they no longer wanted to do without the advantages of digital working. “There was no need for a lot of convincing at management level to digitize this area,” explains Benjamin Schenk. Internally, they then strategically developed which goals were to be achieved with digitization. For this purpose, an evaluation matrix was compiled with all of Vollert’s requirements in order to be able to compare different providers.
Implementation in several project phases
That’s when Innosoft made the running: “After the comparison, it was clear to us that Innosoft could implement everything exactly the way we wanted it. Innosoft’s integration options make it easier to communicate with other systems,” explains the field service expert. So the solution had to fit perfectly into the workflow with upstream and downstream systems. “We communicated this with Innosoft and immediately received solution proposals for these connections.”
Implementation then took place in several project phases: Schedules for these phases were deposited, and team members were assigned to sections and tasks. “For each phase, you need a core team, but also experts from the individual areas from sales to accounting,” says Benjamin Schenk. These teams then defined the rules of the game, how to communicate with each other and at what intervals meetings and work sessions should take place. One thing is clear: Alongside the project work, regular service operations continue, so capacities were tied up. “And digitization is only a small part of our service strategy – the other project components are also being worked on.”
Rapid switch to test operation
Nevertheless, Vollert’s service organization quickly moved into test operation: “This involves digitally recording deployments of our service technicians in the field and forwarding them digitally to the office as deployment reports.” This also applies to the recording of hours: the registration of travel, waiting and working times is done in Innosoft via a digital time clock. A simple click is all that is required for arrival and departure. Expenses can be reported, as well as spare parts used.
This already shows that both field and office staff can generate advantages, simply because everything is done much faster. Reports are no longer sent by mail for days on end or don’t just arrive the next time the service technician heads to headquarters. “We also find that the quality of the incident reports is much higher.” By creating templates, many things can also be made easier: “For example, we can create checklists that the service technician ticks off on site. That used to work on paper, too, of course, but now we can digitally store conditions in the dynamic reports; that can be a request to take a photo of the service case, or to enter detailed descriptions with a specified length. This, in turn, brings advantages for the downstream office in the organization, so that inquiries are eliminated and the information situation is simply better, keyword knowledge management.” In addition, nothing has to be additionally recorded or typed, and duplicate work processes are eliminated – saving time on many levels and reducing sources of error, for example, in the case of poorly legible writing or in the case of scarce, unclear information. Using the camera function of smartphones and tablets, technicians can assign photos directly to an operation. Performance records and service reports created on site can be digitally signed and automatically sent to the customer immediately afterwards. This also has advantages for the Vollert customer: He receives the service reports very quickly and knows what has been done on his equipment. Or, in the event of damage, a repair quotation very quickly, so that machine and plant downtimes can be significantly reduced.
The next project steps have already been laid out
The next project steps have already been laid out. Particular emphasis is being placed on the topic of resource conservation. “For example, we will use Innosoft to optimize the travel routes of our service technicians in order to avoid unnecessary journeys and thus CO2.” Innosoft Dispatch links customers’ locations with those of the service technicians so that the optimal route can be displayed via the Innosoft solution. Dispatch integrates Google Maps to provide additional added value through optional vehicle tracking or a simple proximity search for the best available technician for the next job. The tool takes into account customer preferences and dispatch priorities, employee qualifications and availability, workload and resources.
In addition, it is still a matter of convincing the organization to use the new solution in the operational environment: the service technicians are used to their analog processes, but still have to get used to the digital steps. “We are working on this, but I think that the employees will recognize the advantages of the digital solution relatively quickly – even for themselves,” says Benjamin Schenk.