Modernized service strategies combine enterprise IT, ‘smart’ technology, and information.

Manufactures are expected to be more demand oriented, data driven, and technologically focused. This means focusing on the customer, using the data collected from many different areas, and digitally executing strategies using platform technologies.

Many companies today are focusing on the current stage of achieving field service excellence. This tends to be an easier, stand-alone area to focus on as it incorporates vast amounts of technology available to help and support them.

The next stage deals with moving towards connected service platforms which oftentimes involve an integration of smart, connected products. This is when companies will start to deal with how to capture data, leverage the insights, and turn it into actionable results for various stakeholders throughout the organization.

The last stage deals with achieving servitization optimization. Servitization is an important concept because it holds the potential to transform how products are delivered and monetized. This is really the movement towards product service systems and products-in-use value.

Ultimately, providing access to product and parts information is a crucial step in on the path to successful profitable growth.

Technology is fueling service transformation for many organizations.

For instance, here’s how ‘service’ has begun to transform with the help of new technologies:

• Cloud technologies have enabled greater access to service parts visibility and information.
• Mobile technology has put information in the hands of service technicians, at the right time.
• Big data analytics now capture asset and product information, enabling enhanced service quality with better first-time fix rates.
• And social technology has allowed engineers, service, and customer support to collaborate.

These cloud, mobile, social, and big data analytics technologies have enabled manufacturers to transition from systems to service, from information to innovation.

Our team is prepared to help you achieve field service excellence. Our Product Development Information Services team is experienced in the architecture, implementation and support of a technology portfolio making service excellence a reality for many of our customers.

The stakes are high and, as technology is making the world ‘smaller’, competition is growing at a furious rate. Your enterprise needs to stay on-point at all times and deliver flawless service to every client on a moment’s notice.

With so many variables impacting efficiency and profitability, how can you manage the service lifecycle of your product with full confidence?

With the proper strategy, smart investment, and smart guidance you can not only keep up, but plan for the future.

The growing complexity of products in the market makes the jobs of service departments more challenging. Factors outside of a technician’s control such as unavailable parts information or delays in the supply chain can make a huge impact on profitability, client satisfaction, as well as the overall performance of your products.

New approaches to Service Lifecycle Management (SLM), along with new technology (like the internet of things) can do a great deal to streamline service operations.

Watch this on-demand webcast from PTC to learn all about industry research on the impact of the information gap at the point of service delivery and best practices to successfully meet these critical business challenges head-on.

Most organizations recognize the importance of a ‘speedy response’ to a quality issue or a customer complaint.

In fact, faster service response time has been named as a top priority for many service lifecycle management efforts. The significant demand for manufacturers and service organizations to resolve customer issues promptly, and to quickly mitigate any product quality issues has become a challenge.

How do you overcome this challenge and implement a solution? The equation involves equipping service technicians and customer facing roles with the right information at the right time, along with aligning parts/inventory and service personnel.

For example, let’s look at a very realistic situation.

Imagine your dryer machine breaks down. You call the manufacturer and learn you have to wait three days for a service visit. Depending on your patience (and laundry needing to be done) this could be the beginning of a very unpleasant customer experience.

But what if that same manufacturer was able to pull up your model, and already knew they had visited you a year ago with a similar issue. How might your experience be impacted if they were to tell you there was a 90 percent first-time fix rate for your specific dryer and a technician would be able to show up with the specific parts needed to fix your issue?

This is the type of service that customers want and are starting to expect.

It is easy to see how putting the right information in a service technicians’ hands at the right time is so important.

Service technicians want to be able to see service information and technical service bulletins. They want to see information on the job and have access to just in time training. They have a desire for formal training, tech assist helpdesks and hotlines, and safety instructions.

So how do we enable and empower technicians to optimize service experiences and exceed customer expectations?

Here are some of the best practices that we have gathered:

1. 1. Provide access to technical/service parts information when technicians need it
2. 2. Make that information easy to search
3. 3. Supply accurate product and configuration information including all parts and service history
4. 4. Enable easy ways of ordering parts
5. 5. Offer just in time training/help

‘Smart’ service management is your key to success.

Your service information needs to be managed at a network level. This ensures that all your players in the service web have access to the right information, at the moment they need it.

Adding a modern layer of accessibility to your information is a critical part of ensuring your service network can operate efficiently and effectively.  This is what will help you drive positive customer experiences throughout your product lifecycle.

We offer the technology solutions and technical expertise to make real-time service information delivery a reality. Contact us to learn more about our Product Development Information Services group, PTC’s Arbortext and Service Lifecycle Management technologies, and the PLM solutions that can effectively link together your product data and service part information.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is transforming the way companies design, manufacture, and service their products and manufacturing floors. ‘Service’ is one of the most notable areas to be impacted by this wave of technology and connected devices. Monitoring assets in the field and on the shop floor gives service technicians access to usage, error, and predictive analytics prior to a repair. As companies continue to adopt the IoT, more organizations are satisfying the prerequisites to easily deploy augmented reality for service.

With the convergence of the digital and physical worlds, manufacturers are using augmented reality as a tool to help improve their service capabilities. Augmented Reality (AR) can deliver the right information at the very moment that it’s needed on the manufacturing floor so that field service technicians and other factory workers can reduce errors, enhance efficiencies, and improve productivity. AR also allows for content to be presented in arguably the most contextual way possible. When accurate information is presented over real-world devices there is little room for error and misunderstanding.

If field service technicians aren’t available to be on-site for a critical situation, then technicians can remotely assist customers with the help of AR. Customers will be able to observe service manuals with interactive 3D animations to disassemble components or work on equipment with which they’re unfamiliar with. If the users need further help, then the experienced field service technician can walk users through instructions while steaming the user’s device view in real time.

Augmented Reality Barriers to Entry

Your service and parts information have to be accurate and up-to-date in order to fully benefit from an augmented reality investment. Making sure your organization has a reliable Service Lifecycle Management system in place is the first step to digital transformation. Without accurate information on parts and equipment, field service technicians could replace the wrong part or be confronted with an outdated, undocumented design.

In order to be labeled a “smart connected enterprise,” a company should have a strategy to connect all of their assets and data; this includes technical publications. Connected technical illustrations have the power to show the current status for every part and piece of equipment. For example, if a mechanic could see a 3D representation of a vehicle’s carburetor and view critical metrics it would help them understand the potential for repairs or future failure.

Your organization needs to be IoT ready – meaning that there needs to be a strategy in place to input sensors on products and equipment. The Internet of Things allows products and assets to send alerts to a maintenance system that assigns a field service technician to perform a repair. Without the sensors that relay information about the status of those parts, and accurate 3D representations, augmented reality devices would be useless because there would be no relevant or up-to-date information to leverage in the field.

The IoT and Augmented Reality are transforming service and enhancing the field service process. Check out EAC’s solutions to see how you can start using AR today.

A field service technician is a product expert who goes on site to assess, install, repair, or troubleshoot problems. Often when a company does not use field service software, or SLM software, these technicians have a hard time troubleshooting the problem in a quick and efficient manner.
Having a Service Life Cycle Management (SLM) tool in place can help your field service department have access to the right information at the right time. Technicians have higher first-time fix-rates (FTFR) when they are dispatched with the right information and parts on the first trip, instead of discovering they did not have the information, tools, and parts required to service a product.

Most technicians use some kind of portable device whether it be a tablet, smartphone, or laptop – all of which gives them access to relevant information needed for the job. This information could include inventory, service tasks, customer history, and new product details, and it may also reference an opportunity to cross-sell or up-sell with another product or service. SLM software provides access to relevant service information and opportunities, and this minimizes downtime, increases customer satisfaction, and improves financial performance within your organization.

Tech Clarity found that top performing companies had rated their top initiatives in support of their 2017/2018 service goals in their Buyer’s Guide for Managing Service Information:

• Get product information to the field sooner – 79%
• Connect technical information to product support and field – 74%
• Reduce duplication of efforts, use existing engineering – 63%
• Streamline technician access to technical information – 63%
• Increase the use of graphics in documentation – 58%

Having an SLM software solution can get accurate product and service information to the field efficiently and quickly, where it will provide to most value to field service technicians. Learn more about how your organization can implement a service life cycle management tool to provide value for your field service technicians here.

Service organizations typically receive recurring revenue, less fixed capital, and higher margins than strictly product-centric businesses. Aftermarket services now account for almost 24% of manufacturers’ total revenue and 40% to 80% of their total profits (Pollack, B., PTC Video: Transforming Your Service Organization with SLM (part 3 of 3)). When executed properly, after-sales service and support can provide increased revenue and invaluable customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Customer relationships are both a huge benefit and a huge risk.  Companies without a comprehensive plan to ensure high customer satisfaction often jeopardize customer relationships and risk affecting their company brand. Businesses often suffer when they overlook their role in service performance. Why focus solely on putting your product into the hands of customers? Why not also focus on service, and manage the performance of your products to ensure high customer satisfaction?

Customer Satisfaction Matters

Consumers who are willing to pay a premium for a product are looking for a company that provides the best value. If your company cannot deliver the value that your customer is willing to pay for, then you are going to disappoint that customer.

To build and maintain high customer satisfaction, companies need to look beyond traditional approaches.  It is no longer sufficient to provide good customer service by staffing a call center for customer support.  Customers need more than a call center or email.  They need their product to provide that expected value and perform well.  Businesses need to figure out how to deliver that value, maintain high product performance, and keep a happy customer.

Service as the Main Course

Viewing service as an extension of the product can help companies deliver added value and improve customer satisfaction. So what, then, is the hesitation that executives face when delivering service as a strategy in their organization?

Making strategic decisions can be challenging when confronted with numerous variables. Employing an effective service strategy can be especially challenging when organizations are divided into separate silos, with each department concerned only with its own objectives but missing the main objective: the customer.

To execute a service strategy well, companies must look to transform their current approach to service. They must optimize service performance and service functions across all departments and ensure everyone is working collaboratively to deliver a unified service experience that joins parts, product and service information, remote service, and predictive analytics that maximizes the product value to each customer.

Service Lifecycle Management (SLM) is the solution to a service transformation within an organization. SLM provides a platform to deliver on-demand parts, accurate and relevant product and service information, global remote service, and predictive analytics for maximum product performance.

The Right-Sized Service Lifecycle Management Solutions

Service excellence prepares your organization for years of satisfied customers and service related revenue streams. Don’t miss out on revenue opportunities and the chance to provide your company with a competitive advantage. Apply service as a strategy within your organization.

We have an entire team that is dedicated to helping you manage service life cycle. Check out our services here.