In times of intense competition, digitalisation and energy transitions, the demand for improved customer experience, digital collaboration, flexibility, and control increases. This is the final article in a series of four examining how the case and work order management system can help service organisations and asset owners in changing market conditions. In the spotlight is how optimised resource management and qualitative real-time information can empower the mobile workforce and improve operational field service efficiency in blended workforce collaborations.

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The case and work order management system supports mobile field service management in blended workforce collaborations

Organisations with a combination of internal staff and several subcontractors performing assignments, both in-office and in-field, need to optimise their resource management process, handle large amounts of data transactions, and coordinate real-time information.

To gain a holistic view of the actual status of work the constant flow of information needs to be collected, visualised and monitored. The case and work order management system must coordinate a hierarchy of case and work order assignments, single or in batch, and visualise the real-time data for each involved actor in order for them to act on daily changes and forecasts.

In the third article in this series, we talked about how to thrive in constant change. Now we want to highlight the foundation to empowered operational field service efficiency; optimised resource management and smart support facilitating for the fieldworker.

Optimised resource planning and scheduling with automation

Resource management is about the optimised use of resources in every situation. Based on shared business processes within the case and work order management system including resource schemas for availability and capacity of each resource, the planning, scheduling, and assignment can be performed with optimisation and automation.

By using advanced algorithms, the optimisation considers the entire schedule in real-time and plans to minimise costs and the impact on the environment - while maximising service response.

The optimisation can be performed based on numerous parameters such as geography, availability, capability, skills, cost, location and priority. Having the optimisation result visualised in a list, in a gant-scheme or on a map gives good support for making the right decision and assign the best-suited contractor and resource for the job.

Smart and user-centric support for the mobile workforce

To be on time, in the right place and with the right equipment fulfilling all the requirements in every step of the workflow can be quite challenging.

With a user-centric approach and insight into the fieldworker’s everyday situation at work the case and work order management system can provide smart field service support facilitating for the fieldworker and efficiently align business requirements with user needs.

Empower the fieldworker with real-time information such as work descriptions, location, contacts, scheduled time, equipment requirements and pre-defined workflows ensuring quality and safety. This could be done either by a mobile field app included and connected to the case and work order management system or by integration to subcontractor system apps. Map-routing support also saves the fieldworker important driving time and gives a positive environmental impact.

When assigned multiple jobs in the same area in a ‘whilst in place approach’ the fieldworker needs to manage different work order types in parallel. If the upcoming week for example contains several sites with both maintenance and installations, an overview of assigned work and a personal schema in a mobile app supports the field worker to be in control of the daily work and can easily swap between the different assignments.

At the site, the fieldworker wants to reduce time and effort spent on time-consuming reporting and have solid support when things do not go according to plan. Self-guided report forms adapted to each work order type facilitate both the performance and the reporting.

Checklists with auto-filling of old measurements and validation of new registered values make it easy for the fieldworker to check and report each activity and feel safe about having performed the job according to plan. AI capabilities can be used to further support the field worker in repetitive and time-consuming tasks improving both quality and efficiency.

Finally, the fieldworker should not have to worry about when and what to report to the back-office. This is automatically guided and facilitated in the reporting forms such as status, time and geography, assets, billing information and used materials.

Want to know more?

 Above is the foundation of operational field service efficiency highlighted. With access to qualitative reported data from the best-suited resource in every situation, fieldworkers and back-office will be in control to act on every situation arising. If you would like to know how a case and work order management system can help your business to operational efficiency, we are happy to assist.