If it's one thing I learned growing up watching Disney "imagineer" new theme parks, new attractions, new worlds and new ideas, it's that you can almost always turn something into something else with the right "imagineering1."
NetSuite announced a new field service management (FSM) solution at SuiteWorld 2023 designed to to help organizations meet changing customer expectations and deliver seamless experiences.
The new NetSuite Field Service Management should helps businesses improve the efficiency of field service operations and increase customer satisfaction.
With Field Service Management by NetSuite, customers can improve field-to-office communications by simplifying scheduling and dispatch, automating inventory and customer asset management, and increasing visibility into real-time data.
The 'imagineer' in me wondered, "why do we always look at FSM solutions in terms of 'the field being somewhere else' when it just as likely could be our own back yard.
You see, everyone thinks about Field Service Management solutions for businesses being something needed by electricians, heat & air, or plumbing contractors who work remotely at customer locations. But I 'imagineered' there to be so many more uses for this functionality with just a little creativity.
Typical example of a Field Service app that works with NetSuite, not NetSuite specific app.
For example, "how about using Field Service Management for vehicle repair work?" Oh, I don’t mean repairing vehicles in a customer’s driveway or broken down on the side of a highway, although you certainly could do that. But I’m thinking about using FSM to run your vehicle repair shop.
Just 'imagineer' it with me.
You have to schedule the work to be done for the customer, and that means at a specific location, working on a particular piece of customer equipment (in this case, a specific vehicle), using specific tools to accomplish the task, and with the appropriate technician(s) to do the work. You also need to track the parts used for repairs, the time that goes into the work, and have access to all the past history for this specific vehicle.
If this was a heat & air call, you might be doing the work for ‘The Henderson Building,’ on the 8th floor of 101 Henderson Place, and it might involve the ‘air handler’ on that floor. You are dispatching Unit 101 with journeyman ‘Ace’ and apprentice ‘Tim.’ That’s precisely what Field Service apps can do.
But back to my vehicle repair shop.
"We’ve got a 2500 Chevy Pickup needing an oil change that belongs to Mr. Underhill2."
We already know that Mr. Underhill is our customer, and his 2500 Chevy Pickup is the equipment he needs to have serviced. We also know that an oil change is involved, so we want to find which ‘pit bay’ is available to change the oil, and we want to find a skilled technician for Chevy Pickups who can do an oil change.
The new Field Service Management feature tells us to assign this job to "Harry 'filter-man' Taylor," and schedule the work in Bay 7 at 9:30 a.m., just 15 minutes after the vehicle arrives.
Based on the oil and filter change and complementary inspection tasks, the 2500 Check Pickup should clear the bay in 42 minutes with an anticipated $110 in oil, $55 in a filter, $95 in service tech time charges, plus a $22.00 mandatory waste-disposal charge, and $14.75 in sales tax.
As Harry (the service tech) records his work, the oil is removed from the bulk oil inventory, and the filter is removed from the inventory in stock. Harry’s time and billables are tracked for payroll hours and commission.
Best of all, every 'bit' of this data flows seamlessly into every other feature of NetSuite.
With a vehicle inspection checklist built into the FSM application as a document template, we can even provide Mr. Underhill with inspection results and potentially identify the subsequent work to be performed, allowing scheduling to be put in place.
Field Service Management has created a standardized workflow for vehicle service routines, reduced the paperwork since all the information is going between NetSuite and the technician’s mobile app. The scheduling was seamless, the appropriate resources were allocated to the task, inventory was controlled, employee time and expense were tracked, and everything was streamlined.
All it took was a little ‘thinking outside the box’ to imagineer how a field service app could become a vehicle service app.
Who knows, with a little more imagineering, I might decide to turn the FSM app into a service app for jet aircraft.
“OK, let’s put that 737-800 in hanger B11 for a starboard engine overall and assign Joe Patroni’s team to ‘Get-R-Dun’.”
If you are ready to imagineer how a field service app can get you "up and running" streamlined and more efficient, check out this resource to learn more about Field Service Management for NetSuite.
Footnotes:
1 - Imagineering (and Imagineer) are trademarks of Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, Inc., and The Walt Disney Cmpany (aka, Disney). The terms were coined by Disney to reflect the creative engineering that designed and build all Disney theme parks, resorts, attractions and other Disney business ventures. The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney, [NYSE: DIS] is an American multi-national media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered in Burbank, California, USA.
2 - Mr. Underhill (aka, Ted Underhill) was a fictional character in the 1985 comedy thriller film, Fletch, produced by Peter Douglas and Alan Greisman, directed by Michael Ritchie, staring Chevy Chase as the title character, and distributed by Universal Pictures.
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Content within this feature has been imagineered from Oracle NetSuite source materials. Referenced source materials or content appearing within this Insightful Accountant feature were adapted and are furnished solely for educational purposes.
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