| You have no doubt read various examples where | | | | technician vehicles are often subject to management |
| Lean Six Sigma was used to identify and eliminate | | | | review and scrutiny. In fact, this may be the one area |
| waste in both manufacturing facilities and service | | | | where you have already applied Just-In-Time or other |
| companies (i.e. financial institutions and hospitals). Most | | | | Lean Six Sigma techniques. |
| of us can quickly see how concepts such as inventory | | | | However, inventory can also be thought of in terms of |
| reduction and improved product quality are applied to | | | | unutilized field service hours. These hours are typically |
| physical objects or documents. But what about Field | | | | non-productive and non-billable. Since Field Labor cost |
| Service Organizations where the primary product (a | | | | (excluding overtime) is essentially fixed, even minor |
| completed service request) is often vaguely defined | | | | productivity gains will have a significant impact on your |
| and the main component (technical expertise) is | | | | bottom line. |
| intangible? How can we apply the same techniques to | | | | TIP: Revenue-by-tech is an often-used and sometimes |
| obtain the same results (increased speed, reduced | | | | misleading measurement. Technicians can boost this |
| costs, and improved quality)? | | | | metric by replacing more parts or increasing repair |
| In this article we will focus on just one element of Lean | | | | times. While your company may benefit from short |
| Six Sigma: Waste Reduction. While service managers | | | | term revenue, customer satisfaction and overall |
| may intuitively suspect that there are many areas of | | | | profitability will suffer. Technician productivity (hours |
| waste within their organization, they may not realize | | | | billable / hours available) is a key metric for any field |
| that the same tools used to streamline production | | | | service organization and should be measured |
| assembly lines can be used to improve field service | | | | continuously and reported daily. |
| processes. | | | | Waiting |
| Let's begin by comparing the fundamental activities | | | | Just like a worker on the production floor or a teller at |
| performed in both a manufacturing facility and a | | | | the bank window, field technicians are generally paid |
| service field organization: | | | | even during idle times. But beyond this obvious cost |
| System Inputs | | | | concern, delays within a field service process are |
| - Manufacturing: Product sales order is entered directly | | | | typically passed directly and immediately to the |
| into the MRP | | | | customer - leading to increased frustration and lower |
| - Field Service: Phone call or e-mail manually entered | | | | satisfaction. |
| into SMS Scheduling | | | | There are multiple opportunities for waiting in a field |
| - Manufacturing: MRP checks parts stock lead times, | | | | service process including: Dispatching (technician |
| current inventory, etc. before sending detailed demand | | | | waiting on service requests), Parts Shipping (technician |
| to plant floor. | | | | waiting for parts to arrive at site), Invoicing (billing |
| - Field Service: Typically SMS only checks technician | | | | personnel waiting for completed paperwork from field |
| availability before dispatching (with limited detail). | | | | technician), and Contract Administration (waiting for site |
| Process Activities | | | | audit information or pricing to enable contract set-up in |
| - Manufacturing: On plant floor - fabricating; assembling; | | | | SMS). |
| testing. | | | | TIP: When measuring Time-To-Dispatch, make sure |
| - Field Service: At customer site - replacing parts; | | | | you measure from the service request Open time to |
| troubleshooting; adjusting. Completion | | | | the technician Accepted time (not when the call center |
| - Manufacturing: Final QC inspection; Ship; Invoice. | | | | first relayed the request to the field). This ensures you |
| - Field Service: Customer Sign-off; Forward info; | | | | are measuring delays that impact the customer, not |
| Invoice. | | | | just when calls are "thrown over the wall" to the field. |
| Although the specific tasks are different (along with | | | | Defects |
| the terminology), you can see that there are many | | | | Most manufacturing facility closely monitors product |
| parallels within the two processes. And, being similar | | | | defects throughout the production process. The goal is |
| processes they often are subject to similar sources of | | | | to identify and correct defects before they are |
| waste. Below we examine the most common areas | | | | passed forward to downstream operations. |
| of waste that are normally targeted by Lean Six | | | | You are probably aware of (and currently measure) |
| Sigma projects. | | | | two of the most common and visible product defects |
| Processing | | | | in service organizations: Call Backs and Re-bills. But |
| Processing waste is often the results of over | | | | note that these are end-point defects, that is, they are |
| processing in both manufacturing and service. In | | | | often the results of other errors passed throughout the |
| manufacturing this refers to making products at higher | | | | process. For example, the Call Center may mistakenly |
| (and more costly) specifications than required by the | | | | identify the wrong piece of equipment when the |
| customer. | | | | service request is entered into the Service |
| In a field service organization you can over-service a | | | | Management System. This defect could lead to |
| customer by exceeding the contractual Service Level | | | | assigning/dispatching errors and/or the technician |
| Agreement (SLA). For example, you may provide an | | | | arriving to the site without the proper replacement |
| average one-hour on-site response when the SLA | | | | parts. If the technician then returns the completed |
| only specifies an average 4-hour response. While it is | | | | paperwork without correcting the product information, |
| usually better to over-perform than under-perform on | | | | the Invoicing team may apply the incorrect pricing and |
| SLAs, it still represents waste as you are not matching | | | | payment terms. The same defect is passed through |
| the customer demand requirements - which can lead | | | | multiple operations causing multiple errors. |
| to higher costs or missed revenue opportunities. | | | | TIP: As a general rule, you should divide Call Backs into |
| TIP: Measure your actual response times separately | | | | a least two categories: with and without parts. If parts |
| for each service area and compare to the local | | | | were used, you may need to review stocking |
| competition. In some areas you may have a | | | | practices and policies. If no parts were used, it may |
| competitive advantage (e.g. lower than industry | | | | indicate a technician training issue (insufficient |
| standard response times) that can be leveraged by | | | | troubleshooting or other repair skills). |
| your marketing team. | | | | Overproduction |
| Transportation | | | | Producing too much product is easily visible as excess |
| On a manufacturing floor, products are transported | | | | inventory in a factory setting. But how does |
| from station to station throughout the process. When | | | | overproduction affect field service? Remember, your |
| these are mapped and measured carefully, you will | | | | finished product is a completed service call. While it |
| often find the product moves great distances | | | | may seem counterintuitive that you could have too |
| throughout the facility, and represent potential | | | | many completed service calls, you must consider this |
| opportunities to reduce waste. | | | | in terms of scheduling. For example, a technician may |
| Transportation waste in a field service organization | | | | have four Preventive Maintenance (PM) visits |
| takes the form of miscommunication. Service request | | | | scheduled over the next two days (two PM visits |
| information is transported (communicated) from the | | | | each day). If the technician completes all four PM visits |
| customer to the call center, from the call center to the | | | | on the first day you may feel you have gained some |
| field technician, and (often in paper form) from the | | | | advantage. But what if these PM visits are performed |
| technician back to a central billing location. If you have | | | | at the expense of other non-PM service requests? |
| a separate dispatching or triage help desk, there are | | | | What about the schedules of the other technicians in |
| even more handoffs. Each handoff represents an | | | | the same service area? Were their PM schedules |
| opportunity to introduce delays, errors, and | | | | affected as they covered the non-PM workload of |
| non-value-add activities. | | | | the first technician? Did the service office as a whole |
| TIP: Create a pipeline report that shows the number | | | | experience more overtime expenses as the team |
| and average age of service requests in each stage of | | | | scrambled to meet customers commitments? |
| the process (Opened - Not Dispatched; Dispatched - | | | | Smoothing out field service production is as important |
| Not Started; Started - Not Completed; Completed - | | | | as a manufacturing floor. Not only does it make you a |
| Not Invoiced; Invoiced). This will help you to identify | | | | more efficient organization, it also reduces the stress |
| bottlenecks that are caused by transportation delays | | | | on the Dispatch Team, Field Management, and (most |
| within the process. | | | | importantly) the customers by reducing the need to |
| Motion | | | | constantly adjust and communicate ETAs. |
| There are several Lean Six Sigma tools that focus on | | | | Tip: Segment the each field technician's labor hours by |
| creating effective work areas by, among other things, | | | | Time-of-Day, Day of Week, and Service Type (PM, |
| reducing the unnecessary and awkward movements | | | | non-PM, Install, etc.). Then compare this information |
| an operator may experience while performing their | | | | among technicians working in the same service area. If |
| activities. | | | | the hours-distribution varies significantly among |
| Perhaps ironically, motion waste in a field service | | | | technicians it could indicate a scheduling or |
| organization is often the result of an attempt to | | | | performance issue. |
| improve quality. For example, if a Dispatcher needs | | | | The items noted above represent just a few |
| additional clarification of a SLA requirement, they may | | | | examples where waste could be found throughout the |
| physically walk over to the Contracts area to retrieve | | | | field service process. There are many, many more - |
| a paper file. Likewise - especially during an | | | | each which could have a significant impact on your |
| end-of-month billing frenzy - the Invoicing team may run | | | | service business. Also, you may have noticed in the |
| to the Finance area to find a "live" person to check | | | | comparison above that manufactured products are |
| credit status. | | | | typically subjected to various quality checkpoints |
| TIP: How often do you observe call center personnel | | | | throughout the production process. This helps ensure |
| walking around the office while speaking to customers | | | | defects are not passed to the next work station (an |
| over their wireless headphones? Consider physically | | | | important Lean Six Sigma objective) or, even worse, |
| rearranging the work areas and/or creating electronic | | | | to the customer. However, field service events have |
| data marts where customer account information will | | | | no final inspection - except by the customers |
| be easily accessed by everyone in the office. | | | | themselves. This factor alone should encourage you to |
| Inventory | | | | consider using Lean Six Sigma to proactively identify |
| Spare parts inventories in either central warehouses or | | | | waste and other process issues. |