The State of Field Services: 2013 report from TSIA provides an overall snapshot of the Field Service industry based upon benchmarking data. The report highlights the top 11 areas that field service companies are working to optimize in 2013. Among these are scheduling and dispatch, part and logistics, reverse logistics, mobility, and depot and repair operations. For those of you also planning on optimizing any of these areas, below are some tips on how good field service software and reverse logistics software will help. Scheduling and Dispatch If you’re a field service company, this is most important. When your agents are sent out into the field is when your customers count on you the most. They expect your front line technicians to be prompt, efficient, and successful in fixing their problems. They’re not thinking about how you operate on the inside, as long as you help them get what they need. So, having good field service software will make sure you accomplish all your customers expect of you, improving their experience and getting them to stick around. Parts and Logistics Another piece of the puzzle is parts and logistics. With the changing technologies and continually increasing business costs, you need to track parts, materials and assets to a much more specific level to prevent fraud or abuse and effectively manage warranty reimbursements from your suppliers. Proper field service software would provide you with in-depth, real-time visibility into supply, demand, and inventory costs, allowing you to properly predict supply and demand and automate stock reordering. This also enables you to track costs and eliminate errors and inventory redundancies. Finally, you can tighten inventory stock levels and boost your operational efficiencies. Mobility A fully optimized mobility solution is critical for field service. Mobile field service software can now offer unparalleled access to critical customer and service data and offer management. Careful analysis of this data can uncover trends and ways to differentiate your service as well as cross-sell and up-sell. For example, with a complete view of a customer’s products and service history, your technicians can provide a personalized interaction by identifying recurring service issues and/or recommending replacements or upgrades. Depot and Repair Operations An optimized field service software and/or reverse logistics management software solution would give you a clear view of the stocking levels of materials, giving your returns management and depot repair centers gain a competitive advantage. It also gives you easy warranty validation, so you’re not ever performing service without getting paid for it. Reverse Logistics Last is how you can optimize reverse logistics with proper software. The right solution would give you complete visibility into your internal and external service operations as well as the stocking levels of materials, your r

1. 11 Areas of Service
Optimization for 2013
by CSDP
Corporation

2. The State of Field Services: 2013 report from the Technology Services
Industry Association (TSIA) provides an overall snapshot of the Field
Service industry based upon benchmarking data. The report highlights
the top 11 areas that field service companies are working to optimize
in 2013. Download the report here.
Among these are scheduling and dispatch, part and logistics, reverse
logistics, mobility, and depot and repair operations. For those of you
also planning on optimizing any of these areas, here are some tips on
how both good field service software and reverse logistics software
will help.
Overview

3. So, having good field service software
will make sure you accomplish all your
customers expect of you, improving
their experience and getting them to
stick around.
In addition, the heart of your field
service software should be
entitlements, so you can quickly and
easily identify what level and type of
service your customer is entitled to.
This ensures you meet your contractual
SLA requirements and don’t over-
deliver or under-deliver service.
Scheduling
and
Dispatch
If you’re a field service company, this is perhaps the
most important piece of the customer service
puzzle. When your agents are sent out into the field
is when your customers count on you the most.
They expect your frontline technicians to be prompt,
efficient, and successful in fixing their problems.

4. The additional benefits of field service software are
endless. Here are 10, but visit our blog for even more.
1. Improve supplier and vendor relationships
2. Allows for bench technician workload balancing
3. Higher productivity for workforce and equipment
4. Accurately track customer-owned stock levels and
set up remote part lockers or “roaming”
replenishment trucks
5. Better traceability with historical logs
6. Increase sales and support productivity
7. Better decision-making tools
8. Auto-generates service requests for follow-up
activities and for proactive events
9. Automate and control work orders with Service
Dispatch’s powerful Escalation Engine
10. Balance service workload more effectively
Read our case study titled, Automate the Entire Depot Support and Logistics
Process to see a real-life example.

5. Another piece of the puzzle is parts and logistics. With the changing technologies
and continually increasing business costs, you need to track parts, materials and
assets to a much more specific level to prevent fraud or abuse and effectively
manage warranty reimbursements from your suppliers. Proper field service
software would provide you with in-depth, real-time visibility into supply, demand,
and inventory costs, allowing you to properly predict supply and demand and
automate stock reordering. This also enables you to track costs and eliminate
errors and inventory redundancies. Finally, you can tighten inventory stock levels
and boost your operational efficiencies.
Read the following case study to find out how to Reduce Inventory and Logistics
Costs.
Parts and
Logistics

6. A fully optimized mobility solution is critical for field service. Mobile field service
software can now offer unparalleled access to critical customer and service data and
offer management. Careful analysis of this data can uncover trends and ways to
differentiate your service as well as cross-sell and up-sell.
For example, with a complete view of a customer’s products and service history,
your technicians can provide a personalized interaction by identifying recurring
service issues and/or recommending replacements or upgrades. This also enables
setting up additional what-if scenarios so that if a customer has Product A, then an
alert will pop up for the technician to discuss corollary Product B.
Mobility

7. This would not only ensure that
technicians with the right skill set are
properly dispatched the first time with
the right information and parts, but also
give field service technicians real-time
access to critical service data 24x7 and
allow them to complete transactions
while on-site. These are absolutely vital
to both customer satisfaction and
service profitability.
Read more about field mobility research
done by Field Technologies Magazine in
Field Mobility 2012, a special report that
CSDP sponsored. Download this
report to learn how real users are
leveraging mobile technology and using
field service software and discover the
latest trends in field mobility from VDC
Research.
Mobility

8. Want a leg up on your competitors? An optimized field service software and/or
reverse logistics management software solution would give you a clear view of the
stocking levels of materials, giving your returns management and depot repair
centers gain a competitive advantage. It also gives you easy warranty validation, so
you’re not ever performing service without getting paid for it.
Another way to boost your profitability? In-house repair automation. It will
automatically determine whether to repair or replace a returned product,
streamlining the repair process and reducing inventory control costs. It will also
automatically reorder stock and tracks the history or all work orders.
Curious how it can help your company? Read our case study to see how you can
significantly improve your depot logistics and repair process to better support your
field services.
Depot &
Repair
Operations

9. Reverse
Logistics
Last, but certainly not least, is how you can optimize reverse logistics with proper
software. The right solution would give you complete visibility into your internal and
external service operations as well as the stocking levels of materials, your returns
management, and depot repair centers. This gives you an advantage as well as a
high ROI. Robust and intelligent Return Materials Authorization (RMA) management
will maximize your performance and put you in front of your competitors.
Read about how a reverse logistics choreography can enable full visibility into your
entire reverse logistics supply chain and watch a brief demo of the choreography in
action.

10. CSDP is a services-led software company with solutions that can automate the entire post-sale service
delivery process including:
• Field Service
• Reverse Logistics
• Customer Support
• Service Contracts, Warranty & Entitlements
Our clients have realized improved customer satisfaction by up to 15 points, increases in service
profitability exceeding 10%, decreased average cost per repair of 50% and increases in first call
resolution greater than 20%.
The Service Relationship Management (SRM)© product suite addresses the complete end-to-end
service delivery lifecycle including Contact Center, Dispatch/Mobile, Depot Repair, Inventory Control &
Management, Knowledge Management, Marketing and Quote Generation, Warranty Entitlement,
Training, Contracts/Billing, Reports, Scheduling, and Time Tracking. Our software is fully tailored to fit
your company's needs and easily integrates with your existing infrastructure so that it implements
quickly and begins generating ROI immediately.
CSDP's SRM© software solution has been delivered to some of the world’s foremost Fortune 500
companies to include IBM, Xerox, Fujitsu, Whirlpool, Rockwell and PSE&G.
About CSDP

11. Website
Blog
Service Relationship Management LinkedIn Group
Contact us at 888-741-2737 X 107
E-mail us at info@csdpcorp.com
CSDP Corporation
15615 Alton Parkway, Suite 310
Irvine, CA 92618
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