5 Tips for Field Service Engineers to Improve Productivity on the Field:

Posted by Anup Sharma on September 5th, 2022

What is it like to be a field service engineer?

You are responsible for all field service operations, from managing on-site technicians to scheduling large projects.

Indeed that’s a lot of responsibilities and if you are managing all field service sites manually, then you are in grave danger.

There are many situations in which you need to have a digital ally that can help you with automation of obstacles found in field service management.

Even if you are managing all these processes through reading software, still it will  bring you a lot of headaches. 

A no-code field workflow automation platform is a helpful friend because it can help you create content efficiently.

In this article, I will be explaining how a field service engineer can increase efficiency with the right approach.

Let's Start with number 1

1. Convert All Your Paper Forms & Checklists Into Mobile Apps

Mobile-first businesses are more productive because employees are more efficient. This is due to how mobile phones allow them to complete tasks on the go. It also applies to field service management as well.

With new platforms for no code, companies can never before easily convert their field forms and checklists into mobile apps.

Such checklist-based apps streamline daily field processes and make things easier for the field service management industry.

It helps all employees maintain order, monitor problems in the workplace, and identify work procedures that need to be improved.

To give you a complete idea, here are some most used checklists & forms every field service engineer must convert into mobile apps:

• Site Inspection Checklists. 

• Quality Inspection Checklists

• Field Audit Checklists 

• Incident Management Audit Checklists 

• Site Safety Plan Checklists  

2. Go Digital- Use Your Own Mobile Apps

There are many challenges in using field service software, such as long timelines and capital expenditure. As a result, you need to think about how to improve field operations without spending much money on expensive software.

How cost-effective solutions can streamline your field service management.

Depending on the size of your business, every employee could have their own personal smartphone. Similarly, if you are a larger organization with many employees, then tablets would be an ideal solution.

But, these devices are often used just for basic purposes like taking notes and calling. Most employees are likely leveraging only a few of the capabilities these devices offer.

No-code app platforms lower the barriers to innovation by providing easy to use solutions for designers and developers alike. Applications can be created without any coding required, making it possible for organizations to create great mobile apps for their employees in a timely manner.

Such apps allow field employees to collect field data, send automated reports, and conduct daily field-related activities. 

3. Automate Mission Critical Workflows

As a Field Service engineer, one of the first things you should do is automate processes that are important to the company, and those that are conducted regularly.

Automating your field workflow through a no-code platform would not only help you in streamlining daily field processes but also help you save time and costs.

To give you a complete idea of how workflow automation works, consider the below example.

Let’s consider, a field service firm decides to automate the data collection process. All field employees can start using a workflow app on their mobiles for data collection.

Now, as a field team collects the data – the manager gets the notification to check the data in real-time. He checks the relevant data and approves it.

As soon as he approves, the next task is assigned automatically through notification and other details are sent to the concerned person. This is how workflow automation works.

In nutshell, workflow automation is a series of repetitive actions that are automated for streamlining processes.

Apart from streamlining processes, field workflow automation helps organizations to eliminate human errors, automate repetitive tasks, bring down the cost, create transparency, share notifications, real-time reports, etc.

4. Automate Daily Field Reporting

Every field service engineer faces challenges when it comes to reporting. It is important for field service engineers to receive timely updates on what’s going on in the field.

It is true that they can directly call field technicians to take updates on work, but this usually involves rewriting or entering data into a computer later. This takes a lot of time and effort, right?

There is a program that enables field service engineers to receive reports from technicians, which includes key details about the progress and completion of a job. The report is filed automatically with key data such as customer information, tasks performed, and location information. This saves team members time and provides more flexibility in their work.

5. Focus On Most Important Areas

One of the most important aspects is that engineers should focus on probability.

Businesses often seek to implement digital transformation projects across the entire service landscape.

While digitizing the entire service landscape may seem like a good idea at first, the process is extremely challenging.

High cost, long project timelines, and difficult adoption are some of the keys.

reasons why such initiatives fail in most organizations.

This means that we will be replacing many services with micro-apps, which is where the challenges come in.

Instead of taking on a herculean task of automating the entire organizational process, the MicroApp Strategy allows you to go one step at a time.

You can accelerate your digital transformation by focusing on key areas and using modern, no-code tools and practices.

The micro-app strategy benefits service organizations in many ways like: 

• Practical easy-to-use implement an approach for digital transformation.

• Focus on your 20% problem areas that drive 80% of operational productivity.

• Better Control On Cap-Ex and Op-Ex.

Conclusion: 

In this article, you will find five steps to help field service engineers be more efficient. The first step is to use AI to scan the environment for any problems.

However, the shift towards automating processes hasn’t been easy.

If your organization is in need of assistance to achieve field workflow automation using the no-code platform, we are here to help!

Our expertise in automating field workflows using a micro-app strategy will surely help you achieve greater heights.