Trimble: Transforming Field Service Management

Steve Berglund, CEO

With the rise of modern Field Service Management (FSM) solutions, driven by the technology forces, growth is in fact indispensible. According to MarketsandMarkets, FSM is expanding at a rapid pace estimated to be valued at over $3.5 billion by 2019. Along with highly scalable centralized FSM systems and real-time collaboration, companies today are looking for advanced solutions with improved enterprise efficiencies and reduced operational costs. Besides that, as enterprises realize the value FSM software can bring to an organization as a whole, as well as its employees and shareholders, customer demands and the logistics of managing field teams continue to increase in complexity.

Pioneering in transforming FSM, Trimble has been providing visibility into the entire field and fleet operations, enabling businesses to streamline efficiency, increase productivity and service excellence. As a core facilitator of mission-critical FSM, the firm offers an extensive FSM portfolio that includes workforce management and scheduling, worker safety, performance analytics, fleet management, and mobility solutions that transform the effectiveness of work, workers, and assets in the field. Construction, real estate, energy, utility and environment are Trimble’s core areas.

Facilitating End-to-End FSM

From service portals with advanced scheduling and optimization tools to customizable mobile applications and workflows, Trimble PULSE—a suite of end-to-end service management solutions—allows businesses to streamline efficiencies from the back office to the technicians out in the field. The portfolio of solutions include fleet management, service management, asset management, driver safety as well as customizable mobile applications and workflows to offer customers industry-specific, enterprise-level solutions for exceptional performance and ease of use.

Trimble PULSE offers extensive support for the back office operations of a field service organization, allowing for streamlined business processes that are repeatable and predictable. The capabilities allow businesses to manage their customers, calls, service contracts, estimates, and work orders along with assets, inventory and billing, all from one place.

Trimble Pulse Drives Improved Visibility And Information Sharing In The Field, Via Out-Of-The-Box, Configurable And Customizable Mobile Applications

It eliminates time-consuming manual processes, reduces room for inconsistencies and ensures that accurate data is shared across the entire business. In turn, this allows the whole business to respond quickly and seamlessly to deliver field service excellence.

The platform allows users to automatically build and dispatch the most efficient schedule and stay on top of work as changes happen throughout the day. Its extensive range of scheduling, shipping, and optimization tools enables a mobile workforce to transform into becoming more competent and efficient. Field service businesses can choose the level of automation they require to manage shifts, tasks, appointments and perform ‘what-if’ analyses on potential schedule changes. Trimble PULSE also ensures that both planned and emergency service work is prioritized and completed first time, as quickly as possible in line with organizational goals such as keeping costs to a minimum or meeting SLAs.

Trimble PULSE drives improved visibility and information sharing in the field, via out-of-the-box, configurable and customizable mobile applications. Fully scalable to meet business and workflow needs, it enables anytime, anywhere access to information and connects mobile workers to the back-office, customers, and equipment in real-time, empowering the entire business to make better business decisions. It also encourages team collaboration and reliable, timely data capture, assisting customers in speeding up time to invoice, tracking work progress throughout the day, and enhancing workflow compliance and standardization throughout the organization.

Making Real-time Intelligent Decisions

As a part of FSM process, service organizations that have multi-vehicle fleets often needs real-time information about their vehicle use which helps them to make informed decisions. Trimble Fleet Management enables managers and supervisors to make intelligent decisions using real-time field status information.

Fleet Management offers a range of on-demand information and activity reports on key data such as vehicle location, condition, and mileage. In addition, Fleet Management includes exception alerts which highlight issues such as when a vehicle hasn’t moved or leaves its designated work area.

In an instance, Del-Mar Door Service providing service for automatic and manual doors, hardware, latches were using an outdated fleet management system, lacking many features available in current solutions. They decided to replace it with Trimble Fleet Management solution that assisted the client in offering visibility into daily field service operations. The added advantages were in identifying, managing and improving areas such as driver safety, customer service, back office administration, fuel use and vehicle efficiency. The solution has enabled the managers and supervisors to make intelligent decisions using the real-time location and status of their vehicles, which has enhanced fleet productivity by identifying where improvements can be made to cut costs and boost efficiencies.

Organic Growth for Future

Over the past several years, acquisitions have played a role in Trimble’s strategy, mostly as mechanisms to establish benchmarks in new market spaces, fill in product line gaps, or add new technologies to their solutions portfolio. Looking ahead, as communications standards, computer technology, and applications software rapidly evolve, Trimble keeps pace, marrying GPS information as well as other positioning technologies to other data sources and types. Today, Trimble engineers worldwide are working on cutting-edge positioning applications that no one could even imagine just a few years ago. With more than 500 products, Trimble continues to lead the way in developing position-centric solutions to address some of the world’s most complex challenges. Trimble’s technology can be found in consumer and commercial vehicles, construction equipment, farm machinery, computers, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), and more. Innovative applications include dispatching and managing fleets, surveying and building roads, monitoring and mapping earthquake damage, recording and synchronizing international financial transactions, and improving the efficiency of wireless communications networks. Trimble is changing the way work is done by linking positioning to productivity.

- Lane Adams
March 28, 2018