Digital Service Models

New service providers are constantly increasing competitive pressure and buying their way into the market. Due to this, the erosion of margins accelerates. The result is cut-throat competition, which leads to a shakeout in the market, a shift in the distribution of sales, and a reduction in margins. The changed competitive situation means that service providers must make adjustments, further developments or realign their service portfolios.

The target of the consulting project is to optimize the entire digital service model as well as the process flows. As part of this optimization, the essential information on client assets is to be integrated into the end-to-end process for service provision and thus made available to the responsible service department. At the same time, the process of declining customer satisfaction is to be slowed down and the satisfaction to be increased again, which can be achieved through more efficient route planning and reduced response times.

At the beginning of the project, our consultants analyze the current state of the service area. In a two-day workshop, we analyze service products, organization, processes and applications. This is followed by a detailed health check of the service processes and systems as well as the identification of optimization areas in the areas of: Workload Management, Routes, Installed Base / Customer Facility, Spare Parts Preparation, Inventory and Customer Integration.

Our consultants support our clients in optimizing efficiency by setting up digital service planning. Since daily workloads can change quickly, digital planning tools constantly optimize and calculate job portfolios for all employees and integrate long-, medium- and short-term jobs. As a basis for service planning, an overview of the availability of a company’s capacities, as well as the tasks to be completed in the future, is essential. From the comparison of these two main variables, a daily order portfolio is then automatically calculated for each resource.

ensign advisory also supports route optimization and reduction of unproductive times in e.g. callbacks by introducing real-time information (e.g. order and asset status, technician position). We collect this data based on a route planning engine, which can be integrated into various systems such as SAP or web-based portals. After providing a written address, the Geocoder service automatically creates an accurate geo-location for each piece of equipment in the client’s portfolio. New addresses or changes are automatically assigned to field staff and consider daily route calculations.

In addition to route optimization, we manage and improve the end-to-end process using KPIs, monitoring and other analytics. The implementation of digital monitoring enables remote monitoring and diagnostics of machines. Digital monitoring combines the discipline of mechanics, electronics and IT. Machines are equipped with sensors, sending live data to a central point (hub) where all available information is analyzed. A rules engine then forwards the data according to predefined rules and triggers follow-up processes such as preventive maintenance and interventions.

We improve customer satisfaction by pulling two levers. First, we involve customers in the entire process flow, and second, we help reduce service response time. These levers are implemented by building a digital customer portal, which serves as the main communication channel to the customer and supports a centralized and collaborative way of working.

Together with our clients, we develop a suitable strategic roadmap from these measures and accompany from planning to implementation.

The results of our consulting services are the establishment of digital service planning, the use of digital route planning, digital monitoring of machines, and the implementation of a digital customer platform to help our clients achieve more efficient implementation of all service processes in the best possible way.

The automation of digital service planning reduces the planning effort of the management and improves the response time for new orders. In addition, the planning tool creates benchmarks and improves with each new calculation according to predefined KPIs, resulting in continuous improvement. Route optimization increases efficiency and response by reducing unproductive time, while secondary damage is avoided, and downtime is minimized by implementing a digital monitoring system. In addition, we achieve a reduction in on-site visits through remote troubleshooting and can reduce the number of administrative tasks by means of the implementation of a digital customer portal through, for example, automatically uploaded documents.