SYN-002_WP_State of Emerging Tech_C

Orange Paper
State of Emerging Tech
in Field Service

State of Emerging Tech
in Field Service
What do you get when you gather more than eighty field service professionals, after-sales service
innovators and solution providers in one room for an hour?
The answer: Countless years of experience in the advancement of after-sales service, and expert opinions
about the current state of emerging technology in field service.
At this year’s annual Field Service USA event, hosted by Worldwide Business Research and attended by industry leaders like
FedEx, GE, Ford, Oracle and Salesforce, our Syncron team led an hour-long workshop centering around future trends and
technologies and their potential impact on field service. The workshop was divided into four rotating discussion corners: 3D
Printing, Internet of Things (IoT), Driverless Cars & Drones and Augmented & Virtual Reality.
In 2016, the decline in demand for durable goods (e.g. airplanes, cars, heavy equipment and industrial machinery, among
others) captured headlines, and the fluctuating sales trends continued for much of the year. This type of market volatility is
causing most manufacturers to feel the pinch, and seek alternative revenue opportunities. It was because of this market shift
that Syncron felt it was important to lead the world’s transition from reactive after-sales service to intelligently maximizing
product uptime by embracing these emerging technologies.
Throughout the session, we found that while many organizations were optimistic in their interest in these emerging
technologies, few have truly begun to implement the advances within their field service processes. So, when it comes to this
generation’s take on emerging technology, is it just vendor-hype or reality?
Our goal of the workshop was to answer this question, once and for all, by gaining first-hand information on how emerging
technology is viewed within some of the largest and most advanced field service organizations, how it’s being used today, and
how it’s future impact on field service is seen among the experts. And, as field service moves from a break-fix model to an
after-sales strategy driven by maximized product uptime, we’re tackling each piece of emerging technology to uncover ways
that organizations can invest in the future and start preparing for what’s to come.
3D Printing
3D printing has long been used in manufacturing to create part prototypes.
But now, with the advances made to the already mind-blowing technology,
they can print parts in metal, plastic and other durable materials. This
means that 3D printing can now be used to create actual replacement parts
– and it might not be in the too-distant future that driverless vehicles could
be equipped with printers that can print parts on the spot.
As the technology continues to advance, the impact 3D printing could have
on parts inventory levels, warehouse needs and the logistics of moving
parts from one location to another could be monumental. These factors will
lead to reduced cost and faster repair times – ultimately leading to:
Orange Paper | State of Emerging Tech in Field Service

• Maximized product uptime.
• Reduced excess part obsolescence.
• More revenue for the manufacturer.
• Better experiences for the end-user.
In the workshop, we discovered that the majority of companies are using 3D printing for research and design, with a much
smaller fraction using it to produce actual replacement service parts. The major concern with 3D printing in field service is its
reliability, along with the cost of parts per request. To combat this issue, the idea is to target usage on low volume parts to keep
costs down, ultimately leading to the aforementioned goal of maximized uptime, increased manufacturer revenue and a better
customer experience.
3D Printing will provide usable
service parts in the next 10 years.
So what about the group’s future thoughts on 3D printing in
service? When prompted to raise their hands if they support 3D
printing of service parts for commercial airplanes, the majority of
the attendees hands lifted into the air. But, when followed by the
question, “How many of you would choose to fly on a plane knowing 3D printed parts were used in its service?” hands began to
drop. Most believe that 3D printing will provide usable service parts in the next ten years, which will be a game changer, but with
the over-hyped technology of today, we need stronger proof of reliability, durability, production time reduction, and overall
reduction of machine cost.
Internet of Things (IoT)
The beauty of the Internet of Things (IoT) is the impact it can have on
customer interactions and its effect on improving the overall customer
experience. This holds true for field service, which oftentimes serves as
the ‘face’ of manufacturing brands when it comes to the shift from a
break-fix service model to regularly maintained product uptime.
The intertwined network of physical goods equipped with sensors and
software allows manufacturers to freely exchange data between the
products they sell and their internal systems. This helps both the
manufacturer and end-customer – products built with ‘smart parts’ can
send a signal to both the manufacturer and customer to alert them a
repair is needed and to schedule a service appointment soon, also
allowing manufacturers to ensure that a replacement for the failing part is
available in close proximity to the customer.
There’s no use in having data
captured if you can’t use it.
During the workshop, we found that the companies who have an IoT strategy in place versus those who have yet to settle on
one is evenly split. Here are some of IoT’s pros and cons among the group:
• Without a strategy, there’s no use in having data captured if you can’t use it. Manufacturers must either invest in an IoT
strategy, or start collecting historical data for future use.
• The predictive nature of IoT enhances the ability of cloud-based service parts management technology to proactively
ensure parts are available, thus allowing for faster product repairs.
• Using data strategically can maximize uptime, delivering the amazing experience
today’s customers expect from an IoT-integrated solution.

With the combination of IoT and machine learning, where computers learn to function in intuitive ways that they were not
specifically programmed to do, vast amounts of data can be used to make better decisions and perform more proactively and
preventatively based on past experiences. And, thanks to speedy, at-your-fingertips service from companies like Amazon,
Zappos and Uber, this high level of service standards will be required of manufacturers when it comes to future field service
needs – both at home and at work.
Manufacturers must adopt this emerging technology as they move from a break-fix model to a maximized uptime model to
ensure service parts are in the right place at the right time, leading to quick repairs and happy customers.
Driverless Cars
According to Juniper Research, by 2025 there will be 20 million driverless cars on roads around the world, becoming most
popular in North America and Western Europe by 2021. For manufacturers, this new development could be especially beneficial
to field service.
Driverless vehicles mean technicians can multitask – something that they can’t (or at least shouldn’t) do behind the wheel today.
Multitasking allows technicians to use their field service app to ensure the upcoming appointment is as efficient as possible
while en-route to the call – reading up on customer history, service part inventory and equipment data – so that the technician
walks into the appointment ready to make the repair quickly and successfully, thus improving the customer experience and
maximizing uptime.
In the workshop, we found that current adoption is way off from the future state predicted by Juniper Research. Only about 5%
of the group were actively planning for this technology – but the good news is that many were interested in its potential.
However, with the potential also comes concern: With driverless cars being relatively new on all fronts, lots of questions around
insurance, liability and costs still remain.
Driverless cars could be the answer
to optimized routes in field service.
But driverless cars could be the answer to finding the most
optimized routes in field service thanks to the following benefits:
• Time optimization of the end-to-end service call.
• Cost reduction for fleet maintenance.
• Reduction in accidents.
• More service calls per day per technician.
• Shared vehicles.
The biggest concern here is adoption: many
believe the technological advances are outpacing
the ability to implement it – especially when talking
about giant corporations where implementing a
major shift like this is a heavy lift. But with the
theme of the entire conference being innovation,
we believe the idea of business transformation will
evolve alongside the technology.
Orange Paper | State of Emerging Tech in Field Service

Drones
Drones: you’ve seen them at high school sporting events, outdoor concerts or even in large scale photography settings. But for
field service, specifically, there are both immediate and long-term benefits of drone technology.
As for right now? Drones can be used as a means of diagnosing issues on large-scale equipment that’s difficult for people to
physically inspect, like say, oil rigs. This means less risk for the field service technician, as drones can help them survey large or
hard-to-reach areas without putting themselves in dangerous situations. Or, they can be used in warehouses to retrieve service
parts, like they currently do at Amazon, making product uptime and repair efficiency the ultimate priority.
Of the group in the workshop, a portion of the companies are using drones in their businesses today – but not so much in a
field service use case. Drones have been a huge asset in a surveying aspect – used to see overhead views of construction
space, roadways, damage assessment, and seeing where their equipment is located in giant work areas.
Drones could even be used to deliver a part in the field – if a
technician is on-site making a repair but doesn’t have the
necessary part, a drone could bring it to them, eliminating the need
to make an additional service call down the road. The possible KPI
benefits include:
• Increasing first time fix rates.
• Decreasing carbon footprints.
• Cost savings implications.
• Increase of after-sales service satisfaction rates to rural areas.
All of these benefits are drivers that make drones an exciting way to leverage
parts supply and parts delivery in the not so distant future to improve overall
customer experience and maximize product uptime.
Augmented & Virtual Reality
According to Foundry, a software design company with expertise in emerging technology, Virtual Reality (VR) is the umbrella
term for all immersive experiences, created by using real-world content, synthetic content or a hybrid of both through
multimedia or computer-simulated reality. Augmented Reality (AR), however, is an overlay of content on the real world, but that
content is not anchored to or part of it. The real-world content and the computer-generated content (such as sound, video,
graphics or GPS data) are not able to respond to each other.
Expected to be a $120B market by 2020 with 75% of the market share being owned by AR vs. VR, consumers are certainly
leading the trend, with business not too far behind. But, within this particular group, the main approach that explains the lack of
adoption is the idea “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.” There are still questions around how you measure and track the success of
this technology, and concerns around whether the results are worth the effort definitely give pause to these emerging
technologies.
Only 5% of companies actively use AR and VR,
but 20% see it on the roadmap of their organization.
Of the workshop attendees, about 5% of companies are actively using AR and wearables, but not just in their field service
processes. One company uses the technology for marketing collateral, using it to mimic the inside of their product for sales,

while others are leveraging the tech to help with the
service of older products that their teams can no longer
use for training.
And, like any new technology, the adoption is growing.
10% of attendees are beginning to experiment with AR
and VR – most piloting small tests with a few dealers or
regions, while about 20% see the technology on the road
map after learning more about where it falls on the
priority to budget spectrum. The possibilities behind AR
and VR in field service have endless opportunities – it’s
just up to modern organizations to embrace the
innovation.
From Break-fix to Uptime: Emerging Technology is the Solution
Emerging technologies – from IoT, to drones, driverless cars, virtual reality and 3D printing – continue to impact field service.
The 3D printing industry alone is anticipated to grow by more than 31% before 2020, generating more than $21 billion in global
revenue. And, as these technologies evolve and new trends emerge, field service professionals must be equipped to use them
to their advantage to become more efficient and effective.
The adoption of new technologies and strategies doesn’t happen overnight — you have to start by influencing from within to, in
turn, better serve your customers. This transformation is all about leveraging your own people to drive a better experience for
the customer. Embracing change can be harder than rolling out a brand new process, so it’s important to recognize milestones
along the way. Support is the most important part of leading people through the change, and sustainable change starts by
connecting people with process.
All of these trends provide opportunities for field service technicians to do their jobs more efficiently and effectively, and for
manufacturers to create that competitive edge with their service organization. Today’s most successful companies are looking
beyond the new product side of their businesses and shifting the way they view post-sales service, implementing servicefocused
growth strategies and optimizing service operations.
And as organizations continue to improve their current operations, optimize their service processes, and prep their
organizations for new advancements, the shift from a break-fix field service model to a world focused on maximized uptime will
happen thanks to the emerging technology of today.
Orange Paper | State of Emerging Tech in Field Service

About Syncron
s
Syncron empowers the world’s leading manufacturers to maximize product uptime and deliver exceptional after-sales service
experiences, while driving significant revenue and profit improvements. From industry leading investments in research and
development, to providing the fastest time-to-value, Syncron’s award-winning, cloud-based service parts inventory, price, order
and uptime management solutions are designed to continually exceed customer expectations. Top brands from around the world
trust Syncron to transform their after-sales service operations into competitive differentiators.
For more information, visit Syncron.com

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