Field Service Improvement Project

A medical equipment manufacturer supports the installation of medical devices in hospitals, clinics, and other locations through several call centers (for centralized phone support) and field service staff (for site visits and local support). The call center receives problem calls from the customers. Whenever possible, a call center rep resolves the problem via telephone. However, in many instances, a field service rep will need to be dispatched to the customer site for additional testing, analysis, and corrective action.

Due to increasing support and service costs, the manufacturer decided to initiate the Field Service Improvement project.

In the field-service arena, prior to implementation of any process improvements, field service reps were making multiple visits to a customer for any one problem call. The field service rep was notified of the problem from the call center, which had captured as much information as possible about the problem via telephone. However, once the field service rep made the visit to the customer location, additional diagnostic tests and other information became available. Often, the field service rep needed to to order a spare part to replace a malfunctioning component. This required a second visit to the customer location. Furthermore, expedited shipping costs for mailing spare parts overnight could be significant.

To address the cost and timing issues, a business analyst reviewed the current processes, and developed improved processes enabling the field service reps to reduce the number of repeat visits required. First, the field service reps were given a minimal inventory of spare parts that covered 80 percent of the problems encountered in the field. The recommended inventory was determined based on the actual problems, calls, and resolutions for the past two years, and on the installed base of devices in each region. Not all field service reps carried the same spare parts inventoryselected parts were tailored by region. Also, whenever possible, field service reps were asked to join a conference call with the customer and call-center rep prior to the visit. This allowed the field service rep to ask questions that the call center rep might not consider.

Longer term, the business analyst proposed future additional improvements to the call-center process, including improvements to remote diagnostic testing, updated telephone interviewing techniques, and additional checklists for call center reps, and additional changes aimed at further reducing repair delays and the need for multiple visits to customer sites by the field service rep.

• What benefits did the company realize as a result of this effort?
• What are the potential shortcomings of the Business Analysis used for this project?