I participated on the panel, The Circular Economy: Moving Toward a More Ecologically Sustainable Service Business Model, at Field Service Europe 2023 in Amsterdam on Oct. 25. I was joined by Ralf Bootz, Services and Solution Delivery Lead, International Markets, with Philips, Zoltan Gal, Global Services Sales Manager Power Protection, with ABB, Costas Dintsios, Global Field Service Director, from Frigoglass, Markus Hucko, COO of Leadec Group, and Maureen Azzato, Portfolio Director of Field Service Europe.
During this special event, we discussed critical topics at the forefront of the field service industry in 2023:
Data Is the Key to Making Decisions
One of the main themes that came up several times during the panel discussion was that data is key and is needed to inform all business decisions. If you don’t have data, you can’t make accurate decisions.
For example, suppose you have old equipment in the field, and you don’t have the data to determine the carbon footprint. You decide to replace it with new equipment with lower energy. However, the installation and environmental penalty create a higher footprint than repairing it. But, if you had the equipment data, including its age, the actions you should have taken would have been crystal clear.
Focusing on Servitization Is Good Business
If you are a manufacturer and sell a product, your revenue will be based on selling spare parts. However, when prioritizing servitization, ensure your field service organization is responsible for the outcome. Your focus is on providing a service instead of selling equipment.
Field service companies must transition from selling equipment to servitization to stay competitive in today’s field service landscape. A high-quality service is a much more valuable offering to foster a positive customer experience and brand loyalty.
Sustainability Is Essential
A key sustainability factor for the field service sector is getting rid of waste healthily. This includes not only eliminating quantities of waste but also wasting time, mileage, spare parts, and more. The focus of sustainability is the less waste you have, the better. Further, one of the components of a successful sustainability strategy is maximizing the life of existing internal and customer equipment.
Field service organizations must prioritize supporting their customers’ sustainability goals, as well as track and measure progress toward these goals.
At Gomocha, we are committed to creating a sustainable organization by helping customers transition to the cloud.
Other timely topics that the other panelists and I discussed during this value-filled session at Field Service Europe 2023 included employee satisfaction, remote service, and ESG programs. This panel emphasized the importance of collecting data to make critical decisions, shifting to servitization, and focusing on sustainability. In today’s quickly evolving field service sector, organizations must keep current with these insights to thrive as we move into the future.