IFS Applications. IFS mobile workforce management

to match the specific requirements of a broad range of industries. we still do.

We decided that we would build IFS Applications on standards so our customers would not be locked into any particular technology.

we still do.

We decided to design IFS Applications as a component-based structure so it can be easily extended and updated.

we still do.

We decided that each software component must be totally compatible with every other, yet capable of running independently.

we still do.

We decided to build a product that could handle change and long-term evolution. we still do.

And, that we would make the most user-friendly business software on the market. we still do that, too.

We build unique workforce scheduling and planning products. Software

engines built to respond immediately in real time to real-world events;

plus the insight you need to drive service delivery improvements.

We help you deliver maximum customer value and maximum workforce

utilization at minimum cost.

The results? Improved customer satisfaction and loyalty delivered by a

highly efficient and effective service organization. Simple to say, but

hard to achieve in practice.

read on to find out how we do it

welcome to oUr worlD

oF

after-sales service and maintenance have become critical components in many organizations’ offerings to their customers. In an increasingly commoditized world, it is often a key differentiator. Sometimes, it is the only way to set yourself apart from your competitors.

There are many proven benefits from automating and optimizing the scheduling of your workforce. Success stories with IFS Mobile Workforce Management include 15% reductions in travel and overtime costs, 40% improvement in technician productivity, and 20%+ improvements in service level compliance and on-time service delivery.

The increasing focus on service by companies is matched by escalating customer expectations; not only product performance, but also the speed and efficiency of recovery. The logic is simple. If the product is not working, the customer is not getting any value; the very reason they purchased in the

first place. Every day, your customers are measuring you against their best service experiences—across all product categories.

That means higher demand for ever faster responses and more effective service delivery—tighter service level agreements (SLAs)—and less tolerance of failure. Getting it right, first time has become a business imperative for all service organizations.

Delivering field-based service is a major cost, whether you opt to use a directly-employed work-force, or to use third-parties to perform it on your behalf. Doing it well can make a significant differ-ence to both the company’s brand perception and financial results.

Plus, managing a mobile workforce is a multi-faceted challenge. The need to react quickly to real-world events, deal with uncertainty and cope with constant change is characteristic of today’s service environment. And, the trend is towards ever-increasing complexity.

tHe

bUSIneSS caSe

For optImIZatIon

beFore wItH IFS

InDUStrIal eQUIpment

<100 tecHnIcIanS

It SerVIceS

~300 tecHnIcIanS

SLA hit rate 82% 99%

Travel time 0 -15.2%

Same day response 35% 58%

Avg. time of last call 13:30 15:00

telecomS

>10,000 tecHnIcIanS

Calls in SLA 48% 87%

Today, optimal service delivery performance must be part of any organization’s key objectives if they want to retain customer loyalty, repeat purchasing and a positive word-of-mouth reputation.

The adoption of new technology to improve service delivery has been held back in many compa-nies due to the lack of supporting infrastructure and connectivity. The increasing ubiquity of wire-less networks means real-time interaction with the field is now a cost-effective reality—dispensing with the need for an endless stream of paperwork.

This puts pressure on the ‘back office’ to auto-mate more processes that deliver instant responses to real-time events that are communicated immediately from the field.

Early scheduling software was only able to deliver a start-of-day, or static, schedule. This batch process takes all of the outstanding work and churns out schedules based on available technician resources —using a basic set of business rules and route opti-mization to reduce travel time and mileage between

jobs. But, this approach cannot take into account the day-to-day dynamics of the business.

Today’s service environment demands more than to simply take care of basic performance parameters, such as the number of calls a technician can complete in a day. Now, the focus must be much more on delivering a great customer experience.

A more strategic approach is required. This means a better understanding of the demands on the service team and every aspect of their work, in order to make the required changes and plan effectively for both current and future business requirements. Moving forward aimlessly is not an option.

For an increasing number of organizations, a real-time scheduling toolset is the only way to sustain service performance, to meet burgeoning customer demands, and to grow the business. Being able to satisfy planned demand is only half the battle; being able to respond to, and satisfy, unplanned demand is key.

Can you forecast planned/unplanned demand? What are your known constraints?

Do you have enough technicians/engineers? Are they in the right locations?

Do they have the right skills?

Do they have access to the required parts? Can they be scheduled effectively? Can they be rescheduled in a timely way? Can you do all of this profitably?

IFS mobile workforce management supplies a suite of workforce scheduling and optimization tools. we dedi-cate our time to developing the world’s best tools to support and deliver our customer’s business objectives for more effective and agile service delivery, and better end-user/customer loyalty.

Our best in class, real-time scheduling and work-force planning technology, plus components for easy integration into existing fleet management, work order management, mobile data and CRM/ERP systems, means rapid return on investment for you; making you a consistently reliable partner for your customers—a promise made can be a promise kept, every time.

SerVIce margIn

The question as to whether service should be a cost- or a profit-center has been around for twenty years or more, and the argument rages on. Our take on this is very straightforward. We believe that the best measure of success in field-based service is the margin delivered by the operation. That is, simply the difference between the value delivered to end-user customers and the cost to deliver that service.

Now, customer value can be measured in many ways. For example, it might be revenue; it might be customer satisfaction ratings, or lifetime customer value. However you measure it, we use that ‘value’ as an important baseline factor when calculating schedules and in determining priorities between different activities.

We match that with the cost of technicians’ travel, plus their on-site costs, to determine the highest margin we might achieve for each individual job. We aggregate that for all of the jobs in the plan and evaluate many thousands of alternatives to determine the best possible schedule.

management bY eXceptIon

We believe that management by exception is a better way to work. What we call Radical Automation is a presumption that all routine or repetitive tasks should be automated, enabling the users (planners, schedulers, dispatchers) to focus on higher-value work, with the software using accumulated know-ledge and insight to make well-informed decisions without manual intervention. Automating 80% of scheduling decisions is simply not good enough—we are aiming for 95%+. When we say “management by exception”, we really mean it.

This is only possible if the calculation engine utilizes mathematical techniques that are suited to the real-time, dynamic environment, especially if there are many hundreds or thousands and techni-cians to be scheduled. General purpose optimization algorithms are simply not suitable for solving this kind of puzzle. The power of IFS Mobile Workforce Management’s proprietary algorithms, coupled with advanced heuristics, delivers highly optimized schedules blisteringly fast—even for the largest and most complex scheduling problems.

rIgHt-tIme DecISIon makIng

The world of manufacturing has been revolutionized by ‘lean’ and ‘agile’ thinking, and a key component of these approaches is the notion of ‘just-in-time’ (JIT). That is, delaying making procurement and production decisions until the last moment. This improves the quality of the decisions as they are based on the latest information and situational assessment, improving the frequency of them being right, and leading to less waste.

We apply the same principle to mobile work-force scheduling. Trying to deliver against a plan that was formulated hours, maybe even days, ago leads to waste and inefficiency. On the other hand, the quality of plans can be dramatically improved

by making JIT decisions. And the chances of actually delivering what’s on the plan increase equally dramatically. A good decision can only be the right decision if it is made at the right time. Maximum technician utilization and maximum customer satis-faction—deliver both at minimum cost.

alwaYS optImIZIng

We are never satisfied that we have got the ‘best’, or optimal plan. Our dynamic scheduling engine is constantly evaluating the problem, seeking alterna-tives that might deliver a higher service margin—a

better plan. This constant cycle of calculation and evaluation means that we always have an up-to-date plan available, one that has taken every input into account—every piece of feedback from the field, every new and amended job detail, every GPS fix from a vehicle, and including the impact of passing time on factors such as SLA compliance.

And we are always looking at the bigger picture, by evaluating the whole problem all of the time.

We also believe the same of our software and are constantly striving to enhance our tools and improve their performance—so that you can improve yours.

a gooD DecISIon can onlY be tHe rIgHt DecISIon IF It IS maDe at tHe rIgHt tIme

DelIVerIng

worlD-claSS

both planned and reactive—using your specialist knowledge and expertise to keep their equipment running at peak performance; after all, that is what they are paying for. all the while, benchmarking you against other service experiences and your word-of-internet reputation.

We are sure you feel the same towards IFS Mobile Workforce Management—we need to deliver too. To meet your expectations of a partner, jointly focused on enhancing your business, we have to perform reliably and consistently over time to earn your trust.

Developing the best software tools is not enough; just having the applications installed will not get

you world-class performance. The technology needs to be complemented with a complete range of specialist services to support you through the initial business change and software implementation —and into the future; making sure that you contin-ually get value from your investment for years to come.

Success requires the commitment and involvement of your staff and resources, and of ours too. Our team of experienced consultants will bring you a wealth of expertise about scheduling—including tips and techniques for optimizing technician performance—and work alongside you through the transition; transferring skills and knowledge through formal training and everyday interaction. We are as committed to your success as you are.

We will help you assess the impact of introducing automated scheduling and advanced tools—on processes, on job roles and on your customers. We will help you communicate with all stakeholders about the changes, the planned improvements and the benefits for everyone. We will help you address and overcome the natural concerns that your staff will have, as winning hearts and minds is a critical success factor for this kind of strategic initiative.

Focusing on the people does not mean neglecting the technical aspects. We use industry-standard approaches and open technologies to ensure mini-mum impact on your current infrastructure.

The IFS Mobile Workforce Management engine and other components use your existing systems as the source of data, so integration is also a critical success factor. We have used the knowledge gained

through many previous projects to make sure that IFS Mobile Workforce Management software is easy to integrate into your existing IT infrastructure, whether it is installed ‘on premise’ or running in the cloud.

The wealth of experience, and the breadth of our consultants’ expertise, has been distilled into a proven project methodology—one that we are confident will deliver your objectives. You will have approaches that you know work in your business. We will work with you to synthesize the best of both and build a winning combination.

We have simplified and standardized as much as we can, guaranteeing faster delivery and less risk.

In today’s ultra-competitive and challenging business environment, you can rely on us to deliver world-class.

jUSt HaVIng tHe applIcatIonS InStalleD wIll not get YoU worlD-claSS perFormance

whether you choose to run our software on-premise or in the cloud, as an independent application or integrated with IFS applications, the features and the improved results you get are the same. the compre-hensive software suite offers a range of tools to suit different situations and business needs, ranging from long-term strategic planning to instant responsiveness to emergencies. all of them are built to the same exacting quality standards, delivering every minute of every day.

tHe ScHeDUlIng engIne

The IFS Dynamic Scheduling Engine (IFS DSE) is a world-class optimization engine and the heart of our toolset. Using a blend of sophisticated mathe-matical techniques, and algorithms developed over 20 years that are finely tuned for mobile service, the DSE is capable of solving extremely large scheduling problems overlaid with multiple business-defined constraints—for example skills, SLAs, parts require-ments—and delivering highly optimized plans with-in seconds.

But, it does not stop there. The IFS DSE imple-ments our unique ‘always optimizing’ philosophy, meaning it continually searches for a better solution —a schedule that can deliver improved service margin.

If it finds one, it will change the part of the plan that has not been committed to reflect the improvement, re-allocating work to resources in a just-in-time decision-making approach. The right decisions, at the right time.

The IFS DSE is designed for unlimited flexibility in modeling business policies and objectives, with numerous parameters designed in response to real-world requirements, refined through numerous implementations and a relentless focus on the needs of service providers. The comprehensive setup and configuration options reflect the reality of increasing customer expectations, more demanding service level agreements and your commitment to service delivery consistency and reliability as a competitive advantage.

IFS ‘wHat IF ScenarIo eXplorer’ (IFS wISe)

The IFS ‘What If Scenario Explorer’ (WISE) is an advanced planning tool for organizations with a mobile workforce. It lets you test your ideas thoroughly before you commit to a course of action so you can minimize your risk and maximize profits. Using a wide range of ‘what if scenarios’ you can enter any situation with the backing of a highly accurate prediction of the consequence of your actions.

tHe

IFS mobIle

workForce

management

toolSet

In bencHmark teStS agaInSt otHer ScHeDUlIng engIneS, tHe IFS DSe came top In SpeeD oF proceSSIng, roUte eFFIcIencY anD conStraInt matcHIng (meetIng bUSIneSS rUleS) on DataSetS rangIng From 50 to 50,000 reSoUrceS.

With the IFS WISE you can plan the number of staff you require; what skills they should have and where they should be deployed; and calculate the business performance (KPIs) that they can expect to achieve. The IFS WISE is the ideal complement to the IFS DSE used for operational scheduling of mobile resources.

The IFS WISE brings together both operational and strategic scheduling disciplines to provide a business tool that can be deployed as an additional module to an existing IFS solution or as a standalone component.

The IFS WISE enables you to benefit from: • Cost-saving territory re-balancing

• More-accurate bidding costs for additional work • Achieve better alignment of your resource

locations to demand locations resulting in reduced travel costs

IFS target-baSeD ScHeDUlIng (IFS tbS)

Target-based scheduling allows you to focus your scheduling directly on the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that matter to your business, such as the percentage of emergency calls that you respond to within the target SLA (time window).

Unexpected events happen: staff fall ill, jobs take longer than expected, traffic jams impede your mobile workforce. But IFS TBS ensures that your system responds automatically to such events, changing system parameters and suggesting actions such as overtime for specific staff who will make a difference.

IFS TBS continuously monitors what is currently possible, and also what is actually being achieved, and gives you the management information you need before it is too late to take action.

tHe USer InterFace

Much of the work done by IFS software applications happens automatically, without the need for user interaction; for example, calculation and evaluation of plans, and communications with other applications and technicians/vehicles. But, that does not mean we have forgotten the importance of an intuitive, power-ful interface for those tasks that do need human help.

The multi-workspace Scheduling Workbench. Performance visibility, and real-time tools for exception tracking and resolution.

Quite the opposite, we lavish as much care and attention on the user experience as we do on other aspects of our products. Browser-based, the scheduling workbench (iSWB) encapsulates end-user interaction through a series of workspaces that delineate functions and responsibilities. Its rich, easy-to-use functional-ity enables the user to view, understand and interact with the schedule; focusing on proactively managing exceptions to minimize loss of efficiency in the ser-vice delivered, and keeping promises for customers.

traVel tIme anD roUtIng optImIZatIon

The IFS Hierarchical Travel Matrix (HTM) efficiently delivers extremely accurate travel time estimates. Built using the real road network and actual travel times, the HTM ensures that the plans delivered by the DSE are both achievable and reliable.

The IFS HTM and IFS DSE use latitude and longitude for location geocoding, enabling world-wide deployment, with a range of different datasets to suit different needs, e.g. “as the crow flies”, street-level routing and custom matrices. These can

be supplemented with overlays to take account of varying conditions, such as rush hour traffic or particular weather conditions.

Map displays of the optimized travel routes, including individual turn-by-turn directions, are available in the Scheduling Workbench and are con-tinually updated to ensure that the latest information is always visible.

appoIntment bookIng

The Appointment Booking Engine complements the IFS DSE’s real-time, always-optimizing, approach to dynamic scheduling with functions that allow appoint-ments to be seamlessly mixed in with other work types (e.g. break/fix and PPM) whilst retaining maxi-mum flexibility and efficiency in the use of resources. Potential appointment times are calculated with regard to existing workload and your business policies to ensure cost-effective and efficient scheduling.

Appointments can be offered and confirmed by your staff, or self-served via an online portal, confi-dent in the knowledge that the promise can be kept.

Action-ready insights in user-configurable interactive dash-boards tracking critical service KPIs.

reSoUrce plannIng

The IFS Advanced Resource Planner (IFS ARP) module provides visual and automated tools to drive the planning and rostering of human resources over time. This can be based on predicted workloads or specific projects, or might simply be used for shift planning. Resource management policies and legislative constraints (e.g. Working Time Directive) plus shift patterns, skills, and breaks are enforced when building the plan.

The results can be sent to the IFS DSE to enable dynamic scheduling of the reactive work alongside the planned commitments.

reportIng anD analYtIcS

Like transaction processing systems, e.g. ERP or CRM, an automated workforce scheduling and optimization environment is rich in data. Unlike such applications, scheduling data changes rapidly—literally second by second—and this is an additional difficulty for reporting and analysis. How can you measure the performance, and provide action-ready insights in

such a fluid situation? We respond to this challenge with a multi-layered approach, to match the needs of different user communities. Some users need real-time reporting and insight, whilst others need to look at data and trends over longer periods of time.

For example, the Exceptions Board is provided for the scheduler/dispatcher and reports potential service problems or jeopardy situations in real time. This focus on ‘exceptions’ enables proactive manage-ment to eliminate issues before they escalate and impact customer satisfaction.

Other analyses provide managers with insights into actual performance by monitoring Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Real-time access to, for example, SLA hit rates, time on-site and dis-tance travelled can be critical to making intra-day adjustments that fine tune service delivery and ensure that KPIs are met; rather than a post-mortem to try and understand what has already gone wrong.

The IFS Data Mart populates a business intelli-gence database with snapshots of the planned and actual performance.

automated scheduling systems do not—indeed cannot —operate in isolation. they form part of an ecosystem of applications that cover the end-to-end service processes, making ease of integration an important consideration. not only must any scheduling system comply with your technical environment today, you want the reassurance that it will continue to do so. this is best achieved by conformance to standards and a commitment to future compatibility.

The IFS Mobile Workforce Management product set is web-based and built on the Microsoft® _.NET

framework to ensure maximum performance and flexibility. The IFS DSE integrates quickly and easily with complementary applications (e.g. mobile data, vehicle tracking, service management) through an XML-driven, SOAP implementation of web services that utilizes WCF. There is a standard integration to IFS Applications, using the OAGiS-compliant IFS Connect broker module.

IFS Mobile Workforce Management’s applications

are already Software as a Service (SaaS)-proven, giving you the choice to host the software on-premise or in the cloud.

The applications can be dynamically scaled, enabling computing power to be added or removed as required, without stopping and restarting—to meet changing demand levels for scheduling computation. The performance scales linearly, in line with the available computing power. This means that the DSE is capable of scaling seamlessly from scheduling tens of technicians to scheduling tens of thousands.

Multiple scheduling problems can be handled simultaneously across many organizations, using the same configuration and underlying architecture. The comprehensive, extensible data model allows for user-defined, customizable business rules to meet the most complex needs of a service organization’s scheduling requirements. The system is entirely data-driven, continuously improving the scheduling in response to real-time updates. Once initialized, only data changes need to be sent to the system and only changes in allocation are returned.

tHe tecHnologY

Service Oriented Architecture

THE IFS MOBILE WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT ENGINE

IFS MOBILE WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT ENGINE

Travel Manager

IFS Mobile Workforce Management Workbench Activities/Resources Updates Call Centre Business Rules Database XML Web Services OPTIMIZATIO N E NG_IN E INPUT M ANA_GE R TECHNICI_AN /P DA BROADCAST M AN_AG ER BACK OFFICE A PP LIC AT_IO N Mobile Data Network Internet

pIoneerS In ScHeDUlIng

IFS Mobile Workforce Management has its roots in complex numerical analysis. It was developed in the 1990s as a sophisticated mapping and scheduling application for use by the emergency services in the U.K. The system helped them make efficient use of their resources and meet legal SLAs measured in minutes. Ambulances waiting in strategic locations rather than remaining in their stations became a common sight as a direct result.

In 2002, we moved our world-class scheduling expertise into a new software environment, focusing

on field service. Since that time, we have been working with field service organizations around the world to schedule more effectively and optimize their resources to meet an ever-widening spectrum of SLAs. More recently, the focus has been expanded to include other complex, but non-mobile, scheduling environments and resourcing for project-based working.

Today the team at IFS Mobile Workforce Management continues to include top mathemati-cians as well as scheduling experts and service specialists.

En1674-2 Production: IFS C or po ra te Marketing, July 2014.

www.IFSworlD.com

ThIS DoCumenT mAy ConTAIn STATemenTS of PoSSIbLe fuTure funCTIonALITy for IfS’ SofTWAre ProDuCTS AnD TeChnoLogy. SuCh STATemenTS of fuTure funCTIonALITy Are for InformATIon PurPoSeS onLy AnD ShouLD noT be InTerPreTeD AS Any CommITmenT or rePreSenTATIon. IfS AnD ALL IfS ProDuCT nAmeS Are TrADemArKS of IfS. The nAmeS of ACTuAL ComPAnIeS AnD ProDuCTS menTIoneD hereIn mAy be The TrADemArKS of TheIr reSPeCTIve oWnerS.

IfS Ab ©2014

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