Driving profitability in field services

We all know that field services have grown increasingly complex over the years. Disruptions to the supply chain, staffing shortages due to the pandemic, and a new emphasis on ESG are only some of the pressures that make managing field services so demanding. Companies also face technology disruptions, market shifts, new competitors, rising customer expectations, and execution challenges.

The biggest concern is that many traditional field services systems cannot measure and drive real value in their programs. But today’s new field services platforms provide a transformative solution to this challenge. Using digital technology enables companies to achieve connected and autonomous experiences by proactively handling needs in any area. By integrating physical and digital information with the Internet of Things (IoT), these unified, transparent platforms address the totality of your field service’s needs, data and insights, devices and assets, and people and processes.

These platforms have the power to manage your field services with an unprecedented level of efficiency. They monitor assets continuously, so they can schedule maintenance before assets fail. They simultaneously feed a steady stream of information to the back, middle, and front office. They can run numerous “what if” scenarios, deploy and analyze resources, manage tickets, contact customers, and take complex, multi-part issues and graph them. Without this kind of digital assistance, companies may begin to see a decline in the value of their field assets.

A new era in field services

Today’s digital platforms enable quicker, more efficient decisions. They replace outdated internal, customer, and supplier interactions with an end-to-end integrated model that synchronizes supply chain activities and reduces disruptions. The potential gains in productivity, transparency and customer loyalty aren’t linear; they’re exponential. The new platforms also ease the transition from transaction-based relationships to long-term contracts with recurring revenue. They take you from fragmented, inefficient operating models to scalable solutions optimized for hybrid delivery with standardized processes.

Remote assistance for field workers enables the completion of tasks by leveraging other resources, while AI-optimized scheduling allows workers to spend more time on-site and less time traveling. Many repairs can be made remotely, machine to machine, with no human interaction through IoT. With multiple sensors gathering data at every point, the platform’s sophisticated analyses lead to insights that can drive increased customer loyalty, adjacent market development, and improvements in internal efficiency.

Embracing the digital future

Across the manufacturing sector, observers have noticed a growing number of companies focus not on new products but on the installation and service of those they already have. In fact, some companies have found that installation and service enjoy higher margins than their other activities. As more companies seek to replicate that success, we expect the field services business to become more competitive and the emphasis on speed, accuracy, and transparency to grow. These increased pressures are likely to be compounded by what we expect will be growing ESG compliance and reporting requirements. That’s why a modern digital platform with the capability to scale and expand should be a minimum requirement for any field services operation, and certainly, for yours.

How KPMG can help

At KPMG, our strategic alliance with Microsoft is central to our goal of helping clients achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Our deep knowledge of field services across the spectrum of industry sectors, combined with industry-leading Microsoft technology, allows us to design and build custom solutions that meet the needs of each enterprise stakeholder.

We can help you transform and standardize your field services operating model, boosting productivity and profitability.

Connected businesses allow people, data and technology to interact easily, creating new levels of productivity and value creation. KPMG Connected Enterprise is a customer-centric approach to digital transformation. It focuses every critical process, function and relationship of a business on meeting customer expectations, creating business value, and driving sustainable growth in a digital world.