Trimble, Rail Road Maintenance and Asset Management

Trimble announced a new joint venture with China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Co. Ltd (CREEC). The company noted that the joint venture, 50% owned by Trimble and 50% owned by CREEC, will leverage Trimble's commercial positioning, communications and software technologies and CREEC's expertise in rail design and construction to develop and provide digital railway solutions that address the design, construction and maintenance for the Chinese railway industry.

We have also been involved in numerous projects (here in Australia) that involved how to effectively manage rail road maintenance projects and tasks using mobile handheld computers and wireless maintenance and work order management software applications. Any large company with assets and properties spread across a wide geographic area must find a way to effectively track and maintain them.

I remember riding in a train that was crossing Europe and seeing large amounts of materials and equipment disappearing beneath growing briar patches. I wondered who had originally placed the materials and equipment there, and then who had forgotten about it.

Large quantities of materials, supplies, assets and properties must be effectively managed through powerful asset management and asset tracking applications in the office. These applications in turn must synchronize with mobile handheld applications that can be used to document the GPS coordinates and condition of assets in the field.

We are experts in this field. Please contact us if you would like to discuss any of these issues.

Location Based Services, Mobile Software and Dynamic Mobile Inventories

In a series of articles on the blog Mobile Strategies for Businesses the topic of dynamic and perishable inventories as they relate to LBS (location based services) and mobile handhelds and Smart phones is discussed. In summary, the article proposes LBS solutions that notify subscribers within a certain distance of the store location about limited and time sensitive discounts through email and text message alerts.

Here is an additional scenario to consider - mobile inventories in trucks or delivery vans can follow a route, and as they approach each store location the LBS alert is sent out announcing to subscribers within a 3 mile radius of the limited time discount of certain products in the delivery vehicle.

It may be that the alert will attract a small group at each store, and after visiting 9 stores the inventory is all sold. However, if the inventory was only announced at one store, it would not have sold. This is an interesting concept for retailers to consider.

Mobile Applications for Estimating Jobs, Service Tickets and Saving Time

Most small services companies create job estimates. These are basically inspections that result in a bid for the work. This is a very important part of the sales process, but it can also waste a lot of time. Why? Often the services companies are sending out their most experienced person to inspect the job site and prepare the bids without really knowing if the customer is serious.

Google Maps provides satellite and street views for many locations. A function of the satellite view is the ability to click on one location and then click on another and see the distance. If you zoom in on a house or property from the satellite view. You can measure the fence lines, size of the driveway, size of the yard, etc. It is accurate to within a few feet. Landscapers, concrete repair companies and fence building companies could all benefit by being able to quickly give a job estimate by zooming in on the location and measuring things via the measuring feature and the satellite images.

If the customer is good with the broad estimate, then you could schedule to inspect the job site and give a detailed and precise estimate.

Here is another area where the field services industry could be more efficient. I remember calling a plumbing services company to do some work on my house. I told them I could save them a trip by sending them a digital photo of the work space and task. They had no idea how to use a digital photo to help with job estimating. Instead, they drove all the way out to my house, spent 2 minutes looking at the work required and then drove all the way back to their warehouse to get the parts. They wasted at least 1 hour, plus fuel, and likely lost the opportunity to complete additional service work for another customer.

The plumber himself drove out, then returned to his warehouse to get the right equipment and parts. Wouldn't it have been less expensive to have a lower paid assistant drive the parts out to the job site so the plumber could do his work?

Mobile software applications now have the option to be able to play videos. They can play audio files, and they can request and receive technical manuals wirelessly. Some ruggedized mobile handheld computers also have video cameras. All of these features enable service technicians to bring a library of information with them on job sites.

If a junior field services technician needs advice from the senior manager in the office, send a quick digital image to the manager. Show the manager what the situation looks like. Provide the manager with a satellite view of the job site and a photo. There are many mobile tools available that enable the service technician to share information from the site of the work, and to document any problems.

As digital video on mobile handhelds becomes widely available, I can foresee situations where the service technician sets up a tripod and digitally record the work so a remote supervisor could provide real time advice.

Nearly all mobile handheld devices include the ability to record and listen to audio files. These can be organized to provide specific instructions on how to do various job tasks. They can also be recorded in multiple languages. If your service technician is new, and the job requires a set of specific safety measures, let them select the appropriate audio file on the mobile handheld and listen to the step by step instructions.

All of the above features are available today, but few people have considered how to bring them all together and organize them to provide value to the small field services companies.

If you would like to discuss any of these mobile applications and feature in more detail please contact us.

Mobile Software and Score Cards for Field Services

Business intelligence and dashboard applications for mobile workers is an interesting concept. It is not hard to develop mobile software applications that can show all field service technicians how many service calls and product/service sales all of the other service technicians have completed for the week. Management can tie good performance with variable compensation for those with the best scores. Let peer pressure and visibility to job performance help your service technicians improve their own performance.

The above score carding data is available in most work order management applications, however, it is rarely shown to the field service technicians. If the mobile workforce does not see it, then it can not be used for performance improvement. If the manager let's the field services teams see their performance and see how it rates against all others, they will often be motivated to improve their personal performance.

The concept here is to provide mobile software with performance score cards that field service technicians see daily. This data can be synchronized to the mobile devices from the ERP or company accounting software. Create a performance and profitability dashboard for mobile handheld computers that encourages the field services team to compete with each other, and published industry benchmarks. Encourage good performance, with bonuses and other rewards, that deliver long term profitability. Let your teams become part of the solution, and correct their own issues through visibility and peer pressure.

Contact us if you are interested in mobile field service score carding applications or other mobile software solutions.