Optimizing service parts logistics - intelligent solutions to boost the efficiency of field engineers

Service parts engineers service everything from home appliances to some of the nation’s most critical infrastructure. Downtime of the equipment in question can be expensive, particularly in utilities, transportation or manufacturing making both the availability of parts and the timeliness of their installation critical factors in the reliability and profitability of these businesses. 

Field Service Engineers can be spending time on-site, resolving issues, in transit to get parts or on the road to get to the next job. Any time spent waiting for or fetching parts is wasted time for the engineer resulting in an increase in downtime and likely lost revenue for the client.

There are a number of approaches that can help reduce the time spent waiting for parts:

FORWARD STOCK LOCATIONS

Storing inventory that’s likely to be needed closer to where it will be used can significantly reduce the amount of time spent waiting for a part. Increasingly, companies are looking at bringing service parts into urban environments where a service tech can quickly grab them without needing to fight traffic to retrieve them. 

Companies are often looking to gig-economy drivers and forward stock locations where companies like Curri, GoFor, Bungii and TommyRun can quickly send nearby drivers to collect and bring parts to a job site as opposed to the technician needing to leave the site and fetch the part.

Having storage locations with advanced access control solutions ensure these locations are secure and easy to access with robust activity logging. 

OVERNIGHT DROP OFF

Often the first stop in the morning for a service technician is to go collect parts from a warehouse which could be nearby or across town. Regardless, this first step can cost effectively be avoided if the parts can efficiently be delivered to the service tech before they start their day as opposed to having to wait for parts or go collect them. 

By cutting this first collection from a service tech’s day, they’ll be onsite faster, gaining valuable time bringing the customer back online faster and making it possible for the tech to make more service calls per day. 

BoxLock’s unattended delivery solutions can be deployed at a service tech’s home for mere dollars per day and parts can be delivered overnight efficiently without drivers or couriers being impeded by urban traffic. The solutions pay for themselves in context of an experienced field service technician who earns between $26 and $32 an hour.

CONSIGNMENT INVENTORY

At larger facilities where a higher volume of replacement parts may be needed or the cost of downtime can be significant. Storing critical parts on premise can reduce the time required to obtain a part and potentially reduce the service trip entirely.

The access control and inventory management solutions BoxLock offers can turn any storage space or container into an on-premise warehouse for consigned inventory. Parts can be accessed at any time, day or night without the need for keys, combos or mobile applications and invoices can be created at the time of use. This keeps the part off the client’s balance sheet until the time the part is used and gives the service provider the ability to make parts available at the exact time of need, giving them higher service levels or a competitive advantage. 

CONCLUSION

As service providers and operators across industries look for ways to reduce downtime and streamline costs, creative solutions to replacement parts can make a big impact on the bottom line. Forward stock locations, overnight drop offs and consignment inventory on site are all viable components of a streamlined service parts ecosystem.