The Klipboard Field Service Glossary

While Preventative Maintenance is carried out proactively to avoid downtime of equipment, Reactive Maintenance occurs when a breakdown has already happened and an engineer or technician is required to repair the asset.

Generally speaking Field Service Engineers will try to avoid reactive maintenance by offering their clients planned maintenance schedules to identify potential reasons for assets to fail leading to downtime.

Downtime of assets is costly for their clients. Often if an asset fails or is deactivated before failing, this will effect the revenue and the continuity service that client offers.  

Field Service Engineers use Repair Tracking Software to organise their repair jobs. They are able to document the fault, order parts and ensure their customer is offered a swift repair.

 



Klipboard offers the ability to share information between the office and the repair technician or engineer even while they are on the job.

• Track repairs in real-time


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• Ensure health and safety compliance


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• Provide detailed reports


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• Order parts on the go


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• Build a complete repair history for the customer


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Report Writing Software for Field Service engineers documents the actions performed and information gathered on a job to create a bespoke report for a customer, all through a single platform.

These customer reports can be issued per job, weekly, monthly, annually or as often as required. 

Report Writing Software or Job Management Software that includes a robust reporting function, has become even more widely used in Field Service as the need to share information and quickly access data is becoming more expected.

Field Service businesses have started to ditch paper based methods and turn to software such as Klipboard which offers a paperless answer to how they can create reports for their clients.

 

How to write a report:

• Identify the problem or task


• Gather all the required information


• Analysis the information


• Come up with a solution


• List actions and expected outcomes


• Organise the report in a clear format


• Write the report


• Send to customer and stakeholders 

 

 

Residual Value is the estimated value of a fixed asset at the end of its lifecycle.

 

In Field Service this can be important with a business has made a significant investment into its equipment. The quality of the maintenance carried out during its lifecycle, can great affect its Residual value. Many Field Service businesses put assets on a Planned Preventative Maintenance schedule to ensure the residual value remains high. Learn more.

Retention is Field Service is most likely to be related to the retention of customers. Customer Satisfaction is closely linked to how likely a customer will retain the services of that Field Service business.

 

How do Field Service business sustain customer satisfaction?

Each client will have their own particular expectations and standards they will require from their business partners and their suppliers. Often the most simple answer is they wish to continue to grow their business and any downtime with their assets is likely to effect revenue.

Field Service business most use a combination of efficient planning and technical knowledge to ensure their clients equipment is properly maintained.
Communication plays a massive role in sustaining high levels of customer satisfaction. The modern customer expects real time information on their jobs and scheduled servicing of their equipment.

This need for real time communication and job visibility for both the Field Service business and their client, is a key reason why Klipboard created the Client Portal.

The Client Portal is a sharable link that Field Service businesses can send to their clients which allow them to clearly see the status of each job, see any unpaid invoices and approve quotes for future work.

Reverse Logistics is the process of returning parts or products from the end user back to the seller, re-seller or manufacturer. It allows the customer to return unwanted parts and is a great solution for manufacturers or installers to re-use or recycle parts and equipment.

 

What’s the difference between Logistics and Reverse Logistics?

Traditional logistics is the process of delivering a product to a customer in the most cost effective and fastest way. Tracking systems and sophisticated warehouse technology has greatly improved the efficiency of logistic operations over the last few years. Reverse Logistics relates to goods moving in the opposite direction from the end user back to the seller or manufacturer.

Route Optimisation is the process of identifying the most efficient way of getting from one location to another. In Field Service considers more than just the shortest route from A to B, effective route optimisation also take into factors such as the availability of engineers and technicians.