Our client is a global leader in the manufacturing sector, focused on the production and lifecycle management of industrial machinery and equipment. Serving diverse industries such as automotive, aerospace, and heavy manufacturing, the company plays a pivotal role in powering mission-critical operations for its customers. With a broad footprint across North America, the organization delivers not only high-performance equipment but also comprehensive maintenance and support services designed to ensure long-term operational efficiency for their clients.
A core strength of their business lies in its expansive field service ecosystem, which is responsible for delivering on-site maintenance, repairs, and performance optimization. This highly distributed service model requires precise coordination between dispatch centers, mobile technicians, and supply chain operations.
Reason for collaboration
As the manufacturing company expanded its client base and service commitments, managing field operations across geographically dispersed locations became increasingly complex. Dispatch coordination, technician availability, real-time job tracking, and parts inventory management were all being handled through disconnected systems and manual workflows—making it difficult to ensure consistent service delivery at scale.
Focused on long-term agility and smarter service delivery, the company engaged a ServiceNow Managed Services team to lead the transformation of its field operations with FSM best practices and scalable automation. The goal was to streamline scheduling, optimize technician dispatch, and introduce automation for better visibility and control—ultimately enhancing customer experience and maximizing equipment uptime.
Challenges
Inefficient Job Scheduling
The absence of automated scheduling tools led to overlapping appointments, idle technician hours, and reactive dispatching. This fragmented approach reduced service coverage efficiency and impacted field productivity.
Lack of Real-Time Visibility
Technicians operated with minimal access to real-time job updates, asset history, or route changes, resulting in delayed service completion, increased on-site time, and inconsistent customer communication.
Frequent Equipment Downtime
A lack of predictive maintenance capabilities meant the company operated reactively, responding to equipment failures after they occurred. This approach increased operational costs, extended downtime, and disrupted client operations.
Inconsistent Customer Experience
Due to the lack of a structured workflow and delayed response times, customers experienced long wait periods, a lack of transparency in service status, and overall dissatisfaction with field service operations.
Inventory Management Issues
Technicians often encountered delays due to untracked or unavailable parts at the time of service. The lack of an integrated inventory system hindered first-time fix rates and prolonged service windows, leading to repeated site visits and higher operational overhead.
Solutions
To address the client’s operational disconnects and service inefficiencies, we implemented a comprehensive Field Service Management (FSM) solution on the ServiceNow platform. Below are the core solutions we delivered:
Optimized Scheduling & Dispatching
We deployed ServiceNow’s Dispatch Console to automate technician scheduling based on real-time availability, skill set, location proximity, and job priority. This reduced scheduling conflicts, improved resource utilization, and ensured timely assignment of the right technician to the right task, enhancing service consistency and operational throughput.
Real-Time Data Access for Field Technicians
Using the ServiceNow Mobile Agent application, we equipped field technicians with on-the-go access to job assignments, customer history, asset details, and guided troubleshooting. This eliminated the reliance on static job sheets, streamlined communication between the field and dispatch, and significantly reduced delays in task execution.
Predictive Maintenance & Proactive Monitoring
To move away from reactive servicing, we integrated predictive analytics with ServiceNow FSM using asset telemetry data and service history trends. This enabled proactive identification of potential failures before they impacted operations, reducing unplanned downtime, improving asset reliability, and lowering long-term maintenance costs.
Enhanced Customer Experience with Self-Service Options
We introduced a customer-facing self-service portal, allowing clients to raise service requests, track technician ETA, and view service history in real time. Automated notifications and status updates improved transparency, reduced dependency on manual follow-ups, and strengthened customer satisfaction across touchpoints.
Integrated Inventory & Asset Management
By integrating Inventory and Asset Management with FSM, we enabled real-time visibility into parts availability across service hubs and technician vehicles. This allowed smarter parts planning, minimized service rescheduling, and increased first-time fix rates, ensuring technicians arrived fully prepared to complete jobs in a single visit.
Benefits
- Successful deployment of ServiceNow FSM across all North American service centers.
- Seamless integration with existing ITSM and ERP systems.
- Standardized workflows lead to higher operational efficiency.
- Scalability achieved, allowing the company to expand FSM across global operations.
