360-Scheduling Optimized.par.32918.File

7/31/2019 360-Scheduling Optimized.par.32918.File

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OPTIMIZED

WORKFORCE PLANNINGAND SCHEDULING


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4 OPTIMIZED WORkFORCE PLANNING AND SCHEDULING

After-sales service and maintenance have become

critical components in many organizations offerings to

their customers, the end-consumer. In an increasingly

commoditized world, it is often a key differentiator.

Sometimes, it is the only way to set yourself apart

from your competitors.

There are many proven benefits from automating

and optimizing the scheduling of your workforce.

Success stories with IFS 360 Scheduling include

15% reductions in travel and overtime costs, 40%

improvement in technician productivity, and 20%+

improvements in service level compliance and on-

time service delivery.

The increasing focus on service by companies ismatched by escalating consumer expectations; not

only product performance, but also the speed and

efficiency of recovery. The logic is simple. If the

product is not working, the consumer is not getting

any value; the very reason they purchased in the

first place. Every day, your customers are measuring

you against their best service experiencesacross

all product categories.

That means higher demand for ever faster

responses and more effective service delivery

tighter Service Level Agreements (SLAs)and less

tolerance of failure. Getting it right, first time has

become a business imperative for all service organi-

zations.

Delivering field-based service is a major cost,

whether you opt to use a directly-employed work-

force, or to use third-parties to perform it on your

behalf. Doing it well can make a significant differ-

ence to both the companys brand perception and

financial results.

Plus, managing a mobile workforce is a multi-faceted challenge. The need to react quickly to real-

world events, deal with uncertainty and cope with

constant change are all characteristic of todays ser-

vice environment. And, the trend is towards ever-

increasing complexity.

THE BUSINESS CASEFOR OPTIMIZATION

BEFORE WITH 360

INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT10,000 TECHNICIANS

Calls i SLA 48% 87%

Tec utilitiatio 61% 78%


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5OPTIMIZED WORKFORCE PLANNING AND SCHEDULING

Today, optimal service delivery performance must

be part of any organizations key objectives if they

want to retain customer loyalty, repeat purchasing

and a positive word-of-mouth reputation.

The adoption of new technology to improve

service delivery has been patchy to say the least.

Partly, this has been due to the lack of supporting

infrastructure and connectivity, but the increasing

ubiquity of wireless networks means real-time

interaction with the field is now a cost-effective

realitydispensing with the need for an endless

stream of paperwork.

This puts pressure on the back office to auto-

mate more processes that deliver instant responses to

real-time events that are communicated immediately

from the field.Early scheduling software was only able to

deliver a start-of-day, or static, schedule. This batch

process takes all of the outstanding work and churns

out schedules based on available technician resources

using a basic set of business rules and route opti-

mization to reduce travel time and mileage between

jobs. But, this approach cannot take into account the

day-to-day dynamics of the business.

Todays service environment demands more than

to simply take care of basic performance parameters,

such as the number of calls a technician can complete

in a day. Now, the focus must be much more on

delivering a great consumer experience.

A more strategic approach is required. This means

a better understanding of the demands on the service

team and every aspect of their work, in order to

make the required changes and plan effectively for

both current and future business requirements.

Moving forward aimlessly is not an option.

For an increasing number of organizations, a real-

time scheduling toolset is the only way to sustainservice performance, to meet burgeoning consumer

demands, and to grow the business. Being able to

satisfy planned demand is only half the battle; being

able to respond to, and satisfy, unplanned demand

is key.

Ca ou forecast plaed/uplaed demad?

wat are our ko costraits?

Do ou ae eou tecicias/eieers?

Are te i te rit locatios?

Do te ae te rit skills?

Do te ae access to te required parts?

Ca te be sceduled effectiel?

Ca te be resceduled i a timel a?

Ca ou do all of tis profitabl?


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6 OPTIMIZED WORKFORCE PLANNING AND SCHEDULING

IFS 360 Scheduling supplies a suite of workforce

scheduling and optimization tools. Nothing else. We

dedicate our time to developing the worlds best tools

to support and deliver our customers business objec-

tives for more effective and agile service delivery, and

better end-user/consumer loyalty.

Our best in class, real-time scheduling and work-

force planning technology, plus components for easy

integration into existing fleet management, work

order management, mobile data and CRM/ERP

systems, means rapid return on investment for you;

making you a consistently reliable partner for your

customersa promise made can be a promise kept,

every time.

SERVICE MARGIN

The question as to whether service should be a cost-

or a profit-center has been around for twenty yearsor more, and the argument rages on. Our take on

this is very straightforward. We believe that the

best measure of success in field-based service is the

margin delivered by the operation. That is, simply

the difference between the value delivered to end-

user customers and the cost to deliver that service.

Now, customer value can be measured in many

ways. For example, it might be revenue; it might be

customer satisfaction ratings, or lifetime customer

value. However you measure it, we use that value

as an important baseline factor when calculatingschedules and in determining priorities between

different activities.

We match that with the cost of technicians travel,

plus their on-site costs, to determine the highest

margin we might achieve for each individual job.

We aggregate that for all of the jobs in the plan and

evaluate many thousands of alternatives to determine

the best possible schedule.

MANAGEMENT BY EXCEPTION

We believe that management by exception is a better

way to work. What we call Radical Automation is a

presumption that all routine or repetitive tasks

should be automated, enabling the users (planners,

schedulers, dispatchers) to focus on higher-value

work, with the software using accumulated know-

ledge and insight to make well-informed decisionswithout manual intervention. Automating 80% of

scheduling decisions is simply not good enoughwe

are aiming for 95%+. When we say management

by exception, we really mean it.

This is only possible if the calculation engine

utilizes mathematical techniques that are suited to

the real-time, dynamic environment, especially if

there are many hundreds or thousands and techni-

cians to be scheduled. General purpose optimization

algorithms are simply not suitable for solving this

kind of puzzle. The power of IFS 360 Schedulings

proprietary algorithms, coupled with advancedheuristics, delivers highly optimized schedules blis-

teringly fasteven for the largest and most complex

scheduling problems.

RIGHT-TIME DECISION MAKING

The world of manufacturing has been revolutionized

by lean and agile thinking, and a key component

of these approaches is the notion of just-in-time

(JIT). That is, delaying making procurement and

production decisions until the last moment. This

improves the quality of the decisions as they arebased on the latest information and situational

assessment, improving the frequency of them being

right, and leading to less waste.

We apply the same principle to mobile work-

force scheduling. Trying to deliver against a plan

that was formulated hours, maybe even days, ago

leads to waste and inefficiency. On the other hand,

the quality of plans can be dramatically improved

THE 360 WORLDVIEW


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7OPTIMIZED WORKFORCE PLANNING AND SCHEDULING

by making JIT decisions. And the chances of actual-

ly delivering whats on the plan increase equally

dramatically. A good decision can only be the right

decision if it is made at the right time. Maximum

technician utilization and maximum customer satis-

factiondeliver both at minimum cost.

ALWAYS OPTIMIZINGWe are never satisfied that we have got the best, or

optimal plan. Our Dynamic Scheduling Engine is

constantly evaluating the problem, seeking alterna-

tives that might deliver a higher service margina

better plan. This constant cycle of calculation and

evaluation means that we always have an up-to-date

plan available, one that has taken every input into

accountevery piece of feedback from the field,

every new and amended job detail, every GPS fix

from a vehicle, and including the impact of passing

time on factors such as SLA compliance.

And we are always looking at the bigger picture,by evaluating the whole problem all of the time.

We also believe the same of our software and are

constantly striving to enhance our tools and improve

their performanceso that you can improve yours.

A GOOD DECISION CAN ONLY BE

THE RIGHT DECISION IF IT IS MADE AT THE RIGHT T IME


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DELIVERINGWORLD-CLASS

Your customers want you to deliver excellent service

both planned and reactiveusing your specialist

knowledge and expertise to keep their equipment

running at peak performance; after all, that is what

they are paying for. All the while, benchmarking you

against other service experiences and your word-of-

internet reputation.

We are sure you feel the same towards IFS 360

Schedulingwe need to deliver too. To meet your

expectations of a partner, jointly focused on enhanc-

ing your business, we have to perform reliably and

consistently over time to earn your trust.

Developing the best software tools is not

enough; just having the applications installed will not

get you world-class performance. The technology

needs to be complemented with a complete range of

specialist services to support you through the initial

business change and software implementationand

into the future; making sure that you continually

get value from your investment for years to come.

Success requires the commitment and involvement

of your staff and resources, and of ours too. Our

team of experienced consultants will bring you a

wealth of expertise about schedulingincluding tips

and techniques for optimizing technician performance

and work alongside you through the transition;

transferring skills and knowledge through formal

training and everyday interaction. We are as com-

mitted to your success as you are.

We will help you assess the impact of introducing


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Whether you choose to run our software on-premise

or in the cloud, as an independent application or

integrated with IFS Applications, the features and the

improved results you get are the same. The compre-

hensive software suite offers a range of tools to suit

different situations and business needs, ranging from

long-term strategic planning to instant responsiveness

to emergencies. All of them are built to the same

exacting quality standards, delivering every minute of

every day.

THE SCHEDULING ENGINE

The Dynamic Scheduling Engine (DSE) is a world-

class optimization engine and the heart of our tool-

set. Using a blend of sophisticated mathematicaltechniques, and algorithms developed over 20 years

that are finely tuned for mobile service, the DSE is

capable of solving extremely large scheduling prob-

lems overlaid with multiple business-defined con-

straintsfor example skills, SLAs, parts requirements

and delivering highly optimized plans within

seconds.

But, it does not stop there. The DSE implements

our unique always optimizing philosophy, meaning

it continually searches for a better solutiona

schedule that can deliver improved service margin. If

it finds one, it will change the part of the plan that

has not been committed to reflect the improvement,

re-allocating work to resources in a just-in-time

decision-making approach. The right decisions, at

the right time.

The DSE is designed for unlimited flexibility in

modeling business policies and objectives, with

numerous parameters designed in response to real-

world requirements, refined through numerous

implementations and a relentless focus on the needs

of service providers. The comprehensive setup and

configuration options reflect the reality of increasing

customer expectations, more demanding Service

Level Agreements and your commitment to service

delivery consistency and reliability as a competitive

advantage.

THE USER INTERFACE

Much of the work done by 360 software applications

happens automatically, without the need for user

interaction; for example, calculation and evaluation of

plans, and communications with other applications

and technicians/vehicles. But, that does not mean

we have forgotten the importance of an intuitive,

powerful interface for those tasks that do need

human help.

Quite the opposite, we lavish as much care and

attention on the user experience as we do on other

aspects of our products. Browser-based, the

THE IFS 360SCHEDULINGTOOLSET

IN BENCHMARK TESTS AGAINST OTHER SCHEDULING ENGINES, THE DSE CAME TOP IN SPEED OF

PROCESSING, ROUTE EFFICIENCY AND CONSTRAINT MATCHING (MEETING BUSINESS RULES) ON

DATASETS RANGING FROM 50 TO 50,000 RESOURCES.


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planning and rostering of human resources over

time. This can be based on predicted workloads or

specific projects, or might simply be used for shiftplanning. Resource management policies and legis-

lative constraints (e.g. Working Time Directive)

plus shift patterns, skills, and breaks are enforced

when building the plan.

The results can be sent to the DSE to enable

dynamic scheduling of the reactive work alongside

the planned commitments.

REPORTING AND ANALYTICS

Like transaction processing systems, e.g. ERP or

CRM, an automated workforce scheduling and

optimization environment is rich in data. Unlike

such applications, scheduling data changes rapid-

lyliterally second by secondand this is an addi-

tional difficulty for reporting and analysis. How

can you measure the performance, and provide

action-ready insights in such a fluid situation? We

respond to this challenge with a multi-layered

approach, to match the needs of different user com-

munities. Some users need real-time reporting and

insight, whilst others need to look at data and trends

over longer periods of time.

For example, the Exceptions Board is providedfor the scheduler/dispatcher and reports potential

service problems or jeopardy situations in real time.

This focus on exceptions enables proactive man-

agement to eliminate issues before they escalate and

impact customer satisfaction.

Other analyses provide managers with insights

into actual performance by monitoring Key

Performance Indicators (KPIs). Real-time access to,

for example, SLA hit rates, time on-site and dis-

tance travelled can be critical to making intra-day

adjustments that fine tune service delivery and

ensure that KPIs are met; rather than a post-mor-

tem to try and understand what has already gone

wrong.

The 360 Data Mart populates a business intelli-

gence database with snapshots of the planned and

actual performance. This enables analytical report-

ing via many 3rd-party toolsyou may already

have these in placeas well as standard IFS 360

Scheduling reports and dashboards.

Actio-read isits i

user-cofiurable iteractie

dasboards tracki critical

serice KPIs.


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13OPTIMIZED WORkFORCE PLANNING AND SCHEDULING

Automated scheduling systems do notindeed

cannotoperate in isolation. They form part of an

ecosystem of applications that cover the end-to-end

service processes, making ease of integration an

important consideration. Not only must any scheduling

system comply with your technical environment today,

you want the reassurance that it will continue to do

so. This is best achieved by conformance to standardsand a commitment to future compatibility.

The IFS 360 Scheduling product set is web-based

and built on the Microsoft .NET framework to

ensure maximum performance and flexibility. The

DSE integrates quickly and easily with complemen-

tary applications (e.g. mobile data, vehicle tracking,

service management) through an XML-driven, SOAP

implementation of web services that utilizes WCF.

There is a standard integration to IFS Applications,

using the OAGiS-compliant IFS Connect broker

module.

IFS 360 Schedulings applications are already

Software as a Service (SaaS)-proven, giving you the

choice to host the software on-premise or in the

cloud.

The applications can be dynamically scaled,

enabling computing power to be added or removed

as required, without stopping and restartingto meet

changing demand levels for scheduling computation.

The performance scales linearly, in line with theavailable computing power. This means that the DSE

is capable of scaling seamlessly from scheduling

tens of technicians to scheduling tens of thousands.

Multiple scheduling problems can be handled

simultaneously across many organizations, using

the same configuration and underlying architecture.

The comprehensive, extensible data model allows

for user-defined, customizable business rules to meet

the most complex needs of a service organizations

scheduling requirements. The system is entirely

data-driven, continuously improving the scheduling

in response to real-time updates. Once initialized,

only data changes need to be sent to the system and

only changes in allocation are returned.

THE TECHNOLOGY

Service Oriented Architecture

THE 360 DYNAMIC SCHEDULING ENGINE

360 DYNAMIC SCHEDULING ENGINE

Travel

Manager

IFS 360 Scheduling

Workbench

Activities/Resources

Updates

Call

Centre

Business

Rules

Database

XML

Web

Services

OPTIMIZATIONENGIN

E

INPUTMAN

AGER

TECHNICIAN/

PDA

BROADCASTMA

NA

GER

BACKOFFICEAPP

LICA

TION

Mobile

Data Network

Internet


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PIONEERS IN SCHEDULINGIFS 360 Scheduling has its roots in complex

numerical analysis. In the 1990s the companys

founders developed a sophisticated mapping and

scheduling application for use by the emergency

services. The system helped them make efficient use

of their resources and meet legal SLAs measured in

minutes. Ambulances waiting in strategic locations

rather than remaining in their stations became a

common sight as a direct result.

360 was founded in 2002 to take its world-class

scheduling expertise into a new software environ-

ment, and focusing on field service. Since that time,

we have been working with field service organiza-tions around the world to schedule more effectively

and optimize their resources to meet an ever-wid-

ening spectrum of SLAs. More recently, the focus

has been expanded to include other complex, but

non-mobile, scheduling environments and resourc-

ing for project-based working.

Today the team at IFS 360 Scheduling continues

to include top mathematicians as well as scheduling

experts and service specialists. Its products are

available stand-alone and as a fully integrated com-

ponent of IFS Applications.

LEADING PROVIDER OFWORKFORCE SCHEDULINGTECHNOLOGY


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ABOUT IFS AND IFS APPLICATIONSIFS is a public compa (OMX STO: IFS) fouded i 1983 tat deelops,

supplies, ad implemets IFS Applicatios, a compoet-based

exteded ERP suite built o SOA tecolo. IFS focuses o aile

busiesses ere a of four core processes are strateic: serice

& asset maaemet, maufacturi, suppl cai ad projects.

Te compa as more ta 2,000 customers ad is preset i

50+ coutries it 2,700 emploees i total.

If ou are iterested i furter iformatio, e-mail [email protected]

or cotact oe of our reioal offices or isit our ebsite

www.IFSWORLD.com

AMERICA S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +1 888 437 4968

ARgEnTInA, BRAzIL, CAnADA, MEXICO, UnITED STATES

ASIA PA CIFIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +65 63 33 33 00

AUSTRALIA, InDOnESIA, JAPAn, MALAySIA, nEw zEALAnD, PhILIPPInES,

PR ChInA, SIngAPORE, ThAILAnD

EUROPE EAST AND CENTRAL ASIA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .+48 22 577 45 00

BALKAnS, CzECh REPUBLIC, gEORgIA, hUngARy, ISRAEL, KAzAKhSTAn,

POLAnD, RUSSIA AnD CIS, SLOvAKIA, TURKEy, UKRAInE

EUROPE CENTRAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +49 9131 77 340

AUSTRIA, BELgIUM, gERMAny, ITALy, nEThERLAnDS, SwITzERLAnD

EUROPE WEST. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +44 1494 428 900

FRAnCE, IRELAnD, PORTUgAL, SPAIn, UnITED KIngDOM

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +971 4390 0888

InDIA, SOUTh AFRICA, SRI LAnKA, UnITED ARAB EMIRATES

NORDIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +46 13 460 4000

DEnMARK, nORwAy, SwEDEn

FINLAND AND THE BALTIC AREA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +358 102 17 9300

ESTOnIA, FInLAnD, LATvIA, LIThUAnIA

AMERICAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +1 888 437 4968

UNITED KINGDOM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +44 115 9000 444

FRANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +33 9 63 61 63 54

IFS 360 SCHEDULINGFor furter iformatio, email [email protected] or isit our

ebsitewww.360scheduling .com

www.IFSWORLD.comThIS DOCUMEnT MAy COnTAIn STATEMEnTS OF POSSIBLE FUTURE FUnCTIOnALITy FOR IFS SOFTwARE PRODUCTS

AnD TEChnOLOgy. SUCh STATEMEnTS OF FUTURE FUnCTIOnALITy ARE FOR InFORMATIOn PURPOSES OnLy AnD

ShOULD nOT BE InTERPRETED AS Any COMMITMEnT OR REP RESEnTATIOn. IFS AnD ALL IFS PRODUCT nAMES ARE

TRADEMARKS OF IFS. ThE nAMES OF ACTUAL COMPAnIES AnD PRODUCTS MEnTIOnED hEREIn MAy BE ThE TRADEMARKS

OF ThEIR RESPECTIvE OwnERS.

IFS AB2012

360-Scheduling Optimized.par.32918.File

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