More and more service companies are looking for tools to help them increase the effectiveness of the services they provide. Reterm has therefore developed ServIT, a comprehensive production management system intended for mobile field service use. According to the company this system makes administration, service technician tasking and vehicle usage more efficient. Completely open and Windows-based, it can utilise links via almost any type of network.

ServIT is an object-oriented Windows-based service production management system consisting of integrated modules handling assignment logging, task planning, reporting, cost control, stock management and statistics. With the planning module, for instance, it is easy to arrange, transfer, simulate or change the tasks assigned to different people. The cost control module facilitates tracking and follow-up of such items as service contracts, subcontractors, emergency call-outs and add-on sales in the field. The statistical module can show which tasks are least or most profitable, consumption of spare parts and the work load per account or per order.
The mobile management system is designed to make the entire production chain more efficient, by shortening lead times thanks to comprehensive computerisation. At the same time, the field worker assumes greater responsibility for scheduling, cost control, mobile stock levels, service quality and invoicing. Reporting and post-task calculations are carried out automatically. Personnel in the field receive information direct from the company's offices to a portable computer in the vehicle. This may be an assignment, a customer address or a fault history. Acknowledgement by handshaking ensures that messages have been correctly received. The technician then enters into the portable computer details of the work done, spare parts and time taken, all of which is automatically transmitted to the company. With ServIT´s optimised data management, staff out in the field can work in real time directly with the company databases, just the same as in a usual LAN.

Already installed
ServIT can be integrated into the company's internal accounting or sales systems. This integration can be performed without making changes to the system, since it uses such standardised techniques as Microsoft's COM. ServIT is a client/agent/server system, with the facility for the client to continue operating even if it has lost contact with the network.
Both proprietary and externally-obtained drivers are used to communicate with a whole range of different network types, such as Mobitex, RAM, GSM, Ardis, CDPD, LAN, WAN, Dial-up etc. The choice of network depends on the customer's wishes, security needs, equipment and spending power.
Lift manufacturer Kone was among the first to use one of the mobile data systems. It has increased the efficiency of their service technicians and vehicle usage by 20%, halved the amount of administration and cut down the amount of branch office work by 30 to 40%. "The resulting profits mean that the pay-off time for such a system is in the region of 18 months," says Robert Ekman, Managing Director and founder of Reterm AB.
During the 1997/98 winter, Telia Mobile is performing a test of the ServIT system. This test was also used to evaluate a new organisational procedure, with people working in the field in small independent groups, and managing their own planning. Incoming new assignments were put into the system and subsequently retrieved by the group dispatcher, who was also mobile. He or she could then plan which of the group members who will carry out the task.
ABB Svenska Fläkt AB has just decided to invest in ServIT for its field service organisation. The system will be installed in ten countries.
Marketing of ServIT is done in conjunction with Ericsson, Oracle and RAM, one of the world's largest network operators.

Caption:
From the internal system in the company's offices, field workers can get information sent straight to the in-vehicle portable computer. The service technician uses this to register details of work done, spare parts used and time taken, all of which is automatically transmitted to the company.

For further information, please contact:
Robert Ekman, Reterm AB
Box 1111, SE-171 22 SOLNA, Sweden
Tel: +46 8 514 907 00
Fax: +46 8 735 58 80
Home page: www.reterm.se

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