 Full field service resource management from a company that understands the fundamentals of scheduling, mapping and mobile communications - that's the appealing prospect offered by the range of integrated solutions on show by MapMechanics on stand 740 at this year's Service Management Expo, running at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham from 16 to 17 September.
MapMechanics is well known as a supplier of easy-to-use software and map-related data for strategic and operational planning, scheduling and analysis. Building on this experience, in recent years the company has moved to a new level, emerging as a significant supplier of integrated hosted mobile resource management solutions.
New at SME this year are solutions with browser-based data entry and customised or off-the-shelf optimisation (according to users' needs), including manpower resource optimisation/planning.
MapMechanics will also be highlighting the fact that alongside its larger-scale field service solutions, it has special expertise in supplying quick-to-implement component solutions to match users' specific requirements and to fit their existing systems. It might be a straightforward postcode sector time and distance matrix or simply a street-name or unit postcode lookup table with grid references; whatever the requirement, MapMechanics can supply software and data that will integrate smoothly and logically with users' systems, saving costly investment and operational disruption.
Territory management is one of the fundamentals of field service, and MapMechanics will be illustrating a range of solutions to optimise the locations of service engineers, service centres, franchised outlets, sales force teams and other resources in situations where the balance of time, distance, service levels and cost is critical. These solutions also have the ability to balance workloads between territories, and helping users to allocate calls to the most appropriate territory.
As field service organisations move increasingly towards scheduling maintenance, repair and parts delivery appointments at the time of booking, MapMechanics will be demonstrating a range of systems to handle users' scheduling requirements, combining its experience of routing, scheduling and territory management with its extensive knowledge of browser-based mapping and its hands-on expertise with real-time data communication.
The company's wide range of approaches to scheduling draws on a judicious mix of in-house and proprietary resources such as GeoConcept mapping and routing technology to provide customers with a range of bespoke and best-of-breed solutions that are targeted to meet their exact operational requirements. The solutions can range from strategic and operational planning right through to helping the mobile worker out in the field.
Among systems on show will be MapMechanics' Frequency Scheduler, which is designed for planning visits that arise at varying frequencies over a given period. This is ideal, for instance, for combining regular maintenance visits with irregular service call-outs. Also on show will be StreetServicer, which has been developed for organising visits within a tight geographical area into the optimum sequence, working at street segment level. This is invaluable for activities such as meter-reading and replacement, as well as door-to-door sales prospecting - particularly appropriate for utility organisations.
An example of a proprietary system supplied by MapMechanics is TruckStops, the world's most widely-deployed vehicle routing and scheduling system. The latest version 3.1 has enhanced ability to take account of the EU's Working Time Directive requirements, automatically maintaining a correct relationship between drive breaks and work breaks, and allocating the appropriate type and duration of break at the correct place in the route.
MapMechanics helps users optimise the entire field service management process, from appointment-taking through to proof of delivery management, enabling businesses to manage the movements of mobile staff dynamically, and combining elements of job management, routing and scheduling, real-time navigation and vehicle tracking.
The company's geoscheduling systems can take account of factors such as the location and skill levels of mobile staff to allocate the most appropriate person to each task, drawing on a range of location-based information systems to streamline functions such as booking by call-centre or office staff.
When it comes to execution, MapMechanics Mobile enables users to transmit daily schedules to mobile workers in the field, making it faster and easier for users to amend the sequence of drops or add or omit a call from the schedule.
Out in the field, job completion can be recorded using barcode readers, signature capture and/or photography, and if a job cannot be completed because of a problem on a site, a time- and date-stamped picture can be recorded against the job to show the nature of the problem. This is also ideal when a field agent needs instant approval to carry out a job, and can send a photo of the damaged component to illustrate what is needed. And all this information can be sent back to base in near-real time.
The driver's job is meanwhile made easier because job details are displayed on a PDA or other mobile device in correct call sequence, and navigation instructions to the next call point are presented automatically. Also built into the system is a real-time messaging process, through which drivers can send status updates back to their base, and administrators can issue new instructions on the basis of their progress through the day. This supplements the routine monitoring and tracking provided by MapMechanics Mobile.
According to MapMechanics' managing director, Mary Short: "MapMechanics' display at the Service Management exhibition will highlight the company's central role in supplying software and data that add a geographical element to existing applications in the service management arena where the time and cost of travel are particularly critical."
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