Reference report: Fassmer Service GmbH & Co. KG

1. Fassmer Service GmbH & Co. KG

Fassmer Service GmbH & Co. KG is a subsidiary of Fr. Fassmer GmbH & Co. KG, a global leader in the manufacture of ships, boats and specialised maritime solutions. The company offers comprehensive services for the maintenance, repair and modernisation of ships and boats. In addition, the company offers comprehensive spare parts management, first-class technical support and consultancy services. Another important aspect of its range of services are inspections and certifications, which ensure that all work meets the highest quality standards and the applicable official guidelines. Fassmer Service GmbH & Co. KG serves customers worldwide and has a network of service partners and subsidiaries in strategically important regions, including the USA and Singapore. It strives to maximise the performance and service life of its customers' ships and boats through first-class service and innovative solutions. By utilising the latest technologies and a dedicated team, the company sets standards in the maritime service industry.

2. Initial Situation

Fr. Fassmer GmbH & Co. KG is a globally active and leading company in ship and boat building. The service business is handled by the subsidiary Fassmer Service GmbH & Co. KG. For this centralised solution for the processing of operations in order to improve efficiency and collaboration, as many isolated solutions had previously made work processes more difficult. The company employs 12 service managers and project managers in the office and 18 technicians in the field and in the workshop. Both field service assignments and assignments in the factory workshop were to be mapped. In addition, there are over 50 service partners worldwide whose assignments were previously difficult to coordinate. The service managers needed a solution that would not only allow them to schedule their own technicians, but also clearly display the assignments of the service providers' fitters and technicians. In addition, special tools that had to be dispatched in advance due to their volume and weight and the vehicle fleet should also be taken into account. Fassmer Service GmbH & Co. KG therefore started search for an FSM solution that would also be used in the subsidiaries in the USA and Singapore in the future.

3. Challenges

The company's steady growth harbours many opportunities and challenges, particularly in the planning, scheduling and documentation of orders. Fassmer was therefore looking for an integrated solution to replace an outdated asset database in addition to the functions for planning field service assignments. Previously, planning was carried out using static spreadsheet documents, with one or more separate Excel spreadsheets (technician scheduling, technician qualifications) for each resource. At the same time, there was an asset database for managing the ships and associated documents, but this could not be further developed. The office staff struggled with double bookings, different lists and sources, missing warnings in the event of absences and the difficulty of tracking decisions made by team colleagues. Short-term changes and absences led to time-consuming rescheduling that could not be documented. All notifications during the planning process were made personally and via various channels, with limited traceability. A high level of manual effort was required in the office to documentation of timesheets and maintenance reports. Timesheets were filled out by hand, checklists were only available as paper documents, service reports had to be laboriously written in Word and photos had to be inserted. The current planning status was documented in an Excel spreadsheet. However, as soon as the technician was on site he was no longer able to track changes. Due to the lack of access to the spreadsheet, he could neither see upcoming assignments or the status of ongoing assignments, which made it difficult to reconcile work and private life.

4. Solution and Project Highlights

In an initial development workshop, the need for intuitive resolution of conflicts and subsequent conflicts was recognised. In day-to-day business, there are constant changes to plans that need to be responded to efficiently. Rescheduling processes with multiple resources and shifts can cause subsequent conflicts. The software solution should highlight conflicts using colour coding and make them recognisable at an early stage. It should suggest a list of suitable alternatives that can be freely selected from - suitable means not only availability in terms of time, but also other order-related qualifications (e.g. offshore training) are met. The software solution should consciously allow conflicts and be able to deal with conflicts in order to ensure optimum order fulfilment. The resolution of conflicts that arise should be accompanied step by step.

Fassmer Service GmbH & Co. KG also attached great importance to an outstanding user experience (UX) and intuitive operation of the software solution. It was clear to everyone involved that this was the only way to create acceptance of the new software and that the approval of the technicians and office staff is crucial for the success of the project. The implementation of an interface to the existing ERP system was also important. Another key topic was paperless documentation. Thanks to the digital record of working hours, timesheets and other relevant documents are now immediately available in Fassmer's internal system. This leads to considerable time savings in invoicing and reduces the administrative workload. Fassmer technicians can record their reports and timesheets directly in the fieldux app. Reports can be created in the app and digitally signed directly by the customer. This ensures that billing can be carried out much faster. This increase in efficiency makes a significant contribution to improving the overall service processes.

5. fieldux Planner for Service Manager

Highlight:

Ein besonderes Highlight ist der fieldux Konfliktnavigator. Seit der Einführung von fieldux kann Fassmer, ebenso wie viele weitere Industrieunternehmen, vom Konfliktnavigator profitieren. Der intuitive Bearbeitungsmodus, der Konflikte begleitet und löst, stellt eine absolute Neuheit in der digitalen Disposition dar.

6. fieldux Mobile App for technicians and field staff

The fieldux app for Fassmer technicians offers a seamless and user-friendly solution to improve documentation and communication. With the app, technicians have access to current deployment plans, checklists and service reports at all times. This not only makes it much easier to plan, but also to carry out operations.

7. Prospect

At Fassmer, the next development phase will focus on expanding the checklist functionalities. This step is intended to reduce paperwork and further increase the efficiency of work processes. In future, checklists assigned to the process will be sent to the responsible employee in the fieldux Planner. A progress indicator will support the technician responsible with the processing status. The checklists are designed to be clear and intuitive. To make documentation easier for the technicians, reports are pre-filled with existing master data. Once all mandatory fields have been filled, the checklists can be sent to the back office at the touch of a button. A digital signature can be obtained and the customer receives a copy of the result immediately after completion. Blocked checklists, especially those for customers, can no longer be edited to ensure the integrity of the documents. These enhancements will further optimise the way Fassmer works and significantly increase user-friendliness, especially for technicians.