Transformation of global service

Challenges in global service operations

manroland sheetfed GmbH, a leading supplier of printing systems, is facing significant challenges in its global service organization. The complexity of planning commissioning in the new equipment business and coordinating technician assignments across 40 international locations required a comprehensive overhaul of existing processes. Previous planning methods led to inefficient processes and delayed information flows, as service reports were often transferred to the ERP system late and prone to errors.

Implementation of a seamless solution

By implementing fieldux, manroland sheetfed GmbH is now able to realize a seamless, digitally controlled planning process that is fully orchestrated by the SAP ERP system. Service notifications (SM) are seamlessly forwarded to the scheduling centers at the respective sites, where technicians and teams are efficiently scheduled via a graphical planning board. This innovative solution promotes the targeted location of technicians based on their qualifications, visualizes absences and offers advanced conflict management, significantly improving planning processes. In addition, a role- and rights-based system supports cross-location cooperation, especially during periods of high workload.

Once the planning has been confirmed, all deployment information is forwarded to the assigned technicians in the mobile app at the touch of a button. All data, such as assignment address, contact person or travel documents, can be retrieved here in a bundled form. The internal chat between technician and dispatcher is available for queries. The technician uses the app to document the work performed, has it signed by the customer and distributes an automatically generated timesheet to everyone involved. This can be viewed in real time by the back office for review, allowing any outstanding issues to be clarified quickly and immediately after completion of the assignment. After a successful check, the timesheets are fed back to the service notification in SAP and made available for invoicing. This integration avoids manual and error-prone steps and invoices can be sent much faster, which leads to higher liquidity for the company.

Project implementation and acceptance

The active involvement of employees right from the start was crucial to the success of the project to date. Under the leadership of the division management, the specific requirements and functionalities of fieldux were defined and adapted in cooperative workshops. After implementing the basic infrastructure, including the SAP connection, a pilot phase began with a small group of users to test and further optimize the application. This approach enabled a gradual expansion of the system, with the aim of integrating all 120 project coordinators and 350 technicians worldwide into the fieldux solution.