Lumenis’ Unified Field Service Management Solution
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Digital transformation initiatives are helping businesses around the globe better serve their clients and customers through the implementation of innovative Industry 4.0 technology, such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, data, and automation.
However, whenever digital transformation takes place within a business, care must be taken to make sure that changes are implemented with a holistic view of the company. Too often, brands are too eager to introduce a new piece of technology to one part of the business without making sure other elements of the company infrastructure can cope.
As a major supplier of medical devices and associated service contracts, this is something Lumenis understands all too well. To avoid this pitfall, the company wanted a way to make sure its entire operation was brought into the 21st century, not just a part.
Lumenis
For Lumenis - and all providers of medical device field service, for that matter - there is a need to be able to service health-critical products in a timely and efficient manner. Failure to do so can have a negative effect on patient experience, clinical outcomes and, in some cases, even lead to death.
However, Lumenis discovered that its field service engineers were being hamstrung by outdated legacy systems and equipment in the backroom of its operation. This meant that data was frequently being lost, leading to, among other things, incorrect parts often being sent out to customers.
"We needed to improve the way the service team was working based on better technology with better processes and better efficiencies," said former Chief Information Officer of Lumenis, Amir Belferman. "Lumenis' engineers were busy, working on up to eight appointments a day. However, sometimes incorrect parts were shipped to clients and work order debriefs took longer than expected, which caused widespread frustration. Technicians were able to get the job done, but they did not feel on top of their game."
Revenue leakage was also a massive problem caused by the legacy system issues. This prevented technicians from charging for finished jobs and limited their access to historical product information, contract type, and service level agreements - meaning valuable knowledge and upsell opportunities were being lost.
What was needed was a platform with a 360-degree view of the client - a single, end-to-end picture of the customer's journey and experience with the company, and how they felt at all steps along the way. This platform would provide streamlined and accessible reporting tools which could control what exists in the field, the inventory, and the pipeline - empowering Lumenis to deliver a higher first-time fix rate.
A Unified Solution
To achieve its goals, Lumenis worked with field service digital transformation experts ServiceMax.
"From a logistics perspective we needed to create a single global service process, and we knew that with ServiceMax we could be live within four months in North America," said Belferman. "We were very impressed with the way it works, the way the processes are easy to maintain. We compared the solutions for budget and resources perspective, and after five years ServiceMax was the most cost efficient."
The first step was to replace Lumenis's existing SAP-based ERP system with one which met the brand's requirements in terms of speed, visibility, time to implement, easy integration, and cost. The new ERP system was entirely cloud-based. It could be accessed from anywhere in the world with an internet connection and provided Lumenis with automatic and regular updates to keep the whole system operating with 100 percent effectiveness. It also shored the company against cyberattack threats with the latest security updates.
The new platform leveraged the enormous partner network ServiceMax has access to and integrated them with ERP for unprecedented visibility into inventory and spare part ordering. This not only increased the range and number of sources from which spare parts could be ordered but also reduced the probability of errors being made. This was achieved by using a middleware named Jitterbit to bridge the gap between the two brands via roughly 20 interfaces.
"We were truly working together as one team," said Belferman. "Everyone put time, effort and money into the project, and everyone really focused on delivering the solution. What was really rare and amazing was that we deployed to EMEA and APAC by ourselves with just one or two resources, this could never happen with some of the other software vendors."
Final Thoughts
By unifying its service management solution, Lumenis has been able to deliver unprecedented efficiencies. Technicians no longer arrive on a customer site without visibility into the product's history, know-how to fix the problem, or a correct part. This has helped improve KPIs, including first-time fix rate, upsell and service revenue, and customer satisfaction.
You can hear Lumenis's Senior Director of Service, Jeff Thompson, speak at Field Service Medical 2020, taking place in February at the Rancho Bernardo Inn, San Diego, CA.
Download the agenda today for more information and insights.