The mobileX release monitor
Efficient control between mobile field service and SAP
A field service management system should accelerate processes in the company and design them more efficiently. But a problem arises in connection with incorrect entries by field service technicians: Since the completion confirmations are posted directly in the technical modules of SAP, reverse postings are very time-consuming. The mobileX release monitor allows office-based staff to separate out incoming reports using pre-defined criteria and to correct them as needed in consultation with the technician.
When a job is dispatched to a technician with mobileX-Dispatch, this person receives the job on his or her mobile end device via mobileX-MIP for Field Service. When the work is completed, he or she creates the service report while still on site. Normally the incoming reports are directly processed to create invoices without further checking. Any possible errors, such as incorrect entries by the service technician, are accepted without checking and thus are passed on to the customer in the invoice.
A reverse posting for an incorrect completion confirmation is time-consuming, as the posting has to be reversed in each of the individual technical modules. The additional module to mobileX-MIP for Field Service, the mobileX release monitor, offers a new process step here: the technical review of mobile completion confirmations before the actual posting in SAP.
Although more than 85% of jobs typically go directly to invoicing, the remaining 15% have unresolved issues or questions in the service report. These may involve, for example, inconsistent completion confirmations or questions regarding the cost type.
These completion confirmations are separately routed to the release monitor using pre-defined criteria. As an intermediate instance between field service and SAP, it allows office-based staff to perform efficient control before the final posting. The office-based service can view the jobs to be completed, including job details, in a list and can modify or add missing or incorrect data. The mobileX release monitor for mobileX-MIP for Field Service is directly integrated in SAP so that the service report can be released for entry in SAP after correction of the incorrect entry.
The criteria which are used to route the incoming reports to the release monitor can be individually specified and modified. Possible uses of the release monitor include incorrect entries or changes to:
- Time confirmations, for example when the technician/fitter documents unusual working hours or job duration
- Material confirmations, for example when an unusually large number of spare parts are used for a job
- Meter readings, for example when unusual meter readings are entered -> option to forward to sales
- Time confirmations, for example when the technician/fitter documents unusual working hours or job duration
- Time confirmations, for example when the technician/fitter documents unusual working hours or job duration
The release monitor for mobileX-MIP for Field Service is very useful in the implementation phase of a field service management System. Here incorrect postings due to insufficient experience with the tool can be prevented at an early stage. New employees can also be easily introduced to the tool without a risk of incorrect postings. The mobileX release monitor promotes a more efficient field service management process by:
- Avoiding time-consuming reverse posting tasks in SAP
- Significantly optimising the data quality of mobile completion confirmations
- Accelerating the creation of invoices through effective post-processing of service reports
- Flexible display/editability of data (work queue, Dynpro tab, Dynpro fields)
- Customer extensions can be implemented
- Functions in the FGM can be routed using privileges
- Change documents, lock mechanisms
- Ability to go to dependent master data and transaction data
Summary
The release monitor for mobileX-MIP for Field Service acts as an interface between the completion confirmation by the field service staff and the final posting in SAP. As a check instance, it allows office-based staff to correct possible incorrect reports before posting. Even if more than 85% of service reports are posted directly, it is the remaining 15% that cause problems for office-based staff. With the release monitor for mobileX-MIP for Field Service, this problem is avoided.
