ZEISS

ZEISS is a leading global technology company in the optical and optoelectronic industry with more than 60 sales and service locations in around 50 countries. Service technicians are deployed in the fields of industrial metrology, microscopy, medical technology and semiconductor technology to install, maintain and repair customers’ machines.

Wanted: intuitive, future-proof mobile solution

ZEISS develops, produces and sells highly innovative solutions for industrial metrology and quality assurance, microscopy solutions for life sciences and materials research, and medical technology solutions for diagnostics and therapy in ophthalmology and microsurgery for its customers. ZEISS also stands for the world’s leading lithography optics, which are used by the chip industry to manufacture semiconductor devices.
In order to replace the existing solution for mobile order processing of service technicians, which had run out of maintenance, and to standardize service management worldwide, ZEISS went in search of an intuitive, future-proof and offline-capable solution for integration with SAP CRM and SAP ERP in 2017. The decision was made in favor of mobileX-MIP for Field Service due to its comprehensive offline functionality and user-friendly interface. In addition, mobileX impressed in the proof-of-concept phase with its understanding of the technology group’s service processes and their flexible implementation in the mobile solution.

Rollout: step-by-step, worldwide in four business units

The pilot operation in the Microscopy business unit in Germany in December 2017 was followed by the rollout of the mobile solution in industrial metrology in Germany and Austria in spring 2018. The rollout in the other two business units and other countries was implemented according to a phased plan until 2019. In some countries, the mobile solution was completely relaunched together with SAP CRM. The integration of mobileX-MIP for Field Service in SAP CRM was carried out with the Add-On for SAP CRM (via web services) from mobileX. For individual processes such as storage location synchronization and material ordering, the ZEISS SAP ERP (CS / PM) was additionally connected with the mobileX Add-On for SAP ERP (via RFC). The number of technicians who process their orders with the mobile solution has continued to increase over the years.

In use: uniform, digital order processing in customer service

The service technicians from ZEISS receive a notification in mobileX-MIP for Field Service when a new order is received. In the order details, they can find all the necessary information about the customer and the machine, such as the service history. The orders range from installations of a machine lasting several weeks with subsequent training of the employees to planned maintenance, such as of several microscopes in one day, to repairs.
After the service technicians have completed their orders, the feedback is checked by the office staff before it is sent to the accounting department for invoicing. This validation step is uniform worldwide and ensures a high quality standard in ZEISS customer service.

Conclusion: High performance and acceptance of the mobile solution

According to those responsible from ZEISS Service Management, almost all service technicians worldwide are currently using mobileX-MIP for Field Service. This is very close to the goal of standardizing global order processing.
Acceptance among technicians is also high, as it is intuitive and login is very quick and easy thanks to single sign-on.

Outlook: New Use Cases and Migration to S/4HANA

The applications of mobileX-MIP for Field Service are continuously developed further according to the requirements of ZEISS. For example, two new use cases are currently being implemented for material returns and for quoting. This enables technicians to provide their customers with a direct cost estimate on site and to process the return shipment for unused material.
Furthermore, ZEISS is about to migrate to S/4HANA – including all subsequent and involved processes such as field service management. This is now being implemented with a pilot in the UK as the first country.

ZEISS is a leading global technology company in the optical and optoelectronic industry. In its four divisions Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology, Industrial Quality & Research, Medical Technology and Consumer Markets, the ZEISS Group most recently generated annual sales of 8.8 billion euros (as of September 30, 2022).

https://www.zeiss.com/