Optronica Service BV is an independent service organization which focusses on ophthalmic equipment, among which lasers, microscopes and diagnostic equipment. Services in maintenance (preventive and corrective), installations, moving, IT support and training & advice are provided. The technical employees have extensive experience and professional competence. Optronica Service offers its services to healthcare organisations in the Netherlands. The Managing Director of Optronica Service is Leo van Rij. Currently Optronica has about twenty employees, all using the IFS FSM software.
FSM back office with contract management, customer management, scheduling, dispatch and integration with AFAS by Eqeep.
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Case: what is the current situation?
Healthcare authorities have issued guidelines on the usage of medical devices within healthcare. Maintenance of medical equipment is an important aspect of the usage of medical devices and important for institutions. Healthcare authorities perform formal quality checks on the processes that healthcare institutions have for the usage of medical devices. On the other hand, limited budgets put pressure on the institutions ability to choose high quality service organisations to meet the quality demands.
For the growth of Optronica it was necessary to have a service management system, that supports the high demands and at the same time provides an efficient and effective outside service organisation. From the beginning it was clear that the IFS software could be of big value for Optronica.
Requirements: which demands have to be met by the FSM system?
The monitoring of agreed service levels with customers, a fluent planning and service agreement process and a mobile solution for technicians were the major requirements for Optronica. The system should not only support technicians in their daily activities, but also provide the basis for growth of Optronica’s service offering to its market. The system should support the work on individual serialised equipment in all areas.
In the search for a system that supports Optronica’s business challenges FSM has shown to have very rich functionality which was more than compliant with our requirements. At the same time FSM is a very flexible and easy-to-use system. With business rules the system could be tailored to the needs of Optronica. The focus of IFS on the service process was another reason for Optronica selecting FSM as the system of their choice. Implementation partner Eqeep Consulting has the knowledge to implement the FSM system and also support Optronica in the design and setup of the system.
Results: what are the deliveries of the implementation?
Optronica runs the FSM back office which contains contract management, customer management, scheduling and dispatch, preventive maintenance and break fix processes. They are using the logistic part of FSM for stock management, the FSM mobile application on Android and Windows and FSM connect for integration with their ERP system (AFAS software).
FSM is supporting the agile method of working with very flexible and powerful configuration possibilities. Optronica’s requirements could all be fulfilled within the standard solution. So, no customisations were needed. Optronica restructured their entire design in the way clients, contracts and assets are used. It took about four months to implement IFS Field Service Management, migrate the previous system and integrate the FSM system with the current ERP system.
The partnership with Eqeep has provided Optronica the benefits of a smaller customer oriented implementation partner combined with the strength and rich functionalities of FSM. The knowledge of the service business that the business consultants of Eqeep have was of value for Optronica by defining a design of the system that fits the desired workflows perfectly.
The FSM users (employees) got used to the system very quickly because of the flexible and easy-to-use interface. A number of activities that previously were done manually are now automatically run by FSM. The efficiency that FSM provided made it possible for Optronica to grow the business without having to increase the headcount. Optronica’s business gained insight in the performance of individual technicians in the field. Customers appreciated the professional reports that automatically are send out by FMS after a technician has performed his job.
Experience: looking back on working with Eqeep
The implementation of FSM was managed by Eqeep Consulting B.V, the FSM partner in the Netherlands. The business consultants of Eqeep have experience with various service companies in different industries. This experience turned out to be of high value in the design and setup of the system. The focus on service industry made it easy to discuss the different processes. A project manager of Eqeep guided Optronica through the different steps within the project and steered the appointed resources from Eqeep.
In the background, other employees of Eqeep showed enormous dedication to achieve a successful implementation. The requests of Optronica were fulfilled in short periods of time, not only during the implementation, but certainly also after going live. The joy and pride in delivering a quality system was clear to see. On occasion Eqeep requested support from IFS. The response was fast and adequately. It showed a high level of cooperation between IFS and Eqeep.
Future: what’s next?
FSM has become the backbone of Optronica’s business. Without FSM Optronica would be less profitable and future ready. Over the next year Optronica will implement more functionalities of FSM that will support the work of technicians and at the same time comply with the increasing demand of customers for reports and documentation of the performed work. The survey methodology in FSM will be the first step. The ‘solutions’ functionality within FSM will help technicians address error calls more efficiently by providing relevant history of possible solutions. This is also a development that is on the cards for the next year. The increasing number of FSM implementations is a return on Optronica’s investment. Examples of workflows can be shared with Optronica by Eqeep’s business consultants.
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