With every Australian depending on utilities to keep things running, field technicians need to be able to respond quickly – but increasing productivity in the face of a labour shortage is no easy task.
As populations grow and the industry strides towards a digital future, there’s greater expectation placed on essential service providers to deliver real-time information and solve issues as soon as possible.
To do this, many utilities are rolling out digital meter programs, which require many hours of work from field crews and add to the demand placed on an already expanding sector.
Utilities’ resources are already stretched thin thanks to supply chain and skills shortages, and the recent increase in extreme weather adds yet another challenge to the mix by chewing up technicians’ time as they restore unplanned outages. Australian field services logistics partner, Droppoint, saw a real need to help the sector tackle these challenges and ease the burden on field crews – but first the team wanted to gain a deeper understanding of the barriers that utility technicians face.
Let’s get technical
Droppoint asked a range of industries that operate in the field services space about key logistics challenges in 2024, and out of all these sectors surveyed utilities and telecommunications companies felt the least equipped to navigate supply chain challenges and labour shortages.
Respondents in this sector also reported that response time was the most critical metric in their service level agreements (SLAs) with customers, however inventory challenges make it harder for field technicians to meet these targets.
Almost half of respondents in this area experience long waits for parts, and those in these industries reported this to be a top challenge for them more so than other industries.
Other key barriers included limited real‑time visibility of inventory levels and a lack of accurate inventory demand prediction.
Intellihub Head of Supply Chain, Stuart Sproull, said, “Inventory visibility is key because Intellihub keeps the asset for its lifetime, and most smart electrical meters last between 15 and 20 years.
“Humans don’t always do the right thing at the right time. Sometimes they could be in a rush and forget to scan.
“Droppoint allows us to step into that scanning compliance; they know they’ve delivered a product and if it hasn’t been scanned within 48 hours, they can ring that technician and ask [if they’ve picked it up yet],” he said.
As expectations increase and Australians become more dependent on utilities than ever before, field services and inventory management software offers a solution to these challenges – but utilities need a provider that they can trust to truly understand their needs.
Always on
Droppoint’s MOS (Materials Orchestration System) is built exclusively for field service organistions by Australian field service professionals.
This unique logistics solution combines transport, inventory and location management and leverages AI and machine learning to act as a single source of truth, improving field technician productivity and inventory management.
MOS can easily integrate with existing systems, and it allows Droppoint to craft a bespoke solution that meets your unique requirements.
Droppoint offers in-night delivery and has a pickup-drop off network with more than 500 locations across Australia and New Zealand, so technicians can receive parts either on-site or close to home before they start their working day.
Mr Sproull said that Droppoint allows Intellihub to make better use of technicians’ time.
“The less travel that a technician has to do to get the product that they need, the more jobs per day that they can actually do,” he said.
MOS then allows all users to manage workflows at every stage of the part lifecycle, and provides end-to-end inventory visibility, right down to the serial number.
As every sector and region have their own unique challenges, Droppoint needed to take a local approach. Its state-based teams offer regional expertise, ensuring clear communication, rapid responses times and proactive problem solving. It also has a national customer service team that are always on – ensuring you get the right part, to the right place at the right time.
For more information, visit www.droppoint.com.au
