The discussion of transformation in service is no longer tied to the debate of cost vs. profit center. In most organizations, the profit center argument has won out, and won out several years ago.

Service organizations are now increasingly focused on customer satisfaction and revenue. Therefore field organizations need to begin to identify how they can support better resolution rates and improve revenue opportunities with current resources

Fatigue management has increasingly been the focus in terms of road safety for managers responsible for on-the-road teams. A historical reliance on paper-based logging systems means that many companies have been slow to adapt and to take advantage of the new technologies that present a simple solution to this often deadly problem. [ + ]

Driver training is an invaluable addition to any fleet manager's repetoire of management tools. An effective program can not only lessen incidences of personal injury and asset damage, it also provides a valuable avenue for road rule re-education and current driving practice assessment. [ + ]

For any equivalent quantity of metal, aluminium is lighter but steel is significantly stronger, so how do you decide which path to go down when choosing service bodies for your fleet? The answer is not as simple as you think. [ + ]

Gone are the days when a truck or van was just a way of getting from one job to the next. Field service vehicles are an increasingly valuable asset with many faces: mobile office, technology hub and roving inventory location. [ + ]

Honeywell and The Service Council have revealed 38% of field service organisations expect to potentially reduce costs by an average of $875,000 following improvements to workflow processes that would save each worker 30 minutes or more per day. [ + ]

In Australia's highly competitive access equipment market, a product range renowned for its quality, performance and innovation is merely a good start. That's why the management of JLG Industries Australia set out to back it with the best possible support systems. [ + ]

The Service Council has partnered with Westwick-Farrow Media's Field Service Business (FSB) to bring our thought leadership content and expertise to FSB's community, to help service-centric businesses continue to sharpen their service strategies through global insights and trends analysis. [ + ]

When it comes to implementing new business systems or processes, it is recognised that the human response to change has the greatest capacity to determine a project's outcome. This continues to be a factor in a range of studies into the causes of failure in large-scale ICT project implementation. A lack of senior level support, changing mindsets and poorly defined objectives are just some of the factors that influence the results. [ + ]

Wireless technology has changed the way we interact with one another. Free to roam and still remain connected, it has provided flexibility at previously unseen levels and created a more mobile world and workforce. But wireless isn't limited to emails and social media, the same technology is now being used in a multitude of ways to ensure safety of the workforce. [ + ]

Traditional technologies may work well above ground, but what happens when you need to locate and trace a person or object underground, or in a difficult environment without clear signals? [ + ]

Keeping employees engaged is key to keeping loyal customers, yet most companies have not been able to master the matrix of costs vs ROI in the complex push and pull environment of financial obligations and customer satisfaction. But the answer may be right underneath our agile thumbs that happily build farms and defeat angry birds on our smartphones. [ + ]

When starting out, it's easy for a company to settle on stand-alone software solutions that fill a particular business requirement. Referred to as 'best of breed' in their category, these applications can certainly be an astute option when addressing a specific commercial function, such as accounting, HR management or CRM. While they may present a suitable short-term solution, what happens to these unrelated systems as the company grows? [ + ]

BHP Billiton's dedicated, heavy-duty rail network is a vital component in its vertically integrated, Australian iron ore supply chain. Some of the world's longest and heaviest trains are under its direct control, operating continuously in the harsh outback environment. [ + ]