Standardizing the procure-to-pay process at Eli Lilly wasn’t easy, but the hard work paid off. In just over one year, the global pharmaceutical company’s decision to streamline contributed toward saving $1 billion in operational costs.
Field services companies can learn a lesson from this success story, highlighted in a recent article on Sharedserviceslink.com.
For service providers considering implementing a new field service management software system to improve repair and installations processes, taking the time to design the business workflow process is so important.
It’s all about getting the design right and spending the right amount of time to set up the system at the beginning. Here, at the beginning of the process, is where providers can maximize their investment return.
To do this, companies must streamline service call inception, field technician dispatching and trunk stock availability to customer billing. This allows companies to add new field technicians without adding new overhead, thus meeting revenue and margin objectives.
Companies want to avoid having to make major updates to the processes during the implementation or, even worse, just live with the new broken process. You don’t want to run out of time and use extra resources to fix a failed implementation.
The Sharedserviceslink.com article outlines three keys to success when implementing new software.
- Prepare for the transition: Develop standard processes, operating procedures, and staffing models. Implementing new processes at each local site might require hitting the road to work through each process and get local teams ready for the change.
- Use local leaders: Local transition leaders will help to ensure local input on issues and provide insight into individual communication issues.
- Assign a global process owner: This person should be a respected individual that can enforce process, answer questions and solve problems. At Eli Lilly, people did not report directly to the global process owner.
Source: Sharedserviceslink.com, November 2012