Shared service centers are usually created to improve field service profitability. Now, beyond focusing on cost savings, such service centers also are providing additional value.
An article on Sharedserviceslink.com explains that mature shared service centers are working to become better business partners. The term usually used to describe this trend is “moving up the value chain.”
Field services agencies often use a third-party service to find subcontractors. This gives companies access to people with greater skills without having to add the cost of a full-time employee. These huge databases save agencies time and hassle. It’s about maximizing productivity through automation and creating efficiencies.
The Sharedserviceslink.com article highlights three ways that shared service centers deliver value to agencies.
- Maximizing productivity through automation: Increasingly automating end-to-end processing in areas like procure to pay and order to cash will free up employees from repetitive actions and allow them to perform value-added analysis. This should improve the efficiency and the quality of the services offered.
- Expanding services and functions: Growing the scope of services offered can help to capitalize on economies of scale. Clients will see the service center as a hub of activity from which they receive increased value.
- More efficient organizational design: Right-shoring is about putting business components and processes in places that maximize cost and efficiency, which could be onshore, offshore or outsourced. It’s a good idea to consider outsourcing, but it’s not always the right move. Ultimately, the system should do the heavy work, with data analytics on “front line” activities and in the back office.
Source: Sharedserviceslink.com, November 2012