Utilizing SAP Mobile Field Service

The logbook feature provides your technicians with a convenient way to keep track of their workday and pick up where they left off. It allows for an overview of all tasks and actions completed throughout the day. 

You can additionally scan the equipment barcode, for example, to create a new equipment.

On the Android application, there is the ability to interact with NFC tags to trigger a search for equipment that has been synchronized to the mobile application.

The create project teams feature means that:

• Customers working with project management can create and manage teams directly from the mobile clients.
• Supervisors can easily share an activity with a group of technicians by assigning it their team.

The handover/take function allows technicians to transfer assignments that they have accepted to another technician, and also for technicians to accept the assignments that have been handed over to them by other technicians.

The handover/take feature is available from the function menu in the activities screen. When a technician selects the handover option, they can then select and assign one or more activities to another technician.

Dedicated screen types in workflow steps allow to bring focus to the relevant information only. This information is presented in a streamlined way as the technician navigates through the guided workflow steps.

• Providing More Context: These screens offer additional context to the technician during field service execution, ensuring they have all the necessary details to perform their tasks efficiently.
• Focused Information: By displaying only the relevant information, dedicated screen types help technicians concentrate on what is essential, reducing distractions and enhancing productivity.
• Guided Workflows: These screens guide technicians through their work, ensuring that they follow the correct procedures and complete all required steps.

When a technician is assigned to an activity and additional work is needed while they are on-site, they can create a new activity and assign it to themselves, provided the permissions are set accordingly.

• If the new activity is of the assignment type, it will appear on the planning board. The technician can also assign it to themselves if needed.
• Some mobile screen configurations can be adjusted to accommodate this workflow, but it may require custom settings beyond the default configuration.

By understanding and utilizing these features, technicians can improve their efficiency and ensure that all tasks are completed accurately and on time. The SAP Mobile Field Service application supports technicians in delivering exceptional service through its focused and guided workflow steps.

When the technician is assigned to an activity and more work is needed while they are there, can they create a new activity and assign to themselves? 

Yes, if permissions are set accordingly.

If it was activity of assignment type, it will show up on planning board, or the technician could have assigned themselves.

Some mobile screen configurations can be done, but this is not out of the box.

The Planning and Dispatching dashboard within the SAP service application helps manage and schedule technician activities effectively. Workflow steps are configured in the admin area, executed by the technician, and visible to the dispatcher. This is the view presented in the planning and dispatching board.

The Planning and Dispatching Dashboard offers key features to efficiently manage and oversee technician activities, ensuring a smooth coordination of tasks and resources.

Firstly, the dashboard provides planners with a comprehensive daily view of all technician activities, offering a clear display of tasks scheduled for each technician. This overview enables planners to easily visualize and manage the entire workload in a single view.

Furthermore, technicians are assigned specific tasks, which are color-coded for easy identification, allowing for quick understanding of the type of task and its urgency. This feature aids in prioritizing and managing tasks effectively.

Additionally, the dashboard updates in real-time, ensuring that any changes in the schedule or new assignments are immediately visible to both technicians and planners. This real-time visibility enables quick adaptation to changes and ensures effective communication between all involved parties.

Moreover, detailed information about activities is readily available by selecting a task on the dashboard. This includes the type of maintenance, location, and any special instructions, providing technicians with all the necessary details to carry out their tasks efficiently.

Finally, the interface supports the efficient planning and dispatching of tasks, allowing planners to drag and drop tasks to assign them to different technicians or adjust the schedule as needed. This flexibility in planning and dispatching ensures that resources are allocated optimally and tasks are assigned with precision. Overall, the Planning and Dispatching Dashboard provides essential features for streamlined task management and coordination.

A workflow step defines the single steps a technician needs to go through their process. The workflow steps can be defined in the admin portal under Screen workflow.

How to configure company settings within the SAP service application to tailor the system to your organization’s needs. These settings help optimize various workflows and functionalities to ensure efficient service management.

The workflow steps within the SAP service application play a crucial role in defining the individual tasks that technicians need to complete their processes. These steps can be customized and configured in the admin portal under the "Screen Workflow" section.

The Company Settings page, accessible under the "Company" section of the SAP service application, provides administrators with the ability to configure various system settings to align with their company’s specific requirements. Settings are conveniently displayed in a list format, presenting the name, type, and value of each configuration, facilitating easy identification and modification.

The key types of settings available within the Company Settings page include Boolean Settings, which are true/false settings that enable or disable specific features. For instance, CoreSystems.Assignment.AutoWorkerSelectionDriven, when set to 'true,' allows the system to automatically select the best-suited technician for an assignment. Similarly, String Settings allow customization of system colors and branding, such as setting the primary and secondary colors for the application’s interface. Moreover, Number Settings define numerical limits, such as the maximum attachment size, providing administrators with the flexibility to set and adjust numerical constraints.

Additionally, the Company Settings page allows administrators to download the current settings configuration for review or backup purposes, as well as the ability to upload a configuration file to apply new settings in bulk. This feature ensures that system configurations can be conveniently managed and updated, providing flexibility and efficient administration of system settings.

The service workflow feature can be reached from Admin → Company → Service Workflow. 

Create and configure checkpoints or milestones for the mobile application in order to do the following:

• Standardize processes
• Improve communications between back-office teams and field technicians
• Add or remove workflow steps and change the order of steps

Workflow step details that can be configured:

• Main next steps, for example, action location
• Person status
• Acceptance criteria
• Recording (for example, mileage and travel time)
• Color and icon

The Next Steps field can be used to determine which steps can and will occur after a given workflow step. The order in which the next step is selected will be reflected in the series list displayed in the drop-down.

Screen Type

The type of screen on which the workflow step appears. Options include:

• None
• Smartform
• Summary screen
• Travel
• Work items

Acceptance Criteria:

Text entry field. Here you can enter the text will be displayed in the application and prompt the technician to confirm before continuing to the next service workflow step.

Select the Smartform screen type to set a smartform template as a workflow step in admin. It will then be displayed on the device.

This screen combines the contextual relevance of the workflows steps and the flexible nature of the smartform and creates a range of possibilities for how these two functions can be used.

It is now possible to have more than one workflow defined. In combination with a business rule, different workflows can be assigned to activities.

For example, in admin, you will find a sample business rule SAMPLE - Workflow Steps - Associate a Service Call with type Installation, to Installation Workflow. Using this business rule, all activities under a service call of type installation, will be associated with the Installation workflow steps.

With smartforms and checklists you can:

• Follow instructions, watch videos and capture data
• Dynamically display and request only certain information relevant for a specific use case or product
• Scan in bar codes, for example, for serial numbers for fast data entry and to avoid typing mistakes
• Capture pictures and videos on site and attach to the relevant elements
• Capture mandatory or optional information
• Validate number input and display automated calculations
• Capture signatures of technicians or customers
• Automatically display relevant information from linked objects
• Use templates in multiple languages or visualized on a PDF backdrop

The SAP service application has various elements that play a pivotal role in enhancing service execution and documentation. Three key elements in this regard are Smartforms, Attachments, and Reports, each serving distinct purposes and functions.

Smartforms serve as detailed scripts for service execution, enabling employees to follow correct procedures for various scenarios. These scripts provide guidance to technicians, contributing to improved consistency and accuracy in service delivery, thereby enhancing overall task execution.

Attachments within Smartforms encompass various types of files and can include images or documents that assist users in completing Smartform instances. They support a wide range of file types, such as PNG, JPEG, GIF, BMP, PDF, DOC, DOCX, ZIP, PPTX, XLS, XLSX, and MP4. Additionally, the inclusion of image elements allows users to attach visible pictures, aiding technicians in better understanding and executing tasks.

Reports, on the other hand, are comprehensive Smartforms presented in PDF format, generated using third-party tools like Jaspersoft or HTML. These reports compile the elements of a Smartform, presenting them in a cohesive document. They are specifically used for generating customer reports that can be attached to activities.

The integration of Attachments into Smartforms enables the generation of detailed customer reports, collectively ensuring that technicians have the required resources and documentation to perform their tasks efficiently and effectively. These elements enhance service execution and documentation, contributing to improved service delivery.

Record Efforts:

• Automatic time calculation based on workflow steps
• Stopwatch with start, break, and stop feature
• Add manual time entries

Record Material:

• Manual selection of material from Van Stock.
• Select from and use reserved material.

Record Expenses:

Enter predefined types of expenses.

Here in the Mobile Field Service stage, technicians have several capabilities to ensure efficient task execution. They receive SMS and email notifications about new tasks and updates, follow defined workflow steps for each service call, and record the time spent on each task.

They can also use checklists to ensure all required steps are completed, manage spare parts needed for the service, and track reserved materials for the task. Technicians also log expenses and mileage incurred during service calls, document any error codes encountered, create detailed service reports, and finalize service orders.

Before you can use the time and material journal approval you need to make sure you have the prerequisites set correctly. Therefore, go in the admin portal and into the permission settings.

All of these settings needs to be enabled. Make sure you have them enabled in the business rule settings.

The Time and Material Approval Lifecycle involves three key steps that ensure the accuracy and integrity of service records within the SAP service application.

Firstly, technicians initiate the process by entering their effort, expense, material, and mileage data into the service call checklist, capturing all necessary information linked to the service provided. This step serves as a comprehensive entry point, enabling the collection of essential data from the technicians.

The next critical step involves a thorough review of the entered data. Administrators access the Time & Material (T&M) Journal tab to review, edit, and either approve or deny the time and material records submitted by the technicians. This meticulous review process guarantees the accuracy and compliance of all entries with company standards before they are finalized, promoting a high level of data integrity.

Once the time and material data is approved, it undergoes synchronization with the ERP system. This seamless integration ensures that all approved service records are accurately reflected in the company's financial and resource planning systems, facilitating efficient operational management. This synchronization process plays a crucial role in maintaining the accuracy and consistency of service data across the company's systems.

You can record your time manually or let the time count from the start of working for the activity. 

In the activity sidebar of the planning and dispatching board, the planners can also see the journal that displays the effort and material for the job.

The Time and Material Journal can also be integrated with SAP CATS or SAP CS Work Order.

In the above image, you can see the integration of SAP CATS.

This figure above shows the SAP CS Work Order view of EMME.

The service call status TECHNICALLY COMPLETE indicates:

• All activities related to the service call have been CLOSED.
• The service call has a FINISHED status.
• The information entered by the technician (mileage, time, effort, equipment, and so on) is now ready for validation and acceptance.

Reserved materials are materials (for example, spare parts) that can be reserved for a specific service call. Reserved materials are only limited as there is not an inventory management itself when standalone. This means stock is not counted, or automatically increased or decreased, when case material is used.

Materials that are used to repair or replace equipment are specified by quantity and location.

Now let's take a look at the reserved materials feature which basically covers two cases. For example, if the technician has a repair or scheduled maintenance associated with a service call and you already know what spare parts are needed, you can reserve the materials ahead of time.

1. Either you can send the materials/spare parts where the technician needs to go to execute the service call
2. Or the technician prepares the materials/spare parts and takes them to the physical location of the service call

Using this feature on the mobile application, the technician can easily consume the materials and also indicate if they used all of them or just a few of them. For example, if 5 spare parts were reserved for service call and the technician uses only 2, they can update that on their mobile application on the consumption part of the reserved materials. Once they do the final checkout process and close the service call, this will be reflected back to the back office as well.

These service calls with reserved materials can be created in any ERP system, it doesn't matter what ERP system you have. The most important step is what the technician will see on the mobile application.

Reserved material allows you to apply additional controls to inventory used in activities and service calls. This is done to ensure material is available as needed and that service calls and activities can be scheduled and completed without additional delays.

Provide your field service engineers with the possibility to capture more information about the reserved material they use, for example, you could define a UDF field that must be filled out whenever a reserved part is used.

Reserved Materials can be assigned to both to activities and service calls, which helps to ensure your field service engineers are consuming the correct parts reserved for their activities. Generic material, however, can still be assigned to the service call, where it will be accessible to all activities linked to that service call.

To activate reserved material permissions on the mobile applications of the users, you need to set the cloud permission correctly. To do so follow the outlined steps below:

1. From the main page of the SAP Store choose the Cloud Users link.
2. Search for the cloud user for whom you would like to assign permissions to.
3. Click on the user record.
4. Click on the drop-down list corresponding to your company in the Linked Permission Groups section.
5. Chose the permission group to which you want to assign the permissions on reserved materials.

The first option is to use reserved materials on a service call level, as shown in the figure above.

Another option is to assign a reserved material by clicking on the Reserved Materials link. Then, you can either use it by adding it to the assignment or take it from your own stock to create an inventory transfer to your warehouse.

Some functionalities of theTools feature are detailed below.

• Allows to set which tools are required to perform a certain job and ensures a hard booking of tools when releasing an activity to a technician.
• In case the tools cannot be booked, the activity is not released.
• View tools reserved for a given assignment, or update an activity with the tool used during the field execution of the assignment.

The benefits of this feature include:

• An increase in the first-time fix rate by ensuring that tools needed for a given job are reserved​.
• It allows technicians to validate that the tools are available before traveling to the customer​.
• It ensures that tools are compliant for the usage (valid calibration, valid certification, and so on).​

To understand this, you can generate a report based on predefined elements which you set up individually in advance with as many levels as you need. Activity Feedback is generated through codes as shown in the image on the left side of the figure.

This way the technician only needs to select the elements of the incident, such as where it was located or if it was an electric or mechanical issue with the object. When the elements are defined, the error code including the report is automatically generated as shown on the right.

Additionally, the technician can add comments and pictures of the incident as an extra step. When the activity feedback (and associated code) is generated, it is then added to the service call report and sent to the back office or the customer.

Based on the activity code generated, the QA team creates an Excel report based on SQL query to check and see the error landscape graph. This way, the QA team can see the data and summary of the issues and identify where the most problems occur.

The above figure demonstrates the steps taken to identify the activity code.

The checkout screen displays activities grouped by their checkout status: Ready for Checkout and Not Ready.

In order to operate the integrated checkout feature in iOS and Android mobile apps, you must complete the following:

• Enable Company Setting: Navigate to Admin → Company → Select your Company → Settings and configure the CoreSystems.Assignment.IsWorkflowDriven setting to be TRUE. By setting it to TRUE, the mobile application will display new buttons for navigating to next workflow steps at the bottom of the activity details screen.
• Enable Permissions: The following business objects need both READ and UPDATE permissions:
  • Activity
  • ServiceAssignment
  • ServiceAssignmentStatus

In addition, the following business object needs READ permissions set to [ALL]:

• ServiceAssignmentStatusDefinition
• ServiceWorkflow

The type of checkout workflow that is assigned to a specific field user is determined by the UI permissions for ServiceCheckout.

In the above image, you see the charge effort and checkout screen on the mobile version. This is what a checkout process would look like in the solution.

This image provides and example of a report screen on the mobile app. You have the option to sign the report directly in the app itself.

The group checkout process is used in case there are several activities required for one specific service call. The group checkout is then usually performed by a supervisor or leader on-site and may include related activities that were previously finished by other field users.

The group checkout will also display activities which have a closed status but do not have a report attached to it yet.