Optimising field service with real-time precision

Asking the right questions first

When organisations consider investing in a new scheduling system, it’s tempting to focus on surface-level features like calendars, mobile apps, or reporting dashboards. But choosing the right solution goes far deeper. Scheduling is the heartbeat of service delivery, and the wrong tool can create more problems than it solves.

The Planning & Scheduling – a Partner Perspective eBook highlights ten essential questions every service leader should ask when evaluating a new solution. These are not abstract questions – they come directly from the challenges faced by service planning teams in global companies such as Electrolux and Tetra Pak.

Key considerations include:

• Complexity of jobs: Can the system handle multi-day projects or jobs requiring different skills at different stages?
• Parts integration: Does scheduling link directly to inventory so technicians arrive equipped with the right tools and parts?
• Customer booking: Can customers choose appointment slots that balance convenience for them with efficiency for the business?
• Flexibility under pressure: How does the system react when technicians are delayed, customers cancel, or traffic creates disruption?

Without clear answers to these questions, many organisations fall back on spreadsheets or manual workarounds – undoing the very purpose of automation. Asking the right questions up front ensures you select a solution that reduces risk, cuts complexity, and empowers planners to work strategically.

Download now: Planning & Scheduling – a Partner Perspective eBook

Benchmarking your service

Once you know what to look for, the next step is understanding how your service organisation performs today. Are you matching the best in your industry, or falling behind?

The Optimise Your Field Service eBook provides benchmarks based on Aquant’s 2024 Field Service Benchmark Report. These figures reveal stark differences between top performers and those at the bottom:

• First Time Fix Rate (FTFR): Industry median is 76%, but leaders reach 87%, while laggards fall to 55%.
• Resolution Time: Top organisations resolve issues in 2.44 days, compared to nearly 10 days for the lowest tier.
• Time Between Visits: Leaders average 133 days, compared to just 46 for those at the bottom.

These aren’t just numbers – they represent customer experience and profitability. A poor first-time fix rate results in repeat visits, increased travel, higher costs, and frustrated customers. Long resolution times erode trust and risk SLA penalties. Short gaps between visits indicate assets aren’t being maintained properly, driving downtime and lost revenue.

The eBook also illustrates how companies are using IFS Cloud™ PSO to change the game. Konica Minolta has seen a 25% boost in productivity and a 21% improvement in SLA achievement since adopting PSO. PHS Group, managing a fleet of over 1,000 vans in the UK, cut travel time by 35%, giving technicians more time with customers while reducing costs and emissions.

These case studies demonstrate that benchmarking isn’t just about knowing your position – it’s about identifying the opportunities to improve and proving that change is possible.

Read more: Optimise Your Field Service eBook

Why scheduling really matters

So why do so many organisations fall short of these benchmarks? The IFS PSO White Paper provides the answer: traditional scheduling systems are not designed for today’s dynamic, customer-driven environment.

Batch-based tools generate static, start-of-day schedules. They may look fine on paper at 8 a.m., but by 9:30 a.m., a technician is stuck in traffic, another is delayed on a job, and a customer has cancelled. Suddenly, the plan is irrelevant, and planners are forced to reshuffle everything manually.

This reactive firefighting creates inefficiencies and frustrates both staff and customers. Without real-time optimisation, service organisations waste time, miss SLAs, and see costs spiral.

IFS Cloud™ PSO changes the model entirely:

• Continuous optimisation: The system recalculates schedules throughout the day, adapting instantly to delays, cancellations, or urgent jobs.
• Dynamic matching: It assigns technicians based on skills, certifications, availability, and parts – ensuring a higher first-time fix rate.
• Real-world awareness: PSO integrates traffic, weather, and location data to optimise routes and reduce wasted travel.
• Scenario testing: Tools like the What-If Scenario Explorer let planners model changes before committing, reducing risk and improving decision-making.

This means organisations no longer just meet benchmarks – they set new ones. Planners can move from reacting to problems to managing by exception, focusing on strategy rather than day-to-day firefighting. Technicians spend more time with customers and less time on the road, driving both efficiency and satisfaction.

Explore further: IFS PSO White Paper

Conclusion: from questions to outcomes

Field service success begins with asking the right questions. It continues by benchmarking your organisation honestly against industry peers. And it becomes sustainable when supported by a solution built for the real-world complexity of modern service delivery.

The combination of insights from the Partner Perspective eBook, benchmarks from the Optimise Your Field Service eBook, and best practices in the IFS PSO White Paper provides a clear roadmap. Together, they show how organisations can:

• Improve first-time fix rates and SLA achievement.
• Reduce travel time, costs, and carbon emissions.
• Free planners from manual rework and empower them to focus on strategy.
• Build resilience and adaptability in the face of rising customer expectations and sustainability demands.

With Platned and IFS Cloud™ PSO, planning and scheduling move from being a back-office function to a true driver of growth, customer loyalty, and operational excellence.

Explore the resources:

• Planning & Scheduling – a Partner Perspective eBook
• Optimise Your Field Service eBook
• IFS PSO White Paper