ABB Uses Pulsar to Improve Service Technician Productivity
February 21, 2022
ABB has four global businesses: Electrification, Process Automation, Motion, and Robotics/Discrete Automation, which support pharmaceutical manufacturing, automotive manufacturing, energy, and transportation. ABB products include solar power infrastructure, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, measurement, analytics, electronics, and motors. Field technicians service the products and use Salesforce to tie multiple workflows together. Since 2019, ABB has used Pulsar to customize the Salesforce experience, improve service technician productivity, and increase revenue.
Executive Summary
ABB service technicians find themselves without reliable internet access during service calls. The technicians need to view and enter information related to the service call. ABB customized Pulsar to create a custom app with a user-friendly dashboard. The app provides quick access to customer information, service call status, work order time, expenses, and reporting. Additionally, the Pulsar web app has customized checklists to fulfill business requirements. ABB increases revenue by accurately capturing service call data and increasing technician productivity.
Challenges
- Online Access – Internet service is not available, unreliable, or not secure in client locations.
- Accuracy – Technicians need to find the correct parts for each asset.
- Productivity – Technicians need to enter accurate work order time and expenses. Visit and work order status needs visibility for better time management.
- Compliance – Business requirements include several different checklists, and other data, which may be difficult for technicians to remember. Technicians need to generate summary reports from completed checklists and attach them to the work order
How Pulsar Helped
ABB created a custom web app with a user-friendly dashboard. The dashboard provides quick links to complete everyday tasks. The app provides the technicians with improved:
- Offline Access – Pulsar allows offline mobile access to Salesforce data.
- Accuracy – ABB’s custom web app allows the technician to view all parts by customer asset. This will enable them to order the correct replacement parts quickly.
- Productivity – Technicians enter work order time and travel expenses from the custom dashboard on the mobile device. The job progress section of the dashboard displays the status of the current service appointment and the stage of the work order.
- Compliance – The dashboard provides fast access to required business checklists. Reports are generated in the desired language from completed checklists and attached to the associated work order.
Results
- Increased Productivity – ABB personnel remain productive despite their connectivity challenges during service visits. The dashboard in the custom web app provides quick access to the most common tasks. The Job Progress section of the dashboard includes appointment and work order status at a glance.
- Faster Processing Time – Data entered during service visits is more accurate and available to other business areas as soon as data is synced for faster invoicing and reporting. The work order time entry quick link streamlines the timesheet process.
- Faster Service – Visibility of parts by customer asset and visibility of all assets at the customer site decrease the technician’s time spent finding and ordering parts. The quick links on the dashboard give technicians easy access to common tasks.
- Increased Compliance – Custom checklists allow service technicians to adhere to business requirements without relying on memory. Summary reports are generated in the desired language and attached to work orders.
- Increased Revenue – ABB increased its revenue by improving technician productivity with a user-friendly custom app.
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