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About the Schedule Optimizer

The Optimizer uses complex algorithms to meet the following objectives:

• Assign field service engineers to service activities.
• Schedule these activities.
• Maximize the efficiency and the quality of service.
• Minimize the cost to the service organization.

The Optimizer can also respond to immediate scheduling demands to provide repair activities that meet the requirements of service entitlements (for example, a response within 4 hours), emergencies (for example, breakdowns of service vehicles), and changes in service personnel.

Optimization of Schedules

Because most service costs include labor, efficient use of labor is a primary goal of a service organization. Efficiency encompasses numerous objectives. Some objectives can conflict with each other. Examples of objectives follow:

• Assign field service engineers who have the appropriate skills and parts to tasks so that they can resolve service requests the first time.
• Because skilled engineers can finish a task faster, assign these engineers to more challenging work so that their time is not wasted on trivial tasks.
• Minimize travel between activities by grouping activities in an area.
• Schedule engineers so that they appear on site within contractually committed times.

The Optimizer provides automated, background optimization of the schedule for service activities and optimal use of resources in each service region.

Business Priorities

Each business has a different definition of efficiency in delivering service. Businesses that handle critical responses (for example, a utility company that handles downed power lines) define efficiency as placing someone on site in the shortest time. In this case, response is more important than full utilization. Other businesses do not require stringent responses but require higher utilization to preserve profits. In either case, a service business must set priorities when scheduling and dispatching personnel.

Repairs and Schedules

Most service businesses start the day with a schedule of activities to perform, such as maintenance, installations, and other scheduled repairs. During the day, customers can call for repairs that require modification of schedules.

Customers with service agreements often have specific entitlements with a required response time. This response time might be tiered according to the agreement. Standard agreements might specify that engineers are onsite within 24 hours of the service call, and premium agreements might specify response times as short as 2 hours.

You must insert repair activities into the schedule that the Optimizer carefully optimized during the previous night. Optimizing the schedule again is usually not practical because optimization routines can run for hours to determine good solutions. Customers want a service commitment immediately, often while they are on the phone. You must achieve a balance between trading optimized schedules for quick responses and customer satisfaction while still enforcing business requirements.

When responding to service requests, the ideal solution for the customer service representatives is to click a button and receive a time for a service call that considers contractual agreements and other constraints. The Optimizer addresses this need.