Achieving a sustained increase in productivity, coming from the workers themselves instead of coming from external stimulation, is a pending matter for any company in Latin America. If your company suffers from low field service productivity, you may need to read the following paragraphs to find out what to do to solve it.
How to drive the productivity in a region traditionally affected by low work efficiency? In terms of field service productivity, companies in Latin America could start by the digitalization of their documents.
Digitalization in Latin America
According to an article at El Economista, the digitalization is key to increase the productivity in Spain and Latin America, a region with a great opportunity ahead: if any place has a strategic opportunity to take the lead in the digital revolution, it’s the Ibero-American countries.
The website states that the transfer from physical to digital documents in Latin America has significantly increased since 2009, shortening the gap between these countries and Spain and Portugal. In this regard, if the prime goal is to close the digital gap, experts propose setting up digitalization programs, led by the public sector, with private counseling and participation.
On the other hand, as the report states, the digitalization programs must include specific initiatives in four areas: quality of education, investment in infrastructures, digitalization of small and medium sized companies, and alignment of digital regulations between countries. This would help to drive corporate productivity in companies of all sizes.
Small, medium and big companies which use a great amount of resources to carry out field work (retail, inspections, plague control, installation and maintenance, etc) could, in addition to adopting the digitalization, join a “mobile first” strategy, thanks to web platforms and APPs dedicated to replace paper-based processes which are time and money consuming. Field service productivity depends greatly on an early adoption of mobile solutions which can seize the full potential of smartphones, as the best way to increase efficiency of processes which require a fast communication among field workers and the home office.
Mobile devices, productivity triggers
Mobile devices have impacted so much our daily life that in a few years they have become essential tools for companies as well: the revolution mobile technologies caused –by increasingly functional smartphones and more specific applications- have represented a true challenge to their traditional productive scheme, Reseller Magazine states. The website also indicates that the new “tech” habits adopted by workers have come into play in the daily work life, and different telework modalities and new corporative approaches such as BYOD (Bring your own device), which allow or promote the use of mobile devices for working.
These new habits allow companies to take the plunge, innovate and create productivity spaces using the new available tools at hand. For example, DataScope, a sustainable, efficient and economical alternative to the printed document for the business world, allows increasing field service productivity by 19%.
“Currently many organizations aim at accessing new technologies since there is a huge gap in response times towards clients, as well as in internal business processes, and an immediate answer would be greatly appreciated for everyone involved in the business”, the article insists.
As an obstacle which affects field service productivity, “current systems waste too much time and resources from analysts which could be used to provide a much more satisfying and personalized experience for customers”, the article indicates, and adds that the collaboration, instant messaging, mobile solutions and flexible workplaces are part of a transformation which aims at reducing wasting time in non-value activities which don’t provide a customized service to their clients.
To sum up, a company which wants to take a step forward in field service productivity must be ready to adapt to a changing environment where the supply, availability and an easy, immediate usage of the data flow are decisive. The replacement of obsolete processes associated to data capture for mobile solutions adaptable to the new reality, which allow sharing data in real time, is one of the fundamental steps to generate an increase of field service productivity.
DataScope is a platform which allows various industries to streamline, organize and evaluate the work of their field staffs thanks to online forms which provide real time indicators 100% adaptable to any field.
