Resource planning for service and field service organisations

Service and field service organisations need to coordinate staff, appointments, customers, vehicles and, frequently, tools or test equipment. At the same time, plans often change at short notice due to disruptions, breakdowns, rescheduled appointments or new priorities.

Effective resource planning should help to find available technicians more quickly, coordinate assignments clearly and make changes visible to all those involved.

Not every service organisation needs specialised resource planning software for this. With a small number of staff, fixed appointments and manageable areas of operation, a calendar, Excel or existing functions within a CRM or service management system may be sufficient.

What does resource planning mean in the service and field service sectors?

Resource planning for field staff is not just about finding an available slot. For a successful assignment, several conditions often need to be met simultaneously.

What planning problems commonly arise in field service?

Requirements vary depending on the sector. However, some challenges arise regularly.

• Fault reports cause last-minute changes to the daily schedule,
• Technicians are unexpectedly unavailable,
• Client appointments are being rescheduled,
• Certain qualifications are only available to a limited extent,
• Vehicles or specialised tools are required on multiple occasions,
• Several planners access the same resources,
• Available capacity is not visible centrally,
• Information is stored in several systems or Excel spreadsheets.

When are calendars, Excel or existing service systems sufficient?

Additional software is not automatically required.

A simple solution may be sufficient if:

• only a few technicians are scheduled,
• a person who takes charge of scheduling,
• the areas of application are manageable,
• Qualifications hardly play a role,
• if there are a few last-minute changes,
• the existing CRM or service system already offers suitable planning functionality.

In such situations, the cost of implementing an additional solution may outweigh the potential benefits.

When does specialised resource planning make sense?

As the number of technicians, orders and dependencies increases, the workload involved in manual resource planning also rises.

Typical warning signs include:

• Schedulers often spend a long time looking for available staff,
• Several calendars need to be compared with one another,
• Qualifications are managed separately,
• Last-minute changes result in a lot of phone calls,
• Several planners are amending the same work schedule,
• Service orders are transferred manually between systems,
• Planning statuses are diverging.

1. Schedule technicians according to availability

The first question is usually: Which member of staff is available at the desired time?

The following may be taken into account:

• Working hours,
• Holidays,
• Illness,
• Training courses,
• assignments that have already been scheduled,
• On-call services,
• internal appointments.

2. Take qualifications into account

A freelancer is not automatically suitable for every job.

Relevant criteria might include, for example:

• Product knowledge,
• technical specialisms,
• Certificates,
• Security permissions,
• Language skills,
• Manufacturer approvals,
• Experience with specific systems.

Planning can highlight such characteristics or assist in selecting suitable staff.

3. Prioritising faults and emergency call-outs

In technical services in particular, unplanned disruptions can alter existing daily schedules at short notice.

Then a quick decision must be made:

• which technician is available,
• anyone who possesses the necessary qualifications,
• which existing appointments can be rescheduled,
• which customer has higher priority,
• which employee can be deployed in a geographically appropriate manner.

4. Take customer and service windows into account

Not every task can be carried out at any given time.

Possible guidelines include:

• Maintenance only outside production hours,
• Access is only available during specific opening hours,
• fixed time slots,
• contractual response times,
• specific local contacts.

5. Plan vehicles together with technicians

If vehicles are a scarce resource, they should be considered alongside the technicians.

Depending on the organisation, the following may be relevant:

• Transporter,
• Workshop vehicles,
• Vehicles with special equipment,
• Vehicles for specific applications.

However, if every technician has their own vehicle on a permanent basis, separate vehicle planning may not be necessary.

6. Include tools and test equipment

Specialised tools can also influence the application.

An employee may be available and qualified, whilst the required test equipment is already being used on another job.

Typical resources include:

• Measuring instruments,
• Diagnostic systems,
• Specialist tools,
• Calibration equipment,
• mobile machinery.

7. Take travel routes and areas of operation into account

In field service, an employee’s location plays an important role.

A technician may be available but still not be the most sensible choice if their current location is a long way away.

The following may therefore be relevant for planning:

• Areas of service,
• Customer regions,
• Locations,
• previous and next locations,
• scheduled follow-up assignments.

8. Schedule recurring maintenance

Many service organisations handle not only faults but also regularly recurring maintenance jobs.

This may include:

• annual maintenance,
• regular checks,
• Inspections,
• Calibrations,
• preventative service appointments.

The sooner these plannable orders are taken into account, the better it is to keep capacity free for unplanned disruptions.

9. Coordinating multiple planners

As an organisation grows, several people often work on resource planning.

Responsibilities must then be clearly defined.

• Who is authorised to change appointments?
• Who plans which regions?
• Can resources be moved between regions?
• Who is authorised to change priorities?
• What information can technicians see themselves?

10. Communicate changes to technicians

A change to the schedule only takes effect once it has been communicated to the employee concerned.

Companies should therefore check how technicians receive their current schedule.

Possible approaches include:

• Web access,
• mobile application,
• Calendar integration,
• Notifications,
• existing service applications.

11. Import data from CRM, ERP or service systems

Customers, assets and service orders are often already managed in other applications.

Typical source systems include:

• CRM,
• ERP,
• Field Service Management,
• Ticket systems,
• HR software,
• Time and attendance.

Possible data to be carried over includes:

• Client,
• Location,
• Service order,
• Priority,
• Plant or machine,
• preferred date,
• Technician master data.

If an ERP or PPS system already manages central order data, our comparison tool can also help ERP/PPS or a separate digital planning board.

12. What information should be returned?

Following the planning process, certain information may be relevant for CRM, ERP or service systems.

• assigned technician,
• confirmed appointment,
• Planned launch,
• scheduled end,
• Appointment status,
• Changes to the deployment.

Whether this data must be returned automatically depends on the process.

What are the limitations of resource planning for field staff?

Resource planning can support operational scheduling, but does not automatically replace all the functions of a specialised field service solution.

Depending on the organisation, additional systems may be required for:

• mobile order processing,
• digital service reports,
• Signatures,
• Spare parts management,
• Invoicing,
• automatic route optimisation,
• Navigation,
• Ticket management,
• SLA monitoring.

How would you categorise Visual Planning?

Visual Planning may be of interest to service and field service organisations where technicians, appointments, jobs and other resources need to be coordinated flexibly on a graphical planning board.

The solution can, for example, be used as an operational planning layer, whilst customer, asset and order data continue to be managed within the existing CRM, ERP or service system.

This can be particularly relevant when several planners are working, different qualifications need to be taken into account and the daily schedule changes frequently.

However, Visual Planning is not automatically the right solution for every service organisation.

If a field service management solution with suitable scheduling, mobile order processing and route optimisation is already in place, additional resource planning may not be necessary.

How should a service organisation test software?

A product demonstration should reflect a realistic working day.

A suitable test case might look like this:

1. Several technicians have already been scheduled.
2. An important customer reports a fault at short notice.
3. A specific qualification is required for this role.
4. The nearest qualified technician is already booked for another appointment.
5. The existing appointment must be rescheduled to another member of staff.
6. Any required test equipment must also be available.
7. All affected staff should then be able to view the new planning status.

What data is required for the implementation?

Typical resource master data includes:

• Technician,
• Teams,
• Qualifications,
• Working hours,
• Areas of service,
• Vehicles,
• Tools and test equipment.

Typical order details include:

• Client,
• Location,
• Service order,
• Priority,
• preferred date,
• planned duration,
• required qualifications,
• Status.

How much does it cost to set up?

A simple resource planning system involving technicians and appointments can be implemented relatively easily.

The complexity increases when multiple data sources, qualifications, vehicles, service areas and interfaces need to be taken into account.

Typical project tasks include:

• Define the planning process,
• Define resources and properties,
• Set up user roles,
• Prepare master data,
• Configure views,
• Set up interfaces,
• Carry out test cases,
• Train dispatchers and staff.

Selection checklist

If staff access planning information from different locations or whilst on the move, the technical operating model should also be reviewed. Find out more at Cloud, hosting or on-premises.

Conclusion: Resource planning for field staff must remain flexible

The benefits of resource planning are particularly evident in the service and field service sectors, where it provides a shared overview of technicians, appointments, qualifications and additional resources.

For small teams and stable schedules, calendars, Excel or existing service systems may be perfectly adequate.

Specialised resource planning becomes more challenging when many assignments need to be co-ordinated simultaneously, short-term disruptions occur frequently, or several conditions for a successful assignment must be met at the same time.

Visual Planning can be a potential operational planning solution in such scenarios. Whether it is actually suitable depends on the existing systems, the integrations and whether additional functions such as automatic route optimisation or comprehensive field service management are required.

Frequently asked questions about resource planning in the service and field service sectors

Which resources should be planned together?

Typically, technicians and service orders are scheduled. Depending on the organisation, vehicles, tools, test equipment, qualifications and service areas may also be relevant.

Is a calendar enough for resource planning?

If you have just a few staff and straightforward deadlines, a calendar may be sufficient. However, as the number of technicians and qualifications increases and last-minute changes become more common, a specialised planning system can provide a clearer overview.

Is resource planning the same as field service management?

No. Resource planning focuses on the allocation and scheduling of staff and other resources. Field service management can also include mobile job processing, service reports, spare parts, invoicing, navigation and other service processes.

Can resource planning automatically calculate the best route?

Not automatically. If journey times and optimal routes are key requirements, a specialised routing or field service solution should be considered.

Is a CRM or ERP interface required?

Not essential. If there are only a few jobs, manual processing may be sufficient. Where there is a high volume of service calls, an interface can reduce duplicate data entry.

Is Visual Planning suitable for field staff?

Visual Planning may be of interest if technicians, appointments and other resources need to be scheduled flexibly and visually. Whether the solution is suitable should be assessed on the basis of a real-world use case and the existing systems.

Further guidance on resource planning

• A comparison of resource planning software: 12 selection criteria
• Visual Planning or Excel: When is it worth making the switch?
• Digital planning board or ERP/PPS planning board
• How much does it cost to implement resource planning software?
• Cloud, hosting or on-premises: which deployment model is right for you?
• Resource planning for mechanical engineering companies
• Resource planning for construction companies