With over 150 machine types for potato, beet, and vegetable cultivation, the Grimme Group offers undoubtedly the widest and most comprehensive product range in this segment. Grimme was looking for a solution to optimize its service processes in order to ensure a smooth and reliable service throughout.
With over 150 machine types for potato, beet, and vegetable cultivation, the Grimme Group offers undoubtedly the widest and most comprehensive product range in this segment. Their machines are sold in over 120 countries around the world via specialist partners.
In order to ensure good service, the service process must be well-planned and consistently executed. There used to be a lot of paperwork involved for fitters. There was often a delay in the hand-written reports arriving at the relevant locations where office staff would then enter their contents again in the MS Dynamics AX ERP system. Manual entry of the additional data collected during the assignment was error-prone and time-consuming. Parallel to this, Excel spreadsheets were used to document the service provided to the customer and the fitter’s travel time.
Due to the considerable time it took to enter all the data again in the ERP system, a solution was needed that would optimize throughput times and manual processes.
| ERP system | Devices | Transmission technology | Technology | Product |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MS Dynamics AX | iPads, smartphones, laptops | LTE | HTML5 Offline | L-mobile service |
By using L-mobile service, Grimme can now map a seamless, digital, end-to-end service process based on the ERP system. The service orders created in MS Dynamics AX are passed on together with all the relevant information. They are then assigned to the appropriate fitter or team using the graphical L-mobile planning board. This results in the precise planning and handling of field service assignments and therefore effective service management.
The mobile application provides an ideal way to communicate with fitters, as they can now also be reached via their mobile end devices at any time. Using a tablet with the mobile client (which is where the service application is presented) makes it much easier for field service fitters to record data, such as the work-order time accrued, materials installed, operating hours, and diagnostic messages. Once it has been signed digitally, the data is transferred to the digital field service report and this is emailed to the customer straight away. Instant feedback to the relevant location provides the basis for swift invoicing.
Grimme was impressed by L-mobile’s end-device-independent solution and the existing interface to the MS Dynamics AX ERP system. This was a key consideration for Grimme, along with the great price/performance ratio. The functions and their specific features were jointly defined with L-mobile in several workshops.
The basic installation including connection to MS Dynamics AX and the L-mobile planning board was realized in an initial phase of the project. Following the implementation of the planning board, field service fitters were equipped with iPads and familiarized with the new possibilities for service management. Parallel to the initial rollout of the application, further adjustments were made and additional functions were implemented for Grimme in order to optimally tailor the software to the specific needs of the service organization.
Speaking about the project, Gerald Wessel, Service Team Leader at Grimme, said: “The mobile solution provides us with a higher-quality, more complete set of data. We were able to make our deployment planning process more efficient, and are now able to respond quickly and dynamically to customer demands.” He added: “I would especially like to praise the dedication of the L-mobile project team, as it was their practical approach that enabled us to find a solution that met all of our requirements.”
Download the case study now.
Thanks to the mobile solution, Grimme is able to improve data quality and respond to customer demands more quickly. In our case study, you can find out how the end-to-end digital service process was implemented in combination with the MS Dynamics AX ERP system.
Grimme personnel provide service support internationally. Customer service management and after-sales service are therefore of paramount importance. By using the digital field service management software from L-mobile, sales orders can now be assigned quickly and easily to service fitters deployed around the world.
Watch the reference video to find out how the digital field service management software from L-mobile works and how Grimme managed to reduce order processing from up to one month to an average of one week.
