GMS Development
Rethinking Field Service Management in Salesforce

It is no secret that technology is reshaping the ways in which communications happen between companies and their customers around the globe. In a world where each connection–be it digital or physical– contributes to customer loyalty, opportunity arises from technology to gather important insights that improves service quality and provides competitive edge for companies aiming for the 360-degree view of each customer.

Back in 2013, Coca-Cola Erfrischungsgetränke AG (CCEAG) Germany, was looking to double down on mobility in an effort to further sustain in the market. Being constantly under pressure to retain the service quality in the areas of punctuality, reliability and quality, CCEAG was looking to re-define the service experience. To achieve the goal of delivering a personalized, smarter and faster service some material requirements had to be met including routine equipment maintenance, repairs, and machine-to-machine(M2M) communication to run smoothly and seamlessly without any downtime. GMS Development stepped in to empower the beverage company with automated solutions, laid the foundation for their cloud-based Salesforce strategy, and enhances cooperation between their customers and partners with features like route optimization, mobile apps, and portals.

“For over 25 years we help our customers to be loved by their customers by supporting and optimizing CRM for excellence in after-sales and field service management along with improvement of service processes. We help our customers to fully leverage the Salesforce environment and handle it with just one contract partner,” explains Bernhard Hildebrandt, CEO of GMS Development. The company has developed an application listed on the Salesforce AppExchange —Service1—with features addressing automatic scheduling, spare parts requirements and availability, logistics, individual appointments, orders and more. The All-in-One solution can be used for services like ticket handling, internet portals for client’s customers and service partners, management of master data accounts, equipments, contract management and so on. The GMS solution also comprises of a set of connectors and standard interfaces for integration with client’s backoffice ERP systems. “Our solution’s special architecture supports major mobile platforms allowing employees to work both online and offline and can automatically connect to the Salesforce platform,” adds Hildebrandt.

Our solution’s special architecture supports major mobile platforms allowing employees to work both online and offline and automatically connect to the Salesforce platform

The Service Console of Service1 connects the client’s service system CTI with smart devices (IoT), enabling to address queries in real-time and automatically supply information like customer, equipment, contract, and transaction data to employees for faster processing of service requests. GMS is uniquely positioned to help drive further operational efficiencies with a “self-learning” knowledge database that predicts a possible breakdown or can spot if a spare part has to be replaced. “By analyzing huge amounts of data, we automatically can create pre-emptive service tickets, book needed spare parts and check for availability to solve problems faster and better,” explains Hildebrandt. Clients can reduce their processing time dramatically based on the status information of sales and orders with 360-degree view of the processes offered by Service1.

GMS Development also extends efficient scheduling algorithms for Field Service bringing optimal scheduling, routing, and resource planning to the client. For instance, Service1 uses structured error coding to find the problem with any given equipment that has to be repaired according to specified and required tests. “Our solution estimates the time and automatically picks up a technician to solve the problem, schedules an appointment for the visit and also performs route optimization as an intelligent assistant to our client’s employees,” illustrates Hildebrandt. “This reduces driving distance and time, hence delivering tangible benefits to our clients.”

Presently, clients from 38 countries rely on the GMS solutions with plans to expand its global footprint to better support its customers. “We will continue to be the trusted partner and deliver more innovation that allows our clients service excellence for their customers,” concludes Hildebrandt.