Tour optimization and maintenance

Field service solution from MobileX and FLS

How important is an E2E concept for users in logistics and maintenance?

Hannes Heckner, MobileX: End-to-end processes that focus on the customer and their needs from start to finish are becoming increasingly important. That is why we are aiming for comprehensive coverage with our future Solvares Group field service management offering, with an eye on end-to-end processes beyond logistics and maintenance. This starts at the front in sales and ends in field service management.

Christoph Hartel, FLS: As far as the field of logistics and maintenance in particular is concerned, the solutions and competencies of FLS and MobileX complement each other very well. Therefore, we want to continue these in an integrated solution in the future.

How is E2E different from Best of Breed?

Hartel: We do not see this as a contradiction. Best of Breed means that our solutions are highly specialized for the requirements in logistics, field service and maintenance. It is our claim to bring together the decades of experience and specialization of our two companies in the field of field service management and to maintain and expand our know-how lead.

Heckner: At the same time, we aim to cover our customers' entire process to make it easy for them to serve their customers in the sense of end-to-end. We usually do this in conjunction with an SAP or a Microsoft ecosystem. Our software integrates perfectly with both systems.

If MobileX and FLS now merge under the Solvares Group umbrella, what will emerge? E2E or Best of Breed?

Hartel: An end-to-end total solution whose components are best of breed, proven internationally over decades with hundreds of customers. 

Where do the MobileX and FLS offerings overlap and where do they complement each other? 

Heckner: MobileX is strong in mapping processes in field service and maintenance, especially with regard to mobile process support and manual or partially automated planning. Another core competence of MobileX is the integration into SAP.

Hartel: With FLS, we primarily enable automated and optimized planning processes, for example in route optimization. FLS is also strong in Microsoft integration. What particularly connects the two offerings is their strength in the area of web technologies. Therefore, this will also be a core of the joint offering.

What will the cooperation look like in the areas of development, sales and implementation?

 Hartel: We strive for a close cooperation with the goal of a holistic field service management solution of the Solvares Group. Accordingly, there will be a joint development, sales and implementation organization. 

How should the combination of MobileX and FLS develop into a future partnership with SAP? What certifications are planned?

Heckner: Our partnership with SAP is very important to us, which is why we want to and will continue to expand it, especially against the backdrop of S/4 Hana.

Hartel: By combining our product portfolio, SAP customers will also be able to use the proven route optimization of FLS in the future.

Heckner: By the end of September, our add-on for S/4 Hana service is expected to be certified by SAP. This means that on-prem customers can continue to benefit from the easy integration with our mobile app MobileX-CrossMIP and, in the future, with the tour optimization Visitour from FLS with S/4 Hana - both for the new service module in S/4 and for the classic CS/PM process. This means that in addition to the existing certification for SAP ERP, our products will also be certified for S/4 Hana in the future.

The merger will take place under the umbrella of the Solvares Group. What added value does this create?

Hartel: We perceive that our customers have a growing need for holistic solutions, both in Microsoft and SAP environments. They are looking for strong mobile competencies, digital process mapping, and also advanced optimization competencies - all from one vendor, not from a consortium or different partners. That's why it makes sense for us to bring our complementary offerings together and thus offer the highest level of competencies in all three areas from a single source.

What are the biggest challenges for users that can now be better solved jointly by the two companies compared to the past?

Heckner: The challenges are similar to those faced by many other companies: an increasing shortage of skilled workers, the growing complexity of the Ωbusiness, increasing regulatory requirements, strong pressure to improve efficiency, and the tense overall economic situation. Added to this is a steadily increasing demand for service quality from the end customer's point of view. With our solutions for field service management and maintenance, we ensure more efficient use of existing resources and enable better customer processes as well as growth in the increasingly important service business.

Why is supply chain optimization, field service planning and maintenance important and what does it bring to the user?

Hartel: In a world of increasingly scarce resources, optimizing the use of resources is essential. Companies that rely on the Solvares Group receive competence and solutions for service, maintenance and logistics from a single source - one-stop store. In particular, the synergy from the solutions of MobileX and FLS customers offers great potential.

Where do the solutions from MobileX and FLS complement the SAP offering, and where are there overlaps and redundancies?

Heckner: We now offer the best route optimization solution together with the best integrated in SAP mobility solution with an intuitive, engaging interface. In addition, our new out-of-the-box solution, the MobileX Service Platform, allows sub-service providers and smaller service organizers to be easily and quickly integrated into the service process via the cloud.

Hartel: In addition to our cloud offering, we also provide customers with full on-prem support, with a high level of customization possible in the process. This continues to give companies great flexibility, giving them a clear competitive advantage.

What does the MobileX and FLS offering specifically look like for S/4 users - on-prem and in the cloud? Do you use the Business Technology Platform?

Heckner: Our customers are already using S/4 with MobileX products. In the future, they will also be able to easily integrate Visitour from FLS. Our new add-on for SAP S/4 Hana Service also natively supports the service module. This allows various migration and process scenarios to be implemented out of the box - all consolidated with one app and one tour optimization. A standard cloud integration is planned for 2023. We are not currently using the Business Technology Platform, but will take a closer look at it for integration scenarios in the cloud environment.

How does the joint MobileX and FLS offering relate to the SAP licensing model and indirect usage?

Hartel: Whether the use of MobileX and FLS solutions constitutes indirect use depends on the type of license and the respective customer's contract with SAP, or is a matter of negotiation. Therefore, we cannot make a general statement on this.

In your view, what is the optimal IT architecture for the joint MobileX and FLS offering?

Heckner: An optimal IT architecture for a general SAP connection has not yet crystallized. Many of our customers are still in flux here due to the decision for S/4 migration yes or no and S/4 on-premises or in the cloud. We also have the impression that the newer SAP technologies for integration, such as BTP, still have to become firmly established in our customers' SAP basis. For an on-prem installation, the classic path via RFC (or SNC) is still very common and represents a simple and familiar integration architecture. From our side, this does not result in any major requirements for the integration stack on the customer side. We generally require current ERP or S/4 Hana releases, but can also support older versions with our current add-on.

Hartel: In general, we consider an event-driven architecture for the integration to be optimal and are therefore pursuing this for the connection in the cloud, but also for on-prem systems. This form of integration is now also offered by SAP for ERP/ECC. Using event queues on both sides of the integration layer as well as rest/OData APIs that are secured via OAuth, a uniform architecture can be implemented for both cloud and on-prem systems from SAP.

How will the market for field service planning and maintenance change?

Hartel: In times of a shortage of skilled workers and scarce resources, the use of resources must be optimized as much as possible through digital deployment planning, route optimization and digital order processing. In addition, business models must be made more flexible, such as through the simple integration of subcontractors in a service platform, in order to secure know-how and capacity in the long term.

Heckner: New technologies are entering our market on a broad front: Artificial intelligence predicts order volumes, augmented reality in remote support saves resources, and knowledge management intelligently distributes know-how within the company. Here it becomes important to use the right and mature solution components of the established product providers integrated in one solution, instead of building expensive project solutions individually. Time-to-market is the key to securing long-term competitive advantages.

Hartel: We will support our customers with a wide variety of SAP standard processes out of the box. This includes a simple migration to S/4 Hana with the transfer of existing processes or in a greenfield approach to S/4 service consolidated in MobileX-CrossMIP and FLS Visitour. We also continue to offer our customers deep integration into their backend system with mapping of individual processes, both in S/4 and via plug-ins to the front end. 

Heckner: Our public cloud solution, the MobileX Service Platform, has also been available for a few months. This enables companies to digitize their service and maintenance processes quickly and easily - and without any integration project at all. 

E-3: Thank you for the interview.