Expected ROI on your digitisation project

What ROI can I expect from using apps to manage my equipment logistics?

An oilfield services business that is hampered by paper-led operations is losing revenue opportunities in two key areas. Firstly, there is poor visibility of your equipment’s location and status, dragging on the company’s ability to maximise utilisation rates. Secondly, engineers using a paper-based system are less likely to provide a first-time fix when carrying out routine maintenance or repairs.

This is because paper-based systems do not give accurate oversight of replacement parts inventory, meaning that parts might not be in stock, or have been lost, or are on the wrong engineer’s van. Sending engineers on repeat trips to the same customer can lead to extended machine down time. This will also rack up the miles on your vans, increase vehicle wear and tear and add to fuel bills.

Conversely, shifting to paperless operations gives you real-time data on machine location, hours of use, status and up-to-date insight on spare parts stock. A better understanding of the replacement parts cycle also enables you to streamline spare parts inventory.

Moreover, using mobile apps supported by barcode and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) to manage and report on equipment, takes you a long way towards eliminating human error. The more accurate the data, the more efficiently your business will run.

What ROI can I expect from using apps to manage my workforce?

There are also two main areas where you will see a return on investment in human capital (ROIHC). The first is the saving in administrative staff – and this can be huge; data shows that oilfield services companies who switch to paperless operations can cut their admin teams between 60% and 90%. Those employees can be redeployed in other areas of the business, or you can benefit from the reduced overhead by doing more with less.

As an added bonus, a paperless system ensures you can quickly send the customer the correct invoice information, directly to the person responsible for paying. This makes the whole invoicing system much more transparent and manageable, while reducing the likelihood of billing errors that can increase Day Sales Outstanding (DSO).

The second area where you see efficiency gains is with field service technicians. Mobile apps avoid time-wasting, time-filling and returning paperwork. Furthermore, improving first fix rates claws back the time lost when service calls must be repeated, due to spare parts going missing – or simply not having the right parts in stock.

The combination of eliminating paperwork and minimising travel time means more “wrench time”, which is what technicians really love. This helps keep your service team happy and crucial at a time when it’s increasingly difficult to recruit and retain high-quality technicians. Of course, it also improves their productivity, equating to more billable hours and higher profitability for your company.

You may also be interested in our free ROI calculator service. We can tell you how much your business is being affected by errors and delays in your operations.