A lot rests on the shoulders of utility field crews, but with Australia’s networks often spread across vast distances, these skilled technicians are spending most of their time on the road.
From the outback to the city, utility field workforces in Australia and New Zealand spend thousands of hours each year staring through vehicle windshields instead of using their skills.
This is a huge productivity drain hiding in plain sight.
For example, one gas utility technician in Queensland said he drove 147km before completing one job. Why? A special valve was not in his van but was required for the job. This meant that he spent more time driving than using the skills he’s learned over years of training.
For utility service managers across Australia and New Zealand, this plays out hundreds of times a day. It affects productivity, safety and, ultimately, your bottom line.
The true cost of windshield time
Service managers track jobs completed, first-time fix rates and customer satisfaction to measure performance. While these metrics are useful, they miss a hidden productivity killer that plagues every utility operation: excessive windshield time.
Honeycomb’s research for Droppoint found that technicians spend a lot of time on the road, especially when making unnecessary trips to pick up parts. This inefficiency affects productivity, customer satisfaction and increases operational risks and costs.
FieldConnect backs this up with some numbers on how excessive travel time directly impacts technician utilisation. They show that each extra hour driving means a measurable decrease in billable hours, which compounds across the field operation for revenue and service capacity.
And then there are the safety implications. Australian and New Zealand workplace safety data shows that driving is one of the most dangerous work activities. According to Safe Work Australia, 42 per cent of all worker fatalities in 2022 were vehicle-related, with 84 deaths recorded that year (Safe Work Australia, 2023).
In New Zealand, WorkSafe NZ reports that between 2014 and 2018, 45 per cent of work-related acute fatalities involved vehicle incidents, so road travel is one of the most hazardous parts of fieldwork (WorkSafe NZ, 2023).
It gets even worse when fatigue is involved. WorkSafe NZ documented a tragic case where a technician after working 197 hours over two weeks, crashed and died on the way home at 2:45 am, and fatigue was the likely cause.
Field technicians are on the road for hours every day so managing windshield time is a big safety issue.
The productivity-inventory connection
What causes all this driving? Mostly inventory management.
When technicians don’t have the parts they need, they have to drive to warehouses and suppliers or meet other technicians – often over long distances. This is especially tough in Australia and New Zealand with their large service territories and specialised parts for utility infrastructure.
While the numbers will vary, unscheduled trips to get parts increase technician driving time. This extra travel reduces productivity and adds to costs and delays in getting the job done.
Just-in-time solutions
Many forward-thinking utility companies across Australia and New Zealand are already addressing this issue with just-in-time inventory solutions that reduce unnecessary driving. These systems deliver the right parts to technicians when and where they need them.
Smarter mobile stock management
Loading technician vehicles with every possible part creates problems. Vans become cluttered, parts get damaged or lost, and the needed components are often not available. Leading utilities use data analytics to optimise mobile stock based on:
- The technician’s schedule for the next few days
- Historical failure patterns in their specific service area
- Seasonal or weather-related demand fluctuations
This way, technicians carry what they will likely need without turning vehicles into mobile warehouses.
Decentralised parts networks
Centralised warehousing means technicians have to drive long distances when they need unplanned parts, however utilities can optimise their travel by using networks of strategically located parts hubs:
- Smaller forward stocking locations near high-demand areas
- Partner locations like hardware suppliers with extended hours
- PUDO (pick-up/drop-off) networks with 24/7 access
- Smart lockers at key points throughout service territories
A study on maintenance inventory for electric utilities found that 36 per cent of maintenance jobs are unplanned. Of the remaining 64 per cent planned jobs, most still require parts within lead time. Decentralised parts networks can help reduce last-minute parts runs, technician travel, and overall efficiency.
Real-time inventory for technicians
Another key element is to give technicians real-time visibility into parts inventory across the network. When technicians can find the nearest available part in real-time, they can:
- Plan the most efficient route to get to it
- Combine part collection with other planned activities
- Decide if the part should be collected now or later
The green bonus
And there’s a green benefit too. Reducing driving time is good for the planet and for your business. By doing so, utilitiy companies can save fuel, decrease carbon emissions, extend vehicle life and reduce urban traffic congestion.
Decentralised parts networks help optimise routes and minimise unnecessary trips, which can deliver significant fuel savings. Reduced fuel usage therefore means reduced greenhouse gas emissions and a smaller carbon footprint, while efficient inventory management reduces mileage and thus reduces wear and tear on vehicles and extends their life too.
From a community perspective, fewer unnecessary trips from utility field crews means less traffic congestion in urban areas and better traffic flow and reduced economic costs of gridlock. (Reuters)
Making it happen with better solutions
Service managers wanting to reduce technician driving time can take practical steps to get real results:
- Measure actual driving time – most utilities organisations underestimate how much time technicians spend driving. Use GPS or vehicle logs to get the facts.
- Analyse parts-related driving – look at what percentage of driving is because technicians need to get parts, then identify patterns that can be fixed.
- Map technician and parts locations – this information, allows utilities to spot inefficiencies that numbers can’t reveal.
- Target high-impact areas – start with most used parts and busiest service areas. This will give you quick wins and momentum for your program.
- Give good mobile technology – give technicians the ability to see where parts are in real time so they can make good decisions.
- Measure results – keep an eye on driving time and productivity metrics so you know what’s working and where to focus next.
According to Droppoint’s research, a number of utilities have already found that this methodical approach works. By tackling windshield time through smart inventory management, they’ve achieved greater productivity gains than any other initiative.
How Droppoint can help
For more than 20 years, the team at Droppoint have been working with Australian and New Zealand utilities to help them overcome these challenge.
The company developed MOS (Material Orchestration System) to give utilities real-time inventory visibility and connect them to over 500 PUDO locations across both countries.
This means field service teams can minimise driving for parts, Droppoint’s just-in-time approach means technicians complete more jobs with less time wasted on the road.
The Future of Field Service 2024 study shows what Droppoint’s utility clients have experienced – technicians with access to parts achieve much higher productivity.
For service managers in Australia and New Zealand, reducing windshield time means big gains in technician productivity, safety and job satisfaction. Field teams do more repairs each day, have fewer driving-related incidents and spend more time using their valuable skills instead of sitting behind the wheel.
With labour costs rising and qualified technicians getting tougher to hire and retain, maximising your current workforce is a business must. Every hour back from unnecessary driving translates to better service delivery and customer satisfaction.
For more information, get in touch with the crew at Droppoint.
