Performing timely maintenance at remote locations brings an additional layer of complexity to an already challenging task. Actively managing this kind of maintenance work falls under the jurisdiction of field service management.

Performing field maintenance work comes with a lot of moving parts. Before you can optimize it, you have to understand what an ideal field-maintenance process looks like—from receiving a work request form to updating your maintenance and financial records.

What is field maintenance?

Field maintenance refers to maintenance work that’s carried out remotely—away from a production or maintenance organization’s location—on remote assets like:
• Installation
• Commissioning
• Modification
• Routine maintenance
• Repairs
• Overhauls

The work is usually performed by engineering and maintenance technicians.

Which industries commonly use field maintenance services?

There are two common situations that “force” a business to use field maintenance services.

1. Geographically mobile assets

Early in my career, I had four bosses in the span of less than four years. It’s not as bad as it sounds; I worked in retail, where churn was high. All of the departures were due to internal promotions, so that was good. I look back on that time fondly because each woman I reported to had a different work style and personality. Not only were these women my work team leaders, they also were my mentors—and I was a sponge, soaking up their advice and insider tips.

If you’ve ever had the good fortune of being properly mentored, you know what a blessing it is. Think about the folks you’ve learned from. What was the impact of them giving of their time and wisdom? If you’ve been in the workforce several years, chances are you’ve something to give back to an eager up-and-comer who would love to (metaphorically) sit at your feet and learn from you.

The pandemic created a mentoring gap

Like many elements of our work life, the pandemic has affected workplace mentoring in profound ways. Office-based workers are still sorting out the mechanics of time spent in actual offices with their colleagues, and this has implications for both formal and informal mentoring practices.

The demand for printed circuit boards (PCBs) will only increase until a superior technology comes of age. The global market for PCBs could rise to $72.3 billion by 2026. PCBs have become essential everywhere, from infrastructure to consumer products.

The overwhelming demand for PCBs for the internet of things (IoT), automotive and aerospace products, healthcare devices, and general manufacturing makes PCB quality control supremely important. With demand being what it is, manufacturers must find every method at their disposal to make quality consistent and rework nonexistent.

Here’s a summary of the most common PCB inspection protocols and what they offer:

Corrective action and preventive action (CAPA) is probably the most important process in any quality management system because so much else depends on it. This includes not only its traditional role as a response to defects, nonconformances, customer complaints, and audit findings, but also outputs of the management review. It can even address all seven Toyota production system wastes if we redefine as a “nonconformance” any gap between the current state and a potential or desirable future state. AIAG’s CQI-22, Cost of Poor Quality Guide¹, recommends that we compare “the ideal state for how work processes should perform” against “the current reality.”

Inadequate CAPA is a leading source of ISO 9001:2015² and IATF 16949:2016³ findings, and FDA Form 483 citations.⁴ “Five Signs Your Company Is in Dire Need of Root Cause Analysis and Corrective Action Training” reinforces this point even further.⁵ While ISO 9001:2015 doesn’t have a specific requirement for preventive action, one could argue that clause 6.1.1 (c), “prevent, or reduce, undesired effects,” constitutes an implied requirement.

Few of us today are unaware of the significance of cybersecurity and the threat of cyberattacks on our computers, smartphones, and other devices. We’re constantly reminded never to disclose passwords and to be on the lookout for spam and phishing emails that attempt to manipulate us into divulging personal information—such as those passwords, bank details, Social Security, or medical information. 

This form of identity theft, although troubling, becomes even more sinister when it’s directed at governments and other major institutions. “Seeing is deceiving” is the tagline of a popular BBC TV series, The Capture, which explores the effect of deepfake technology—described as the 21st-century’s answer to Photoshop—i.e., threatening national security, shaking the foundations of state, destroying trust, and making us doubt reality.  

Far-fetched in many respects, perhaps, but as we move deeper into the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the show highlights the potential risks and threats from rapidly changing and ever-more-sophisticated technologies.  

The global cost of cybercrime will reach $10.5 trillion annually by 2025. 

While I was reminiscing about National Take Your Dog to Work Day, a light-hearted conversation with colleagues led me to ponder how our furry friends might actually inspire people to reach new heights of excellence. But what business insights can we possibly gain from creatures who spend at least 50 percent of their day sleeping and loafing around?

We’re told the cardinal rule of the internet is, “Never read the comments.” This catchphrase is used to warn users of the toxic parts of the internet. One minute you’re sharing an article, photo, or video that you’re proud of. The next moment, dozens or even hundreds of comments snowball into a whirling mess of meanness.

I’ve published my writing online for more than 20 years now, and I can attest that reading the comments absolutely has the power to make you doubt yourself and lose all faith in humanity.

True story: I remember one of my readers commented that I was “nuttier than a bag of trail mix.” That destroyed me for an entire month.

However, communicating within a manufacturing company is a different arena.

When your goal is to continuously improve, empower frontline workers, and transform the company for the better, one of the best habits to get into is reading the comments—not in suggestion boxes, sticky notes, dry-erase boards, or clipboards, but with accessible and engaging digital devices.

Simulation is a necessity for automotive companies in the 21st century, and there’s pressure to use more of it for many reasons: 1) Electrification produces more heat sources that need CFD and thermal analysis to design dissipation strategies; 2) industrywide moves toward minimal or “zero” prototype builds make crashworthiness and structural simulation more important; 3) advanced driver automation systems (ADAS) and autonomous vehicles require constant data collection and processing via simulation; and 4) smart connected systems in a car have increased the number of chips and the need for electronic system design (ESD) and simulation.

The engineers at VI-Grade are especially keen to move the industry toward zero prototypes. The German simulation and driving simulator company even has a yearly event called the ZERO PROTOTYPES Summit. To help bring this future to fruition, earlier this quarter VI-Grade announced AutoHawk for the North American market, a hardware-in-the-loop (HiL) simulation platform. The company hopes the tool will reduce prototypes because the simulators are highly configurable and can therefore meet the validation needs of internal combustion engines, electric vehicles, and many other customer and consumer use cases.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of America are better known for homework help and volunteering opportunities than for cutting-edge career development. But ask the kids in some of the Boys & Girls Clubs across states such as Indiana, Montana, and Washington, and they might say they’re surrounded by high-tech tools that help them envision their future.

Lana Taylor, executive director of the Indiana Alliance of the Boys & Girls Clubs, says her staff began to look for ways to reengage students—especially middle schoolers—as the pandemic eased and kids returned to in-person programs. Since most kids love technology and hands-on learning, Taylor thought it was only natural to develop programming that uses both.

In February 2022, the Indiana Boys & Girls Clubs launched a partnership with immersive technology startup Transfr to introduce students in 10 of its clubs to new career and workforce opportunities. The collaboration dovetailed with a new emphasis on workforce readiness at the Indiana Department of Education. Now, the partnership between Transfr and the clubs is expanding to 21 additional clubs across Indiana, thanks to a grant from the state.

In the hustle of a busy hospital emergency department, teams of doctors and nurses react quickly to determine whether a patient needs to be admitted, referred, or released. Providing such complex care requires a high degree of skill and seamless teamwork, the kind that usually comes from years of working together.

But like many modern workplaces, emergency departments are staffed based on availability—not familiarity. During any given shift, it’s quite possible that the attending physician, residents, and nurses barely know each other.

In her latest paper, Wharton professor of operations, information, and decisions Hummy Song investigates how this ad hoc assignment strategy affects the overall performance of temporary teams, and why the role of each team member matters. Previous research has neatly established that when members are more familiar with each other, they perform better. But Song’s research examines performance under a different microscope: What happens when attending doctors, residents, and nurses—colleagues with differing skills and authority—are thrown together to accomplish a task?