Case Study

Munich Medical Mechanics optimises service processes with Solvares Field Service

Improved data quality of the installed base

Reduction of order processing times

Mobile handling of material logistics

Münchener Medizin Mechanik GmbH is part of the MMM Group and a leading system provider in the field of sterilisation and disinfection equipment for hospitals, scientific institutes, laboratories, and the pharmaceutical industry. The company operates worldwide with subsidiaries. Comprehensive customer service ensures fast and effective solutions. To this end, 142 service technicians are deployed in Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland, serving more than 1,100 customers.

Process Optimisation in Customer Service

In 2005, MMM decided to digitise the order processing for service technicians and thus optimise the mobile service process from customer deployment to invoicing. Until then, service technicians still worked with paper and carbon copies. Two internal staff members were solely responsible for post-processing feedback and manually transferring it to the SAP system for further processing.

When searching for a mobile solution, the integration capability with SAP and the adaptability to MMM’s specific requirements played a major role. After several reference visits, the choice finally fell on MOBILE X from Solvares Field Service in 2007.

Digitised Order Processing

The introduction of MOBILE X began in Germany in 2007. Austria and Switzerland followed in 2010. The service technicians of the Czech sister company BMT were equipped with a new generation of the mobile solution in 2016, which initially ran in parallel with the existing solution in D-A-CH. After a migration to version 7 of MOBILE X in the Czech Republic at the end of 2018, as well as functional enhancements, the other countries were also migrated to version 7 by the end of 2019.

Thanks to the early involvement of key users, intensive testing phases, and a pilot operation, the rollout in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland proceeded almost seamlessly. In addition, the new mobile application enjoys high acceptance among service technicians.

For the Field planning of MMM’s technicians, six Planners in six service centers in Germany and one Planner in each of the other countries are responsible. An overview of planned deployments can be found in various Excel files. The assignment of the process to a technician takes place in SAP.

The deployments mostly involve planned orders such as installations, inspections, maintenance, or validations of systems and processes, as well as legally required checks. However, repairs are also among the tasks of customer service, which is available around the clock.

Technicians no longer receive their orders, including order details, on paper as before, but in the MOBILE X mobile solution. Thanks to the solution’s offline functionality, they have access to relevant data on systems and machines in SAP anywhere. For example, they have access to the system history and all deployments on the equipment over the past 13 months.

After completing their work, technicians create the service report in MOBILE X. This eliminates media breaks, which has significantly improved the data quality of reports and master data. Service technicians in Germany can also record their travel expenses via the mobile solution in the Travel Expense Manager module.

Integration of Material Logistics

The service technician’s vehicle stock is also mapped in MOBILE X. Via the mobile solution, they can search for, remove, or order material and confirm goods receipt. If they do not have a specific material in their technician stock, they can initiate a query to see if a colleague has this material in stock. If the search is successful, the colleague can rebook their material via the mobile solution. The new stock level is then also reconciled in SAP.

For each material in their vehicle stock, the technician can record a description, category, and minimum stock level. In addition, when ordering materials, they can view all materials that are currently below their defined minimum stock level, to easily include them in the order.

Increased Data Quality and Customer Satisfaction

Through the use of MOBILE X, the data quality of our installed base has significantly improved. The processing times for orders, from deployment to feedback, service report, and invoicing, have also been shortened.

Katrin Schreiber

Head of Customer Service Dispatching · MMM Group

“Without Solvares Field Service, we certainly wouldn’t be able to offer such good customer service as we have now.”

Separate Client for Belgium

Next, MMM plans to establish a subsidiary in Belgium. This means that Belgian technicians will receive their own client for mapping MOBILE X in the future.

What You Can Take away from this for your Service

The digitisation of mobile service processes replaces paper and post-entry, significantly improving data quality and processing times.

When technicians record service reports, times, and travel expenses directly in the app, invoicing is noticeably accelerated.

Offline access to system and deployment history strengthens diagnosis and service quality directly on-site.

Integrated material logistics in the vehicle stock reduces unnecessary trips, simplifies orders, and keeps the installed base in SAP clean and up-to-date.