As the economy grows, service contractors in the HVAC, electrical, mechanical, and plumbing industries are experiencing rapid growth in their businesses. As a result, what was previously working in terms of operations and processes often becomes unmanageable with the increasing scope of activities. Specifically, when contractors have five or more service trucks in the field maintaining inventory, handling appointments, dispatching jobs to field technicians, ordering materials, and completing service jobs becomes overwhelming with the old pen and paper methods.

Small service contractors are sometimes reluctant to slow down and fix inefficiencies because the impacts are limited. But as businesses grow, the negative effects multiply and the ability to meet customer demand is reduced. To scale, service contractors must use technology to automate processes in ways that allow them to continue to serve customers well. 

There are many moving parts in the service industry where technology can play a large role in alleviating pain points. Technicians moving from one job to another need to know that they have the parts to complete the job the first time, how much the job will cost, collect payments, and know what job is next on their list. If these tasks and operations aren’t accurately tracked and managed in real time, it will lead to a high probability of errors and inefficiencies that negatively affects the field technician’s productivity and impacts the company’s profitability.

Of all the critical field-service tasks, proper inventory management is essential to ensure both quality customer service and sustainable business growth and profitability—and Dynamics 365 for Field Service offers a great solution.

Integrating inventory management with D365 for Field Service