Digitalization of Field Service Planning: The Role of Organizational Knowledge and Decision Support Systems

Abstract

Increasing competition and decreasing margins force manufacturers of industrial machinery to augment their products with complementary services—several dependent on field service planning. Hence, the efficient delivery of field services has become a main competitive differentiator and is driving companies to digitalize their processes and utilize decision support systems. Based on a qualitative interview study of maintenance providers, the paper provides empirical insight on the role of organizational knowledge and decision support systems in this digital transformation. The study shows that while maintenance providers have digitized their field service processes, many are only beginning the process of digitalization. Today, employees heavily rely on tacit and embedded knowledge in their decision-making. Therefore, knowledge-driven decision support systems—which have not yet been adopted in the industry—have been identified as an important cornerstone of the coming digitalization of field service planning.