Driving across town through peak-hour traffic from one customer to the next to replenish office supplies, routinely service equipment, or attend to faults, is an easy job, said no one, ever.
Yet, if you walk into almost any service depot, you’ll still see it: a wall-sized whiteboard covered in magnets, post-it notes, and masking tape that plans the schedules of a fleet of field technicians for the week.
However, while the board may do the job (just), it also creates some very real headaches for both the board administrator and those on the road.
It's always worked for us - why change?
In the face of a global shortage of field technicians and engineers, staff retention has become critical. As Baby Boomers prepare to exit paid employment and head for retirement, the field service sector (which is already experiencing staffing shortages) is predicted to lose up to 40% of its estimated 20 million personnel.
Having to make unnecessary trips or finding themselves not suitably skilled or not equipped with the parts needed to solve a customer problem is both frustrating and demoralising for field workers. And as traffic and travel issues worsen, the desire to spend more time in a semi-stationary vehicle declines.
But what's the problem with a whiteboard?
Field resource scheduling is often the domain of one person. And more often than not, that person relies on years of experience and knowledge of the team and their capabilities, local geography, and customers.
Illness, annual leave, or other absences can leave a stand-in scratching their head as they try to update schedules due to poor weather, traffic conditions, absentee staff, or emergency jobs. Equally confronting can be who to send where. Which technician has the skills or requisite certifications to manage the task? Who has the parts needed in their vehicle right now (without detouring back to the warehouse)? Who can get to the customer in a hurry without ending up stranded hours from home?
Four common challenges that drain a technician's will to live
1. Well, that was a total waste of time.
Each job may require photos, site safety notes, a parts list, and a sign-off form. When those documents live in different systems, your technicians spend valuable time hunting for information instead of solving problems – which is a lose-lose for everyone.
2. Where the flip?
Dispatchers working from a board can see a postcode, but they rarely notice that a “quick” last job pushes the technician an hour beyond home. Repeated days like this are a fast track to churn.
3. Nope - can’t touch this!
Electrical and Utilities work above ground? One licence. Below ground? Another. If the planner can’t see certificates in real time, the wrong person gets sent, the job is aborted, and everyone loses.
4. Sorry, going to have to come back tomorrow – or maybe even next week.
A service van can hold only so much oil, sealant or spare circuit boards. Without a digital link between the work order and the technician’s on-hand inventory, first-time-fix rates fall and repeat visits rise.
So, what can you do about it?
With NetSuite Field Service, you can turn the tide of dissatisfaction. But how?
1. Digitised scheduling and auto-assignment
In the NetSuite field service module, work orders arrive electronically. Rules take care of skill, required certifications, location, priority and even whether the crew has the correct road-closure permits if they’re needed. Your planner’s role shifts from frantic pencil-pushing to supervising an engine that automatically balances demand.
2. Clear, mobile instructions
Your technicians receive the full brief on a phone or tablet. This includes what must be done, which tools to bring, and what photos or signatures are required for completion. As a result, there’s a dramatic drop in the volume of calls to your office seeking missing details.
3. Real-time visibility of parts and tools
Because inventory records in NetSuite already track every piston, gasket or bucket of paint, the scheduling engine knows which van carries which items. It steers jobs to the vans that can complete them in one visit, reducing both miles and frustration.
4. Integrated certification and HR data
Licences, safety training and contractor documents all sit in the same cloud platform. When a job demands a specific credential, for example, “above-ground electricity”, only compliant workers appear in the candidate list. Near-expiring certificates trigger alerts to prevent illegal scheduling (and organise renewals).
Why this matters for your field and staff planners
- Fewer twilight drives across town: NetSuite groups jobs geographically by default.
- Less paperwork: Photos and notes flow straight into NetSuite, and your technicians get to go home on time.
- Higher engagement: Your workers see that the company respects their time and skill sets.
- Better utilisation: Your managers can finally match labour hours to actual demand instead of historical averages.
The NetSuite Field Service difference
Because the field-service module is native to NetSuite, technicians, parts, work orders, HR, customer and contract records all share a single database. That means no exports, no re-keying and no overnight syncs.
Your planners can create balanced routes, your technicians receive complete instructions, and your inventory managers see van consumption the moment a part is used - all without leaving the platform.
The result? A workforce that spends more time fixing and less time fussing, which is exactly how you raise job satisfaction while ensuring you drive true value from your field service people and fleet.
