How Asset Service Lifecycle Management (ASLM) Can Transform Service

Here at Astound Digital, our delivery practice has seen the Salesforce platform continue to grow regarding service and field service. As we have partnered with our clients and continue to be thought leaders in the industry, we continue to see a trend where traditional service activities, i.e traditional brake fix; unique cases of tracking labor, scheduling and routing optimization, don’t cut it anymore when building world class service operations. 

On top of this, in today’s service landscape, a majority of our clients are finding their sold products, or Assets, have an added layer of complexity when performing service or supporting their customers. Pretty easily identifiable, if a company's “Assets” have one of the following characteristics, then they may be managing a complex Asset. 

• Multiple components, or a hierarchy of components
• Requires on time and accurate servicing to ensure up-time
• Multiple different configurations throughout its lifecycle do to repairs or part swaps
• Requires specialized parts or expertise to repair or maintain appropriately

Service organizations are looking to adopt cutting-edge processes and technologies to fundamentally increase revenue and reduce costs. While this goal isn’t new, the emergence of buzzwords like IoT, telematics, predictive maintenance, AR/VR, remote repairs, and service revenue streams have highlighted the importance of up to date, accurate Asset information, and a comprehensive tool that can manage complex processes from start to finish.

Luckily, beyond the core asset management capabilities of Salesforce, companies can now leverage an additional suite of features called Asset Service Lifecycle Management purpose built by Salesforce to provide a 360 degree solution for managing complex Assets and their service processes. If tasked with making a technology decision and the organization has complex Assets management, ASLM closes the gaps on the Salesforce platform and needs a strong consideration.

Honorable Mention

Along with ASLM, Salesforce also provides different asset management capabilities under separate licenses which could be a fit for some businesses. These capabilities can be found with Salesforce Field Service or Revenue Cloud, focusing on reactive service and preventative maintenance and subscription or usage based billing respectively.

Where Basic Asset Management Falls Short

Basic Asset Management capabilities provide essential functionalities such as tracking asset ownership, managing basic Asset details, and logging service history. However, these capabilities can fall short for companies with complex assets who require more from the service system to manage their install base effectively.

Challenges with Basic Asset Management:

1. Limited Lifecycle Insights: Basic tools often fail to provide a comprehensive view of asset performance and uptime over time, including as-is vs as built configurations
2. Inadequate Integration: Many organizations rely on systems outside of Salesforce for pieces of asset management, leading to data silos, a lack of cohesive visibility, and an inefficient service organization
3. Reactive Service Approach: Without proactive management tools, companies may only address asset issues after they arise, leading to increased downtime and repair costs
4. Old Revenue Streams: By only looking at revenue at the sale of an Asset or when service is required, companies lose out on newer revenue streams driven from the service organization such as usage or subscription based billing
5. Revenue Leakage: Inadequate systems managing customer assets lead to missed billing opportunities, inefficient processes, and increased downtime, negatively impact profitability.

Enter Asset Service Lifecycle Management (ASLM)

Asset Service Lifecycle Management (ASLM) is a powerful module available within Salesforce’s Manufacturing Cloud or as an add-on license for Salesforce Field Service. ASLM takes asset management to the next level by integrating advanced capabilities that cater to service organizations across industries with complex Assets.

Key Features of ASLM:

1. Comprehensive Asset Tracking: Monitor asset performance from acquisition to disposal. ASLM can provide detailed insights into usage patterns, service history, and warranty status.
2. Predictive Maintenance: Leverage AI and analytics to predict asset failures before they occur. This proactive approach minimizes downtime and reduces maintenance costs.
3. Enhanced Integration: Seamlessly connect ASLM with other Salesforce applications and third-party systems, providing a unified view of asset data across the organization.
4. Lifecycle Management: Manage every stage of an asset’s lifecycle—from planning and procurement to operation and retirement—ensuring optimal asset performance at every phase.
5. Customer Engagement: Strengthen customer relationships by providing timely updates on asset performance and service schedules, enhancing overall customer satisfaction.
6. Streamlined Service Quoting: Give Service Users the power to quickly generate accurate, customized quotes by leveraging real-time asset data and integrated workflows
7. Accurate Invoicing: Enable warranty and contract coverage accuracy by providing real-time visibility into asset statuses, terms, and conditions, ensuring that service teams can effectively manage claims, reduce billing errors, and optimize customer support

Benefits of Implementing Asset Service Lifecycle Management

Implementing ASLM into your Salesforce ecosystem opens up a variety of additional options on how organizations manage and ultimately, service Assets. Built within the core SFDC platform, and mostly configuration based, the platform can empower the service organization to provide a first class service experience and yields significant benefits when it comes to servicing Assets.

1. Improved Service Efficiency: By having a complete centralized view of all assets and their performance, teams can make proactive data-driven decisions that streamline operations and reduce redundancies.
2. Increased Uptime: Predictive maintenance and more accurate service activities help avoid costly repairs and increase the uptime of assets. This not only saves money but also enhances resource allocation and reduces cost per service
3. Enhanced Customer Satisfaction: Maintain proactive customer communication about asset status and timely service delivery creating a more positive customer experience, fostering loyalty and repeat business.
4. More Service Revenue: Leverage enhanced asset management capabilities to open up new revenue streams with new service models, increase time to service with streamlined quoting, and track service coverage for contracts or warranties to drive more precise billing.
5. Better Inventory Controls: Provide real time visibility and greater control of inventory processes in Salesforce enabling the organization to streamline processes with increased accuracy 

Conclusion

Salesforce has significantly advanced its solutions to effectively manage complex assets on its platform. While the core clouds offer a strong foundation for asset management, businesses seeking deeper insights and more sophisticated functionalities must consider various factors within the Salesforce ecosystem. Not every solution is suitable for every company, even within the same industry. At Astound, we’ve partnered with clients across diverse sectors to navigate this journey.

Understanding the benefits from both business and technical perspectives is crucial when making technology decisions. With over 20 years of Salesforce implementation experience, Astound possesses in-depth expertise in managing complex assets and leveraging Salesforce products to transform service organizations with industry-leading practices. Assets are essential for growth and scalability, and we’re here to help you implement new processes and technologies that deliver real value.