Service Report: How to Create Good Reports

What is a service report?

In the aftersales department of machine and plant manufacturers, the service report is one of the most important tools of all: Service technicians in the field use it to record and document the status and results of the maintenance, repair or installation they have carried out. The report is created either in analog form or digitally using appropriate software.

The report fulfills the following functions:

Service engineer reports are often provided by companies as part of service level agreements (SLAs). They serve as proof of services performed and contribute to greater transparency about the effectiveness and efficiency of service organization.

However, the aim of the documentation is not to monitor field service employees. Rather, it is about improvements in everyday work and being optimally prepared for service calls. The document provides information on the progress of work or the use of resources such as equipment or spare parts. For this reason, it supports, for example, the optimization of service activities and helps to reduce service costs.  

Content of the service report: What should be included in the documentation?

The content of the service report is divided into general information about the operation and detailed information about the work performed. Usually, a technician answers the following questions in his report:

• For which customer was the service performed?
• Who performed the service?
• Who are the contacts at the manufacturer and the operator?
• When was the service performed?
• How much time did the service take?
• What problem did the customer have?
• What work was carried out in detail?
• What materials and accessories were used?
• What costs were incurred for materials and travel?
• What is the result of the work carried out?
• What are the recommendations for future work?

Tips for a good service report

Complete service documentation is important because it forms the basis for further cooperation with the customer. For this reason, service professionals should set high standards for the quality of their reports.

Good service documentation is characterized by the following features, among others:

• Clear structure: A service report should contain the most important information and still be structured. In this way, a complete picture of the service work is created. It also ensures that other employees can easily find the information relevant to them.
• Detailed problem description: One of the tasks of aftersales and service is to increase customer satisfaction. To do this, it is important to understand the customer's problems in detail. Technicians contribute to this by describing customer problems in their report as detailed as possible.
• Complete documentation: All work performed and materials used should be fully documented. This gives the customer a complete picture of the service.
• Absolute transparency: The report should answer all the questions mentioned above correctly and completely. Difficulties encountered during the assignment should be included, as should transparent information about the costs incurred. This is the only way to ensure trusting cooperation with the customer.
• Diverse visualizations: Photos, drawings or diagrams help to further record the work performed and give the customer a better understanding of the added value and quality of the service.
• Helpful recommendations: A good report contains recommendations that will improve future service work and maintenance and extend the life of the component or machine.

Digital service report: benefits for technicians and companies

Another tip for better service reports is to create them digitally. A digital service report saves technicians a lot of time. If the content of the report is not on paper or as a PDF, but in an app or in the browser, this also makes work easier for colleagues in accounting, aftersales & service and field service management. They can evaluate digital reports more easily and use them for billing, quoting for additional services, or service optimization. Errors and ambiguities that often occur with handwritten reports happen much less frequently.

In order to create service reports digitally, appropriate software is required. Many service organizations use field service management software for this purpose. This allows a digital form of the report to be created on a PC or mobile device and sent quickly. This leaves more time for technicians to prepare for the next appointment.

If the field management software is additionally combined with the central service information system Quanos SIS.one aftersales & service teams benefit from even more advantages: It provides them with a central platform for service documentation and spare parts information. With this powerful tool, technicians can conveniently identify spare parts needed during their service call and order them seamlessly and without wasting time directly from the service report.

Conclusion: A digital service report pays off

The topic of efficiency and optimization is of great importance in the service sector. For companies in the machinery and plant engineering sector, a digital service report is a convenient way to collect data for improvements. Whether technicians create their reports via app or on a laptop: Thanks to the digital support of modern tools, service experts automatically gain more time in their daily routine and are able to take their employer's service to the next level.

The combination of field service management software and Quanos SIS.one makes this possible. Machine and plant manufacturers can not only digitize their service documentation, but also make it easier for their technicians to identify and order spare parts. In the future, new business models can be monetized on this basis.