ServiceFriday: Digital Twin Technology – Predictions for the Future

Many companies use predictive modeling to forecast future outcomes. However, while modeling cannot completely achieve this goal, digital twins (a dynamic software model of a physical thing or system) present one of today’s most advanced technologies for this purpose. By tapping into the vast data pool that is inevitably created by a digital twin’s interaction with a product, companies can greatly improve their services management and customer satisfaction. 

Using Data to Look Out for Customers

Some companies responded to the cascade of threats and challenges of the past year by turning inward. The long game for those firms will be more exposure during future shocks because they learned little about their environment this time.

ServiceFriday: Smart to Be Skeptical? Why Consumers Resist Smart Services

Shortly after arriving at ASU, I met one of my most quirkiest and hilarious friends who also happens to be Sparky. Obviously I cannot divulge the identity of our favorite Sun Devil, but I will let you know one thing about him: when he’s not sporting the stylish pitchfork, he wears an Apple watch. At first, I was a bit baffled by this because I was skeptical of the watch’s performance and the price tag that with came with it as I usually am with new smart devices.

ServiceFriday: Balancing New Technologies and Customer Value

Service technologies are constantly being created and improved, which can provide a multitude of new opportunities for businesses, customers and users. However, businesses tend to lean towards focusing too much on technological improvements, as opposed to customer value. How then can organizations continue to benefit from advancements provided by new technologies, while remaining mindful of the value created for a consumer?

ServiceFriday: Keeping Customers Happy in a Rapidly Changing Service Industry

The service industry has always been centered around face-to-face encounters between businesses and customers, but with new developments such as AI, robots, and virtual reality, new “spaces” of interaction have been added to the mix. Businesses have to consider digital, physical, and social spaces and until recently, they have been regarding these as fully separate environments. However, as the digital space gains a wider presence and the service industry becomes even more complex, organizations will need to understand how to interweave the three together.

ServiceFriday: Embrace the Future or Become Like the Dinosaur – A Warning to Service Managers

Technology is evolving at an incredibly mind boggling pace.  Those within the service sector who resist or refuse to accept the ever-changing forces of technological advancement will not only be left behind, but are at risk of being crushed by competitors. In a piece in Mother Jones magazine, Kevin Drum calls out services managers and points to inadequacies within the service sector in this regard:

ServiceFriday: Busy as a Bee – A Look into the Warehouse of the Future

While many online retailers like Amazon nowadays use parallel zoning or conveyer belt-based order-to-man approaches in their warehouses, dubbed Customer Fulfillment Centers, Ocado Plc., a British online supermarket company, has now raised the bar of online grocery shopping by deploying robots to assemble customer orders.

ServiceFriday: Robots on the Frontline and the Future of Services

“By 2020, it is estimated that 85 percent of all customer interactions will take place without a human agent”.

Tech that Propels the Future of Service – Blockchain: The New Operating System for Trust

When E. Coli was discovered in romaine lettuce this spring, grocers across the country pulled the greens from their shelves and consumers were warned not to eat any they had purchased. Since food borne illness does not wait for business processes to confirm the exact source and culprit, retailers were forced to pull all produce that was potentially tainted and they, along with consumers, discarded any and all of what they had.

Remember What Your Mother Used to Say: Share, Trust, and Play Nice

With increasing frequency, technology is providing elements of customer care that used to be handled by people. The apps on our phones, the internet of things and artificial intelligence (AI) have already revolutionized the way we interact, and that transformation is projected to accelerate.