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Of the 1,500 technicians employed by Volvo in Sweden, 300 are now equipped with an Apple Watch in 25 service centers. And it could only be the beginning, given the results of the experiment started two years ago.
The Apple Watch invites itself into the automobile. Volvo Sweden has indeed decided to use the Apple brand’s connected watch to facilitate the work of its technicians. Of the 1500 employed by the Scandinavian manufacturer in the country of Björn Borg, 300 are now equipped with an Apple Watch in 25 maintenance centers. And it could only be the beginning, given the results of the experiment started two years ago.
Initially, Volvo was considering creating an iPhone app to support its technicians, but the latter indicated that an Apple Watch would be preferable for their activity. And for good reason, they need to have their hands free in order to work. By spending time with technicians to develop the most appropriate tool to meet their requirements, the Swedish manufacturer’s digital transformation team found that they had to be mobile 40% of their time during a working day. work in order to be effective.
Essential information at your fingertips
Based on this observation, they therefore came to the conclusion that the Apple Watch perfectly met the mobility needs of technicians. The latter were also equipped with an iPhone and AirPods. “On the Apple Watch screen, they have access to essential information to do their job”explained leaders of Volvo’s digital transformation division during the presentation of this innovative approach.
Indeed, the Apple Watch makes it possible to display on the wrist of the technicians the name of the customer and the details of his car before the arrival of this one, the instructions on the repairs to be carried out or the list of appointments. Still with the connected watch from the Cupertino company, they also receive notifications when the customer arrives at the garage and can call the latter directly to inform him that his vehicle is ready or to ensure that he is satisfied.
Optimized working time and improved customer satisfaction
In this way, the technician no longer needs to go back and forth with a computer to obtain the relevant information. This time saving is all the more significant as the technicians previously had to access around fifteen different computer systems to accomplish their daily tasks. And of course, all of these systems were only accessible from desktop computers. In addition, Volvo indicates that training new recruits on these computer systems could take up to six months.
According to Volvo, 80% of technicians equipped with an Apple Watch have seen their customer satisfaction rate increase. At the same time, the Swedish manufacturer ensures that the deployment of the connected watch to technicians has reduced paper printing by 40%. Note that technicians can keep their Apple Watch outside of their working hours, so as to benefit from it to monitor their health and their sports activity. Currently being deployed on a larger scale in Sweden, this new device is also the subject of pilot testing in Norway, and Volvo does not rule out extending it to other countries, such as France or Germany. “This process is not only intended for Sweden”assures the Swedish manufacturer.