Field service technicians worldwide: one knowledge standard for all

Senior technicians solve everything, juniors keep calling in, and classroom training does not scale.

Machine builders with a worldwide service team know the pattern: knowledge varies across the team, training trips are expensive, what was learnt is forgotten within a few weeks, and a global team adds language barriers. GIRI creates a central, visual knowledge base, a kind of “Wikipedia with videos”. Technicians record the instructions for it with their phone right at the machine and open them via link or QR code.

The trigger: how do you recognise it?

• Service quality varies depending on which technician visits the customer.
• Junior technicians constantly call the 2–3 senior experts.
• Classroom training burns travel budget and does not scale.
• Technicians abroad struggle with German or English text manuals.
• Knowledge fades quickly after training because there is no central reference.
• Dispatching is hard because only certain people can handle certain machines.

The GIRI approach

A central library per machine type: commissioning, fault diagnosis, maintenance routines and on-site checklists are collected in one folder. Technicians open them on their phone via link or QR code.

Visual instead of text: pictures and short clips work across language borders. For the text, each technician picks their language, and GIRI machine-translates it with DeepL.

Capture senior knowledge once, use it worldwide: the special cases and tricks of experienced staff get documented. This is the direct link to the mega driver Securing knowledge.

QR codes on the machine at the customer site: the technician scans and has the right instruction on the spot.

The value

• One consistent service standard worldwide, no matter who travels
• Lower travel costs for training and senior call-outs
• Fewer internal support calls because juniors can help themselves
• New technicians are ready for deployment sooner.
• Easier dispatching because more technicians can handle more machines

Typical users

• Machine and plant builders with worldwide service
• After-sales organisations with large technician teams
• Commissioning teams
• International technician pools with language barriers

What you want to avoid

• Classroom training as the only pillar. It is expensive, short-lived and does not scale.
• Documentation in Word silos. It takes too much effort, so it does not get done, and nobody finds it.
• English-only documents for a global team.
• Leaving the knowledge with 2–3 senior technicians. That is the bottleneck, not the solution.

What to measure

Record the values before you start and compare them after a few weeks.

• Calls to senior technicians: questions per job that only experienced staff can answer.
• First-time fix rate: share of jobs completed on the first visit.
• Readiness: weeks until a new technician visits customers on their own.
• Use on site: the analytics show how often the instructions are opened and on which device. GIRI does not count opens without a network connection.

How to do it in GIRI

1. Create a folder per machine type. If your workspace has teams, use Who sees this folder? to set who sees it in GIRI (Create folders, Teams and folder access).

2. Let senior technicians record their routines right at the machine: Tap = photo · Hold = video (Record steps with the camera).

   

3. Mark error codes and part numbers with Do not translate so the translation leaves them unchanged (Format text).

4. Once the instruction is approved, share the link and QR code. The QR sheet on the machine stays valid for new versions (Share the link and QR code).

5. Anyone standing in front of a QR code at a customer site can scan it. So protect internal instructions with a link password for the folder (Protect instructions with a link password).

6. Customer sites often have no network. Once the technician has opened the instruction with a connection, it also opens on their device without one (Using instructions without a connection).

   

7. Technicians report gaps via Question or suggestion. If they attach a photo or video, you turn it into a new step with Adopt as step (Handle and adopt feedback).