Dynamics 365 Field Service keeps the factory floor humming

It starts with a breakdown. In a high-volume automotive parts plant, a crucial production machine grinds to a halt. Within minutes, operations are paused and technicians are scrambling.

Management is alerted too, because every minute of downtime equates to potentially major losses — both financial and reputational.

But this time, it’s different. Before the technical team even reaches the factory floor, a predictive alert from their Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service platform has already triggered a maintenance work order.

A field technician, equipped with exact part specifications, historical performance data and a remote mixed-reality guide, arrives onsite to address the problem before it escalates.

The crisis is averted, and production resumes. Welcome to the new era of intelligent field service in manufacturing.

Mounting pressure in manufacturing

Manufacturers operate in a world where precision, speed and reliability matter greatly. Yet, the industry faces significant challenges.

Rising costs for labor, materials and logistics are putting a strain on budgets, while global competition is getting fiercer, making it harder to stay ahead. Field-service customers now expect near-perfect uptime and top-notch support, which adds pressure to maintain high standards.

Many manufacturers are also stuck with outdated infrastructure that’s difficult to integrate with modern digital systems. On top of that, there’s a growing skills gap, both in technical expertise and digital literacy, which makes it tough to find the right employees to support efforts to innovate and work more efficiently.

According to Microsoft’s Accelerate Industrial Transformation report in 2024, manufacturers are keen to invest in AI-powered factories. For example, they expect to increase their investment in software for orchestrating edge AI by 11% by 2026. Still, many are struggling to translate data into action — and action into outcomes.

This is where connected services and agentic AI make the difference.

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Powerful, proactive and productive

Dynamics 365 Field Service is a field-service management platform built to address the realities of manufacturing. It combines AI, IoT and mixed-reality tools to turn a reactive service into a proactive powerhouse that keeps downtime to a minimum. Here’s how it helps:

Enjoy more uptime with predictive maintenance

Manufacturers are embedding IoT sensors in equipment to monitor their assets in real time. Dynamics 365 Field Service uses this live data to detect potential failures and trigger preventive actions before the manufacturer even knows there’s an issue.

The system can automatically generate and schedule work orders, and it facilitates “just-in-time” parts delivery to cut down on inventory waste. As a result, there are fewer emergency repairs and service callouts, keeping everything running smoothly.

Empower field teams with smart tools

With mixed-reality support and mobile access to synchronized asset data, technicians can resolve issues faster and more accurately on their first visit. They always have the right parts and the right information at their fingertips.

Meanwhile, on-the-job learning is improved through remote assistance and mixed-reality, helping technicians stay up to date.

This setup reduces travel time and boosts productivity.

Delight customers with efficient service

Dynamics 365 Field Service offers end-to-end visibility of the entire service experience. Customers can see technician arrival times, review service histories and even opt for self-service — all from a single connected platform.

This improved transparency builds trust, while accurate and timely repairs eliminate frustration. Best of all, first-time fix rates get a significant boost.

Shift from products to outcomes

Connected services allow manufacturers to shift from traditional sales to product-as-a-service models. Rather than simply selling equipment, they become trusted partners focused on performance and outcomes.

Data from these connected services flows seamlessly into enterprise resource planning systems, providing valuable insights for sales, finance and support teams. This approach also enables the creation of multiyear service agreements based on value, not only volume, and it opens up new revenue streams to transform service into a profit center.

Transform, don’t just tweak

Most importantly, Dynamics 365 Field Service helps manufacturers future-proof their operations by:

• Unifying disconnected systems
• Breaking down data silos
• Automating insight delivery
• Supporting rapid innovation with integrated machine learning

Forrester reports that 73% of organizations plan to upgrade or replace their ERP systems within two years, with those using Dynamics 365 ERP solutions seeing $8.9 million in productivity gains and $1.8 million in cost savings from organizational simplification, along with more efficient inventory management, improved uptime and more accurate forecast.

It’s more than an upgrade. It’s a transformation.

Beyond field service: A connected manufacturing platform

But while the need for proactive maintenance is a common entry point for digital transformation in manufacturing, it’s only the start.

Manufacturers want to connect the dots between planning, production, workforce management and service delivery, and that’s where Dynamics 365, equipped with IoT, AI and enterprise resource planning (ERP) capabilities, enables truly intelligent operations — from the shop floor to the boardroom.

Whether you need predictive supply planning, intelligent warehousing, sustainability tracking or financial forecasting, you can connect your operations, people and data on a single platform. Planners, engineers, finance teams and service technicians can now work with real-time insights.

Turning complexity into simplicity

Many manufacturers are still in the early stages of connected-service adoption. Common hurdles include outdated equipment and incompatible platforms, fragmented data spread across teams and tools, a lack of internal digital expertise and uncertainty around where to begin.

This is where NTT DATA comes in. As a trusted digital transformation partner, we help you overcome these roadblocks by applying our strategic guidance, technical know-how and platform expertise so you can make the most of Dynamics 365 Field Service.

From roadmap to rollout, we tailor our approach to align with your environment and business goals.

This is the future of field service

The factory of the future doesn’t just produce; it also predicts, adapts and responds. It runs on insight, not only effort, and it places customers at the center of every interaction.

Dynamics 365 Field Service fixes the way manufacturing works. If you’re ready to say goodbye to downtime, we can help you make it happen.

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