Case Study: Going with Flow: How Northwell Increased Technician Satisfaction with FSI Workflow Automations

Missing data within the work order wreaks havoc on the data-driven programs that facility and maintenance teams have built. Over the years, work order management has become more focused on information. However, lower adoption of all fields within work orders makes it challenging to get this data – and the complexity of data capture slows technicians down and frustrates them.   

Northwell, which serves as New York's largest healthcare system and operates 28 hospitals and over 1,000 outpatient facilities, uses FSI across its network of hospitals. FSI’s CMMS solution provides an easy-to-use system for technicians to use in their daily work.   

“Even as simple as we’ve built our processes in FSI, there are still steps for technicians to update or complete,” said Joe Martino, director, Northwell. “Finding ways to reduce clicks where we can, and improve their process, helps to clear up operations and make it even easier.”   

This is where Flow comes in.   

Using Workflow Automation to Optimize Work

For FSI CMMS users, Flow opens the door to getting accurate and consistent information from the field without impeding on their day-to-day work. Flow offers admins an option to set up no-code workflow automation.   

These automations run in the background of the software, helping to automate tasks. In doing so, it can improve the accuracy of gathering specific information related to work orders while giving technicians an easier way to move through their work.   

“Flow was an obvious add to how we’ve set up FSI’s CMMS for our teams,” said Martino. “We’ve focused on building consistent processes within the system, but how this works in the field varies based on the size of the team and location. With Flow, we saw a way where we could streamline some of the complexities that come with multi-site management.”  

Northwell currently uses Flow in a few different ways to help streamline operations and make things easier for their technicians in the field. Using the “Assign to Me” Flow, for instance, means that the team doesn’t need to rely on a dispatcher to review a customer request and turn it into an actionable assignment for a technician.   

Instead, technicians can click the “Assign to Me” button, created by the Flow. The system then automatically updates the status to assigned, adds in the owner name, and updates a few other fields identified as necessary to get work started.  

“Automatic assignments of work orders save us significant time,” continued Martino. “By extending our use beyond that, our technicians are a lot happier and more engaged since we started using Flows to streamline operations and reduce clicks by 60 percent.”  

In the case where a technician started work on a work order, but found they did not have the right tools or another issue came up so they couldn’t complete the work, Flow can help.   

In this case, a Flow that returns a work order back to dispatch will remove the assignment and return it to dispatch for it to be assigned at a later date. Like the ability to assign work orders, this gives technicians one button to remove from their queue – and that automatically updates the necessary fields on the back end.   

“Fitting Flow into how we work has been critical,” said Martino. “I can build a Flow in minutes – and it can save even more time for the team members in the field once it’s in place.” 

Getting Key Results with Simple Workflow Automations

In some cases, technicians are able to save 80% of clicks required in completing work orders. This further simplifies the work order process, which has resulted in happier technicians.   

And, with word of happier technicians and easier technology – adoption rates for the technology has increased substantially.   

“This has become a tool in helping to transition away from some of the legacy systems that we were using in the field to capture information,” said Martino. “It becomes more appealing once people see how easy the FSI application is to use, while helping them do their jobs better.”  

With the Flow running in the background to capture essential details, it helps technicians get data in all fields, which has resulted in better data collection. Essential information that was previously skipped or not filled out completely can now be leveraged in reporting.   

“Better data has helped our team see how we can continue to improve our processes,” said Martino. “And, it’s given an indication of where we might benefit from more Flows being added to our system to help improve data collection and technician adoption in other core areas of our maintenance processes.”   

“It’s so simple for an admin like myself to build,” said Martino. “And, the return of how quickly and accurately it works for you – it’s a home run.”   

Interested in hearing more about how FSI's purpose-built tools enhance operations for HTM and HFM teams? Contact us here.