Introduction: Why This Guide Exists

Machinery manufacturers and distributors face a unique challenge when it comes to service. Unlike contractors or generic service providers, your business is built around a direct relationship with customers and your installed machines.

Generic field service software often falls short because it is designed for companies that provide services independently of assets (HVAC Service, Plumbing etc.). Machinery manufacturers & distributors, by contrast, need software that revolves around assets, machines, and lifecycle service.

This guide helps you understand what to look for in field service software that is purpose-built for your industry.

Executive Summary: Digitalizing Field Service for Machinery Manufacturers & Distributors

Field service operations are the backbone of every machinery manufacturer and distributor. Getting them right means higher customer satisfaction, stronger service revenue, and more efficient use of your workforce. Yet many companies struggle because generic field service tools are not built for the realities of the machinery industry. They require endless IT projects, complex customization, and constant adjustments to make them fit.

Makula takes a different approach. Our field service software is designed exclusively for machinery manufacturers and distributors. Every workflow is preconfigured for your needs — from linking customers to assets and service history, to enabling QR code access on machines for spare part ordering and service requests. This means you can go live quickly, without heavy IT projects or expensive system integrators.

By choosing Makula, you save time, reduce costs, and gain a solution that continues to evolve in your direction. Because we only serve this industry, every product improvement benefits you directly. With Makula, your service teams can focus on what matters: keeping machines running, delivering excellent service, and driving profitable growth.

The Key Challenges in Machinery Service

Service is one of the biggest differentiators for machinery manufacturers and distributors but it also comes with unique challenges that generic service software cannot solve. The complexity comes from the installed base of machines in the market, the high value of assets, and the need to maintain strong customer relationships over decades.

1. Lack of Installed Base Visibility

Most manufacturers & distributors struggle to answer basic but critical questions: Which customer has which machine? Where is it installed? What is the current status?
Without a clear overview of the installed base, service becomes reactive and error-prone.

2. Reactive Rather Than Proactive Service

Too many manufacturers  wait for breakdowns instead of scheduling preventive maintenance (and thus revenue opportunities. This leads to:

• Higher downtime for customers
• Lost opportunities for recurring service revenue
• A perception that the manufacturer is unreliable or unprepared

3. Fragmented Information Across Systems

Customer data sits in the ERP, machine documentation in SharePoint, service notes in spreadsheets, and tickets in email inboxes. This fragmentation creates inefficiencies:

• Technicians lack full context before arriving on site
• Service managers cannot track performance accurately
• Customers experience delays and inconsistent answers

This is especially important as lifetime for machinery can be several decades and good documentation of customers assets is key for good service delivery.

4. Inefficient Dispatching & Technician Productivity

Coordinating technician schedules without real-time visibility leads to:

• Longer response times
• Poor workload distribution
• Technicians arriving without the right parts or documentation

5. High Service Delivery Costs

Every minute technicians spend searching for information or waiting for approvals increases cost. With rising labor and parts expenses, controlling service delivery costs is essential to protect margins.

6. Weak Customer Experience

Customers expect transparency — they want to know the status of their machines, see open tickets, and access documentation instantly. Without a structured system, manufacturers risk losing trust and creating frustration.

The Core Value of Makula Field Service Software

Makula Field Service was designed specifically for machinery manufacturers and distributors. Its core value lies in connecting customers, machines, and service operations in one place.

• Asset-First Approach
  Every service interaction — tickets, work orders, spare parts usage — is tied directly to the right machine in your installed base.
• Customer Transparency
  With a built-in customer portal, your clients can view their machines, documentation, and service history, creating trust and reducing support requests.
• Proactive Service
  Makula enables preventive maintenance scheduling, so you never miss recurring service opportunities and customers experience less downtime and you can sell more on-site service.
• Efficient Operations
  Dispatch technicians with full visibility of schedules and workload. Technicians receive tasks on their mobile app, complete them with checklists, and capture service data instantly.
• Integrated Workflow
  Connect Makula to your ERP and CRM so that customer records, machine data, and financial reporting flow seamlessly across your business.
• Revenue Growth
  Standardize service contracts, increase spare parts sales, and strengthen long-term customer relationships through better lifecycle management.

Why Purpose Built Field Service Software Matters

One of the biggest reasons to choose Makula is that our field service software is built exclusively for machinery manufacturers and distributors. Unlike generic tools such as Microsoft Dynamics Field Service or Salesforce Field Service, which require heavy customization, every workflow in Makula is already configured for your industry:

• Asset, customer, and machine history relation is set up from the start, so you instantly see which customer owns which machine and its complete service history.
• The customer portal is integrated, giving access through QR codes on machines, allowing service requests and direct spare part ordering without additional IT projects.
• All industry specific workflows such as preventive maintenance scheduling, ticket handling, and spare part management are ready to use from day one.

With generic field service software, companies often need to hire  IT teams or consultants just to shape the system into something usable. These projects are costly, time consuming, and must be repeated every time processes change.

With Makula, you skip this complexity. No large IT projects, no endless configuration. We claim that our platform works out of the box for your niche type of business (the only business we focus on).  And because we focus only on machinery manufacturers and distributors, all future product developments are designed to benefit you. By choosing Makula, you are in good hands today and well positioned for tomorrow.

How Different Teams Benefit from Makula Field Service Software

Field service software delivers value across the entire organization. With Makula, every team gains tools that make their work easier, more efficient, and more impactful.

Service Managers

• Gain a real-time overview of all work orders and technician schedules
• Monitor KPIs such as response times, utilization, and downtime reduction
• Ensure consistent service quality with standardized processes and digital checklists

Technicians

• Access complete machine history, manuals, and documentation on their mobile app
• Receive clear work orders and checklists, reducing errors and saving time
• Capture service notes, photos, and spare parts usage on site — no paperwork required

Spare Parts & Inventory Teams

• Track parts usage per machine and job for accurate costing
• Automate reordering and stock levels to prevent shortages
• Link spare parts directly to service jobs and customer invoices

Customer Support & Success Teams

• Use the customer portal to provide transparency into tickets and machine history
• Reduce inbound support calls by giving customers self-service access to information
• Strengthen long-term customer loyalty by ensuring service promises are kept

Sales Teams

• Gain visibility into the installed base and service history of each customer
• Identify upsell opportunities for maintenance contracts, upgrades, or new machines
• Leverage service data to build stronger customer relationships

Finance & Executives

• Understand service as a profit center, not just a cost center
• Track service revenues, spare parts sales, and contract profitability
• Get a data-driven view of service performance across regions and teams

Revenue Opportunity with Makula Field Service Software

Makula Field Service Software creates measurable revenue opportunities across service operations. By reducing inefficiencies and unlocking new business models, manufacturers and distributors can turn service into a profitable growth engine.

1. Technician Productivity Gains

On average, technicians spend a significant portion of their time searching for information, filling out paperwork, or waiting for assignments. With Makula, wrench time increases by around 10% as technicians:

• Receive clear work orders directly on their mobile app
• Access full machine history, manuals, and documentation instantly
• Capture service notes and parts usage digitally on site

Impact: More jobs completed per technician per day, reducing labor cost per job and freeing capacity for additional billable work.

2. Help Desk & Backoffice Efficiency

Help desk and backoffice teams often spend hours on repetitive tasks like updating spreadsheets, answering customer e-mail & spare part requests, or handling misplaced service requests. With Makula’s customer Portal and digital Help Desk, productivity of support staff can be increased by up to 15%.

Impact: Lower overhead costs and the ability to scale service operations without growing headcount.

3. Spare Parts Revenue Growth

Spare parts are a major profit driver, yet many opportunities are missed because customers don’t know what to order or have to call support for help. With Makula’s customer portal, customers can self-select spare parts for their specific machine from an installed base view. This typically increases spare parts revenue by around 10%.

Impact: Higher spare part sales with less manual effort, while reducing the risk of incorrect orders.

4. New Recurring Subscription Revenue

With Makula, manufacturers can offer customers a sophisticated service portal that includes machine history, documentation, and service tracking. This portal itself can be monetized, creating new subscription-based service revenue. E.g. we have customers asking for 1000 Euros / Machine / Year for digital access to machines & service.

Impact: Establish recurring revenue streams by charging for premium portal access, extended documentation access, or advanced service features.

Integrating Makula Field Service Into Your IT Landscape

Makula Field Service connects seamlessly with your existing systems and does not require you to rip out what you already have in place. Instead, it acts as a smart service layer that sits on top of your ERP system. This ensures your teams can manage service operations without duplicating work or creating new silos.

How Integration Works

• Asset Data
  Transfer key asset details such as serial numbers, machine names, and custom fields (e.g., location or configuration) directly from your ERP into Makula. This ensures that your installed base is always accurate and up to date.
• Customer Data
  Sync customer records seamlessly, including names, addresses, contact details, and custom fields such as region or SLA level. Your teams always have the right customer context at hand without re-entering information.
• Documentation
  Migrate technical manuals, compliance documents, and drawings from systems like SharePoint into Makula. By centralizing documents, you give customers and technicians direct access to the right resources at the right time.
• Work Orders & Tickets
  Completed service tickets and work orders flow automatically from Makula back into your ERP system. This enables streamlined invoicing, accurate reporting, and end-to-end traceability.

Flexible Setup Options

You can connect Makula Field Service and ERP through modern APIs or simple CSV imports, depending on your IT maturity.

The Benefits of Cloud-Based Software with Zero IT Overhead

Makula Field Service is fully cloud-based, allowing you to skip the complexity of on-premise installations and avoid placing additional burden on your internal IT teams. From deployment to daily use, everything runs securely in the cloud.

No IT Resources Required
There is no need for your IT department to set up servers, manage backups, or install local software. Makula is ready to use immediately with secure access via web and mobile.

Automatic Updates
New features, improvements, and security patches are rolled out seamlessly. Your teams always work with the latest version without any IT involvement.

Scalability Without Limits
Whether you are onboarding five users or five hundred, the platform scales with your business needs. Infrastructure concerns are handled entirely by Makula.

High Security Standards
Hosted in secure, GDPR-compliant data centers in Germany, Makula ensures your data is protected while remaining easily accessible to authorized users.

Quick Deployment
Most customers can start using Makula in just a few days thanks to pre-configured workflows tailored to machinery manufacturers and distributors.

With Makula’s cloud-native approach, you gain enterprise-grade functionality without the technical headaches so your team can focus on what matters most: serving customers and growing your business.