Example vertical: Equipment Field-Service
How a field-service company that installs and maintains equipment maps its vocabulary — service calls, contracts, spare parts, technicians, callouts — onto SAP Business One entities so Norma answers in the client's language. A deep, replaceable template.
This is an example, not a fact about your business. It shows the shape of a per-customer vertical doc for a services business: how the client’s everyday words map onto SAP Business One entities so Norma answers in their dialect. A real client replaces this with their own — same structure, their vocabulary. It teaches Norma the customer’s language; it does not change what Norma can do.
Who this is for
A commercial field-service company sells, installs, and maintains equipment — think HVAC, refrigeration, coffee machines, or medical devices. It runs on service contracts (planned maintenance) and callouts (something broke). Technicians carry spare parts from van stock, and the same customer is both a buyer of new units and a holder of a maintenance agreement. Staff talk in “callouts”, “PMs”, “SLAs”, and “van stock” — not SAP table names. This doc records that dialect.
Vocabulary → SAP entity
| The client says | SAP Business One entity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Unit / machine (“the rooftop chiller at site 4”) | Item sold as a serial-managed unit, tracked as a Service Contract subject after install | The physical installed unit is a contract item once under agreement. |
| Serial number (“chiller SN-88231”) | Serial number on a serial-managed item | Traces the specific installed machine through its service history. |
| Customer / site (“the Riverside hotel, all 3 kitchens”) | Business Partner (customer) with multiple ship-to / addresses | One BP, several sites; a contract can cover specific sites. |
| Service contract / maintenance agreement (“Riverside’s gold plan”) | Service Contract (OCTR) | Defines coverage, SLA response times, and covered equipment. |
| Callout / job / ticket (“the Tuesday callout at site 4”) | Service Call (OSCL) | One service call per visit/issue; links to the contract + the serial unit. |
| PM / planned maintenance (“the quarterly PM”) | a scheduled Service Call under a contract | Recurring visits are scheduled calls, not a distinct entity. |
| SLA (“4-hour response”) | a contract term on the service contract | Norma reads it to answer “are we in breach”, it does not enforce it. |
| Spare part (“a compressor from van stock”) | Item consumed on the service call / a delivery | Van stock is a warehouse; consuming a part is a goods issue / delivery line. |
| Technician (“send Dana”) | an Employee / assignee on the service call | Scheduling itself is operational, not a SAP document. |
| Quote for a repair | Sales Quotation for parts + labour | Labour is usually a non-stock (service) item. |
| Bill for the job | A/R Invoice (parts + labour lines) | Contract-covered work may bill zero; out-of-contract work bills. |
Terms that need care
- “Contract” is overloaded. A service contract (maintenance coverage,
OCTR) is not a sales order or a blanket purchase agreement. “Are they under contract?” → read the service contract, not open orders. - Covered vs chargeable. Work under an active contract may bill zero; the same physical job out of contract bills parts + labour. “What do we invoice for this callout?” depends on contract coverage — Norma reads the contract before assuming a charge.
- “Labour” is a non-stock item. It has a price but no inventory. Don’t treat a labour line as a stock movement.
- “Van stock” is a warehouse, not a customer location. Parts move from a van warehouse; consuming them on a call is an inventory movement, not a purchase.
- A “job” is a service call, not a project. SAP B1’s service module is call-based; multi-visit work is several linked service calls, not one long project document.
- “Response” vs “resolution”. SLA response time (arrived on site) differs from resolution (fixed) — both are contract terms, read them distinctly.
Industry jargon
The words field-service staff actually use, and where each lands:
- Callout / call-out / job / ticket — a single visit or issue → a Service Call.
- Appointment / booking / dispatch — scheduling a technician to a call. Operational (a calendar/assignee), not a SAP document Norma posts.
- Work order — the authorization to do the work → the Service Call (parts + labour lines).
- PM / planned / preventive maintenance — scheduled upkeep under a contract → a scheduled Service Call.
- Break-fix — unplanned repair (something broke) → an ad-hoc Service Call, often chargeable.
- SLA — service-level agreement (e.g. “4-hour response”) → a contract term. Norma reports against it; doesn’t enforce.
- Response vs resolution time — arrived-on-site vs actually-fixed. Two distinct SLA clocks.
- First-time-fix rate / MTTR — fixed on first visit % / mean time to repair. Operational KPIs, not SAP objects.
- Uptime / downtime — equipment availability. A contract/reporting concept.
- T&M — time & materials billing → an A/R Invoice with labour (non-stock) + parts (stock) lines.
- Van stock / truck stock / boot stock — parts a technician carries → a Warehouse; consumption = goods issue.
- RMA — return merchandise authorization (a defective part comes back) → a Return.
- Warranty — manufacturer/contract coverage → drives covered-vs-chargeable; read before billing.
- Serial / asset — the specific installed unit → a serial number on a serial-managed item.
- Renewal / churn — a contract about to end / lost → a Service Contract end-date read.
- Escalation — bumping a call’s priority. A service-call attribute, operational.
Typical asks → what Norma does
- “Is the Riverside hotel under contract, and what’s their SLA?” → read the service contract for that BP; report coverage + response term.
- “Quote Riverside for a new compressor plus 3 hours labour.” → a sales quotation: a stock part line + a non-stock labour line, through the review gate.
- “What did we invoice site 4 this quarter?” → an A/R read filtered to that BP/site.
- “Which contracts renew next month?” → a service-contract read by end date.
- “Bill the out-of-contract callout from Tuesday.” → draft an A/R invoice for the parts consumed + labour, held for review.
What Norma will and won’t do here
- Will: read contracts, service history, stock, and A/R; draft quotes and invoices for parts + labour with the human approving the write.
- Won’t: schedule technicians, enforce SLAs, or decide coverage disputes — those are operational/commercial judgements, not SAP documents Norma posts.
Replace this file with your own vocabulary. Keep the habit — your word → the SAP entity — and note the terms that need care.