What Does A Field Application Engineer Do?

WHAT DOES A FIELD APPLICATION ENGINEER DO?

Published: Mar 10, 2025 - The Field Application Engineers provide technical guidance and manage customer expectations throughout the sales cycle, developing technical content for presentations and sales collateral. This position builds and maintains professional relationships with team members, channel partners, and customers, conducting product demonstrations and training sessions. Additionally, this role supports product management with new product conception, improvements, and post-sales support to uphold the company's reputation in the market.

A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Field Application Engineer

1. Field Application Engineer Duties

Technical Support: Provide technical support for robot-based products (PLC, Servo, Motion Control, and Robot) and applications to sales personnel focusing on key/target accounts.
Training Development: Develop and/or deliver technical training to customers, distributors, and company personnel on all company products.
On-Site Engineering: Provide on-site application engineering and product consulting.
Subject Matter Expert (SME): Serve as the escalated technical resource (subject matter expert [SME]) on robot products and applications.
Documentation Management: Maintain technical documents and documentation on company products.
Technical Notes Creation: Develop technical/application notes where applicable, detailing start-up procedures of new products.
Product Knowledge: Maintain current knowledge of new products and applications through self-study, hands-on testing of demo units, and seminar attendance.
Training Opportunities: Actively identify opportunities for custom training classes.
Presentation Skills: Deliver presentations to external organizations or entities.
CRM Documentation: Document support case data utilizing CRM.

2. Field Application Engineer Details

Test Plan Development: Develop and execute the test plan/cases with initial analysis of issues.
Ticket Management: Manage FlashDesk tickets response of Large Format Display and SW products (Android/BIOS/x86 platform/Linux OS).
Product Development Collaboration: Cooperate with the development team to participate in product development and activities to refine the products/software.
Engineering Collaboration: Co-work with the engineering team to validate and resolve the issues.
Project Debugging: Support project debugging and lab testing to do the test cases and report on the bug tracking system to highlight bugs out.
Technical Support: Support sales and troubleshoot technical issues from customers.
Documentation Creation: Make the product and solutions related documents.
Quality Monitoring: Monitor, coordinate, and follow up quality status.
Design-in Drive: Drive new design-in of Microcontroller and Touch-sense (HMI) Controller products for customers in Korea.
Customer Requirements Understanding: Understand customer system technical requirements and proactively propose optimized products and solutions for customer applications.
First-Level Support: Provide first-level technical support for customer technical issues from development stage to mass-production, including design review, on-site and virtual support via digital tools, and in-situ test & debugging.
Technical Seminar Delivery: Deliver technical seminars on target products and applications to customers and channel partners.

3. Field Application Engineer Responsibilities

Site Inspections: Conduct site inspections of CPI Products.
Reporting and Analysis: Provide detailed report and analysis of visits, including suggestive actions.
Field Issue Processing: Process and vet potential field issues with products from information received via customers.
Issue Analysis and Tracking: Analyze field issues and, if necessary, create SFDC case for engineering support and tracking purposes.
Customer Solutions: Provide a solution to the customer in a timely fashion to maintain high standard of customer service in the marketplace.
OEM Training Support: Assist OEM in training non-technical personnel on proper techniques for product handling.
API Support: Provide knowledgeable support for all API and product questions originating from customers' integrations.
Script Testing: Conduct script testing for customers who have integrated to ensure satisfactory use of products.
OEM Integration Support: Continue support of OEM integrations through trials and deployment.
Software Issue Analysis: Analyze issues reported and provide recommended corrective actions in host software.
Technician Support: Provide direct support to bench-level technicians.
Training and Audits: Conduct on-site training and Audits for ASCs approved to repair CPI Products.

4. Field Application Engineer Job Summary

Program Collaboration: Work with ASCs on special programs and initiatives for CPI Products (e.g., upgrade or trade-in programs).
Spare Systems Management: Create and maintain spares and submission systems for the CPI Products.
Manual Creation: Create User and Field Service manuals.
Repair Documentation: Create repair documentation for ASC use, detailing step-by-step instructions on specific repair procedures for CPI Products.
Bulletin Creation: Create Field, OEM, and Service bulletins for special announcements to customers and ASCs as they relate to CPI Products.
Document System Maintenance: Maintain the submission systems for all documents.
Beta Trial Support: Assist in creation of Beta Trial Documentation and pre-trial meetings.
Customer Access Coordination: Work closely with customers to determine levels of access to diagnostics, hardware inspections, etc.
Progress Communication: Keep customers informed of progress and diagnose any issues that arise during trial.
On-Site Inspections: Perform on-site inspections of installation and perform audit collections (if remote access is not possible).
Product Showcasing: Assist account management with showcasing CPI products to prospective customers.
Technician Training: Train Field Service technicians for customers to ensure proper maintenance procedures are carried out during product life.

5. Field Application Engineer Accountabilities

Technical Guidance: Provide technical guidance and respond to and manage customer expectations throughout the sales cycle.
Relationship Building: Build positive professional relationships with the ZincFive team members, channel partners, and customers.
Customer Consultation: Consult with customers on application requirements and respond to those requirements with technical recommendations as well as formal proposals.
Content Development: Develop technical content for product presentations and sales collateral.
Demonstration & Training: Conduct demonstrations and training sessions for new products and services in collaboration with the sales team and channel partners.
Product Support: Support Product Management in new product conception and existing product improvements.
Training Material Development: Support the development of sales and customer training materials.
Post-Sales Support: Provide post-sales installation, testing, and training support with customers.
Ongoing Customer Support: Offer long-term ongoing post-sales support to existing customers to maintain the company’s brand and reputation in the market.
Sales Communication: Communicate directly with sales and product management personnel throughout the sales process on customer status.
Documentation Maintenance: Develop and maintain application notes and provide updates required for manuals and other product documentation.
Independent Work: Work well within a team and independently without supervision.

6. Field Application Engineer Functions

Demand Creation: Drive demand creation across the ASEAN region by maximizing Arrow content on designs.
Team Leadership: Be a team leader and technical spokesperson to suppliers to represent Arrow.
Customer Needs Analysis: Understand customer needs and leverage Arrow’s Business Development and Engineering Services resources to facilitate solutions for customers.
Solution Selling: Apply technical knowledge to influence designs utilizing solution selling, resources, and strategies.
Sales Support: Partner with the sales team across pre-and post-sales activities, providing technical support and consulting to promote demand creation.
Technical Calibration: Technical calibrations with marketing, sales, and suppliers in support of the customer design.
Engineering ROI: Champion return on engineering investment, design win priorities, initiatives, and promotions by obtaining buy-in and support from sales.
Supplier Collaboration: Work closely with Marketing to manage supplier expectations.
Relationship Building: Build and develop relationships with suppliers and customers, keeping stakeholders up to date on activities, plans, and progress towards initiatives.
Key Relationship Identification: Identify key relationships amongst decision-makers within suppliers and customers.
Supplier Training: Attend supplier training and business reviews in person and via conference calls.
Strategic Planning: Develop and drive strategic technical plans by supplier line or customer solutions.
Customer Events: Organize engineering customer events.

7. Field Application Engineer Job Description

Customer Requirements: Understand & drive customer requirements into the Front End process for discussion with Product Line Management (PLM).
Application Analysis: Analyze and evaluate the customer applications for the EFFECT Photonics product portfolio and define the value add.
Application Materials: Provide application material, whitepapers, brochures, training on customer applications for global re-use.
RFx Support: Provide RFx responses as first-level support.
Product Alignment: Ensure the latest understanding of product functions, roadmap, and status in close alignment with PLM.
Market Feedback: Provide technical market feedback to PLM.
Marketing Support: Marketing support on applications and facilitating customer demonstrations.
Technical Readouts: Technical readouts to PLM and SMT on customer requirements.
Sales Strategy Support: Support regional Sales managers in strategy on all technical aspects.
Root Cause Analysis: Provide on-site root cause analysis and solutions where possible.
Test Scenarios: Creating test scenarios supporting customer requirements in the Application Lab environment.
Design-In Support: Work closely with customers to expedite product family design-ins.

8. Field Application Engineer Overview

Test Methodology: Test methodology development and verification.
Test Plan Generation: Test plan generation as to device spec and test requirement.
Test Program Development: Test program development on ETS platforms, offline coding and online debugging.
Board Design Review: Load board schematics design and layout review.
Device Correlation: Device correlation and test program release at production site.
Customer Communication: Build up good communication channel with customer.
Technical Consulting: Understand customer’s technical problem and provide prompt consulting.
Issue Tracking: Technical issue tracking and escalation.
Customer Training: Customer training, knowledge sharing, workshop presentation.
Partner Collaboration: Collaborate with external design partners to define and develop evaluation boards for customer evaluation.
Team Collaboration: Close collaboration with Sales, Marketing, and Application teams to achieve design-win targets.

9. Field Application Engineer Details and Accountabilities

Technical Support: Provide answers for the customer’s technical questions related to device driver, boot firmware, and Linux kernel based on hardware specifications and other information.
Problem Analysis: Analyzing technical problems, checking technical resolutions.
Bench Testing: Perform bench testing for issue replication by analyzing customer’s various configurations in the lab environment.
Solution Delivery: Closely working with the internal Application Engineering team to deliver deep technical solutions to customers.
Project Coordination: Coordinating with sales team and project management team for successful project.
Design Review: Providing customer design schematics and PCB layout reviews.
Business Development: Partner closely with Account Manager and be focused on hunting for new logos and new business.
Territory Management: Manage all aspects of the technical needs of the assigned Territory utilizing all available resources.
Customer Engagement: Listen to customers’ needs, qualify, deliver technical presentations and demonstrations, provide pre-sales technical support, and help close opportunities.
Market Share Growth: Increase Wind River market share with each customer.
Presales & Post-Sales Support: Work closely with the manager and colleagues to offer presales and post-sales support to clients during the length of the projects.
Project Lifecycle: Brand new projects have an estimated length of 18 to 24 months from the feasibility study to mass production.
Product Support & Development: Mainly work on projects supporting the existing products – as they are brand new – and the rest of the time, work with the engineering team to develop new solutions for clients (80/20).

10. Field Application Engineer Tasks

Solution Promotion: Promote existing automotive positioning solutions (DR+GNSS) and manage interactive discussions with customers’ technical groups.
Technical Evangelism: Evangelizing automotive precise positioning (TAPP at Trimble) and leading technical discussion in PoC and each deployment stage.
Customer Presentation: Customer presentation based on thorough understanding of Trimble products, solutions, and services.
Testing: Conducting lab tests or automotive drive tests upon internal or external requests.
Data Analysis: Analyze data and organize test reports.
Documentation: Documentation is when customers ask for technical responses in a written format.
Technology Learning: Active and diligent learning on Trimble technologies and customer’s R&D programs.
Competitor Analysis: Gathering competitor information to reinforce Trimble’s competitive advantages.
Best Practices Sharing: Sharing the best practice as part of the FAE community.
Technical Support: Technical customer support activities including presales technical presentations, product evaluations, demonstrations, proof of concept development, and API integration work.
System Maintenance: Build and maintain OVS/OpenStack support and demonstration system.