FEATURE ENERGY MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
Improving operational efficiency in the smart meter roll-out
Tapping into smart logistics solutions is proving the ideal route for suppliers to efficiently complete the smart meter swap. Steve Whitehead, business development manager at ByBox explores the options
administration time and cost in ordering parts, is easy to use and allows stock to be sent out in the field at any time. An OMS can be made mobile friendly and treated similar to click and collect shopping, providing engineers with a convenient ordering process. Orders can be consolidated into one delivery reducing the number of trips to collect orders. The delivery date can even be set, whether within 24 hours or a fortnight out, so that engineers can place and order as needed and have peace of mind that it will arrive in time for the job. Mass nationwide installations can make
E
nergy providers play a critical role in keeping the nations businesses up
and running, yet any power hiccup is enough to bring a business to a stand- still and can have damning effects on customers. So it’s vital that the energy companies which provide us with the means to operate efficiently have a lifeline of their own. One of the biggest focuses facing the
sector at the moment is the installation of over 53 million smart meters into UK businesses and homes by the end of 2020. Five years into this project, research has found that the roll out of smart meters has had a noticeable impact on consumer energy use, with over four in five people making at least one change to their energy consumption following installation. As the programme is expected to
broaden from this autumn, it remains an area presenting a number of logistical challenges for the utilities companies around the country; increasing volumes putting pressure on fleet drivers, offering effective means to return old meters, and ensuring this is all done with as little disruption as possible. So how then can energy companies keep their networks flowing smoothly? Many suppliers have found that the
most efficient way of completing the smart meter swap out is to tap into
12 SUMMER 2017 | ENERGY MANAGEMENT
smart logistics solutions, backed by innovative technology, to fully track the supply chain in real time and manage the load. Sophisticated technology, such as Thinventory software from ByBox, enables utilities companies to track, trace and route parts through their supply chains, providing real time specifics on location. This means that those managing the roll out know precisely where their parts are situated at all times, cutting down on unnecessary action, stock movement or delivery driver trips.
MANAGING THE INEFFICIENCIES Many energy businesses found during the initial stages of the smart meter roll out that some relatively small inefficiencies translated into larger costs with the expansion of the programme. For example, the smart meter rollout requires a lot of consumables, from crucial screws and fasteners through to less crucial stickers and ‘sorry we missed you’ cards. Keeping a stock of these items is often key to providing a good customer service, but previously required an engineer to call a central hub to stock up. As the pace of the rollout picked up, keeping up with these relatively minor but installation crucial associated orders snowballed into a time-consuming process. Using an online order management system (OMS) can radically reduce the
Figure 1: The smart meter roll out doesn’t need to be a costly or time consuming process with the help of the latest order management systems
keeping track of equipment – how many smart meters have been successfully installed and where, faulty parts in need of replacement – an inventory nightmare. On a small scale, broken or faulty stock, whilst damaging, is not such a crippling problem. But when the volume increases to reach demand in the millions, processing returns and tracking faulty or malfunctioning stock becomes a rather large and unnecessary hole in a business’s pocket. Previously, the majority of energy
companies would have damaged meters sent back through their supply chains to the asset owner, who would then either replace or repair. More recently companies are adding an in-house repairer to their workforce to asses if a fault is purely cosmetic, such as a cracked or scratched screen where the internal technology still operates effectively, or if the problem is something more substantial. Depending on the scale of damaged stock, solving minor damage in-house can add minimal time to the installation process, yet can drastically increase the number of parts which are deemed suitable for use. By working seamlessly with technology
companies to utilise smart logistics services, energy providers can drastically improve their resource management and streamline supply chains. Not only will this enable the efficient installation of smart meters across the UK in a costly, more productive manner, but it will help energy companies to complete the roll- out with as little disruption as possible.
ByBox
www.bybox.com T: 0844 800 5219
/ ENERGYMANAGEMENT
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