The Problems and Challenges in Utilities
The utilities industry has been completely transformed over recent years. It has undergone a massive digital transformation with the volume, velocity and variety of data it handles exploding.
Customers can choose their providers. The vertically integrated entities that dominated the industry have now been broken up and operate as independent businesses.
These processes rely on complex industry procedures that span multiple entities:
- The collection and sharing of meter data
- Customer transfers
- Network billing
- Market settlements
The processes that underpin the operation of the utilities industry are complex, but they are also well understood and follow specific rules. That makes them great candidates for intelligent automation.
How Automation can help
Automation relieves staff from executing repetitive tasks so they can focus on handling exceptions and better customer service. For example, instead of manually copying data from an inquiry form when a customer churns between retailers, that process can be streamlined with automation. For a back office process such as settlement, automation ensures staff members can focus on anomalies rather than the vast majority of transactions that are free of errors.
Why choose CiGen?
CiGen has extensive experience in the utilities sector. For example, one client was able to automate 85% of the process it took to execute gas meter moves. ROI on the project was achieved in just seven months and the process now runs 30% faster than before with 100% data accuracy. Along with improving customer service, this allowed the company to meet tightening regulatory obligations.
