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THE DIGITAL

FRONTIER

By Jon Parr, integrated within customer processes to
Managing help improve network management,
Director, Lowri monitoring and control activities. This
facilitates better analysis and review of
Beck Services performance trends across a portfolio
of devices, enabling the detailed and
mart meters, smart homes, remote comparison of technology, such
smart grids; the utility sector as pressure transducers across any
is in the midst of a digital given network relative to time,
revolution that’s driving temperature or service.
S innovation across every area From this expanding knowledge
of the energy industry value chain. base, automatic trigger points can be
Much of the focus is on how the set for remedial action or the
use of digital technology and data will exchange of equipment,
improve the operational eciency of communicated seamlessly to the
energy companies while physical services provider to take the
simultaneously enhancing the end appropriate steps, usually as part of a
user experience. However, one area service level agreement.
that is also undergoing something of a Digital connectivity and integration
transformation in the gas sector is across the value chain has grown
physical services. Because no matter exponentially for physical services
how smart the technology, how providers in recent years, with the line
detailed the analytics, how inventive of communication stretching across SUPPLY CHAIN INNOVATION
the algorithms predicting customer the entire supply chain through to the Moreover, data exchanged across
engagement, there’s still a energy supplier and into the realm of supply chains has transformed the
fundamental role for trained engineers end user liaisons. need to hold large stocks of products
capable of putting meters on walls Here, taking meter installations as and components among physical
safely and who are ready and able to an example, there is a seamless digital services providers. Items are called
respond to events. process triggered as soon as an order o‹ individually and digitally for each
That’s not to say there hasn’t been a is raised. Beyond the initial contact by job, pre-packaged in boxes with the
seismic shi in the adoption of new the gas supplier, using the end user’s components required and delivered
technologies and working practices in preferred communication method, securely overnight, directly into
this area of industry. Physical services data is shared through a common end engineers’ vans.
providers, including Lowri Beck, user/supplier/installer portal which, This ensures that when the engineer
remain an integral part of the gas upon job con„rmation, triggers an starts his or her day, six or 12 new
industry value chain, responsible for automated process that takes account plastic boxes will already be onboard,
making the smart meter programme of stock order, logistics supply and job each one containing the pre-packaged
real for millions of homes while assignment to an accredited engineer kit required for three jobs, typically
processing and sharing thousands of and installation con„rmation. containing a meter, regulator, „ttings
bits of data with multiple energy Currently, around 65 per cent of all and components – all ready to go and
suppliers, logistics companies and Lowri Beck installations are processed each allocated to a speci„c
meter technology providers every day. automatically from start to „nish assignment. In e‹ect, digitalisation of
Today’s installation engineers still (aside from physical services) and that this process has made every engineer
carry the traditional tools of their proportion will only grow as digital van a ‘pallet’ in a virtual warehouse.
trade, but just as indispensable are systems become ever more This is a complete transformation of
the digital capture and location mainstream in daily life. historical practices, replacing manual
devices used to trace, track and record This information Šow replaces a recording and the delivery and collection
jobs and then communicate process that previously would have of individual products in boxes of 10, 20
completion and evidential installation required a small army of customer or 50 components from a depot. It also
and asset documentation remotely to services operatives, the major enables a complete stock-take to be
their customers. di‹erence from years past being that undertaken with a single click,
While the collection of digital records the physical services provider is now identifying the status of every available
is in part required by regulation, the responsible more than ever for end product, tied to a speci„ed job.
majority of data made available through user liaison and, ultimately, Engineers receive their work
physical services intervention is satisfaction. schedules electronically, and are

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