THE COMPLETE
2 FOR WATER COMPANIES FOR POWER COMPANIES FOR GAS COMPANIES FOR THERMAL COMPANIES
Utility companies around the globe face complex challenges due to unprecedented change. They are increasingly subject to mergers, acquisitions and privatizations and many former monopolies have been forced to pursue new models of value creation. However, hav-ing gained the capacity to develop in other sectors and geographies, many utilities have also expanded their spheres of operations. While these trends towards liberalization, convergence and competition are by no means uniform across territories and industries, tech-nological changes are bound to transform the utilities sector as a whole.
Faced with an aging infrastructure, many utility companies are determined to take advantage of technological innovations. The ad-vent of smart grids and advanced metering infrastructures increases billing accuracy and allows utilities to provide tailored offerings that currently do not exist or are reserved for only the largest of industrial customers.
Asset management is critical, as utility companies are challenged to implement operational and maintenance standards and practices to continually improve the balance between asset reliability and costs. Simplification and integration are needed to efficiently manage these geographically disparate assets and the large workforce that maintains them. Planning activities and the resources they require, is a complicated task. Mobile technology has become a key tool to maximize productivity, as field workers need simple tools that give them straightforward access to company systems and information.
Customers are also main catalysts for change. Increased service expectations, growing credit and collections activities and bad debts have made pricing a key issue. However, adequately dealing with complex products, customers moving house, building owners as-sociations, and unmetered connections poses a significant challenge to any system.
Utility companies need to take advantage of these shifting customer needs to become far more sophisticated in their conceptualization and management of the customer experience. Time and energy is often wasted on reacting to complaints that result from poor customer service. Inadequate customer service also increases staff turnover, as employees are often dissatisfied with the stress and strain of their role. A company should prevent such problems instead of constantly fighting fires.
Finally, in order to make better and quicker decisions, managers need access to information that allows them to see the big picture. They need a single source of information, based on one version of the truth, which allows them to properly measure and analyse the performance of their company, and make the right decisions. Keeping operations, customer needs and regulation aligned is ever more important for improving the overall financial performance. MECOMS™ offers a multi-commodity, end-to-end solution for utility companies to meet all these challenges. Today marks the end of a business-as-usual approach. It is time for a smart solution.
MECOMS™
EMPOWERING
SMART UTILITIES
MEC
OMS O
VERVIE
W
BUSINESS BLUEPRINTSPERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
COMPANY ADMINISTRATION
TECHNOLOGY STACK
MARKET
INTERACTION
OPERATIONS
CUSTOMER CARE
AND BILLING
METER DATA
MANAGEMENT
EUCA
4
MECOMS™ combines flexibility, efficiency and smart insights to drastically cut cost-to-serve, even in a changing environment. Utility companies around the world choose MECOMS™ because it makes their business highly efficient, because it allows them unprecedented flexibility to adapt and because it offers them superior business insight.
MECOMS™ easily and quickly adapts to your changing business needs.
MECOMS™ VALUE PROPOSITION
MECOMS™ streamlines business processes to com-bine high efficiency with first-class customer service.
EFFICIENT BUSINESS
FLExIBILITy TO AdAPT
Reduced training costs
MECOMS™ is user friendly and highly automated. This significantly reduces the training needs of new users.
Faster, first-line call resolution
MECOMS™ is designed to empower the call center operator to quickly solve fairly complicated requests with the customer on the line. Role centers for twenty common roles in utility organizations provide an intuitive way to interact with MECOMS™.
Highly automated
MECOMS™ is optimized for unattended behaviour. It uses a management-by-exception approach to handle regular work, and intelligently side-tracks insolvable cases for human inspection.
Prevent errors, first time right
Each process contains configurable checks and valida-tions at each step. Early detection of errors prevents escalation and costly recoveries.
Agile and Configurable
MECOMS™ easily adapts to the business. Many changes can be done by configuration instead of implementation. And when implementation is necessary, it can be done quickly because of the agile architecture. MECOMS™ uses a system of interchangeable blueprints to adapt to local markets and market roles. This greatly simplifies compliance with changing regulation and allows for rapid time-to-market for new products.
Scalable
MECOMS™ has a robust architecture and it had been designed to scale: it can be used by niche B2B
utilities and large B2C operations alike. This makes it an ideal investment for companies in need for a system that will grow with their business.
Modular
MECOMS™ offers a solution to integrate all major business areas, but it is designed to be modular. It fits in with existing systems and it is easy to change one part without affecting the rest.
Therefore, a utility only needs to buy and imple-ment the modules it currently needs. When additional needs arise, new modules can be smoothly added to the system.
MECOMS™ offers utilities the insight to detect operational inefficiencies and discover new business opportunities.
SUPERIOR BUSINESS INSIgHT
Meaningful data
To preserve competitiveness, utilities need raw data to be transformed into analytics and strategic insights. MECOMS™ converts data in meaningful KPI’s for every role in the organization. Dashboards provide a convenient way to keep track of company perfor-mance. Advanced graphical visualisations allow users to detect patterns in even the most complicated data. MECOMS™ empowers utilities to run their business based on informed decisions.
A single version of the truth
MECOMS™ offers an integrated system with all functionality and company processes in one applica-tion with one user interface, one database and one set of business logic. MECOMS™ always provides a single version of the truth.
Accessible to everyone
MECOMS™ is tightly integrated with Microsoft Office and SharePoint. This makes it easy to share data with people who do not use the system themselves.
“MECOMS™ was easy to integrate with
our existing systems, and has scaled
seamlessly ever since”
6
KWH
gRId OPERATORS
METERINg COMPANIES
PROdUCERS
The utility industry is not a single, homogenous entity. MECOMS™ acknowledges the unique needs of different market roles and models.
TARGET MARkETS
The surging demand for renewable energy benefits local producers. These companies range from industrial solar and wind power producers, over waste burning plants generating heating, electricity and gas, down to local community windmills.
Local producers often have a dual or triple role in the market, as they combine the roles of producers, suppliers and even grid operators. Their primary task is often something else, such as waste burning, while the energy is produced as by-product. The energy is sold to other utilities or supplied directly to
house-holds or businesses. Sometimes these companies even maintain a micro grid for nearby customers. Estimating production is of utmost importance for this new breed of utility companies. They need to ensure that the right information is communicated to the grid operators to ensure the stability of the net. MECOMS™ provides producers with extensive func-tionality to manage each of these business processes in one integrated solution. Meanwhile, it offers the flexibility to cope with a complex, often changing role in the utility market.
Grid operators are confronted with rapidly evolving technologies and analysis techniques and need to deploy these in their grids. Smart metering, smart grids and advanced Meter Data Management are only a few of the challenges that lay ahead.
MECOMS™ is an open solution that easily but securely links up different sources of metering information, such as traditional meters (through PDA, OCR, IVR and Internet..), automatic meters and smart meters, but also EDI messages or correction factors.
All this information is stored and validated using the simple yet powerful calculation and validation framework of MECOMS™ Meter Data Management.
Grid operators take a prominent place in the energy market and play a major role in a wide range of processes. MECOMS™ Market Interaction enables con-figuration and (automated) running of EDI workflows using process orchestration technology.
Despite new technology, grid operators still need to service their grid and manage their assets in the most effective manner. By intelligently linking up assets, services, operations and human resources, MECOMS™ Operations provides the necessary tools for a cost-effective, integrated grid operation solution.
Metering Companies are confronted with rap-idly evolving technology, changing regulation and increasing amounts of data. MECOMS™ leverages new technologies and insights to empower metering companies to become smarter and more effective. MECOMS™ Advanced Metering Infrastructure takes care of all meter reading processes. It organizes the complete manual meter reading process, using terminals with MECOMS™ mobile for the meter read-ers. These devices facilitate the meter reading rounds and validate meter readings on the spot. The work planning, meter readings and other collected informa-tion are wirelessly transmitted using GPRS. This way, suppliers can receive validated consumptions within a day. Furthermore, MECOMS™ natively interacts with many types of automatic and smart meters.
Many meter parks have grown historically, and consist of widely differing devices. MECOMS™ Calculation and Validation use a sophisticated conceptual model
with asset trees and meter certificates, to seamlessly convert raw meter readings into reliable consump-tion data. Flexible rules and formulas detect errors and fraud early in the process, to prevent costly corrections. MECOMS™ Market Interaction is an open solution that easily but securely distributes metering information to different market parties. Localized blueprints enable XML or EDI communication with other market parties. Furthermore, MECOMS™ Settle-ment calculates the contribution that each customer needs to pay for using the grid (“gridfees”) and allocates energy usage on the supplier level. While being very resource-intensive, these processes do not slow down the application.
Depending on the market situation, metering com-panies often need to service and manage their assets. By intelligently linking up assets, services, operations, human resources and new technology, MECOMS™ Operations provides the necessary tools for a cost-effective, integrated metering solution.
BALANCE RESPONSIBLE
SUPPLIERS
INTEgRATEd UTILITIES
Despite deregulation in many markets, integrated utilities remain important. They combine all tradi-tional utility processes in a single organization. They require systems with a rich set of integrated features to manage many business processes and data sets. MECOMS™ is fully integrated in Microsoft Dynamics® AX. All functionality and company processes are in an integrated system with one user interface, one database and one set of business logic, providing a single version of the truth.
Besides covering the complete business, MECOMS™ can be configured to run a limited set of processes. Each business domain is extensively covered in several modules. MECOMS™ offers a full ERP suite for
specialists in areas such as servicing, asset manage-ment, CRM or meter data management.
The far-reaching integration in MECOMS™ does not compromise its flexibility. The unique and open event-based architecture of MECOMS™ allows flexible adaptation to shifting business requirements or inevitable regulatory change.
Having been implemented in both integrated and liberalized markets around the world, MECOMS™ is ideal to cope with the long, often unpredictable transition towards liberalization.
By incorporating best practices from liberalized and integrated markets, MECOMS™ offers many ways to make existing business processes more efficient. In a highly competitive market, suppliers need to
pro-vide their customers with innovative energy solutions and value-added services, while improving business performance and lowering operational costs. Energy suppliers in deregulated markets have always been a core target market of MECOMS™. It provides them a unique set of benefits to create a durable com-petitive advantage. Through deep market experience and innovation, each process has been optimized into an effective, cost-efficient best practice.
Creating or changing products, tariffs and marketing campaigns is a swift process. Customer KPI’s provide a quick and transparent way to keep track of profitabil-ity, even with millions of customers.
The user-friendly interface, familiar to Microsoft Office users, increases productivity and reduces staff training costs. Predefined workflows guide customer support officers while they are interacting with customers
through the many available interaction channels MECOMS™ contract templates drastically reduce the time needed to create and change contracts.
The interaction between customer mutation scenarios (move-in, move-out, supply-switch, etc.) and related EDI communication can be fully automated. This al-lows staff to focus on exceptions, rather than focusing on the process itself.
Confidently handling mass invoicing is equally important as solving individual issues. MECOMS™ has been benchmarked using stress tests, proving that it is capable of fluently handling millions of invoices within a single run.
Supplying energy to corporate customers requires specific tools and processes. MECOMS™ is used by many B2B suppliers and supports their specific requirements. The MECOMS™ pricing and quotation engine enables creating highly flexible B2B contracts.
Sophisticated tools are vital for achieving a reliable energy balance with optimal procurement. Forecasts, market prices and a wide array of correction factors need to be integrated into a stable energy model. The MECOMS™ calculation and forecasting framework offers the possibility for powerful data editing and aggregation. It provides a versatile toolbox that takes into account metering, consumption and master data information from its integrated database. It can also combine this data with external information, such as corrections and prices for recalculation, graphical plotting and comparison.
Combining forecasts and demand-side programs with deals and contracts in MECOMS™ allows optimal determining of short and long term positions on the market and thorough assessment of risks.
Using MECOMS™, the typical message workflows and processes of a balance responsible can be executed in full automation, effectively managed with a user-friendly focus on exceptions and errors.
8
BUSINESS BLUEPRINTS
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
OPERATIONS
METER DATA
MANAGEMENT
CUSTOMER CARE
AND BILLING
INTERACTION
MARKET
DASHBOARD
ANALYSIS
PLANNING
CRM
CONTRACTS AND BILLING
CREDIT MANAGEMENT
MESSAGING
PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
SETTLEMENT
ADVANCED METERING INFRASTRUCTURE
VALIDATION
CALCULATION
ASSET MANAGEMENT
SMART GRID
SERVICE MANAGEMENT
COMPANY ADMINISTRATION
TECHNOLOGY STACK
FINANCE
SOA
PROCESS ORCHESTRATION
HRM
PROCUREMENT
PROJECT
EUCA
MECOMS™ EUCA
MEC
OMS
™ OVERVIE
W
MECOMS™ is designed on the principles of flex-ibility, simplicity, completeness and innovation. It is functionally arranged around a number of business domains, tied together by the Energy and Utilities Community Architecture (EUCA), its core information model. Since the design is non-monolithic, a utility can license and implement only the modules it actually needs. The modular design also enables easy interfacing with other internal and external applica-tions.
All modifications are logged and easy to trace back to individual users. Data is also time-sliced: each value has a start and end date and previous values are always retained. This makes it easy to prepare future changes or revert to a previous situation. Time slicing also provides a thorough audit trail, which eases compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley, SAS-70, etc. The smart architecture of MECOMS™ permits rapid implementations and adaptions, at an attractive cost.
CUSTOMER CARE ANd BILLINg
CRM
CONTRACTS ANd BILLINg
CREdIT MANAgEMENT
MARKET INTERACTION
MESSAgINg
PORTFOLIO MANAgEMENT
SETTLEMENT
IT systems do not exist in a void. Interfacing with different systems is required to exchange messages, to update information and to account for all business processes in a multi-player market. This is the role of market interaction, both in a liberalized as well as in a non-liberalized market.
Messaging
A key aspect of any de-regulated market is the inter-action between all market parties and the associated business processes. MECOMS™ Messaging manages these aspects by providing a solid data communica-tion framework. It enables EDI or XML exchange of customer scenarios, master data and meter readings and invoice information. Localized blueprints are available to translate local regulation into business logic. In a regulated market, Messaging is used for reporting to partners, regulators, etc.
Portfolio Management
Portfolio Management offers a comprehensive fore-casting toolset. It involves set-up and development of the forecasting model, performing the forecast and handling the results. Based on the results, a utility will
This includes sourcing activities (buy/trade) on spot and futures markets, often using flexible contracts in the MECOMS™ contract management module.
Settlement
Each country has different rules for settling fees between market parties, and how to charge these to the end-users. Flexible business rules enable continuous compliance with evolving market regula-tion. MECOMS™ Settlement takes care of grid fees, allocation and reconciliation processes.
Gridfee Settlement matches the distribution costs of the grid operator with those on the customer invoices. Allocation allots network losses to market parties according to calculation formulas. It can be used by market regulators for imposing fees on suppliers or by suppliers to calculate their own fees in advance. Reconciliation is the aftermath of allocation. Discre-pancies between predictions and actual values need to be solved. This has important ramifications, as it influences transactions between market parties and MECOMS™ does not force utility companies to choose
between improving customer service and reducing cost to serve. Integrated customer self-servicing, smart user interaction design and fast invoice process-ing increase both efficiency and customer satisfaction. Customer care staff are empowered to handle even the most complex situations in fluent workflows, while dynamic rules make it easy to customize MECOMS™ for specific situations.
In order to increase customer intimacy, MECOMS™ offers an Internet portal for customers, automatic voice-recognition systems and OCR card scanning. Digital TV applications and other rich media appli-ances for the smart home of the future will comple-ment the MECOMS™ offering.
CRM
MECOMS™ CRM offers customer care staff a 360° cockpit for a quick and complete view on all informa-tion related to a customer, from meter readings and consumptions, to contracts, invoices, payments, repair, and maintenance. A state-of-the-art screen enables real-time completion of all move-in processes, such as final invoice, contract creation and catch-up of payment advances, with the customer on the phone. This significantly reduces call times and improves the satisfaction of both customers and employees. Tight integration with Microsoft Office allows data to be imported, exported and used around the entire organization. Intuitive wizards are provided for common processes, such as address changes, meter reading requests or customer transfers.
Contracts and Billing
MECOMS™ allows creating complex contracts with customized tariffs for specific customers or groups. The products being billed, such as green energy or waste water, are specified in the customer’s contract. The specifics of each contract are seamlessly taken into account by the billing system, which calculates invoice-lines on-the-fly as meter and consumption data enters the system.
Scheduled and on-demand meter readings are handled simultaneously, and future price changes are already taken into account when calculating advances. Workload spreading allows for a fast billing run when the actual invoices are generated. Further-more, immediate calculation and validation discovers anomalies in consumptions before the actual billing run. This allows error-free billings runs, with increased accuracy and speed.
A Billing Performance Benchmark at Microsoft’s Munich Test Center demonstrated how MECOMS™ easily scales up to 25 million customers, processing over 800 million transactions on average hardware.
Credit Management
The collections module automates matching open invoices with incoming payments, based on dynamic, configurable rules. Ambiguous payments are flagged for review by staff. Nonpaying customers automati-cally receive reminders. A list of customers who still fail to pay can be sent directly to a credit-collector agency, or they can be offered a personalized pay-ment plan based on their financial capabilities.
10
METER dATA MANAgEMENT
AdvANCEd METERINg
INFRASTRUCTURE
vALIdATION
CALCULATION
STREAMLINE BUSINESS PROCESSES
TO COMBINE HIgH EFFICIENCy wITH
FIRST-CLASS CUSTOMER SERvICE
EffICIENT.
Meter Data Management focuses on data quality and controlling the information flood. MECOMS™ handles all aspects of meter data collection, and is designed to cover specific requirements such as unmetered connections, invoice bundling or waste water billing.
Advanced Metering Infrastructure
MECOMS™ is smart meter ready. It provides two-way communication with smart meters and handles the ensuing large volumes of data via the Smart Meter-ing Communication Bus component. Moreover, MECOMS™ facilitates smart metering processes for meter asset management, monitoring and the interaction with customers and other market parties. MECOMS™ also completely handles Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) as a core process. It can easily integrate with existing systems, for instance MV90, but also communicates natively with other automatic meters, without additional appliances.
Furthermore, MECOMS™ organizes the entire Manual Meter Reading process. Meter readers are equipped with MECOMS™ wireless portable terminals; suppliers receive their meter readings within the same day. MECOMS™ Mobile lets meter readers access and register relevant information on their terminal (e.g. defects, fraud or the meter location). The terminal performs an initial validation and can communicate on the spot using a cellular data connection. It also provides meter readers with their assignments for the upcoming days.
Periodical meter reading routes often reflect the ac-cumulated experience of many years. For unplanned meter readings on demand, however, routes are generated dynamically. MECOMS™ takes into account the location of the meter reader and the accessibility of the locations to create an optimal route.
The continuous connectivity of the terminals allows operators to send updates or additional tasks to a meter reader while he or she is in the field. MECOMS™ also offers many self-service channels. Paper index cards returned by customers are automat-ically scanned using OCR. An IVR system lets custom-ers report their meter readings over the telephone. Furthermore, a web application lets customers enter index values and allows them to consult consump-tions.
An efficient unmetered to metered flow facilitates large-scale meter deployments and offers bulk transferring connections from specific areas.
Validation
Meter readings are stored and validated in MECOMS™ using flexible business rules. Even on ordinary hardware, MECOMS™ smoothly processes and stores millions of meter readings.
MECOMS™ allows the definition of business validation rules in a user-friendly manner, without additional development. Multiple rules can be active simultane-ously, and prioritized to match changing business needs.
Calculation
MECOMS™ uses meter certificates to convert meter readings into consumptions. Thus, readings of a diverse, historically grown metering park are processed consistently. Complex metering configura-tions, often with local production, are also taken into account. Single or separate meter readings can be used for billing different products (i.e. a waste water tax based on the consumption of potable water). Estimations, based on consumption profiles or histori-cal data, can be a substitute for missing data.
ASSET MANAgEMENT
SMART gRId
SERvICE MANAgEMENT
OPERATIONS
“MECOMS™ lets me save time
by managing meter installations
while I’m on the road”
— CARL, Field Technician
MECOMS™ Smart Metering
Communication Bus
MECOMS™ Smart Metering Communication Bus (SMCB) has been designed to manage Smart Metering assets and the complex communication with these
assets in a multi-brand, protocol and multi-user environment. SMCB guarantees a compre-hensive management of the metering assets, while at the same time offering the flexibility to link several different proprietary protocols to each other and the central system. In addition, it supports ‘push’ as well as ‘pull’ AMI architectures. SMCB makes MECOMS™ a device-independent solution.
Simplifying end-to-end processes is essential to become a leader in the industry. Keeping up-to-date with field working practices remains a major issue in the utilities industry and is part of the enormous asset management challenges. MECOMS™ enables utilities to tackle asset management issues while complying with standards such as PAS55.
Asset Management
Utility companies have many thousands of meter devices installed at customer premises. These need to be installed, maintained, calibrated, repaired or replaced. MECOMS™ Asset Management controls all assets, from pipes and cables to connections, and stores communication properties for Automatic and Smart Metering. MECOMS™ allows for gradual deploy-ment of smart meters throughout the grid, without impacting on-going business.
Smart Grid
MECOMS™ provides the possibility to define, consult and navigate delivery and data communication rela-tions as time sliced data.
To avoid needless incident reports, maintenance and shutdowns are automatically communicated to the validation process and to the CRM staff while they take calls. GIS changes are reflected in the system to avoid double entry. MECOMS™ data and services can be registered and consulted in GIS.
Service Management
MECOMS™ Service Management plans and assigns work to field workers, for example meter installations and decommissioning. Using mobile devices, techni-cians work on-site while being connected in real-time to the back office system via GPRS. Rescheduling, communication, alerts and notifications are all done using these devices. By eliminating inefficiencies and unnecessary work, productivity is significantly improved.
12
PERFORMANCE MANAgEMENT
dASHBOARd
ANALySIS
PLANNINg
dETECT OPERATIONAL INEFFICIENCIES ANd
dISCOvER NEw BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
INSIGhT.
Businesses need more than tools to process data and automate tasks. To preserve competitiveness, modern enterprises need raw data to be transformed into analytics and strategic insights.
Dashboards
MECOMS™ contains twenty role centers, based on common job functions in utility companies.
Role centers feature work cues, navigation, links, KPI’s and graphics. They offer an intuitive approach to use the system, and help to cope with the natural overlap between different modules and divisions.
Analysis
Business Intelligence is a key stepping stone to measure strategic execution effectiveness.
MECOMS™ Performance Management brings business insights to every role in the organization, using all data available to the system. It transforms data into intelligence by enabling direct assessment of KPI’s, such as customer profitability, environmental impact or staff productivity.
Past trends are analysed to forecast future evolutions. Interfacing possibilities allow exporting data to other analytical tools.
The MECOMS™ Corporate Performance Management
Framework replaces traditional reporting tools by introducing a set of ETL jobs and OLAP cubes. The module is built upon Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services. Source data can be Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server or any other data source. MECOMS™ Analysis integrates seamlessly with TARGIT, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft SharePoint.
MECOMS™ empowers utility companies to run their businesses based on informed decisions.
Planning
MECOMS™ Planning makes planning, budgeting, and forecasting part of a dynamic, on-going performance management process.
Users can plan their workforce, consult business statistics and avoid operational bottlenecks. The Planning module can also be used to set the targets of KPI’s based on historical analysis.
The underlying Microsoft SQL Server™ Business Intel-ligence platform is renowned for its stability, security, and scalability. MECOMS™ Planning enables business users to interact with and continuously contribute to business planning, budgeting, and forecasting in real time. All through the familiar and easy-to-use Microsoft Office environment.
MECOMS™ TECHNOLOgy
MECOMS™ is a vertical solution for the utilities industry, built on top of Microsoft Dynamics™ AX, Microsoft’s ERP suite.Microsoft Dynamics™ AX provides non-utility specific company administration modules, such as Finance, Human Resource Management, Project Management, Work Orders, Inventory and Procurement. Microsoft Dynamics™ AX is a layered system, which allows for seamless integration on one hand and easy main-tainability and upgradeability on the other hand. Because MECOMS™ is fully integrated into Microsoft Dynamics™ AX, all of the functionality and company processes are in one, integrated system with one user interface, one database and one set of business logic, providing a single version of the truth. With only one technology stack to support, the total cost of owner-ship is much lower, both from a business and an IT perspective, as opposed to having disparate systems that are linked together.
MECOMS™ is often integrated in more complex legacy environments. Therefore, integration requiring business process management across systems is often needed. MECOMS™ leverages the Microsoft
Dynamics™ AX infrastructure and optionally Microsoft BizTalk® to deliver true SOA integration.
MECOMS™ is certified for Microsoft Dynamics™ AX, which means that each release is thoroughly tested by an independent third party.
“MECOMS™ improved my team’s
effectiveness and reduced the
number of complaints”
— LINDA, customer care manager14
ELECTRICITy
gAS
MARkET BLUEPRINTS
While the gas market has some similarities with the electricity market, the differences are considerable. The transported energy of gas depends on the calorific value, quality, temperature and pressure of the gas. Furthermore, gas can be stored and transported as LPG, creating a completely different market dynamic. Therefore, gas prices on spot markets fluctuate enor-mously. This increases the importance of reliable tools for sophisticated trading, forecasting and hedging. The sheer amount of energy transported by gas pipelines is unrivalled. Selling this commodity requires a sound knowledge of the market and its consumption patterns, especially in the highly demanding B2B segment.
MECOMS™ has been implemented at gas companies in several countries. The gas market blueprint is designed to natively handle all specific aspects of this complex business.
Despite environmental concerns, consumption of electricity keeps rising everywhere.
Many governments want to promote green alterna-tives and demand side management. This requires smart grids with distributed production environ-ments.
Meanwhile, smart meters will be deployed on a large-scale in the near future. Nevertheless, utilities will still need to deal with a legacy of historical meter parks for a long time.
MECOMS™ is capable of simultaneously handling manual, automatic and smart meters, enabling a gradual upgrade of the existing infrastructure. When operating as a wholesale energy supplier, attracting and retaining customers with attractive products and tariffs is a severe challenge. MECOMS™ offers flexible tools to create new products and tariffs according to changing market dynamics.
MECOMS™ Performance Management offers a power-ful analysis framework to gain insights for optimizing cost-to-serve, down to groups or even individual customers. Regardless of the advent of smart grids and meters, managing losses and allocating residues will remain a major concern. Regulation for settle-ment and billing of transport and distribution costs keeps changing. MECOMS™ provides a powerful, yet flexible Market Interaction framework to deal with the monetary and informational flows between market
players.
AdAPT EASILy ANd qUICKLy
TO CHANgINg BUSINESS NEEdS
wATER
THERMAL
MARKET BLUEPRINTS
TAILOR MECOMS™
TO THE NEEdS OF
ANy COMMOdITy
IN ANy MARKET.
THEy PROvIdE BEST
PRACTICES BASEd ON
yEARS OF ExPERIENCE.
“
”
“MECOMS™ helps me improve data
quality and reduce rework”
Many countries are introducing district heating and cooling systems to help provide a cleaner environ-ment and exploit surplus energy of waste incarnation processes.
Thermal companies are often closely embedded into local society and customer satisfaction is of foremost importance. MECOMS™ CRM provides flexibility to deal with any number of customers, without losing track of their peculiarities.
Because of the close local ties, a socially conscious pricing policy needs to be maintained. This requires thorough forecasting to balance demand with purchase and/or production. MECOMS™ features sophisticated tools for analysis, planning and portfolio management, taking into account the specific situa-tion and resources of the utility.
Water companies are increasingly subject to mergers, acquisitions and privatizations, which forces continu-ous reorganization to achieve optimal scale and integration of the entire water cycle.
As water is an essential service to the economy and society, so legislative pressure is a main driving force behind industry changes. Regulatory focus shifts from ensuring quality and protecting resources towards cutting cost, energy consumption and greenhouse gasses. Instead of regarding water as a free commod-ity, customers need to become aware of its value. The size and diversity of the customer base is also enormous. Water companies need to manage industrial customers with complex and long-standing contracts, while keeping track of large numbers of residential consumers in a myriad of situations. MECOMS™ is a flexible and sophisticated solution to deal with water company challenges. For example, it easily handles customers moving house, building owners associations or joint-billing of municipal taxes or garbage collection.
MECOMS™ Billing natively deals with complex situations such as unmetered connections, and offers charges to be determined by the number of taps, inhabitants or any other parameter.
Water companies also face an increasing need to pre-vent and recover customer defaults. MECOMS™ Credit Management intelligently automates the collections process and increases the share of paying customers while efficiently dealing with those who default. It lets staff focus on the exceptions instead of the process.
16
GLOBAL EXECUTION
CAPABILITIES
Through a network of branch offices and an extensive partner network, MECOMS™ is supported throughout large parts of the world.
In the Benelux and UK, Ferranti acts as a System Integrator directly selling and implementing the MECOMS™ product. In other European countries Ferranti delivers its MECOMS™ product through a channel organization of certified MECOMS™ Partners. Certified Reselling Partners take care of the sales and pre-sales process using their detailed market knowledge. Certified Implementation Partners are capable of handling the total project life cycle of a MECOMS™ system.
With certified partners throughout Europe, Ferranti is able to support MECOMS™ throughout this region. Ferranti India Ltd. is a branch office based in Gurgaon (New Delhi) and supports India, Asia Pacific and the Middle East, providing sales, pre-sales and implemen-tation support for the region. Several partners in the region provide sales and implementation capabilities for MECOMS™ with support from Ferranti India.
EMPOwER yOUR EMPLOyEES
TO MAKE THE RIgHT BUSINESS
dECISIONS
“MECOMS™ simplifies the billing
process and offers my team
flexibility to focus on exceptions”
— PRATEEK, billing managerTraining & Certification
MECOMS™ University offers training and certification, both to partners and end-customers. Six training tracks are available, ranging from Sales Professional to Professional Developer. Trainees can certify themselves by successfully passing exams. Trainings are given by dedicated Microsoft Certi-fied Trainers (MCT’s) in our classrooms in Antwerp (Belgium) or Gurgaon (India). Additionally, extensive e-learning courses are provided to ensure an optimal transfer of knowledge.
To ensure a high level of support throughout the world, MECOMS™ Certified Partners must pass a rigorous training and certification program. This ensures that they have the necessary competencies and knowledge about the market, the product and the technology.
MECOMS™
A PROVEN SOLUTION fOR ALL UTILITY COMPANIES
The MECOMS™ value proposition is backed up bymany successful implementations. Through an international partner network, MECOMS™ has been adopted by utilities in several industries, on multiple continents and in different markets.
Ferranti Computer Systems, which develops MECOMS™, has been serving the utility market for more than 20 years. It works together with researchers and participates in influential industry work groups. Throughout the years MECOMS™ has been imple-mented at water, gas, electricity and district heating companies. Based on this experience, MECOMS™ has gained broad and deep functionality, incorporating specific requirements for all these commodities. By incorporating best practices from diverse companies from different industries, all MECOMS™ customers benefit alike.
With offices, and a far-reaching partner network around the globe, MECOMS™ has a solid international presence. Our partners have detailed knowledge
about local utility markets and proven experience with the technology. Due to the very attractive Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), MECOMS™ users range from nation-wide metering companies to small municipal utilities and from large-scale water companies to specialized B2B energy suppliers.
MECOMS™ is used in regulated and de-regulated markets alike, and its modular design has enabled companies to undergo market liberalisation without complications. It supports deregulation at various stages and for different market roles. Moreover, MECOMS™ seamlessly adapts during the years of regulatory fine-tuning, which often follow after privatization.
MECOMS™ combines flexibility, efficiency and smart insights to drastically cut cost-to-serve, even in a changing environment. Utility companies around the world choose MECOMS™ because it makes their business highly efficient, because it allows them unprecedented flexibility to adapt and because it offers them superior business insight.
MECOMS™ empowering smart utilities 20
Ferranti Computer Systems Germany Centroallee 285 D-46047 Oberhausen DEUTSCHLAND T +49 208 6203 9501 F +49 321 2196 6052 [email protected]
Ferranti Computer Systems Singapore Pte Ltd.
Singapore Land Tower Level 37
59 Raffles Place SINGAPORE 048623 T +65 963 737 32 [email protected]
L1A MAIN V1.35 | © 2011 Ferranti Computer Systems NV, all rights reserved. MECOMS is a trademark of Ferranti Computer Systems NV. Microsoft, Microsoft Dynamics®
MECOMS™ is a business support system for energy and utility companies that combines flexibility, efficiency and smart insights to drastically cut cost-to-serve, even in a changing environment. MECOMS™ is Microsoft’s only recommended solution for energy and utility companies across the globe. MECOMS™ is refreshingly different and empowers utilities to outsmart the competition. This is proven by many successful implementations at utilities around the world.
www.mecoms.com
Ferranti Computer Systems NV
Noorderlaan 139 2030 Antwerp BELGIUM T +32 3 540 49 11 F +32 3 542 63 28 [email protected]
Ferranti Computer Systems India Pvt. Ltd.
16th Floor, Building 9B
DLF Cyber City, Phase III, Sector 25A Gurgaon 122002 (NCR), INDIA T +91 124 471 7800
F +91 124 471 7888 [email protected]
