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Electric Energy T&D - Index

Electric Energy T&D - EEMag March / April 2008 - Index

Effective capacity planning, along with
increased training programs, can help electric
utilities alleviate the impact of the aging
workforce. With reliable demand forecasting
and workforce planning, utilities can anticipate
periods of high turnover (as experienced
technicians leave the company) and schedule
long-term projects before or after that period.
Doing so helps power companies adapt
to the change and ensure customers don’t
“feel” any impact.
Business intelligence
Electric utilities have no shortage of data.
But that data is only valuable to them if they
can quickly interpret it for more effective
decision making. Reporting applications
that allow managers to capture, analyze and
present the data in the manner that makes
sense to them and their shareholders are
critical to gaining a comprehensive view of
the overall business. KPIs ranging from the
average number of jobs per technician per
day to emergency response time averages
are crucial in determining how to manage
schedules and technicians.
The market is filled with complicated
reporting tools that require database
administrators to operate. Utility managers
need mouseclick access to the information
that is important to them. They also need
easy drilldown capabilities to see activity
based on territory, time, customer and field
resources. Some reporting tools provide
executive-level business monitoring tools that
let decision-makers see dashboard displays
of real-time critical information about costs,
service levels and utilization performance in
easy-to-read graphics. When a specified KPI
exceeds acceptable service level thresholds,
the system immediately alerts executives
so they can drill down to pinpoint specific
problem areas and business units. With this
information, they are able to quickly take
corrective actions across relevant business
units in the organization.
The real-time enterprise
Electric companies still using paper-based
or static, map-based legacy workforce
scheduling systems should consider
taking steps to becoming real-time service
enterprises. Just as they’ve invested in
ensuring a balance of kilowatt hour supply
and demand, they need to invest in managing
the supply and demand of their field
technicians’ time on the job. Automated
mobile workforce management and service
optimization is fast becoming a competitive
advantage that lets power companies more
accurately anticipate how countless variables
unique to the industry will affect future
projects… and the business as a whole.
Adopting these strategies will help lower
costs, boost technician productivity, increase
profits and deliver on their promises to
customers.
March-April 2008 Issue I
About the Author
Dr. Moshe BenBassat is the CEO and founder
of ClickSoftware. Dr. BenBassat continues his
professorial role by teaching the service industry
how to better manage field workforces, reduce
costs, increase revenues and keep customers
happy. He launched ClickSoftware in 1997
to provide utilities, telcos and other service
organizations with technology that automated
their time-consuming, manual scheduling
and workforce optimization processes. He
realized that these companies could make
field technicians more productive and be more
responsive if they could better control what he
calls the W6 — Who does What, Where, When
and With What tools?
BenBassat earned doctorate, master’s and
bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and statistics
from Tel Aviv University.
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