asset management

[ C A S E S T U D Y ]
Mobile Computing Tools For Mobile Workers Improve
Is the utility industry undergoing a sea change? Most analysts agree
that it is not. They say, in fact, that it has already happened. The past
model for increasing utility company profits — raising rates — is obsolete.
New economic realities compel savvy executives to focus on bottom
line improvements to increase market share, improve employee
efficiency, maximize customer-retention levels and cut costs.
And, they say, the 21st century’s emphasis on enterprise and productivity
offers utility companies opportunities unseen since the early days
of state and federal regulation three- quarters of a century ago. These
opportunities more than justify the challenges inherent in seizing them.
As one recently retired marketing vice president put it, “When
I started in the business our major sales efforts were directed at
legislators. When I left, it was all about customers. Which is how it
should be. The legislators made sure we never lost money, but they
also limited what we could do to earn income and how much of that
revenue we could retain. Utilities are a no-limits industry now. A guy
starting out in my business today may wind up building something
more profitable than Microsoft by the time he steps down.”
Exploiting new worlds — unlimited worlds — requires new tools. Better
tools. Faster tools. More fail-safe tools. Tools that will work anywhere,
anytime, under any conditions. Tools with an almost infinite capacity to
be scaled up to do more work and scaled out to perform new tasks.
Next-generation, utility task-optimized rugged portable computers,
such as the Panasonic Toughbook® CF-18 and CF-29,
are prime examples of tools that generate a direct impact on a utility
company’s bottom line. This positive impact is measurable and
occurs on both the revenue and cost sides of the balance sheet.
A typical case study proves that the deployment of cuttingedge
mobile-computing technology not only improves the bottom
line, it improves it dramatically. And, in some cases, such as that
of the United Kingdom’s largest power supplier, British Gas, the
word “dramatically” could fairly be called an understatement.
Prior to digitalization, British Gas had hundreds of field offices
and 17,000 tech and back-office workers, most of them spending
their workday shuffling papers. Today that 17,000-person workforce
numbers less than 4,000, and most of the field offices have been
shuttered.
Wireless-capable Panasonic CF-18 ruggedized “convertible”
notebook/tablets help a field force handle over 6 million service
calls a year. Errors in ordering replacement parts have been
reduced from one-in-four to “practically nonexistent” and delivery
of those parts takes 12 hours, not several days.
According to British Gas, the productivity of their technicians
using the CF-18 has more than doubled, going from an average
of four calls per day to ten and resulting in a “huge reduction in
infrastructure and labor costs.”
48 ENERGYBIZ MAGAZINE July/August 2005
The British Gas experience proves that ruggedized computers
with multi-protocol wireless connectivity are an essential component
in reducing utility company operating expenses on both a global and
per-call level.
But can that impact really be shown on the other side of the
ledger? Can a piece of hardware such as a Toughbook actually
increase revenue as well as reduce costs?
Research shows that it can, but only if that new piece of hardware
fits perfectly within the IT scheme of the company deploying
it. It must be more than the correct tool for the job; it must be the
right tool for the entire enterprise.
After intensive study and stringent testing, British Gas decided
on the CF-18 because it exceeded both the performance and
durability specifications for generic field-force computers and the
task-specific requirements of a huge, diversified power utility.
In addition to being the United Kingdom’s largest industrial and
consumer supplier of gas and electricity, British Gas engages in
such varied enterprises as appliance sales and repair, financial
services, and security system design and implementation.
The company employs field technicians for such disparate
tasks as meter reading, line and pipeline maintenance, central air
and heating system installation, commercial and residential steamboiler
repair, and kitchen appliance service.
To equip such a diverse workforce without hobbling the
IT department with a hard-to maintain assortment of differing
computer models and platforms, British Gas needed a high-performance,
standardized unit with exemplary multitasking and communications
ability.
A fully ruggedized 4.5-pound computer with extended battery
life, a 40GB shock-mounted hard drive and a daylight-readable,
pressure sensitive touchscreen, the CF-18 instantly converts from
a high-performance Windows XP notebook to a Windows XP tablet
computer via a unique swiveling and folding screen.
The Toughbook’s ability to replace both outdated notebooks
and traditional, proprietary-software-driven pen tablets was
critically important to British Gas, as was the CF-18’s full Intel®
Centrino compliance and simultaneous wireless WAN, wireless
LAN, Bluetooth and GPS capability.
The time, effort and expense British Gas invested in its quest to
maximize the return on its field-force computerization investment
has paid off handsomely. Not only have the ruggedized portables
dramatically reduced the sales, general and administrative share
of every dollar British Gas spends on field force labor and materials,
they have produced measurable revenue gains in areas susceptible
to competitive pressures.
According to British Gas Home Services IT business manager,
Peter Ransom, the Panasonic “convertibles” are providing “absolutely
fantastic” service. “Mobile computing has helped us reduce
response times to call-outs, increase the speed of job turnaround,
and ... present a fresh, clean and very professional image to the
customer,” Ransom said.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T