Spring 2006

Western Power Distribution is to introduce a job scheduling system to plan the work of its meter-reading workforce. It has chosen the Dynamic Scheduling Engine from 360 Technologies. When fully implemented, the company says, the software will introduce "dramatic" efficiencies, better resource management and proactive planning, enabling the company to improve its performance and its capacity to bid for further work.

Western explains that since energy industry privatisation in the 1980s the energy market has become fragmented, and a range of suppliers now provide gas and electricity across the country.

As a result, it says, the meter reading process has become more complicated. It is no longer possible to read a meter at the beginning of a street and then move on to the next house. In practice the next read might be hundreds of yards away. Meter reads also have to be carried out during a particular time period to ensure that bills are accurate and generated on time.

"When we investigated the scheduling market we found that the volume and complexity of the meter reading process posed significant problems for many software systems," says commercial manager Andy Shean. "However 360 understood the intricacies and complex rules involved."

A similar approach has recently been adopted by one or two other meter-reading specialists, including Lowri Beck, whose TruckStops implementation was reported in our last issue.