TEXT Richard van Santen PHOTOGRAPHY Maarten van der Voorde
If web shops are able to tell us exactly when our online orders are being delivered, then why can’t we do the same for domestic connections for gas, water and electricity? Sanne de Graaf works at grid operator Alliander. She explains how digitalisation enables further process improvements throughout delivery chains.
Digitalisation
S
ince the general public gained access to personal computers, digitalisation exploded in just a few decades. The amount of information stored digitally increased from only 1% in the late eighties, to 99% in 2014. ‘Digitalisation is one of the pillars to turn corporate strategies into reality’, says Sanne de Graaf, Connections Manager for the eastern and northern Netherlands at grid operator Alliander. ‘It offers countless opportunities, both for increased network management and increasing convenience for customers. At the same time, the digitalised society also expects quite a lot.’
KEEP IMPROVING EVERY DAY
‘If consumers place an order at a web shop, they receive a track & trace code that enables them to track their order up to their doorstep. Below that surface lies an entire delivery chain. From the warehouse to a distribution centre to the shipping company. All links in that chain exchange information. If that same consumer subscribes for a domestic gas, water and electricity connection, he comes to expect the same level of infor mation. This customer expectation fits well with our long-term strategy in which customer convenience and data-driven grid management are key pillars. That’s in addition to operational excellence: our objective of improving a little bit every single day. EVERYBODY WINS
‘Just like in the web shop example, grid operators also do not operate by themselves. To offer our customers more convenience, our entire chain must come together to calibrate their processes and information streams. This translates into close collaborations with a large number of entities such as municipalities, construction companies and contractors like A.Hak that create the physical connections. To optimally benefit from the opportunities created by digitalisation, we need to interconnect our IT systems and jointly work towards standardising our processes.’ ‘In addition to customer convenience, this chain collaboration offers much more benefits. By digitally sharing information on the Digital Collaborative Platform, we reduce the margin of error, complete our work faster and schedule and deploy both people and resources more efficiently while verifying each other’s work better as well’, says De Graaf. ‘This requires a joint investment, but ultimately it’s the entire chain who stands to benefit from it.’ (Editor’s note: Read more about this so called Digital Collaborative Platform on page 26 of this magazine.) DATA-DRIVEN GRID MANAGEMENT
Digitalisation also helps grid operator Alliander with another strategic focal point: data-driven grid management. ‘Smart meters and other sensors that monitor the usage and burden on the energy grid provide us with loads of information. With this data, that is stored digitally and anonymously, we can quickly solve any network faults. By analysing the data, we also discover patterns and similar events taking place prior to a network malfunction. Digitalisation therefore also contributes in this respect and helps us to keep improving every day.’
18
SPECIAL a.hak magazine