Transforming into a digital service provider
The upheaval in the energy sector is also affecting many public utility companies: for Leipziger Stadtwerke as well, the energy transition and the digitization of customer-oriented services have fundamentally challenged the traditional business model of municipal public services. They have the aspiration to position themselves as a regional leader in the energy transition, and to establish decentralized, regenerative, and flexible energy provision. Additionally, the digital infrastructure with the associated services will be enhanced and expanded, e. g. in the field of smart cities, new mobility concepts, and energy generation and provision. A technical transformation based on a central service platform is the prerequisite for Leipziger Stadtwerke to become a digital public utilities and multi-service provider. This shall support the management of cutting-edge, customer-centric services and will fully automate and document them in an audit-proof way, for everything from individual offers to digital billing. The existing system landscape was unable to meet these requirements. Following a multi-stage selection process, the decision was made to choose USU as the solutions and competence partner.
In USU we have found a partner who digitizes the management of these services with us from A to Z and thus ensures an effective implementation.
Uwe Fischer, Business Unit Manager for Information Management, Leipziger Stadtwerke
At a glance
The Organization
Stadtwerke Leipzig GmbH
Industry
Utility company
Key figures
Over 1,500 registered e-mobility customers in two months, 600 automatically generated offers per month, 20 digitized service processes, 28,000 service tickets per year
USU products deployed
Website
www.l.de/stadtwerke/
About Stadtwerke Leipzig
Challenge
- Expanding the business model from a traditional municipal provider to a multi-service provider for digital public services
- Making new, smart, and value-adding services like submetering or e-mobility available for customers in an easy, personalized, and automated manner
- Implementation of a central service management system for the digitization and controlling of service processes
- Integration of 15 IT systems from third-party providers together with the existing IT infrastructure
Why USU was chosen
- The USU solution satisfies all technical and functional requirements very well, and is convincing thanks to its standardized components as well as the high degree of flexibility for customer-specific adaptations.
- Numerous references prove the competence, efficiency, and service-readiness of USU along with the successful realization of similarly complex projects.
- Out of all the providers in the selection process, USU offers the most economical complete solution.
Project milestones
- Creation and implementation of the service concept for submetering: automated generation of offers and contracts based on customer-specific consumption rates
- Implementation of the service concept for e-mobility: fully digitized process, from customer registration in the portal to customer service and billing
- Agile project approach in the implementation and configuration of the service processes in the tool, as well as when connecting third-party systems
- Provision of the service management platform as a SaaS/cloud solution
- Gradual expansion through implementation of further services
Advantages of the USU solution
- Significant sales and profit growth, including through the billing of e-mobility services and automated offer generation for submetering and district heating based on consumption
- The central service platform supports the steady expansion of offerings and the development of additional business potential though sales
- Strengthening of customer loyalty through contract bundling with individual customer advantages
- Audit safety through centralized data storage and documentation
Implementation of new services for submetering and e-mobility
When introducing the new service management platform, the focus was on two services during the first project phase:
- The service of “submetering,” meaning the digital measurement, evaluation, and billing of customer-specific consumption rates for water and heat, was to be established for customers from the housing sector. They can now request data via a portal and use this to prepare offers. The operation and timely replacement of smoke alarms is also supported.
- The “e-mobility” service (L-Strom.drive) was to be automated, from customer registration in the portal through to consumption billing. In doing so, it was necessary to consider individual special conditions through contract bundling, for example.
After creating the service architecture and process landscape, and within the framework of an agile project approach, 15 third-party systems were successively connected via interfaces. These included source and billing systems like SAP among others. The service management solution is operated as a Cloud/SaaS solution in Leipziger Stadtwerke’s computer center. After a project duration of six months, it went into productive operation in spring 2021.
