Creating a multi-service platform that simultaneously met various technical requirements, provided cost reduction, and aligned with the business were the challenges faced by AES, an energy company serving 118 municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul and over 1.2 million consumer units, which today processes 10,000 daily service orders and delivers a 30% OPEX savings for the operator.
The project, named Integrated Services Management, was awarded first place last year among all innovation, technical excellence, and sustainable practices projects across the global AES group, due to the multiple advantages it brings to processes and the quality of services provided.
Gilson Loser, the company’s IT manager, explains that the platform allows for efficient prioritization, routing, distribution, and monitoring of the company’s maintenance and emergency service orders, as well as improvements in various aspects of the operation.
Previously, service orders for maintenance teams were filled out manually, resulting in inaccuracies and low flexibility, and were executed in a decentralized manner with high connection costs, as satellite services were used to communicate with field teams.
Project Inception
AES Sul hired Teclógica, a development and services company headquartered in Blumenau, Santa Catarina, which participated from the beginning in the project design. Its main advantage is adding new services in an integrated manner, saving costs, and providing a single view for the company’s management area.
Today, field teams rely on a Field Management Services solution, whose service order prioritization standards follow the business rules established by the company. It uses Windows PDAs featuring georeferencing, navigation, and photography attributes, which are connected via GPRS to instantly update information and automatically receive instructions for new priorities. Satellites are now only used in special conditions or remote locations where mobile network connectivity is unavailable.
“More than 85% of service orders are executed through the mobile solution, delivering savings that in themselves paid for the system’s development cost. We are now working to automate 10% of emergency dispatch orders, which are still done manually,” explains Loser.
Other advantages provided by the project included a 25% reduction in electricity disconnection and reconnection work, as well as the rationalization of field maintenance teams, which decreased from 78 to 66 teams—comprising both internal professionals and contractors, totaling 600 people today.
Not only was there a reduction in maintenance teams, but the system also brought higher productivity throughout the project’s evolution: in January 2010, one team handled 3.5 service orders per day; in January 2011, this rose to 4.2 orders; in January 2012, it reached 5.5 orders; and by January 2013, a team handled 6.5 service orders per day.
Use of Tablets
In pursuit of efficiency, AES Sul is also initiating a project using special tablets equipped with GIS (Geographic Information System) software, through which engineering teams will be able to design and specify a network project directly on the tablet, bringing greater agility and assertiveness to the processes.
Regarding human resources in the IT area, AES’s internal team is quite lean, consisting of only three professionals, alongside an equal number in the operational area.
Although he does not disclose figures, Loser emphasizes that centralization, increased team productivity, process automation, and synergy with other services provided by the Integrated Management Platform to AES Sul’s maintenance operations have also brought considerable savings in financial resources.
The success achieved in this project demonstrates how a strategic partnership can elevate the operational standard of a large organization.
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