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Like the water it delivers to the world, the water industry never stops moving toward operational excellence.
To get you there, the SAP for Utilities set of solutions supports the critical processes that keep your
water company running.
. . . AND SO MUST YOU
SAP® SOLUTIONS
MAKE CHANGE EASIER
You don’t run a generic business. So why use generic solutions?
You can minimize risk and increase the reliability of your solution
because SAP for Utilities provides the content, tools, and methodologies
you need to implement, operate, and monitor your enterprise solution.
And because they offer easy integration and virtually unlimited
scalability, SAP for Utilities solutions are an investment you can’t
outgrow – no matter how times are changing.
NO ONE LISTENS
From supply operations, meter-reading services, billing, customer service, and customer
financial management to financials and human capital management, SAP for Utilities
offers robust support for processes that are unique to the water industry.
. . . FULL PROCESS VISIBILIT Y
Yorkshire Water, UK
• Increased customer satisfaction formance information with manage-
and call center efficiency using ment processes
an integrated customer service col-
laboration solution that automates • Better managed investment
standard services and provides fast opportunities and risks through
access and a single view into all the establishment of strategic
data and work history related to enterprise management techniques
your customers
• Optimized procurement processes
• Improved efficiencies in supply and material inventory by enabling
operations by providing a utility- collaboration and contracting of
wide supply operations solution operational management services
connecting project and work with suppliers, contractors, and
management capabilities with best- partners, as well as streamlining
of-breed scheduling, outage manage- corporate-wide buying processes
ment, and construction planning,
integrated with core back-office func- • Streamlined and simplified
tions and information on customers, workforce-related processes
meters, hydrants, financials, and through integrated employee trans-
the workforce action management, workforce
deployment based on skills and avail-
ability, and innovative employee
life-cycle management that aligns
employee talents with corporate
goals
. . . NEW BUSINESS BENEFITS
SAP for Utilities Supports Business Processes Integrated information brings integrated
visibility into your business processes,
Supply Operations Customer Service Management maximizing efficiencies across your
organization and giving you a tighter,
• Investment management • Move-ins and move-outs with balance more flexible, and more responsive
• Collaborative engineering and project transfer company.
management • Disconnections and reconnections
• Bidding and contract management • Bankruptcy processing
• Project and investment controlling • Owner allocation
• Maintenance planning and execution • Customer overview
• Mobile asset management • Customer interaction management
• Material and services procurement Billing
• Work dispatching and scheduling • Tariff management
• Periodic device replacement
• Hydrant inspections and flushing • Billing execution
• Sample bill modeling
• Large-meter service • Exception monitoring for billing,
• Hydrant billing invoicing, and bill printing
• Connections and service work
Customer Financial Management
Meter Reading Services
• Payment processing
• Scheduling • Refunds and returns processing
• Manual and periodic meter reading • Dunning creation
• Meter reading validation and monitoring
• Deferral and installment plan
management
• Lien processing
• Determination of customer credit-
worthiness
SAP ADDRESSES PROCESS SUPPORT
A FASTER IMPLEMENTATION
FOR QUICKER ROI
SAP support significantly shortens the time spent during the blueprinting, “We choose SAP
prototyping, implementation, and testing phases of your implementation project. because it was the only
The time to reach the prototype and subsequent project stages is accelerated by the software we reviewed
use of best practices that are preconfigured for your core business processes. These that had the functionali-
best practices describe exactly how to implement key business processes in your ty to match our business
system – including how to set up and configure your SAP software. They are deliv- requirements.”
ered to you as an unrivalled combination of detailed business documentation that
Richard Walsh, CIO, British
describes first-in-class business practices and a complete set of technical tools and
Waterways, United Kingdom
information to help you implement the business processes.
With a fast implementation, you get the most benefit from SAP technology in the
shortest possible time. And because fewer consulting days are needed, your ROI is
increased through reduced implementation costs and the efficiencies gained with
an integrated business solution.
You can expect the following business • Rapid prototyping – Once the
benefits from the best-practices solution is configured, you add your
implementation: own data to complete the prototype.
• Short implementation – Preconfig- • Efficient testing – Test cases,
ured software for your core business developed with a template, get the
processes delivers the benefits of an testing phase off to a faster start.
integrated business solution much
sooner. Fast ROI and Low TCO –
• Easy planning – An implementa- Powered by SAP NetWeaver
tion plan and methodology mapped The integration required to streamline
into the software guide you through and automate your business processes
the process of getting your system up is achieved through the power of the
and running. SAP NetWeaver platform, which drives
• Quick blueprint design – SAP’s the powerful solutions from the SAP
solid understanding of your business for Utilities set of solutions, supporting
model and critical processes results in billing, customer financial manage-
recommended process flows and data ment, customer service management,
structures, which are incorporated in supply operations, and enterprise man-
the software, thereby reducing risks agement and support. SAP NetWeaver
and speeding up the design of a work- is developed specifically to enable faster
able solution. ROI and lower total cost of ownership
• Thorough configuration – Best (TCO) for companies of all sizes and in
practices specific to water utilities are all industries.
delivered with the software, such as
collecting data with customer fact
sheets, creating sample bills, invoicing
for water and sewage, processing
connections, and placing liens.
. . . AT YOUR CORE
SAP for Utilities is designed to help extensive business experience and With solution maps, you quickly
water utilities master business processes research, SAP solution maps are multi- understand business solutions and the
along the entire value chain. SAP for level blueprints of processes defined for business value they can bring. The
Utilities provides a number of tools to a particular industry. They help you solution map for the utilities industry
help you optimize these processes. One visualize, plan, and implement a coher- is available at
tool is the solution map shown below. ent, integrated, and comprehensive www.sap.com/industries/utilities/
information technology solution. businessmaps.epx.
Built using input from customers and They also show how various processes
industry analysts, plus the technical are covered, including the processes
expertise SAP has acquired through that SAP and its partners support.
Suppliers & Partners Exploitation & Preparation Transport & Distribution Retail & Services Customer &
Channels
Asset Life-Cycle & Resource
Management
Plant Engineering & Construction
Plant Maintenance & Operations
Supply Operations
Grid Engineering & Construction
Grid Maintenance & Operations
Connection & Device Management
Installation Service
WATER UTILITIES
BUSINESS PROCESS ADVANTAGE
SUPPLY OPERATIONS
Grid engineering and construction Water utilities design, plan, and budget engineering, construction, and commissioning projects.
Grid maintenance and operation Water utilities maintain the transportation and distribution network infrastructure. Technicians
perform complex processes, such as repair, maintenance, customer service, inspections, and
measurements.
Connection and device management Water utilities manage their connection and device infrastructure, and conduct activities such as
periodic device replacement, hydrant inspections and flushing, large-meter service, hydrant
billing, connections, and other service work.
Installation services Water utilities manage the installation services for new service connections and integrate the
processes with work management.
Consumption data collection Water utilities schedule meter reading events and collect meter data through various channels,
such as automatic meter reading systems and mobile data-entry devices. They rely on flexible
and powerful validation methods to prepare the data for the next steps in the process.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
MANAGEMENT
Service processes for utilities Within a typical call center, water utilities conduct customer-related, water-utility-specific process-
es, including move-in or move-out transactions with balance transfer, bankruptcy processing,
meter reading entry, bill correction, and high-bill enquiry.
Billing for metered and unmetered Water utilities bill their residential, commercial, and industrial customers for metered water usage
services and for unmetered services. They manage tariffs and leverage sample bills.
CUSTOMER FINANCIAL
MANAGEMENT
Receivables and collection Water utilities can process many types of customer-related financial transactions, including post-
management ing, payments, and dunning. They have high document volumes in environments where manual
processing of receivables is not feasible and where automation is essential. Water utilities can
handle collection activities such as lien processing.
. . . TO HEAR YOU
By choosing SAP, your utilities business SAP offers best-in-class solutions and
is assured of solutions that are: applications for virtually every aspect of
• Solutions designed for your your business, including the following:
industry – SAP offers a full range of • SAP Service and Asset Management
software that supports the most im- • SAP Billing
portant business processes and best • SAP Invoicing and Contract
practices in more than 25 industries, Accounting
including yours. And SAP’s global • mySAP™ Customer Relationship
organization includes hundreds of Management
professionals who work exclusively • mySAP ERP
with your industry.
• Solutions scaled to your business – Each solution is backed by the global
Although SAP is known for serving expertise of SAP Customer Services
the world’s largest corporations – Network, offering the widest range of
including 80 of the FORTUNE 100 –
nearly two-thirds of SAP customers
have annual revenues of US$500
million or less. SAP solutions fit
your size and budget today – while
offering unlimited scalability for
tomorrow.
• Solutions ready for your future –
Because SAP solutions are built on
the SAP NetWeaver platform, the
open integration and application
technology platform from SAP, they
integrate with virtually all SAP and
non-SAP applications, leveraging
your investments – past, present, services that organizations require,
and future. from consulting, education, and
• Solutions that are affordable – support to custom development and
SAP has worked with industry part- hosting.
ners in this specific market to develop
a focused implementation approach The best-run companies are ready for
that saves you time and money, anything. Read on for more details
resulting in higher returns on your about how the SAP for Utilities set of
investment dollar. solutions can help you join the best-
run utilities that run SAP:
www.sap.com/industries/utilities.
www.sap.com /contactsap
These materials are subject to change without notice. These materials are provided by SAP AG and its affiliated companies (“SAP Group”) for informational purposes only, without representation or warranty of
any kind, and SAP Group shall not be liable for errors or omissions with respect to the materials. The only warranties for SAP Group products and services are those that are set forth in the express warranty statements
accompanying such products and services, if any. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty.