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SAP® FOR UTILITIES

SOLUTIONS FOR THE WATER INDUSTRY


TIMES ARE CHANGING

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?

SAP® for Utilities is a portfolio of state-of-the-art software solutions


tailored to the specific standards, processes, and challenges of the
diverse utilities industry, including power generation, transmission and
distribution, meter operation, and retail and services utilities. They are
built to fit the way you do business. And they comprise the industry’s
leading and most comprehensive set of solutions, helping utilities gain
enterprise-wide visibility for better decision making in critical business
areas. SAP for Utilities solutions can help your utility improve its
operational efficiency, mitigate risk, and increase profitability, while
enabling innovative business models and customer services.

Supported by the SAP NetWeaver™ platform, a powerful integration


and application platform, these solutions deliver rich functionality and
productivity-building tools throughout your organization. And they
help you adopt the best practices SAP has developed in over 30 years of
working with major utilities and industry leaders from around the
world.

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

BUILT FOR YOUR INDUSTRY


SCALED TO YOUR BUSINESS
DESIGNED FOR YOUR FUTURE
“We reduced the dollar No One Listens to Water Because SAP listens, those solutions are
volume of inventory Utilities like SAP here today in the SAP for Utilities set of
by 25%. We are getting When water utilities speak, no one solutions.
goods only when we hears you better than the experienced
need them, instead of ears of SAP: For decades SAP has been With these solutions, water utilities of
in anticipation of some listening to the best-run utilities in every size can achieve operational
unknown circumstance. the world. From that great body of excellence, with company-wide visibility
Also, we can now bud- experience, SAP develops the industry’s into all critical areas up and down the
get directly to projects, leading and most comprehensive value chain for better decision making.
instead of guessing. utilities solutions. More than 150 water Integrated, highly reliable, and flexible,
We estimate this will utilities around the globe rely on these these solutions enable efficient meter-
enable us to reduce the solutions to perform their critical to-cash management, supply opera-
amount we maintain business processes and meet their tions, and customer service. They are
in the capital projects changing needs. powered by the SAP NetWeaver plat-
budget by 45%.” form – the underlying integration and
Today, water utilities are asking for application platform, built on an open
Terry Stigall,
solutions to help them overcome a new architecture that allows for the inte-
Finance Manager, Marin Municipal
set of 21st-century challenges: the rising gration of processes and information
Water District, California
tide of capital costs for water infrastruc- among disparate business and technical
ture renovations and new develop- applications.
ments, security upgrades, and advanced
water treatment methods; the increas- The SAP for Utilities solutions enable
ing flood of government regulations water utilities to achieve fast return on
over security requirements and drink- investment (ROI) by leveraging SAP’s
ing water standards; and the challenges best practice expertise built into the
of a highly regulated and fragmented solutions and implementation method-
industry being drained by consolidation. ology, which reduces project costs and
risks.

SAP solutions are now supporting


more than 950 utilities worldwide. As
the market leader, with a US$1.3 billion
R & D investment that continually
empowers SAP solutions, no one knows
your needs better, because no one
listens to water utilities better than SAP.
. . . LIKE SAP

Nothing replaces real-time listening. At SAP, it leads to innovations like the


SAP NetWeaver platform and the power to give you real-time visibility all across
your value chain.
AND NO ONE SUPPORTS YOU

SUPPORT FOR YOUR BUSINESS PROCESSES


REAPS OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE
The SAP for Utilities set of solutions supports the key processes that are critical Customer Service
to water utilities. The solutions are optimized to operate in customer-centric Water utilities face growing customer
and asset-centric models. By allowing full visibility into projects, assets, service, and public expectations for better
regulatory processes, and costs, the solutions help you to create a lean and services and rate performances, while
maneuverable organization. A call-center collaboration solution, designed having to manage an increasing
specifically for water utilities, provides a single view into all customer aspects. number of customers in their supply
networks. As a result, they need to offer
a more sophisticated level of customer
service, such as flexible billing tariffs,
payment options, and Internet-based
self-services, as well as services tailored
to larger customers with engineering
and maintenance agreements. The
SAP for Utilities solutions allow the
integration of customer and service
information, including data on billing
preferences and the quality of delivered
services, leading to a single view of the
information and work history related
to customers. Fast and easy access to
such information in your call center
Meter-to-Cash Management
leads to a more personalized customer
Highly critical to water utilities is the
experience, increasing the number of
streamlining and automation of opera-
calls closed on contact and resulting in
tional processes – from meter reading
higher agent productivity.
to payment collection – to reduce
process costs and improve cash flow
performance. The SAP for Utilities
solutions have integrated functions for
meter reading and validation, tariff
management, credit processing, and
collections. The solutions support
move-in and move-out processes and
water-strength billing requirements, as
well as bankruptcy and lien processing.
This allows end-to-end monitoring
against performance indicators or
industry benchmarks and helps to im-
prove meter-to-cash performance by
reducing the time from meter read to
bill payment.
. . . LIKE SAP

“With SAP, you have Supply Operations water-utility-specific services, including


everything within reach Regardless of the financial resources periodic replacement of meters, hydrant
in a single solution: available for operating and maintaining inspections and flushing, maintenance
customers, finance, and supply networks, water utilities must be of large-volume customers, and the
invoicing. We enjoy the able to guarantee a reliable and secure connection of work orders to multiple
advantages of that inte- water supply, adhering to a number of criteria, such as geographic locations.
gration every day.” stringent drinking-water standards.
They need forward-looking investment Maintenance Cost Budgeting
Paul Smeulders,
and project planning to manage and For water utilities, ongoing supply-
ICT Manager, PWN, Netherlands
control capital risks, and efficient network construction, upgrades, and
services for handling both periodic and periodic maintenance expenditures
unplanned work on their assets, such as usually account for a significant
meters and hydrants. SAP for Utilities percentage of operating costs. Water
provides water utilities with an utilities may find it difficult to develop
enterprise-wide supply operations accurate maintenance cost budgets,
solution that connects project and because critical information, such as
work management capabilities with actual and planned maintenance and
best-of-breed solutions for scheduling, construction project costs, as well as
outage management, construction related budget data, is often insuffi-
planning, and geographic information ciently integrated. The SAP for Utilities
solutions allow water utilities to define
maintenance budgets and run mainte-
nance analytics on existing asset life-
cycle management data. Standard
budgets can be generated automatically
based on the desired budget strategy,
reducing budget preparation time.

systems as well as integrating core


back-office functions for managing cus-
tomers, meters and devices, financials,
and human capital. It supports
FULL PROCESS SUPPORT MEANS

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

Procurement Corporate Governance and Human Capital Management


The SAP for Utilities solutions help Regulatory Compliance and Workforce Deployment
water utilities streamline procurement Utilities around the world face close The SAP for Utilities solutions support
and revision processes, leading to scrutiny of financial records, environ- employee life-cycle management to
reduced material inventory and more mental processes and safety precautions, help utilities identify and retain top
efficient information exchange with labor law compliance, performance performers, leverage their talents, align
contractors and suppliers. They enable ratings, and supply security. Manage- employee goals with organizational
supplier qualification and candidate ment must be able to demonstrate goals, and maximize the impact of
selection, bidding, and contract compliance and good faith through training. And to help utilities lower
management processes, and allow for accurate and detailed records. The
collaborative engineering and project SAP for Utilities solutions improve
management. To gain visibility along corporate governance and help manage
the entire value chain, procurement is compliance by providing functions that
tightly integrated with maintenance centralize the documentation of inter-
operations and project management, nal controls. Other functions include
as well as financials. SAP for Utilities online controls for internal and external
solutions support not only traditional auditors and the ability to export data
processes, such as requisitioning, to auditing software, enabling detailed
purchase-order management, and insight into various audit functions and
invoice verification, but also catalog- providing faster, more accurate report-
based self-service requisitioning for ing. New support for whistle-blowing
material and services. helps organizations cost-effectively
address the legal requirements of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act and reduce the costs, employee transaction manage-
risk of noncompliance. ment features streamline and integrate
essential human capital management
Integrated Financial processes, including administration,
Information payroll, time management, and legal
Without insight into financial and reporting. The SAP for Utilities
business performance, companies are solutions support workforce deploy-
unable to make informed strategic deci- ment by allowing utilities to create
sions. The SAP for Utilities solutions project teams based on skills and avail-
integrate all financial and business ability, monitor project progress, track
performance information with man- time, and analyze results.
agement processes for effective, strate-
gic decision making. This streamlines
the financial supply chain, enables col-
laboration with customers and vendors
on payment and settlement activities,
and reduces transaction costs.
FULL PROCESS VISIBILIT Y MEANS

FULL BUSINESS PROCESS SUPPORT


ENABLES COMPANY-WIDE BUSINESS
BENEFITS
“We were set some SAP provides a scalable, flexible, end-to-end solution for water utilities. It tackles
extremely difficult efficien- the business processes in your company that have the highest value in terms
cy targets by our regula- of customers, assets, services, regulations, and financials. It supports the gradual
tor to the extent of having expansion and adaptation of transaction volume as well as new processes for
to save £100 million over water utilities of all sizes.
five years out of our
operating expenditure. Such powerful process support enables the following equally powerful business
We saw that IT was key to benefits in efficiency and revenues for your company:
achieving the efficiencies
and SAP has been a • Optimized meter-to-cash process- • Integrated financial information
key component in that es and days sales outstanding using standardized processes; provid-
challenge.” through end-to-end management of ing visibility on capital, operational,
your service, billing, and financials and third-party expenditures; moni-
Alan Harrison,
processes toring project costs and regulatory
Director IT and Member of the
risks; and integrating business per-
Executive Management Team,

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

UTILITIES SOLUTION MAP:


UNDERSTANDING BUSINESS VALUE

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

Meter Reading Services


Consumption Data Collection
Selling of Water & Services
Campaign Management
Sales Management for Residential Customers
Sales Management for Commercial &
Industrial Customers
Account & Contact Management
Integrated Sales Planning and Analytics

Customer Service Management


Service Order Management
Service Processes for Utilities
Service Contract & Entitlement Management
Complaints & Returns Management
Electronic Customer Services
Account & Contact Management

Billing of Water & Services


Billing of Water & Services
Billing for Commercial & Industrials
Billing of Unmetered Services
Billing of Services

Customer Financial Management


Customer Financial Management
Reconciliation & Closing
Auditing

Enterprise Management & Support


Analytics
Financials
Human Capital Management
Corporate Services
Operations Support
SAP IS HERE

THE TIME TO SPEAK TO SAP IS NOW


Customer service expectations, techno- For detailed information about the
logical change, and infrastructure SAP for Utilities set of solutions and
improvements can only increase. The how they can help you manage your
flexibility of SAP solutions helps you water utility, visit the SAP Web site
achieve operational excellence and today at www.sap.com/utilities.
makes upgrading to an integrated solu-
tion practical for any water utility. The
time to talk about your future is now –
and no one listens better than SAP.

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.

METER READING SERVICES

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 OF WATER AND


SERVICES

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

A PARTNER YOU CAN LISTEN TO


WITH CONFIDENCE
SAP is the world’s leading provider of business software solutions. Today, more
than 24,450 customers in over 120 countries run more than 84,000 installations of
SAP software – from distinct solutions addressing the needs of small and midsize
businesses to enterprise-scale suite solutions for global organizations.

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

50 073 866 (05/04)


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