Operational Benefits
- Readers more productive
- Introducing SevenX meant there was no longer a requirement for readers to come into a central office. This delivered a saving of up to two hours per day per reader. For DataCol, with 180 meter readers, two hours per day translated into a potential $NZD2.1 million of extra billable work without increasing headcount.
- The additional time also meant more time to conduct out-of-cycle (OOC also referred to as special or non-scheduled readings) work, increasing reader’s income levels and meaning no need to have a dedicated OOC team. On salaries alone, a meter reading company the size of DataCol might have 20 people dedicated to non-cyclic reads at an annual cost of approximately $NZD1,600,000.
- As readers get non-cyclic work assigned to them based on where they are working or living, the distances travelled to get those reads are much lower, translating into lower overall costs.
- Greater productivity from supervisors
- With most processes automated, supervisors can manage by exception. They are able to physically manage a larger area with a higher population of meter readers. Less time is spent on assigning routes, route management or on the phone trying to make contact with readers. Attention is dedicated to customer service, issue resolution or analysis of performance. Without SevenX, DataCol would require at least two extra Meter Reading supervisors in order to deliver performance to the same level as they do now.
DataCol has managed to grow exponentially with an excellent reputation for service delivery, and has done so without taking on significant extra staff. This is because SevenX streamlines and automates all day-to-day work assignment and delivery, including file interfacing, and allows greater clarity and manageability of the field force, resulting in less staff being required in supervisory roles.