A leading energy management and automation service provider enables simulation for workload and capacity in field services to improve utilization rate by 35% using cloud based, in-memory Anaplan solution

Client background

Client: European multinational corporation providing energy management and automation solutions in homes, buildings, data centers, infrastructure and industries.

Industry: Manufacturing

Area of operations: France, Germany, Italy, US, Canada, India, UK, UAE, Australia, China etc.

Customers:  IT, Buildings, Power, Energy Utilities and Automation companies.

Challenges

The client did not have any system that would provide a short/mid/long term view of their workload vs. capacity, and would provide them opportunity to perform simulations and what-if analysis. Operation managers had no means to ensure if they had enough resources to cater to customer requirements.  Field service vice presidents had no concrete means to challenge operations and sales to improve workload and capacity. HR business partners were lacking the view of training, cross skilling, hiring employees and contractors in short & mid-term view.

Solution

Wipro implemented Cloud based Anaplan solution, a comprehensive simulation product that is based on in-memory and SaaS model. The entire solution was integrated using Informatica Cloud to eliminate manual processes on a day to day basis, providing business a truly business-owned model.

• Created Anaplan model to address the reporting and simulation needs for the master planners.
• Ability to do what-if, scenario modeling and perform simulations on workload and capacity to have finer insight into future using historical actuals.
• Detailed breakup of the pending workloads by months.
• Enabled the field services directors and VP’s to have short/mid/long term view of the workload vs. capacity (actual and forecasted).
• Provided multiple analysis points of the work orders from Salesforce by work order types, billing types, work order status, VIP customers and revenue indications.
• Developed dashboards to address the workload vs. capacity for actual and forecast.
• Provided data entry points from end user dashboards to key drivers and assumptions such as driving hours, training hours, admin efforts, percentage overtime inputs.
• Developed a smart system capable of accepting inputs at country levels or territory levels by weeks or months.
• Business logic was implemented to make the right level of decision making
• View of workload vs. capacity at skill level and territory level was achieved. Master planners can view actual and forecasted hours at skill level.
• Enhanced capacity views such as employee capacity, overtime capacity, and partner capacity were computed based on skills and territory.
• Entire solution was well integrated with data warehouse using Informatica Cloud and processes were scheduled based on the agreed frequency to provide 100% automation.
• Administration activities were automated within Anaplan from Informatica Cloud leading < 1% maintenance effort.

Business impact

Implementation of best-in-class Anaplan Cloud solution which is highly optimized to consider the space constraints at hand, enabling the master planners, HR business partners, field service managers, operations managers, field service directors and VPs to have transparent and detailed information on workload vs. capacity which was never available before.

• Single version of truth, consistent business logic across territories and pointing inaccuracy in data has helped business to achieve the right level of insight into workload and capacity metrics
• Deep insight into workload and capacity data at territory and skill level. Skill level view was never available to the master planners
• Detailed past workload break up across months has increased the efficiency of managing workload by 35%.
• Improved field services utilization Rate more than 35%.
• Master planning tool provides inputs to the training team on the new headcount that may need to be hired or specialized skill that may need to be acquired.
• 100% data traceability and transparency achieved from simulation systems to Salesforce
•  100% automation of work orders was achieved leading to less than 1% maintenance effort annually
• Standardized and simplified process of actual reporting and simulations across the countries

Quote:

“Thank you very much to you and your team for the great job you have performed in the last 6 months (since we have started the project).

We really appreciated your reactivity and your flexibility. The agile way for handling the project was I think a key reason for the success of this project, to be delivered on time with the business expectations fulfilled.

Last, but not least, we were very satisfied, and to tell you the truth, positively surprised, by the level of understanding, you and your team, had on our business requirements.” - Client Manager