iRPA Impact and Use Cases in Energy Resources and Utility (ERU)

The utility industry is evolving from a traditional, regulation-driven market to a technology-driven market. In the last two decades, the usage of cutting-edge gadgets and technology for infrastructure optimization and supply-demand balancing has expanded tremendously. The systems create a significant amount of data. Most Energy & Utility Industry products use predictive analytics, which combines historical data, predictive algorithms, and data analytics approaches to forecast future events. These circumstances result in manual data entry and repetitive manual processes, increasing the danger of human error.

Intelligent Robotic Process Automation, or iRPA, is a beneficial technology that uses software robots to mimic human workers to automate regular activities. Billing, payments, move-in and move-out procedures, and other administrative chores are usually tied to these activities. It combines AI and machine learning skills to perform high-volume, repeated jobs, ensuring that the entire operations process is error-free.

Here are some of the use cases of iRPA in ERU:

  • Meter Reading Validation:  Utility companies read the meter before billing the customer for consumption. A human error might result in the generation of an incorrect bill, causing the consumer to be overcharged or undercharged. The errors like these harm the company’s reputation. iRPA verifies the consumer’s meter reading and processes it if it is correct. If an error occurs, it alerts the appropriate department, which then remedies the problem. It eases the workload of the meter reading validation team and minimizes the number of complaints resulting from incorrect billing.
  • Billing and Statements:  iRPA handles everything from extracting utility bill data to performing validation checks, quarantining an incorrect invoice, and transferring the bill to the accounting system. Everything is done automatically and in a fraction of the time. As a result of robots retrieving and storing bill data, confirming invoices, and paying them all in an automated manner, companies are moving beyond simply paying bills quickly to quickly recognizing billing errors and saving operational costs.
  • Payment Reversal:  Due to third-party bill payment intermediates, many consumers have issues with incorrect payment amounts or inaccurate data. The client then submits an incorrect entry claim, which the business strategy and claims teams can verify before being forwarded to the operations team for reversal or record correction.
  • Complaints Management:  Utility providers must monitor and respond to customer complaints, which typically revolve around the switching process, billing issues, and power outages. Incoming complaints can be identified, recorded, and sorted using iRPA and then assigned to the appropriate person in your organization to handle them. Benefit from faster answers to client complaints and ensure that you meet your service guarantees.

iRPA is now the only option for all stages of the ERU business. Suppliers have been using these manual methods for a long time. Majority of business process stages (80-90%) are considered reliable and continuous process steps.

What are the advantages of deploying an iRPA solution?

  • Lowers costs:  One of the most significant benefits of iRPA is the rapid cost reduction. Because software robots are less expensive than a full-time person, a business can save up to 30% of its total costs by automating tasks.
  • Lowers operational risks: Some businesses decide to outsource hectic work to third-party entities, which increases the risk of human mistakes and inefficiency. iRPA is a better solution since it keeps the job in-house, reducing operational risk.
  • Accuracy and quality: iRPA technologies can automate processes with a high risk of human error. These bots are dependable, consistent, and capable of working indefinitely.
  • Scalability: Companies can use iRPA to scale up and down operations in response to changing conditions.
  • Reduced workload: By decreasing their workload, staff may focus on more vital tasks by automating tasks like report writing.
  • Increased customer satisfaction: Customers want higher-quality material because it improves accuracy and lowers operational risk.
  • Better business results: Robotic process automation allows businesses to achieve better overall results by allowing staff to focus on tasks that provide more value to the firm.

We believe that firms who adopt a new digitalization and automation culture will be able to innovate, create new business models, and expand at the expense of those that do not.

Write to us for more information on how DynPro may assist you in implementing Intelligent Robotic Process Automation in your business.

About the author

Suman Mahapatra is working as Delivery Manager- RPA for DynPro and has overall 17 years of experience spanned across RPA, Testing, Software Development and Business operations. He has been instrumental in team management and delivering RPA projects in ERU, Healthcare, Banking, Media sectors across US, UK and Australia.