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36 | DECEMBER 2020 | UTILITY WEEK Operational Excellence Analysis continued from previous page iPads and in-house developed apps has improved customer service dramatically. Of WPD's 6,500 employees, 70 per cent are in network operations. "When we first intro- duced iPads, some people had never used one, so to embed those into the business did take time. But we've been using mobile tech now for the past five or six years, and field staff now look at an iPad as any other tool." Field staff are able to access all the relevant information concerning the his- tory of the job in hand, and their devices are equipped with apps to send back the updated information. Equipping the iPads with a data Sim allows managers to carry out virtual meet- ings with their staff, which they are encour- aged to do at least once a day. "The reason we choose these devices is because of the ability to easily create your own applications," explains Halladay. "We've currently got 25 different apps that we use, all of which have been developed in- house. Those cross over from safety to opera- tions to customer service." Halladay continues: "Last year we devel- oped and rolled out a single scheduling tool for all field workers in the business. Previ- ously all of those people were scheduled using various different tools and that was done using various different tools across the business. But now we've got a single tool. In my desk here in Bristol, I can look at the schedule for a team that's going to make a connection in Skegness tomorrow – it's a central system." Halladay says that being able to collect data digitally offers huge benefits. "Histori- cally, that data was collected on paper. That would come back into an office, and some- body would have to manually input that data into the system. But now, with the apps we have, that same data is collected electroni- cally on the iPad and then automatically updated into the central system. Not only is that more efficient, it also improves the qual- ity of the data because it's being handled much less. "The next phase of that is asset manage- ment, which we're just starting, which is introducing QR codes, so all of our equip- ment will have QR codes on it. Then you can track it from the moment it comes into the business, being in the stores, going onto somebody's vehicle, going into the network, through to being decommissioned from the network. "The next stage of development, from a customer service perspective, is being able go into a customer's property and provide them with a quote, to be able to schedule the work on the spot and then for the customer to be able to track that enquiry online, to be able to send reminders to them of what day we're arriving, and being able to send them an estimated time of arrival [ETA] on the day. "And we're also developing the same capability for faults. We'll be able to tell you the resource has been dispatched, what their ETA is this, the fact that they've arrived on site, and updates throughout the process, using both central systems and the mobile tech that we've got." Like other firms interviewed, WPD has also developed an app for data collection to boost health and safety. "Before, the risk assessments that have to be done on a daily basis before any work is started were a paper exercise. That's now all done on the iPad." UK Power Networks Technology implemented over the past few years has allowed field-based staff working for UK Power Networks (UKPN) to carry on business as usual without too much disrup- tion, helped by the introduction of virtual collaboration tools down to the field level. Patrick Clarke, director of network opera- tions at the company, says: "Everyone's got a touchpad out there, with all their records and maps, and they return everything elec- tronically. Everything has been designed to make it easy to input data. "So if they'd done a job which modifies the network, they'll complete something on the touchpad that shows what they've done to the network, which gets automatically sent back to the people who are updating the diagrams, or updating the control systems. "They'll capture data on when they expect to finish a job, so we can update the customers and provide great customer service." Andrew Pace, HR at director at UKPN, says explaining the importance of data col- lection to the workforce is key to making it work. "As we collect data through iPads, we can consolidate that data and spot trends – so we might be able to anticipate where the faults may be, for example, which benefits the customer." To make it even better, Clarke says UKPN is also exploring how it can provide custom- ers with regular ETAs and work progress, as they would get from parcel couriers. With most individuals having their own personal smart devices, Clarke admits that workers can be frustrated by the fact that work technology does not always keep pace with their mobile phones. "In a company like ours, resilience and security are really impor- tant, so we sometimes have to lock things down a lot more than you would get on a mobile phone, just to protect our network. For example, a lot of the things they're going to do, they have to put a password in every time, unlike on your phone or laptop. It's not as fluid as you'd get on a normal computer." Says Pace: "Our ambition is to get to a place where work technology mirrors our staff 's home-life technology. We're not there yet, and there are good reasons why some things will never be exactly the same. But if we can use tech to make life simpler for peo- ple, then that's perfect." The importance of engagement and communication One area that all agree on is that technology can only bring maximum benefits if people are trained to use it properly. "If you look at the industry, part of our "As we collect data through iPads, we can consolidate that data and spot trends – so we might be able to anticipate where the faults may be, for example, which benefits the customer." Andrew Pace, HR director, UKPN "Everyone's got a touchpad out there, with all their records and maps, and they return everything electronically." Patrick Clarke, director of network operations, UKPN