The objective of the project is to demonstrate the benefits of Mobile Field Control which are in respect of improved customer service for distribution customers. The proposed solution will improve quality of supply on the network by reducing the time taken for Engineers to get customers back on supply. This is a first of a kind solution which will set out a framework for using Mobile Field Control to improve customer service and operational efficiency.
Objectives
The objective of the project is to demonstrate the benefits of Mobile Field Control which are in respect of improved customer service for distribution customers. The proposed solution will improve quality of supply on the network by reducing the time taken for Engineers to get customers back on supply. This is a first of a kind solution which will set out a framework for using Mobile Field Control to improve customer service and operational efficiency.
It is anticipated that the trials will demonstrate improved performance in Customer Minutes Lost when using Mobile Field Control rather than existing Field Control and mobile solutions, which currently cannot be aligned due to technical limitations.
Another objective of the project is to design and approve the relevant changes to existing business processes and policies which will enable smooth transition of these solutions into business-as-usual.
Learnings
Outcomes
The outputs of the project are:
- Comprehensive catalogue detailing all the system requirements for the Mobile Field Control software.
- Documented design of the software solution that can facilitate roll out/implementation by other DNOs.
- Software developed and upgraded to v6.8.0 of PowerOn.
- Full Mobile release v6.8.0 with new enhancements as required in the project plan. New enhancements include: Switching Management module has been enhanced to support low voltage network and offline capabilities, to support on-going switching management for an area of the LV network as well as to enable the use of smart meter data when working in the field. Customer details visible on the Field Client have also been enhanced to show which phases supply customer property as well as details of any classifications assigned to the customer.
- Appropriately trained field and control engineers.
- Live trials completed with further enhancements and correction of snags continuing in the business unit.
Lessons Learnt
- During the initial testing phase, the project followed a traditional testing approach, where the software is tested on a supplier factory environment (Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT)) before being tested on UK Power Networks’ infrastructure (Site Acceptance Testing (SAT)). Traditionally, this is performed to ensure that functionality can be demonstrated without client infrastructure being the reason for defects. However, during the testing it was found that there was significant duplication of efforts in FAT and SAT. Having gone through this process, the project team agreed that for this project the FAT did not add value to the testing process and decided to remove FAT from future testing processes.
- Try and maintain the same supplier resources for duration of project. Regular churn of staff meant a lot of knowledge and understanding, and ways of working was lost.
- Ensure requirements workshops purpose is clear. The supplier held workshops following project commencement which led to confusion as requirements became out of scope where the project team understood the purpose of these meetings was for confirmation of requirement details.
- Better technical environment planning. Requests for test environments were often not planned far enough ahead, leading to delays as provisioning team had too much work and environment request went to back of the queue.
