Water Distribution
Sourcewater partnered with Bynry to improve efficiency and data quality
Sourcewater worked with Bynry to introduce new software services and streamline operational processes to reduce potential losses and improve overall efficiency.
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Summary
Industry: Water Distribution
Scope: Software services for metering, billing, consumeron-boarding, payment collection, consumer care and operations.
Engagement Period
2018-2019
Consumer Base
1,20,000
Key Challenges
- Unreliable data from meter readings
- Improper data handling
- High average billing
- Billing related Consumer dissatisfaction
- Irregular payment collection
Salient Features
- Customized Real-time Dashboards
- GIS tracking and mapping
- Field Force connectivity
- System notifications and alerts
Issuing bills on time was one of the major headaches we faced before SMART360. It used to take around 2 months to create and distribute bills. After implementing the solution, billing including reading and bill distribution is done in 15-20 days. We saved a lot of time and cost by implementing Bynry’s smart solution.
Sourcewater
Commercial Head
About Sourcewater
Sourcewater’s mission is to build digital technologies that improve the reliability and efficiency of the upstream energy water supply chain while reducing environmental and community impacts.
Challenges
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Despite a growing market presence, Sourcewater was unable to meet its revenue goals
and the company’s growth was stalled. A high dependency on manual effort and
inability to use technology to its potential were holding the company back.
A closer look at the processes in place made a number of challenges visible.
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Unreliable data from meter readingsThe meters used by Sourcewater were still being read manually and could not be validated. Thus, it was subject to a high risk of human error. This ranged from skipped meter readings to entering the wrong information. In addition, since the system of data collection was slow, other processes were slowed down as well. |
Improper data handlingThe company was unable to manage consumerdata efficiently. Mismanagement of the paper trail made tracking information flow difficult and led to a lack of transparency. The poor quality of data and the inability to manage the same also kept the company from being able to use the information to make data-driven decisions. |
High average billingPoor quality meter readings led to a large number of bills being generated on average values. In cases where the consumption was higher than the average billed, it brought down company revenues and in others wherein the consumption as lower than the billed amount, it led to consumer complaints. |
Billing related consumer dissatisfactionA number of consumers raised issues regarding inaccurate billing. The consumer dissatisfaction led to poor word-of-mouth publicity, increased number of complaints and impacted payment collection Apart from this is affected company morale as well. |
Irregular payment collectionA high number of billing related issues led to sporadic payment of dues and caused issues with cash flow. It also had a negative effect on the company’s profit margins. The company was using multiple different payment channels that also made it difficult to track payments and follow up on dues. |
Solutions
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Faced with challenges that were difficult to overcome on their own, Sourcewater began searching for a technology partner. With its technological expertise and industry knowledge, Bynry emerged as the ideal partner. Within a short period, they were able to assess the company’s pain points and design solutions for Sourcewater. |
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Multi level validationsFrom the time a meter reading was taken to billing, Bynry introduced validation at multiple levels to help Sourcewater sift through data and improve the overall data quality. The risk of human error was reduced and data was standardized for simpler access by other departments for bill generation and other processing needs. |
Automated billing algorithmBynry introduced an algorithm to help Sourcewater streamline their bill generation. Billing was automated so that it could follow regular cycles and be generated according to actuals rather than averages. Solutions were also designed for the company to be able to handle exceptions in billing. |
Customized dashboards and automated reportsBynry created a Management Information System (MIS) with customized dashboards to help Sourcewater track data flow. This includes consumer onboarding information, historical data from meter readings, bills, payments due and payment received as well as service requests. The company could now get automated reports with real-time information. This did not only enable the company to make data-driven decisions, but it also improved communication within the company and with its Consumers. |
Quick and end-to-end Simplified consumer onboardingBynry streamlined the consumer onboarding process to make it quicker and easier for the Consumer as well as Sourcewater. The field team was trained to use the new technology to capture relevant data. GIS tracking enabled the company to plan the most efficient routes for the field force and map all the live accounts. |
A single integrated payment platformBynry brought all the services offered by the company onto a single platform for easy access by consumers and management by company executives. Payment modes were simplified and brought together so that consumers could pay their bills at their own convenience and transactions could be tracked for transparency. This helps improve cash flow and boosted the company’s profits. Consumerscould also be notified about pending payments and alerted to service visits. |
Impact
Improvement in Efficiency and Overall Growth
Adopting the new software solutions and methods of data handling helped Sourcewater be more efficient with its operations and boosted its monthly average revenue. The company’s financial status improved and it was able to move towards meeting its growth targets faster while giving consumers a better experience.
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Improvement of data quality
100 %
Reduced average billing accuracy
30 %
Reduced customer complaints
60 %
Improvement of metering & billing accuracy
60 %
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