Enovos launches ENER-GX for electricity bundle customers

The German energy service provider, which is specialised in customised energy supply for wholesale customers,

is standardising its software landscape and thus significantly increasing the eff iciency of its electricity supply

contracts for bundled customers.

Nov 26, 2021 | minutes read

More flexible products and more homogeneous IT systems

Enovos Energie Deutschland GmbH already settles its gas contracts with the ENER-GX software solution – but not its electricity contracts until recently. The result was a heterogenous IT landscape based on various solutions. The energy supplier is now aiming for standardisation. The goal is to bundle processes and competencies and also to reduce costs. To achieve this goal, Enovos needed a flexible multi-commodity solution as a uniform platform for gas and electricity management. The company chose the ENER-GX software, which was already well integrated. In order to make use of synergies, the billing processes for electricity and gas customers were standardised. The all-new system solution introduces a number of benefits, not least a considerable increase in eff iciency. For example, Enovos can now automatically process and bill new complex bundled customer contracts.

Key points

Replacement of the previous heterogeneous system landscape for electricity billing with ENER-GX
Uniform platform for billing of electricity, gas and services
Handling of bundle customers with all specific requirements
Increased degree of automation through a homogeneous software landscape

Challenges

The focus of a uniform billing platform for electricity, gas and services was on mapping bundled customers – with all their specific requirements, such as performance optimisation, processing of transaction data and handling of advance payment models. The challenge was to ensure that these contracts can be processed reliably, quickly and eff iciently, despite the large number of contract calculations and transaction data items. A second challenge was the diff erences in processes for billing gas and electricity contracts. The task of Sopra Steria‘s project team was to map the electricity products in ENER-GX, migrate the contract master data, and build integration solutions so that Enovos Energie could manage its gas and electricity customers in a uniform software. In addition, the degree of automation was to be increased and a uniform interface to the subledger system and subsequent processes was to be developed.

The solution

The ENER-GX team first expanded the existing installation to include Enovos‘ electricity products. A common definition of the product catalogue of gas and electricity products was created. In addition, new interfaces for plausibility-checked load profiles were created and the financial accounting interface was expanded. In a further step, the contracts were migrated to ENER-GX and stabilised after Go-live. The master data setup was automated with data from the previous system (XML structure for partners, contracts, delivery points and their assignment to the contract). The same applies to the import of grid usage invoices and their processing in the accounting system after verification. In addition, the project team expanded the reporting component. It now includes reports for the main customs office and a new master data structure.

How we worked together

The project started at the beginning of the lockdown. The teams therefore worked together only virtually and completely without face-to-face meetings. The extremely close and very flexible coordination between Enovos and Sopra Steria was also due to these circumstances. In addition, a few months of project duration had to be sufficient, so that Enovos was able to settle the newly won supply contracts of the bundled customers with ENER-GX on time. Personnel bottlenecks and a cyberattack were unable to jeopardize the success of the project thanks to great flexibility and mutual understanding. Sopra Steria and Enovos were able to master all tasks and uncertainties that arose due to the very short project duration and the accompanying circumstances of the corona situation. Discussions are currently underway regarding future projects and the use of further functionalities from Sopra Steria‘s cpX.Energy platform.

Results and benefits

The harmonisation of IT systems and processes results in noticeably lower configuration, administration and operating costs for Enovos. The inclusion of electricity products and billing in ENER-GX also have a positive impact. Cross-segment billing is now possible, and specific solution expertise is only required for one system. In addition, the system processes large amounts of data quickly and efficiently. The improved level of automation leads to a significant time saving. Additional acceleration is provided by the daily running contract calculations with ENER-GX. Improved process monitoring features, including comfortable user guidance, enable quick navigation to the business data dialogues. In addition, master data is generated in a fully automated process, making life easier for case handlers and specialist users.

Another added value is the flexibility: Requirements for the management of bundled customer contracts can be met by including script components. For example, if there is no invoice from the system operator, a customer-specific logic for calculating network costs speeds up the billing process. In addition, Enovos secures liquidity through prompt invoicing, as there is no need to wait for the system operator.

„With the introduction of ENER-GX for our electricity billing, we are consistently pursuing our chosen path of automating our customer service processes. This enables us to achieve significantly higher internal efficiency in billing while at the same time improving billing quality, which automatically increases customer satisfaction. This is the necessary condition for us to successfully continue on our chosen path as a supplier of customised energy supply solutions for large energy customers.“
Andreas Loh, Managing Director Enovos Energie Deutschland GmbH

About the customer

Enovos Energie Deutschland GmbH is part of a medium-sized international energy group in Luxembourg with roots in Germany. It is headed by Encevo S.A., which is more than 70% publicly owned. Enovos supplies numerous large industrial and multisite customers as well as municipal utilities with innovative energy supply solutions.

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