Increasing demand is causing more and more energy companies to hire subcontractors to catch up with all matters. However a mixed workforce with both internal and external personnel – a blended workforce – has its challenges. The flow of information between different teams working on a case becomes even more complicated and even more operationally critical. Unfortunately, it rarely works optimally, which leads to unnecessary extra work, misunderstandings, and wrong decisions.

Most energy companies could make much better use of the resources by streamlining their case management and thus significantly increasing their delivery capacity.

The way there is through digitized collaboration.

Digitization is the key

Öresundskraft has recently introduced a central case management system which manages the flow of information between the internal and external systems concerned. The quality-of-service delivery and information have already increased. A case that used to take two hours can now take half an hour thanks to reduced administration.

This shows that a case management system can make staff from different departments and companies work together as a tight-knit team.

So how does it happen?

Current information for everyone

First and foremost, the case management system ensures that everyone involved can continuously follow a case and keep track of the case's status and how the work is progressing. Full transparency through the entire chain from the energy company's customer service and planners to the contractor and end customer is undoubtedly a success factor.

Central, automated resource planning

It is important to be able to allocate available resources with the right skills in a smart way to different work orders for everything from service to troubleshooting. It assumes that you have control over the planning of all resources. The solution is a common schedule for all teams, whether they belong to your company or external partners and contractors.

Scheduling can be automated, which frees up time that can be spent on new cases. It also raises the quality of handling, which for example shows itself in the form of fewer return visits. AI-guided planning considers their skill profile and where the installers are in real-time. By assigning the case to people in the right roles, with the right skills and with the shortest driving distance, resource allocation is optimized.

An example of an automatic function is "fill my day", which immediately provides an updated list of jobs that are suitable for field worker who wants to fill their free time.

Predefined case flows

Business rules for when, where and how information should flow and to whom play a central role in modern and efficient case management. Different rules can be set up for different case types such as troubleshooting, maintenance and installation. They then control, for example, which forms, or checklists must be filled in to start or close a case and what triggers a status change. All entered data is validated and the case is pushed forward to the next step through notifications and status updates. Everything happens automatically.

In this way, the system ensures that both your own and the contractors' personnel carry out each case following your customer agreements and SLAs. It gives you greater control over the quality of the work.

A prerequisite for this is that both in-house and external personnel are offered simple and flexible feedback in real-time from the field.

Reduced personal dependence

It can be enough for one person to get sick or quit for several cases to get stuck on the road. If the system supports clearly defined roles and work processes and if the information on all matters is available, then the dependence on people is reduced. With joint planning, possible bottlenecks and resource gaps can be prevented in time by re-planning the resources.

Evaluation and optimization

Finally, a centralized solution for all types of matters within the company provides good opportunities for data-driven insights and improvements. The processes for different case types can be continuously streamlined and adapted to new needs.

And if there's one thing we've learned, it's that the world around us is constantly changing - and that it's happening fast.