Fulcrum Case Studies Sequel Group Streamlines Gas Meter Inspection Process

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	Sequel Group Streamlines Gas Meter Inspection Process Fulcrum

Sequel Group Streamlines Gas Meter Inspection Process

Fulcrum

Technology Category	Analytics & Modeling - Computer Vision Software Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Connectivity Platforms
Applicable Industries	Utilities
Applicable Functions	Field Services Maintenance
Use Cases	Predictive Maintenance Remote Asset Management
Services	System Integration Training
Challenge	A major gas utility in the northeastern United States was faced with the daunting task of physically inspecting all of their approximately 2.1 million gas meters to comply with expanded mandated natural gas meter inspection requirements announced by the Public Service Commission (PSC). The utility had to locate all the meters, inspect them to ensure they were in good working order, and take photos to verify to the PSC that the inspections had been completed. The utility's current data was collected on paper and digitized, but it was rife with misspellings, omissions, typos, and there was no established nomenclature. The utility needed a digital workflow that would get everyone on the same page, eliminate inefficiencies, and enable the field techs to work a lot faster. Read More
About Customer	The customer is a major gas utility company located in the northeastern United States. The company is responsible for the operation and maintenance of approximately 2.1 million gas meters. The company was faced with the challenge of complying with expanded mandated natural gas meter inspection requirements announced by the Public Service Commission (PSC). The company needed to physically inspect all of their gas meters and provide photographic evidence to the PSC that the inspections had been completed. The company's current data collection process was inefficient and error-prone, with data collected on paper and digitized, leading to numerous misspellings, omissions, and typos. Read More
Solution	Sequel leveraged Fulcrum to create a solution for the utility that would streamline the process of scheduling and conducting inspections. They first standardized all of the utility’s current data, which had been collected on paper and digitized. Sequel then uploaded the cleaned and standardized data into Fulcrum and built the inspection app according to the utility’s requirements. They also built a custom dispatch program for assigning inspections to their techs and subcontractors in bulk, called Maestro. Maestro communicates with Fulcrum via the API, so once a record is assigned to a tech, the status automatically changes in the Fulcrum app. They also integrated Fulcrum with computer vision optical character recognition, so when techs photograph a gas meter, the serial number and manufacturer information auto-populates in the app. Finally, they integrated the utility’s communication system with Fulcrum, so each attempt to reach a customer would be fully documented for the PSC, and when a customer scheduled an appointment to have their gas meter inspected, that record would be automatically updated in the app. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Computer Vision Software

Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Connectivity Platforms

Applicable Industries

Utilities

Applicable Functions

Field Services

Maintenance

Use Cases

Predictive Maintenance

Remote Asset Management

Services

System Integration

Training

Challenge

A major gas utility in the northeastern United States was faced with the daunting task of physically inspecting all of their approximately 2.1 million gas meters to comply with expanded mandated natural gas meter inspection requirements announced by the Public Service Commission (PSC). The utility had to locate all the meters, inspect them to ensure they were in good working order, and take photos to verify to the PSC that the inspections had been completed. The utility's current data was collected on paper and digitized, but it was rife with misspellings, omissions, typos, and there was no established nomenclature. The utility needed a digital workflow that would get everyone on the same page, eliminate inefficiencies, and enable the field techs to work a lot faster.

About Customer

The customer is a major gas utility company located in the northeastern United States. The company is responsible for the operation and maintenance of approximately 2.1 million gas meters. The company was faced with the challenge of complying with expanded mandated natural gas meter inspection requirements announced by the Public Service Commission (PSC). The company needed to physically inspect all of their gas meters and provide photographic evidence to the PSC that the inspections had been completed. The company's current data collection process was inefficient and error-prone, with data collected on paper and digitized, leading to numerous misspellings, omissions, and typos.

Solution

Sequel leveraged Fulcrum to create a solution for the utility that would streamline the process of scheduling and conducting inspections. They first standardized all of the utility’s current data, which had been collected on paper and digitized. Sequel then uploaded the cleaned and standardized data into Fulcrum and built the inspection app according to the utility’s requirements. They also built a custom dispatch program for assigning inspections to their techs and subcontractors in bulk, called Maestro. Maestro communicates with Fulcrum via the API, so once a record is assigned to a tech, the status automatically changes in the Fulcrum app. They also integrated Fulcrum with computer vision optical character recognition, so when techs photograph a gas meter, the serial number and manufacturer information auto-populates in the app. Finally, they integrated the utility’s communication system with Fulcrum, so each attempt to reach a customer would be fully documented for the PSC, and when a customer scheduled an appointment to have their gas meter inspected, that record would be automatically updated in the app.

Impact #1	Field techs are able to collect additional valuable data in shorter amounts of time.
Impact #2	Dispatchers are able to associate each meter with an address, so when a field tech is assigned a job, they can see all the meters associated with that address. This not only makes the techs’ jobs easier, but it eliminates unnecessary overlap and site revisits.
Impact #3	Supervisors are now able to plan their techs’ routes in just a few minutes, when it used to take at least half a day.

Impact #1

Field techs are able to collect additional valuable data in shorter amounts of time.

Impact #2

Dispatchers are able to associate each meter with an address, so when a field tech is assigned a job, they can see all the meters associated with that address. This not only makes the techs’ jobs easier, but it eliminates unnecessary overlap and site revisits.

Impact #3

Supervisors are now able to plan their techs’ routes in just a few minutes, when it used to take at least half a day.

Benefit #1	The utility's customer satisfaction was increased following the implementation of an automated IVR (Interactive Voice Response) appointment scheduling system and appointment confirmation via SMS text messaging, both seamlessly integrated into Fulcrum by Sequel.

Benefit #1

The utility's customer satisfaction was increased following the implementation of an automated IVR (Interactive Voice Response) appointment scheduling system and appointment confirmation via SMS text messaging, both seamlessly integrated into Fulcrum by Sequel.

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Overview

Sequel Group Streamlines Gas Meter Inspection Process

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit