Advantages of digitisation of processes in trading companies

Is there a lack of automation in the energy industry?

Due to the constant pace of change in industries and markets, digitisation has become the primary task of small and medium-sized companies. Managing change is not always easy, and more and more start-ups are competing with established companies using their agility and automation tools as advantages.

Energy trading is no exception. Due to the large amount of information these companies have to process and the lack of digitisation of distributors, it should come as no surprise to find some shortcomings. These shortcomings result in manual jobs that have a cost-per-person and lead to a loss of competitiveness. In the current climate, those who do not renew and optimise are doomed to disappear.

Energy marketers need to differentiate themselves, so in addition to all the usual barriers, they have to look for commercial attributes to be able to compete. In addition to competing on price (an unprofitable strategy), studies tell us that there are other factors that can provide added value. Many of these small companies shine in factors such as sustainability, transparency, predictability and customer service.

These factors are more relevant to the customer, more emotional, and help the consumer feel identified with the company, thus improving our brand image.

In addition, the main way to differentiate ourselves is through the creation of innovative products, such as hourly discounts, energy communities or virtual batteries, as well as the aggregation of services (telephony + energy, energy + solar panels, etc.).

Therefore, today, the automation of robotic processes in order to free up resources to improve the human touch and customer experience is not only good practice, but necessary to compete in an increasingly tight market. In other words, if you don't automate, you don't win. But where to start, how much to invest, and what services to integrate?

‍Why optimise the operations department of an energy company?

The energy market is accelerating its change at an exponential rate and is becoming increasingly integrated. The Spanish regulatory model serves as a template for numerous countries, and what has barely changed in the last two decades is now subject to revision after revision. This is a perfect example of how a well-focused team can keep an eye on these changes, always thinking about how they affect the customer, and generating products and business processes that fit perfectly within the regulatory framework, but go one step further in the pursuit of excellence for the consumer. To do this, these marketers will need to have a customer-centric corporate culture, as well as the time and energy to explore areas for improvement. This is an area that cannot be automated, so let's give it the time it needs.

There are more reasons to integrate platforms and automate repetitive processes such as content within messaging, switching and its myriad manual steps. From the inefficiencies of human error, to the risks that arise from knowledge being concentrated in one person, scalability issues, and so on. 

All these points add up to hours and hours of mechanical productivity that should be automated because otherwise they block resources that could be used in more important areas where creativity and human soft skills generate incalculable value.

On the other hand, there is the point of saving time and costs. Streamlining these inefficient processes and integrating our tools, using technologies created specifically for that purpose, return easily quantifiable returns in the medium and long term.

This journey of digital transformation and process automation will lead us to the ultimate goal, which is to be more competitive and outstanding with the minimum resources necessary, reaching the maximum level of control over our business processes.

This challenge is more relevant in the energy world than anywhere else. It is a David versus Goliath battle, where companies with fewer resources try to gain market share against established players, but the barriers to entry are difficult to overcome without improved technology and some kind of additional value or differentiator. Buying the ‘100% green energy’ certificate is no longer enough.

‍Part 3: Automating retailer-distributor communication

Many energy companies that have already started their digital transformation are facing other economic challenges. The low digitisation of distributors, the price of automation tools or the lack of internal know-how on specific aspects of the business can lead to their tight profit margins being passed on to third parties.

Therefore, these management systems must not only be flexible, but also cost-effective, reasonable and transparent.

An early example of this digitisation and availability of information was the SIPS queries, and how automation has allowed marketers to consult reliable data in their own system in real time and in an agile manner, thanks to integrations carried out by third parties. At QUIXOTIC 360 we believe that the next step is Switching. That is why we have created a tool with automations, processes and steps, which in addition to generating all the XML files and sending them to the distributors, also exploits and validates the data contained in the file, offering real-time access to reports and alerts on CUPS without F1s, registrations and disconnections, outages and reconnections, etc. completely in the cloud and available from any type of device.

The use of tools such as QUIXOTIC 360 generates better working models, which allow our clients to achieve high levels of automation, quality, excellence and productivity.

‍QUIXOTIC 360. Billing Software for Energy Retailers

QUIXOTIC 360 es una plataforma SaaS que incluye automatizaciones end-to-end con lógica regulatoria y de negocio, validación de ficheros y datos, triggers, acciones y alertas. Nuestra plataforma se integra con más de 300 distribuidoras para la obtención de los datos, de manera que los sistemas del cliente tengan esta información disponible en tiempo real, lo que hace que los pequeños y medianos comercializadores puedan ahorrar en tiempos y costes. Además, tenemos módulos de facturación y curvas de carga, módulo de cobros, batería virtual, autoconsumo colectivo y comunidades energéticas, etc.

Si quieres saber más, ponte en contacto con nosotros.