IBM GBS co-sponsored a conference on ‘The Future of Utilities’, organised by the Adam Smith Institute, held at the Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square, London, at the end of March. Those presenting at the conference were mainly very senior Executives from all branches of the utilities industries; supply-focused, infrastructure- focused, and customer-facing.
Not surprisingly, a lot of attention was paid to the security of most types of supply, the longevity of fossil fuels supplies, the role of renewable sources, and the future of nuclear power. In addition particular focus was given to infrastructure renewal specifically with regards to the water industry.
Utilities are big businesses, and have to wrestle with many issues; the uncertainties of how major capital investments can be funded, the constraints imposed by Regulatory bodies, forecasting and delivering to customer and consumer demand, managing ongoing maintenance, and, of course, satisfying their shareholders.
What does this have to do with PLM? Well, quite a lot. To name a few:
- A privatised utility company has to cope with all the pressures mentioned above, and that puts pressure on time, cost, quality and customer satisfaction for almost every infrastructure project, whether new build or not.
These are the same pressures that more traditional PLM users, such as Automotive and Aerospace companies, have been tackling for many years. No, there is not a lot of styling in a sewage works, but there are opportunities for more standardisation of designs, more re-use, and improved management of information through the whole process.
- There are many aspects of Utilities that are safety-critical, most obviously, but by no means exclusively, the nuclear side. For this reason, coupled with the fact that today’s IT solutions and enablers simply did not exist 50 years ago, the need for compliance and traceability have been based on paper with real signatures. Modern PLM solutions can offer a step-change in speed, efficiency and effectiveness in such an environment. Such solutions are already widely deployed in other industries.
- The lifecycles of assets in Utilities are very long. Months for mobile phones, years for cars, decades for aircraft, power plants and some infrastructure, centuries for other types of infrastructure, not to mention all the health and safety and legal liability issues. The paper legacy that will therefore be with us for a very long time should not deter us from seeking a modern approach to Asset Lifecycle Management; capturing data in digital form; managing workflow, approvals and certification; carrying the digital representation forward through the many iterations of media technology that will take place during the life of the assets.
The IBM Software Group as a whole, and IBM PLM Solutions in particular is well-positioned to support utility companies in the deployment of best practice from other industries where it can add significant value.
There are more parallels than you might think.
For further information, please feel free to contact:
Alec Cassells
Executive Consultant, PLM Solutions
IBM Software Group