MECOMS – Metering and COntract Management System


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MECOMS for Smart Metering & AMI

Introduction

Smart Metering & Advanced Metering Infrastructures are hot topics in the utilities world. The digital meter should provide for free and correct data in the utilities market thus lubricating the mechanisms and processes running in it.

By far the most important question is how you will valorize a smart meter deployment in your organization. This question hides a lot of other challenges for most of utility companies. With MECOMS however, you deploy a future proof Smart Metering solution to meet new AMI and linked Energy Data Management challenges.

But first off, let's analyze why smart metering will have an impact on your existing business and technology.

It is of the utmost importance not to get lost in the complicated Smart Metering world. It is of equal importance to understand the chances and benefits of Smart Metering for your organization and to fully exploit them. This way it is possible to integrate Smart Meters in your business processes and to optimize those. The Smart Meter is definitely a means in all this and not a goal on itself.

Smart Meters enlighten the last piece of the utility value chain. Indeed, now already producers, transporters and grid operators dispose of a wide array of data and information thanks to monitoring tools and software (SCADA systems, etc.). Except at the customer’s site. There data are only periodically available (yearly, triennially, etc.). They are then used to estimate consumptions and these mostly "unreliable" estimations are used in all kinds of important business processes that (in-)directly effect on your business and customers.

Apart from above mentioned issues, governments and international organizations such as the European Union or the United Nations expect a clear and positive impact of the use of Smart Meters on energy consumption. More and better measurements equal more and better knowledge. For customer this means far better insight in energy consumption and costs. Ultimately customers will more consciously use energy and accordingly contribute to a better environment.

Economical motives however also matter a lot when it comes to introducing Smart Meters. Such an introduction will involve a huge number of investments and will strongly stimulate the operation of the free market. On the one hand Smart Meters will generate more profit thanks to new marketing opportunities (free energy on your birthday e.g.), extensions of existing services (alarm systems integrated in the Smart Meter e.g.) or smoother supplier switching and easier moving. On the other hand the Smart Meter decreases costs linked to manual meter readings, reduces erroneous or incomplete meter readings, strongly limit illegal tapping and so on.

But whether it comes to energy saving or smoother switching or any other result of Smart Metering, the crucial core of all this is data. Data which Smart Meters can supply abundantly. The collection and management of accurate and timely data is therefore one of the biggest challenges for energy, utility and water companies. This is already the case, but will be only more the case when Smart Meters and new market models will enter the arena. As a result business processes cannot be traced back to only one utility company. They will involve a group of new players in this new market operation.

MECOMS

Ferranti’s answer to this complex situation is its extraordinary MECOMS product. This business solutions suite boasts more than 10 years of development and deployment in both liberalized as well as non-liberalized markets. Besides the proven technology it encompasses, it is foremost a visionary product thanks to the dedication of a Research & Development team that is continuously looking for improvements and new developments. The addition of extensive Smart Metering functionalities is the best example.

Based on the Microsoft Dynamics AX platform and Microsoft SQL Server 2005, MECOMS offers a wide-range of smart metering functionality including a.o. CRM & Asset Management. As a Certified for Dynamics AX vertical it features utility-specific smart metering business processes such as meter reading, remote meter management (switch on/off, limited flow, etc.) and extensive Energy Data Management (validation, calculation, etc.).

MECOMS covers the complete business flow; from the smart meter to cash. It takes care of the introduction of Smart Meters in your organization by facilitating the import, processing and export of smart metering data. It effectively integrates them into the Meter-To-Consumption or Consumption-To-Cash processes. MECOMS improves your CRM processes using smart metering data. MECOMS is thus the ideal solution to optimally organize your business processes using the rich data Smart Meters provide.

Smart Metering Communication Bus

A special module called Smart Metering Communication Bus has been designed within MECOMS to meet another major Smart Metering challenge for utilities: the search for the most efficient management of your Smart Metering assets and the complex communication with them. These assets will have a multi brand, multi protocol and multi user panorama. Although the processing of communication has to be done in co-ordination with other processes, the best is to keep them untangled. Accordingly e.g. the adding of a new protocol should not directly influence the billing cycle of a customer.

MECOMS’ Smart Metering Communication Bus tackles both issues, thanks to its generic being as well as its specificity. As a part of MECOMS it guarantees an uncomplicated and univocal (asset) management. But at the same time it offers the flexibility to e.g. link several different (proprietary) protocols to each other and the central system.

On top of that MECOMS' Smart Metering Communication Bus supports "push" as well as "pull" AMI architectures.

MECOMS supports near real-time meter reading (“high priority reads”) if a command is issued from the central system to get data such as consumptions, load profiles, power quality and fraud detection. On the other hand meter readings can be easily scheduled (also recurringly) for routine-like meter reading (e.g. daily, monthly, etc.) (“low priority reads”).

MECOMS picks up issues that are communicated by smart meters themselves in case an event occurred that has to be communicated before a scheduled read is performed

MECOMS' Smart Metering Webconsole

Beside MECOMS as a complete business solution, a MECOMS Smart Metering Web Console has been developed. This web-based application is utterly suitable for smaller Smart Metering projects. It features some light-weight smart metering functions of the MECOMS suite like: add meters, manage them and localize them on a map. Start a meter read or limit the flow through the meter. Near real-time consumptions and consumption history are graphically displayed. The console also supports csv file exports that can be used in other applications and processes (billing, collections, etc.). Furthermore user, message and event management is at your disposal.