Energy companies were among the earliest adopters of digital technology. Digital and cloud-based tools for data management, equipment monitoring, and field service are already used in the energy industry.
But there is a lot of room – and more importantly, a pressing need – for further innovation and automation.
With the accelerating pace of technological change, organizations need to keep innovating to stay competitive, to keep up with customer expectations, and to deal with an ever-changing complex global landscape. Therefore, true digital transformation isn’t a one-off initiative; it’s an ongoing pursuit that requires continued investment and innovation.
This post will look at process automation in the energy industry, identify some of the key processes that can be automated, and explain how Nintex can help.
A complex global landscape for energy providers
Global energy producers play a fundamental role in empowering and mobilizing the world’s population. Unsurprisingly, the energy industry faces many challenges today:
- The demand for low-carbon energies and the introduction of new regulations has led to the need to innovate
- Higher prices for commodities and an increase in operational costs are reducing profit margins
- Distribution models are changing, leading to the need for new storage, transport and delivery models, which can require complex and detailed planning
- Consumers expect more, including innovative products, services, and delivery methods
- An increase in data regulations require new approaches to data management and operating procedures
These challenges require energy companies to be on the lookout for new ways to improve how they operate. Process automation provides an opportunity to do just that.
The benefits of process automation in the energy industry
The Nintex Platform offers organizations a wide range of capabilities to manage, automate, and optimize the business processes that are most important to them. With no code tools, energy organizations can quickly and easily automate manual, laborious, and time-intensive tasks. The results are hugely beneficial:
- Speed up how work gets done
- Free employees up for more high-value work, e.g. innovation
- Reduce the risks of creating bottlenecks
- Reduce the risk of human error
- Stay compliant
Automation in the energy industry: Four use cases
Let’s look at some specific areas where process automation offers huge opportunities for innovation and growth in the energy industry.
Advanced equipment service – Help field service workers provide the best possible customer experience by making service calls more efficient. Automate the process for creating work orders, equipment service reports, and return authorizations – with all the relevant information automatically surfaced.
Rapid disaster response – Unfortunately when things go wrong in the energy industry, the consequences can be disastrous for the environment and to the company (in terms of reputation, regulation, and cost). How energy companies respond is essential. Organizations can automate tasks to provide immediate remediation. Dynamic forms can make sure critical information is captured as quickly as possible, and document generation can leverage this data to create detailed work orders, so that action can be taken.
Automated customer onboarding – Customer experience is becoming increasingly important. Modern consumers expect quick and easy onboarding experiences, including self-service options when setting up and managing their accounts. But the process doesn’t begin and end with onboarding; ongoing customer communication and feedback can be enhanced through automated notifications and automated surveys.
Read more here.
IoT-enabled equipment maintenance – Making sure your equipment is working as efficiently and safely as possible is a fundamental part of running an energy organization. However, manually monitoring equipment for faults is a slow and arduous task – not the greatest use of your employees’ time. Organizations can be proactive about equipment maintenance and employ predictive and preventative maintenance through the combination of IoT and process automation. With automated maintenance scheduling and dynamic service document generation, you can fix any problem before it breaks and causes downtime.
There are lots of ways that process automation can help energy organizations stay competitive in the 21st century. For a closer look, you can read a selection of case studies here.
Automate your processes today
Nintex’s process automation platform for energy organizations helps global energy companies streamline their operations and invest in innovative solutions to the challenges they face. Improve productivity, make significant cost savings, and accelerate growth today – and well into the future.
If you want to learn more about how the Nintex platform can help organizations in the energy industry manage, automate, and optimize their most important processes, get in contact with the Nintex team today.
