Innovation as a Necessity An Introduction to TrunkMinder Service - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Innovation as a Necessity An Introduction to TrunkMinder “Service Delivery” Open Innovation Event 11th October, 2012

• Northumbrian Water Group undoubtedly takes its performance seriously • NW does so • not just as regards OFWAT • but as part of its broader community pursuing best practice internally and externally

• It is also important to acknowledge the “headaches” of operating a water system simply on a day to day basis • the bursts • the OFWAT queries and consultations • the local press and radio asking for comments when things have gone awry • But a broader picture that will potentially transform the operation of utilities in the UK and with innovation at its core

• The audience is already familiar with how the water sector currently works • OFWAT has itself acknowledged the current CapEx bias • Detailed OFWAT targets have also undoubtedly dominated much of utility activity to date • and all against a background, until recently, of economic growth and debt-financed capital structuring

• But the context is changing and potentially significantly • Whilst important in the long-term the change is not just about smart network management and data-led automisation which is some way down the road • Instead the change is more immediate • TotEx in place of CapEx • broader outcomes in place of detailed outputs • outperformers keeping the benefits • Unfortunately this is against a backdrop of economic frailty not just in the short term but at least the medium term too

• The current backdrop is also one • where OFWAT has been criticised earlier in the year over leakage, criticism that is likely to get passed on to you in the course of the AMP6 process • where those who hope to respond simply with a “well we’ll replace all the pipes then” are likely to get pretty short shrift

• As ever, the key issue will be the financials • but not in a “spend to improve infrastructure” kind of way that has applied before • instead in a “you’ve got to do more with less…you’ve got to be smarter” kind of way

Option 1 – Business as Usual • As a result, water utilities have a choice • They can carry on as they are, continuing with • current pain points • having only limited knowledge of what is going on on their trunk main network • paying compensation for bursts and having their brand undermined • having employees and contractors out in the roads running manual inspections and repairing and replacing cheap kit with all the health and safety risks that go with that • with making the same old submissions to OFWAT, and have them rejected as not reflecting the new realities

Trunk Main Option 1 – Business As Usual

Option 2 – Outperforming • Or utilities can position themselves for the future as outperformers • working on credible regulatory plans that reflect the diminishing scope for CapEx • lessening the disruption and costs of bursts by repairing leaks before they become bursts • applying automation to know real time what is happening on their critical mains • having a single supplier providing four points of critical information rather than four suppliers each providing one each • using resilient technology • to reduce health and safety exposure • that allows reports and data to be gathered and viewed not in a Day-Glo jacket in the middle of the road but when • it is needed • before customers know about it • from wherever the utility operator happens to be

Trunk Main Option 2 - Permanent Monitoring

TrunkMinder • Because that is what Syrinix’s TrunkMinder provides • 150 being deployed across London • Providing real time information • Allowing leaks to be located on trunk mains within 1 metre and repaired before bursts occur • Automatically monitoring utility strategic networks every second of every day • Guarding critical pipes with a web-based configurable interface • Guarding critical brands • With a sub-3 year payback

• Whilst swimming in a river, the overall direction can seem unclear • But viewed from above, the direction in which the UK water sector is heading, with AMP6 preparations well underway, is very clear indeed and that is • towards spending less to do more • towards acting on an informed basis • towards innovation at the core of your activities • Syrinix’s aim with TrunkMinder is to work very much with water utilities as they adapt to those trends and continue as the leading company that they are