Powering up network build performance with data-driven actions
AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ENHANCEMENT
WEL Networks, a key player in electricity distribution, recognised an opportunity to further enhance the efficiency and clarity of its extensive network build program. The organisation identified several areas where operational improvements could yield significant benefits:
Streamlining Diverse Data Streams for a Unified View: Like many organisations managing large-scale infrastructure, WEL Networks navigated multiple data sources and sought to create a more unified operational picture to support project tracking, cost management, bottlenecks and overall progress monitoring.
Advancing Consistency in Definitions and Reporting: With multifunctional teams involved in the network build process, there was an opportunity to foster greater alignment in key business terms and metrics, aiming to optimise reporting accuracy and inter-team collaboration.
Enhancing Historical Data Analysis Capabilities: To better inform future strategies and learn from the complexities of past projects, WEL Networks aimed to improve its systems for capturing and analysing historical data, particularly concerning project cost estimations and variations.
Increasing Transparency in Project Workflows: The organisation looked to gain a deeper understanding of project progression against the annual asset management plan, enabling more proactive management of timelines and the identification of opportunities to optimise workflow stages and resource allocation.
Optimising Reporting Processes: WEL Networks aimed to move towards more dynamic and informative reporting mechanisms, reducing reliance on time-intensive manual report generation and leveraging data visualisation for quicker, more actionable information with a higher degree of consensus and understanding for the leadership team.
Recognising these opportunities, WEL Networks proactively sought a solution to bring enhanced consistency, transparency, and data-driven control to its network build operations. The overarching goal was to optimise resource deployment, manage costs with greater acuity, ensure the timely and effective delivery of essential infrastructure projects, identify bottlenecks and improve the speed and efficiency of the overall process and manage risks around depreciating assets and their impact on the quality of service they provide.
THE BRIEF
WEL Networks engaged X is Y to address these opportunities by developing a solution that would provide comprehensive visibility and actionable information into their network build lifecycle. The engagement focused on:
A thorough Assessment of the Current Environment: To gain a deep understanding of WEL Networks' existing network build processes, strategic goals, and desired results. To find consensus between all parties involved as to the overall process and align on steps, nomenclature and roles. To agree and define metrics that represent success at every step of the process.
Designing a Centralised Reporting Solution: To conceptualise and design a Operational Dashboard that would serve as a central hub for network build performance decisions, tailored to the specific strategic priorities of WEL Networks.
Developing and Implementing the Dashboard: To build, test, and deploy the Operational Dashboard, integrating data from various sources and ensuring it was user-friendly, providing the required analytical capabilities to support strategic goals.
Enabling a Data-Driven Culture: To empower WEL Networks' teams with the tools and understanding to leverage the new dashboard for continuous improvement in decision-making, process optimisation, and performance management.
WHAT WE DID
X is Y collaborated closely with WEL Networks, employing an agile and user-centric approach to deliver the Network Build Operational Dashboard:
Collaborative definition & user story gathering
X is Y facilitated workshops with key stakeholders, project managers, and business owners across WEL Networks to establish a common understanding and co-create validated definitions for all critical metrics (e.g., cost variance, pipeline flow, work completion).
Detailed user stories were collected to ensure the dashboard would meet the practical, day-to-day needs of its users.
Iterative design & prototyping
Initial designs and wireframes were developed in Figma, visualising the dashboard's structure, layout, and key information displays.
Functional prototypes were then built, starting with dummy data and progressing to real data. This iterative process allowed for early and continuous feedback from WEL Networks' user group, ensuring the solution evolved to meet their exact requirements.
Robust data modelling & integration
A comprehensive data model was designed and implemented, with a key feature being the ability to capture and track historical data, including changes to estimated costs over a project's lifecycle. A capability that didn't exist before.
The solution integrated data primarily from SAP BW, with a clear roadmap for future integration with SAP S/4HANA. Snowflake was utilised for efficient data processing, and Power BI was chosen as the visualisation platform to deliver this critical data asset
Development of key performance pillars
The Operational Dashboard was structured around clear, actionable performance pillars:
Cost pillar: Providing information into cost variances, planned vs. actual expenditure, and overall budget consumption.
Network pipeline pillar: Visualising the flow of Work Orders (WOs) through various stages of the network build process, highlighting Work-In-Progress (WIP) and identifying potential bottlenecks.
Burndown chart: Offering a clear view of the percentage of planned work completed relative to the percentage of budget spent.
Time pillar: Analysing the duration WOs spent in each stage, tracking variances against planned timelines, and identifying opportunities for cycle time reduction.
User-centric dashboard & rollout
The final dashboard was designed with intuitive navigation and powerful drill-down capabilities, allowing users to move from a high-level overview to granular WO-level details.
"Info overlays" were incorporated, providing clear definitions and the underlying logic for each metric directly within the dashboard, fostering user trust and promoting consistent interpretation of data.
The initial project phase focused on Annual Works Plan & Design (AWL) projects, allowing for the delivery of deep, meaningful information quickly and establishing a strong foundation before broader expansion.
THE BENEFITS
The Network Build Operational Dashboard delivered transformative results for WEL Networks, significantly enhancing efficiency, control, and strategic decision-making:
For the business
Established a Single Source of Truth: Provided a centralised, reliable, and consistent view of the entire network build process, eliminating confusion and discrepancies arising from disparate data.
Improved Strategic Oversight & Proactive Management: Offered leadership clear visibility into project progress, costs, and timelines, enabling proactive identification and mitigation of potential issues and bottlenecks. Performance could be effectively tracked against the annual asset management plan.
Enhanced Financial Control & Cost Management: Delivered accurate tracking of actual versus planned costs and budget consumption, leading to tighter budget control, reduced risk of overruns, and better forecasting capabilities based on historical cost data.
Optimised Resource Allocation & Process Efficiency: By highlighting bottlenecks and inefficiencies in the work order flow, the dashboard helped identify areas for process improvement.
Strengthened Data-Driven Decision-Making: Empowered the executive team and subject matter experts with accessible, agreed and actionable information, fostering a culture where decisions are based on timely and accurate data objectively and with consensus.
For the network build delivery teams
Consistent Understanding & Reduced Rework: Agreed-upon business definitions and a centralised dashboard ensured everyone was working with the same information, reducing miscommunication, data inaccuracies, and the need for costly rework.
Increased Accountability & Ownership: Clear mapping of SAP status codes to network build stages, visible in the dashboard, enabled teams to take clearer ownership of WOs, facilitating smoother transitions and reducing delays.
Streamlined Reporting & Time Savings: Significantly reduced the time and effort spent on manual data gathering and reduced the number of ad hoc reports all trying to report similar information, freeing up teams to focus on value-added activities.
Improved Adoption & Trust in Data: The user-centric design, iterative development based on user feedback, and transparent metric definitions led to an increased confidence in the data presented.
By transforming their network build data into a strategic asset, X is Y empowered WEL Networks to manage its infrastructure projects with greater precision, agility, and confidence, ultimately driving better outcomes for the business and its customers.
