Elektrizitätswerke Reutte AG (EWR) impressively demonstrates how digitalisation can go beyond national borders. As a regional energy supplier with a grid area that extends across both Austria and the German Allgäu region, EWR plays a special role - as a link between two countries. The supplier in the Außerfern and Allgäu regions is countering the analogue challenges with digital solutions from epilot.
The path to digitalisation: from analogue bottlenecks to digital insights
EWR's goal is continuous improvement using the latest applications, and the digitalisation of processes in particular offers many opportunities. Before the introduction of epilot, processes at EWR were characterised by manual procedures. Although digital forms were used, they were only sent by email - in some cases, paper forms were still used. Process steps were processed one after the other, which led to significant delays, especially with the rapidly growing number of customer enquiries, e.g. for PV enquiries. ‘We experienced an exponential increase in enquiries - without a platform like epilot, we would no longer have been able to handle this efficiently,’ says Florian Strigl, Digitalisation Manager at EWR. Thanks to epilot, non-transparent process statuses are a thing of the past. Today, enquiries can be submitted digitally by customers and viewed by the service team at any time. The customer centre is well informed about the current status and can provide information immediately in the event of queries - a real quantum leap in customer service.
Wide range of applications: Network & sales processes
EWR has now mapped over 20 end-to-end grid processes and around 10 sales processes via epilot, including:
- Registration and enquiry of generation plants
- Grid connection notifications
- Combined click paths for electricity, gas and water
- Construction electricity enquiries Tariff calculator
The next step: the conceptualisation and integration of interfaces into the IT infrastructure.
"The no-code functionality of epilot is a great advantage for us" explains Florian Strigl. "We can map the processes directly in the specialist department without external support - that saves time and makes us flexible."
Digitalisation as a living culture - with strong backing
A decisive success factor: digitalisation is not just a project at EWR, but a living culture - supported by the entire organisation right up to the management level.
"Right from the start, we felt enormous support from the management level," says Strigl. ‘That can't be taken for granted - but it's essential in order to really make a difference."
A specially created digitalisation unit and the targeted development of key users in the specialist departments underline the strategic focus. EWR also relies on two ERP interfaces to ensure deep integration into the system landscape. The response to the new installer portal on the German website has also been particularly positive. This is a dedicated portal for efficient and transparent collaboration with installers, for the management of licences and the secure exchange of documents.
Outlook: Focus on customer service & sales
While many processes have already been digitalised on the network side, the focus is now on customer service and sales. Contact with the customer centre is currently still mainly by email, telephone or in person on site, as many customers combine their visit to the customer centre with other errands or appointments nearby. EWR's goal is to create digital services that are as personal as they are efficient.
"epilot has given us enormous freedom - and that makes working noticeably more pleasant" emphasises Sebastian Freier, Chief Technical Officer at EWR. "If our employees had to work without the help of digitalisation such as epilot again, many of the team would be really frustrated."
Conclusion: digitalisation knows no boundaries
EWR is a prime example of successful digitalisation in a cross-border network area. With epilot as a platform, not only have processes been modernised, but a new digital corporate culture has been established - agile, efficient and customer-centric. And the best thing about it: the journey is far from over.
"We are very pleased with the foundation we were able to lay with epilot - and we still have a lot of plans," says Sebastian Freier.
