S U C C E S S S T O R Y

E N T E R P R I S E I N F O R M A T I O N M A N A G E M E N T

INDUSTRY

Utilities

CUSTOMER

Enkla Elbolaget

CHALLENGES

• Create a clear, easy-to-understand utility invoice

• Automate, manage and make the entire document process more accessible

• Provide personalized content and visual output

• Meet demand to differentiate in industry

SOLUTIONS

• OpenText Exstream• OpenText Exstream StoryBoard• OpenText Exstream ReTouch• OpenText Exstream Collector

BENEFITS

• Improves and simplifies communication management

• Personalizes invoicing• Improves customer support services

with simple, straightforward invoicing• Reduces costs

Enkla Elbolaget streamlines invoicing processes with OpenText solutionsOpenTextTM Exstream simplifies processes, reduces paper and controls costs

Challenges for changeSince its rebranding in 2008, Enkla Elbolaget has strived to be the most transparent whole-saler within the Swedish electricity industry, making it easy to conduct business with them. The current utilities market in Sweden is highly deregulated; customers are not locked into long-term contracts, and so have the freedom to change their electricity provider as they wish. Therefore, for a company to be competitive and retain and attract customers, they have to provide something that will differentiate them from the competition. With 110 elec-tricity wholesalers in Sweden alone, Enkla Elbolaget needed to provide their customers with a compelling reason to remain loyal.

The experience of most consumers is that electricity is a complex product to buy. Enkla Elbolaget wanted to firmly establish a reputation as the easiest provider to do business with. By providing seamless customer service and clear billing for all of its customers, Enkla Elbolaget would be able to differentiate on more than just price alone—the main mechanism used by competitors. The new business strategy was to provide a transparent, hassle-free experience for customers. By advising customers on which are the best contracts to choose and at which price level and providing customers with simple, easy-to-understand invoices—free from the complex clutter that is usually associated with power billing—Enkla Elbolaget would deliver on this promise. By concentrating on simplicity and ease of doing business with them, Enkla Elbolaget would be able to stand out from the crowd.

Enkla Elbolaget, formerly Norsk Hydro Energi, is a Swedish electricity wholesaler formed in 2008 as a subsidiary of Dala Kraft. Enkla Elbolaget currently serves 70,000 customers in the private market and 4,000 businesses in the mid-sized market. The Nordic electricity industry is highly competitive, with more than 400 electricity wholesalers in the region. Enkla Elbolaget faced the challenge of immersing its brand in the Swedish market whilst simplifying processes for current and potential consumers.

E N T E R P R I S E I N F O R M A T I O N M A N A G E M E N T

S U C C E S S S T O R Y

Enkla Elbolaget used a standard invoice form generated by its business system, similar to the unclear and complicated invoic-es provided by all of their competitors. With this existing system, there was a lack of control and automation of the billing process, requiring many manual resources. Furthermore, it was not consis-tent with Enkla Elbolaget’s brand strategy to be the easiest energy provider to do business with—customers were being overwhelmed and confused with unnecessary and unwanted information in their correspondence and invoices. To implement their business strat-egy, Enkla Elbolaget came to the conclusion that it was necessary to identify another solution to simplify its current processes.

Enkla Elbolaget’s parent company, Dala Kraft, has been a valued customer of OpenText for the past 10 years, and during an inves-tigative project with local consulting firm, Knowit, Enkla Elbolaget concluded that OpenText Exstream (formerly StreamServe) would be the best solution to meet their needs. They quickly determined that Exstream would solve Enkla Elbolaget’s business challenges, provide the simplified invoicing system they desired and increase their customer service capabilities. Thomas Anderson, IT manager at Enkla Elbolaget explained, “With Dala Kraft’s experience and Knowit’s product knowledge, we knew Exstream would have an excellent chance of success. To be honest, I still don’t think I can name a competitor for Exstream.”

A seamless integrationEnkla Elbolaget use Microsoft

®

Dynamics®

AX as an enterprise business system, together with Xellent’s leading CIS/Billing and Work Management module. The solution, used by 10-15 percent of Swedish electricity providers, supports and streamlines Enkla Elbolaget’s meter-to-cash business processes. Integrated with an in-house application that serves as a document engine using web services based on Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), Exstream easily adapted to integrate with the in-house system, Microsoft Dynamics AX and Xellent. Exstream also exchanges information between all of the systems.

Since the implementation, Enkla Elbolaget has furthered its inte-gration with the introduction of OpenText Exstream’s StoryBoard and ReTouch, two components of the Exstream Platform. The company’s consultants use StoryBoard to design the layout for business documents and the marketing department uses ReTouch daily to distribute personalized marketing messages.

Reducing paper and introducing green initiativesEnkla Elbolaget was producing approximately one million docu-ments per year, most of which were customer confirmations and monthly invoices. As a company with a strong green, environmen-tal culture, it was essential to reduce paper use. With Exstream, all confirmation documents are now sent to customers via email with an attached PDF file. Customers can also choose how their monthly invoice is sent to them—either by email, via their web login or have it printed and posted. Print fulfilment is handled by a print bureau, further reducing the workload on Enkla Elbo-laget. Regardless of the channel, the invoice is presented exactly the same visually, so customers will be familiar with the layout. Through this implementation, Enkla Elbolaget greatly reduced the amount of paper used, as well as the manual interaction in both billing and customer confirmations.

In order to further reduce the company’s effect on the environ-ment, Enkla Elbolaget redesigned their invoices to be distributed in an environmentally friendly back-fold instead of an envelope, which further reduces paper use. Not only does this green initia-tive differentiate Enkla Elbolaget from the competition, but it also completely removes window envelopes from their communica-tions, which are difficult to recycle. Printed invoices contain only the headline information and, should customers require more detail, this can be obtained online. Enkla Elbolaget also imple-mented an Apple

®

iPhone®

application that customers can use to view information and interact with their supplier.

OpenText Exstream Collector is used to store all the information that may be needed now or in the future. This archive is accessed and the information displayed in the appropriate manner depend-ing on the means of access for customers, ensuring a consistent and complete view of their data. Knowit developed a webservice to access Exstream Collector to serve requests for documenta-tion. This is a repeatable solution and could be deployed for other OpenText customers.

“We knew OpenText Exstream would have an excellent chance of success. To be honest, I still don’t think I can name a competitor for Exstream.”THOMAS ANDERSON, IT MANAGER, ENKLA ELBOLAGET

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Giving customers a voiceThe invoice itself has also been simplified and customers have the ability to redesign and add information to their own invoice. “My Portal,” an online service from Enkla Elbolaget, allows custom-ers to select which information they wish to add to their invoice. The original layout includes the amount to pay and the consump-tion, but customers can add information such as the current price and period for the contract, a diagram for the customer’s monthly consumption and meter readings. At the end of this process, Exstream generates the invoice, giving customers a consolidated view of their chosen information.

Giving customers the ability to personalize their invoice contrib-utes to Enkla Elbolaget’s business strategy. Exstream allows Enkla Elbolaget to provide customers the level information they desire, as customers are now given a simple invoice with only the required information but can tailor the information to their needs.

Managing change with personalized customer serviceThe new invoice system was a radical change from previ-ous designs, as well as from competitor invoices. Enkla Elbo-laget customers responded positively to the change and to the improved customer service capabilities. Using Exstream, key account managers’ details appear on customers’ invoices, allow-ing customers to contact them directly and personally. In an industry with many wholesalers and customers, it is important for customers to feel noticed and not lost among the masses.

Since simplifying their invoices, the organization has experi-enced a significant decline in calls to customer support regard-ing their invoice. Also, with the new system, customers feel a sense of brand loyalty and market differentiation as a result of the simple and personalized system. Anderson explained, “It’s all about being personal. In our industry, invoices are, by default, the primary contact with customers, so it is essential for customers to have a specific contact person. With Exstream, customers better understand the invoice, saving incoming calls for the benefit of more important sales calls.”

Future developmentsFollowing the successful deployment of the OpenText solution, Enkla Elbolaget has integrated Exstream into the company’s business model to provide the foundation for the uncomplicated invoice, reflecting the Enkla Elbolaget brand. Anderson is confi-dent that the simplified processes will increase their customer base; he said, “As our brand gets more attention, the market can realize the benefits of our easy-to-understand invoice, which, in the end, will give us more customers.”

Enkla Elbolaget is currently planning a new development for the coming year, continuing their strong partnership with Knowit. “We were very satisfied with their work, and they gave us progressive input for developing both Exstream and our own platform to meet our new business needs. Knowit and OpenText provide the inno-vation to exceed any challenges,” concludes Anderson.