Utilities today are squeezed across multiple priorities—including reliability, cost, and safety— and are facing increasing challenges related to labor shortages, regulatory scrutiny, and a post- COVID–19 hybrid work environment. Companies have generally taken on efforts to address their priorities individually, and this one-metric focus often leads to the inaccurate perception that there is a trade-off among reliability, cost, and safety. As a result, significant optimization improvements remain for those who are ready to take a more holistic, end-to-end approach. Our experience in process transformation efforts across utilities indicates that the largest drivers of execution waste relate to the initiation of work orders, planning and scheduling handoffs, and information silos. Many of these issues can be traced back to traditional work management processes, which rely heavily on many time- consuming and inconsistent manual processes. Smart scheduling involves analytics-powered algorithms and user-centric interfaces that can be deployed in a matter of months and within existing systems to build better, faster schedules. AI-enabled smart scheduling that efficiently matches resources with work can transform companies’ ability to drive long-needed improvements across multiple competing priorities. It can free up scheduler time, boost worker utilization, and increase productivity by 20 to
30 percent. These additional resources can then be used to reduce overtime, insource contractor spend, or reduce job backlogs. In our experience, successful deployment of smart- scheduling tools requires utility companies to learn five key lessons:
— Data are crucial but should not be a barrier to starting.
— Technology must work in conjunction with processes.
— Businesses must clearly specify their optimization criteria.
— Piloting, followed by intentionally scaling, a “light tech” scheduling solution is vital to increasing adoption.
— Solutions must be user-friendly and holistic.
Deploying new technologies can significantly improve scheduling In a previous, industry-agnostic article, we laid out how optimizing work management— starting with smart scheduling or scheduling optimization—can improve grid reliability, the efficiency of capital deployment, cost, safety, and employee engagement. 1
AI-enabled smart scheduling can transform companies’ ability to drive long-needed improvements across multiple competing priorities.
1 Jorge Amar, Sohrab Rahimi, Nicolai von Bismarck, and Akshar Wunnava, “Smart scheduling: How to solve workforce-planning challenges with AI,” McKinsey, November 1, 2022.
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