Sequel Group Streamlines Gas Meter Inspection Process
Company Size
1,000+
Region
- America
Country
- United States
Product
- Fulcrum
- Maestro
Tech Stack
- API
- Computer Vision Optical Character Recognition
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Customer Satisfaction
- Productivity Improvements
Technology Category
- Analytics & Modeling - Computer Vision Software
- Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Connectivity Platforms
Applicable Industries
- Utilities
Applicable Functions
- Field Services
- Maintenance
Use Cases
- Predictive Maintenance
- Remote Asset Management
Services
- System Integration
- Training
About The Customer
The customer is a major gas utility company located in the northeastern United States. The company is responsible for the operation and maintenance of approximately 2.1 million gas meters. The company was faced with the challenge of complying with expanded mandated natural gas meter inspection requirements announced by the Public Service Commission (PSC). The company needed to physically inspect all of their gas meters and provide photographic evidence to the PSC that the inspections had been completed. The company's current data collection process was inefficient and error-prone, with data collected on paper and digitized, leading to numerous misspellings, omissions, and typos.
The Challenge
A major gas utility in the northeastern United States was faced with the daunting task of physically inspecting all of their approximately 2.1 million gas meters to comply with expanded mandated natural gas meter inspection requirements announced by the Public Service Commission (PSC). The utility had to locate all the meters, inspect them to ensure they were in good working order, and take photos to verify to the PSC that the inspections had been completed. The utility's current data was collected on paper and digitized, but it was rife with misspellings, omissions, typos, and there was no established nomenclature. The utility needed a digital workflow that would get everyone on the same page, eliminate inefficiencies, and enable the field techs to work a lot faster.
The Solution
Sequel leveraged Fulcrum to create a solution for the utility that would streamline the process of scheduling and conducting inspections. They first standardized all of the utility’s current data, which had been collected on paper and digitized. Sequel then uploaded the cleaned and standardized data into Fulcrum and built the inspection app according to the utility’s requirements. They also built a custom dispatch program for assigning inspections to their techs and subcontractors in bulk, called Maestro. Maestro communicates with Fulcrum via the API, so once a record is assigned to a tech, the status automatically changes in the Fulcrum app. They also integrated Fulcrum with computer vision optical character recognition, so when techs photograph a gas meter, the serial number and manufacturer information auto-populates in the app. Finally, they integrated the utility’s communication system with Fulcrum, so each attempt to reach a customer would be fully documented for the PSC, and when a customer scheduled an appointment to have their gas meter inspected, that record would be automatically updated in the app.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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