Utility operations
Talk to our utility operations expertsBuild more productive, resilient utility operations
Utility organizations are being asked to maintain reliable service while managing aging infrastructure, workforce shortages, rising costs and increasingly complex networks.
Adding more people is not always the answer.
Platned helps utilities make better use of their existing workforce, assets and operational information. With IFS Cloud, Field Service Management and Planning and Scheduling Optimization, organizations can connect field operations, improve productivity and respond faster when priorities change.
Get more from your existing workforce
Skilled utility workers are becoming harder to recruit, while experienced engineers are retiring. At the same time, teams are expected to manage growing workloads without compromising reliability or customer service.
Every unnecessary journey, repeat visit, scheduling delay or missing piece of information reduces productive capacity.
Platned helps utilities identify where time and resources are being lost and build a practical plan for improving workforce performance.
Improve planning and scheduling
Utility operations rarely go exactly to plan. Outages, emergency work, weather and changing priorities can quickly disrupt schedules.
IFS Planning and Scheduling Optimization helps continuously optimize work based on technician skills, availability, location, priority and changing operational conditions.
This can help utilities:
- Complete more jobs using existing workforce capacity.
- Reduce unnecessary technician travel.
- Respond faster to priority work.
- Improve technician productivity.
- Balance planned and reactive maintenance.
Rather than creating a static schedule, organizations can continually adjust operations as circumstances change.
Connect your field operations
When planning, dispatch, asset management, inventory and field teams rely on disconnected systems, employees often have to bridge the gaps manually.
IFS Field Service Management helps connect these processes and provide planners, dispatchers, technicians and operational leaders with consistent information.
This can support better scheduling, real-time job updates, improved inventory visibility and faster work completion, while giving field teams the information they need to complete jobs correctly the first time.
Find the capacity you already have
Before increasing headcount, overtime or contractor spending, utilities should understand how much capacity could be released from their existing operation.
Productive time can be lost through unnecessary travel, repeat visits, poor skills allocation, missing information, manual administration and reactive scheduling.
Removing this operational friction can help utilities complete more work without a corresponding increase in resources.
Measure the operational impact
Workforce optimization should deliver measurable improvements.
Organizations using IFS Planning and Scheduling Optimization have reported average improvements including:
These results show the potential of better planning and scheduling to release capacity, improve service and control operating costs.
How Platned can help
Every utility operates differently. Platned starts by understanding how your operation works today and where the greatest opportunities for improvement exist.
We can help you:
- Assess current workforce and operational performance.
- Implement IFS Field Service Management.
- Implement and optimize IFS Planning and Scheduling Optimization.
- Connect workforce, asset and operational processes through IFS Cloud.
- Optimize existing IFS environments.
- Support continuous operational improvement.
As an IFS Specialized Partner, Platned combines IFS expertise with practical experience of complex, asset-intensive operations.
Frequently asked questions
How can utilities improve field workforce productivity?
Utilities can improve productivity by reducing unnecessary travel, repeat visits, manual administration and scheduling delays. Better access to operational and asset information also helps technicians arrive prepared and complete more jobs successfully the first time.
How does IFS Field Service Management support utility operations?
IFS Field Service Management helps connect planning, scheduling, dispatch, mobile workers and operational information. This gives utilities greater visibility across field operations and helps teams respond more effectively to planned work, customer requirements and unexpected events.
What is Planning and Scheduling Optimisation?
Planning and Scheduling Optimisation helps utilities allocate work based on factors such as technician skills, availability, location and job priority. Schedules can adapt as circumstances change, helping organisations manage emergency work alongside planned maintenance and existing commitments.
How can Platned help improve utility operations?
Platned works with utilities to understand how their current workforce and field operations perform, identify where capacity is being lost and prioritise opportunities for improvement. As an IFS Specialized Partner, Platned can also implement and optimise IFS Field Service Management and Planning and Scheduling Optimisation to support longer-term operational improvement.
