Soluvia Energy Services: More than 250,000 individual transactions automated and the journey of automation continues

Soluvia Energy Services (SES), which launched its "automation journey" in 2018 as part of its digitalization strategy, provides proof of the added value of process automation. Software robots are already carrying out more than 250,000 individual transactions in over 80 processes at SES, which were previously carried out manually. As a result, process quality, efficiency, and transparency are increased. At the same time, it ensures considerable time and cost savings and therefore a rapid return on investment (ROI). The UiPath® AI-Powered Business Automation platform and cronos automation GmbH as an IT partner with RPA and industry expertise are key to the success of the automation.

It was obvious that there were plenty of opportunities for RPA automation. We just had to get started.

Maximilian Meinhardt • Head of Customer Experience and Digitalization Management at Soluvia Energy Services GmbH

Customer service was the starting point: the numerous recurring enquiry and input activities in particular offered an enormous scope for automation. A predetermined process was selected for the start, with the recording of meter readings, immediately followed by the recording of installment payments. Almost overnight, the manual entries associated with the process could be automated and employees relieved of having to do them.

New processes—often encountered in the energy industry due to constantly changing legal requirements—are also increasingly being introduced and scrutinized from the outset regarding their suitability for automation.

In the first two years after starting the initial project, a diverse range of RPA applications developed—from activities that are now able to replace previously time-consuming manual processes to completely new work steps for which there was previously no manual equivalent due to the time involved or which address previously unknown tasks due to new legal requirements.

The introduction of RPA at Soluvia Energy Services GmbH was accompanied by the MeKIDI research project for two years. The project, carried out by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and funded by the German Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, aims to develop AI-based solutions that take into account both the company's goals and the needs of employees.

The presentation of the results (German) offers many more insights into Soluvia's approach. In addition, another process that Soluvia is successfully mapping via RPA is presented in detail in the form of postal returns automation.

The journey continues: automation is currently in the realization phase for 25 comprehensive processes and is planned for a further 25. The number of robots is constantly being expanded for this purpose and to automate new or additional work steps. SES is also pooling its automation expertise in a shared services concept so that all MVV companies benefit equally. Organizational changes and structured idea management should help to drive RPA forward in the future and anchor it even more firmly in the specialist departments.

The experience we have gained over the last five years is now fuelling our RPA ambitions. The success of the strategy is evident for us over the longterm.

Partner:

With over 6 years of experience, cronos automation GmbH is a specialist in end-to-end Automation of business processes with different tools, e.g. RPA, document understanding, test automation, up to the use of AI, cronos automation is focused on increasing the degree of automation in companies. Read the full case study here on our partner cronos' website (German).