Municipal utilities can now process and bill their e-mobility services directly from their SAP for Utilities (IS-U). To this end, rku.it GmbH has developed an interface that connects the industry-specific ERP solution with the ladenetz.de charging station information system from smartlab Innovationsgesellschaft GmbH. Following a successful pilot project at Nordhorner Versorgungsbetriebe GmbH (nvb), energy suppliers and their customers will benefit in the long term.
Aachen/Herne/Nordhorn, June 2020: Municipal utilities need an easy-to-use and transparent billing tool to meet the growing demand for e-mobility. "In anticipation of changing customer needs, we worked on a link between SAP IS-U and the charging information system from ladenetz.de at an early stage. With our development of an interface, it is now possible for municipal utilities to view all e-mobility data and process it uniformly in the existing system," explains Isabel Holzberger, Application Consultant at rku.it. This includes, for example, the charging and standing time of vehicles, the ID of the fuel card and petrol pump or the amount charged. "The standardised interface for exporting charging process data for billing purposes is a further step towards better integrating electromobility into the established processes of the energy industry," says Thomas Rahmen, Head of Product Development and Research at smartlab.
nvb is the first energy supplier in Germany to utilise the new billing option. "Due to our previous annual flat-rate billing, we saw a great need for action. As a customer-friendly supplier, we are very pleased to now be able to bill with transparency," explains Thorsten Zweers, Head of Shared Service at nvb. In addition to the technical connection, rku.it has successively prepared the energy supplier for the new functions by providing training and documentation on the billing processes.
SAP Convergent Invoicing is used as the basis for the invoicing processes. As it is fully integrated into nvb's system landscape, a centralised platform can continue to be used for billing. "Electricity, gas, water, telecommunications and now also e-mobility - controlling all of these via one system is sector coupling in practice for us," adds Zweers.
Integration into SAP IS-U also eliminates the need to synchronise customer master data. Data that has already been entered remains in high quality and the work involved in duplicate data storage is obsolete. This has far-reaching advantages for the consumer. A centralised system in the background means a single customer portal and one login for an overview of all services. "A win-win situation for energy suppliers and their customers. The unique interface is designed as a template solution, which is why we can integrate it quickly and securely into the system landscape of other joint customers of ladenetz.de and rku.it," summarises Timo Dell, Head of Sales and New Business Areas at rku.it and member of the Management Board, with a view to the future.
rku.it GmbH
As a service provider of IT solutions, rku.it has been offering reliable and future-oriented outsourcing and consulting services primarily in the utilities and transport industry since 1961. The portfolio ranges from the provision and operation of
IT infrastructures and cloud services through to application consulting and business process outsourcing based on a new IT platform. Over 130 companies rely on the services of the Herne-based SAP RUN and Microsoft Gold Partner.
www.rku-it.de
smartlab Innovationsgesellschaft mbH
smartlab develops innovative services, products and concepts for electromobility. The focus is always on the networking of charging infrastructure, as the aim is to create a nationwide network throughout Germany as well as Europe-wide interoperability with other market players. smartlab attaches particular importance to the user-friendliness of the mobility concepts, which is why it draws on practical experience from federally funded research projects. The shareholders of smartlab are Duisburger Versorgungs- und Verkehrsgesellschaft, erdgas schwaben, Stadtwerke Düsseldorf, Stadtwerke Osnabrück, STAWAG and Thüga.
http://www.ladenetz.de
nvb Nordhorner Versorgungsbetriebe GmbH
nvb GmbH is a modern energy supply company in the county of Bentheim. In addition to electricity, gas, water, heating and telecommunications, nvb offers many other energy-related services and is responsible for the infrastructure in Nordhorn and Niedergrafschaft as a network operator.
nvb sees itself as an "all-round supplier" and attaches great importance to a high level of supply security, favourable prices and comprehensive customer service in all areas.
In addition, nvb fulfils a high level of economic and socio-political responsibility for the region and supports many social institutions, sports clubs, schools and kindergartens.