The Japanese Electricity & Gas Industry is experiencing a period of upheaval not seen since its inception. In the wake of the Fukushima Tragedy, the government is resetting the rules around nuclear power and opening the market to competition. The latter of these initiatives, known as market liberalization, will be completed in two critical steps. Full retail competition will commence in 2016 and legal unbundling of the vertical companies will occur in 2018.
SAP is committed to becoming the industry standard business platform to provide consumers the right to choose their provider, deliver a diverse range of products and services and lower costs to businesses and consumers.
SAP can play an important role in helping the industry adapt to a new business model, become more efficient, and deliver against core obligations. By moving to a single integrated technology platform “SAP for Utilities”, the Japanese industry players will align to the new requirements and processes of the competitive market as they arise, without the delays that bespoke and legacy systems can suffer.
This is because SAP platforms have embedded these into the software. SAP allows them to adopt a platform for entrepreneurial flexibility, so they can embrace market change, and these systems can readily accommodate unbundling, or business separation. Further, it allows them to join a global network of hundreds SAP customers with similar goals and aspirations.
SAP can support Japanese utilities in achieving these benefits with:
- A network of more than 2,500 companies in the global utility industry
- Standard software developed for the industry’s core business functions, including CRM, Billing and Market exchange systems
- SAP consultants and a strong partner network specialized in the industry can support a large number of transformation projects
- Value engineering methodology, including benchmarking with peers/competitors and a business case to support business process and Key Performance Indicator (KPI) improvement
SAP will assist the industry to ensure that the transformation follows a value focused approach, ensuring that new innovative capability delivers immediate business value, delivers ongoing simplification and ensures Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) reduction.
