09/10/2021 | News release | Archived content
In a previous blog post, we explained the importance of True Reliability and how some foundational international standards help manufacturers build power meters that provide accurate data to be used in critical applications.
Having a truly reliable monitoring device is certainly the starting point for any business that relies on power availability, but it is certainly not enough. What use it is for engineers and facility managers to have access to highly accurate data if they can't understand what it means if they can't get real insight from that data?
That's the reason we believe advanced metering devices should not only be truly reliable devices but also, most importantly, they should provide information that helps users to achieve tangible results, information that is meaningful and actionable. That is where the true value lies.
There are quite a few examples of international standards that define limits for power quality parameters within an electrical network. Standards such as the popular IEEE 519 and EN 50160, for example. Most advanced metering devices report data using these standards as a reference, assessing parameters against limits defined by the standards, and alerting the users when their systems are operating outside those limits.
This works well in highly regulated environments, where electrical utilities are contractually required to provide a certain level of service to customers. But for most users, especially on the demand side (industries, commercial buildings, critical buildings, etc.), this assessment data provides only a partial picture of the overall system health. Here are a couple reasons why:
With the above in mind, it's a fair expectation that advanced metering devices should not only provide data defined by the international standards but also derive contextual actionable information that can drive tangible results and help users with what really matters:
Another important aspect that is accelerating the need for tangible results is related to the dynamics in the workforce and the work environment.
Modern workers often have many different responsibilities and do not have the time, or the need, to be as specialized in one subject matter as they were in the past. They need to juggle different priorities in a highly dynamic work environment, so they simply don't have the capacity to deal with data overload; they just need to know what to do and why. They expect intelligent devices and systems to help them in their work environment in a similar way that streaming services help them to choose meaningful content to consume.
Not only are workers changing, but businesses of all kinds are evolving at a similar pace. Product life cycles are shorter, customers are more engaged, information is more available than ever before. Agility is the new name of the game and nimble adaptation is essential.
This reality poses a few questions:
We believe the answers to the questions above are: Nobody, Yes, and Yes! But most metering manufacturers today are still leveraging the 'old approach'; building devices that produce a lot of data, but almost zero information for the non-specialist professional.
From our point of view, the path to tangible results needs to be built around two main principles:
These are exciting times for a traditional industry that has not seen much innovation in the last few years, but not a lot of manufacturers seemed to have fully grasped the opportunity. The challenge of today's meter manufacturer is to extract the value found in historic PQ assessments and evolve and adapt it to the changing needs of the modern grid & workforce.
One way this can be accomplished is by leveraging tools (like SW, AI & analytics) to extend the scope of these PQ assessments and to recast the historical pile-of-data into bite-sized actionable information. This 'bite-sized synthesis' approach will enable users to realize an improvement in their overall electrical distribution system health & performance. One of the benefits to focusing on delivering tangible results will come from the most 'intangible benefit' of them all … Customer satisfaction!
To learn more about the topics discussed here, please have a look at the information below: