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Plan Your Energy & Utilities Products
In an Energy & Utilities company, products typically consist of commodity and non-commodity items. Commodity items include services such as electricity, gas, or dual fuels which have associated standing charges and unit rates based on consumption. Non-commodity products are either physical devices, such as solar panels, which have a one-time charge associated with them, or services such as maintenance contracts that have a recurring charge associated with them.
The reference product model is designed keeping in view the needs of the Energy & Utilities industry. It includes product specifications commonly available in the current Energy and Utilities market. Before you start identifying the offered products for your utility company, understand the structure of the reference product catalog model and the product specifications that come preconfigured. This will help you to identify the components in the catalog model which you can reuse.
Identify this information about the products offered by your utility company:
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The commodity products offered.
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The cost components associated with the commodity products such as standing charges and unit rates.
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The factors used to determine the cost components of the offered services. These factors may include the distribution region, meter type, payment method, and so on. These factors form the attributes associated with the product.
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Any non-commodity products offered.
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The cost component associated with non-commodity products such as one-time charges, or monthly recurring.
Map Products to Reference Product Model
Map your offered products to the product specifications in the reference product model.
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Identify your products that align with or are the same as the products in the reference product model. For example, you may have a product called Green Future, and its specification aligns with Green Energy in the reference product model. In this case, you can simply rename Green Energy to Green Future.
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Identify the product specifications in the reference product model that you don't need and delete them. For example, if you do not offer any product that matches Prepaid Electricity, you can delete Prepaid Electricity from the reference product model.
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Identify the products that don't align with any product specifications in the reference product model, and add them. For example, you have a product Home Electricity Saver which does not match with any of the available product specifications in the product model. You can add a new product Home Electricity Saver and configure its pricing in the product model.
For each of these scenarios, understand the steps involved in customizing the application. See Add Product Specification to the Reference Product Model.
