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Field Force Commercial and Contract Management Support: $100m of Smart Meter Installations

The field services subsidiary of a large electricity distribution business needed to establish and manage field force contracts for the installation of 1.1 million smart meters. Baylink worked with the field services management team to establish and manage the required contracts. This was a key element in the execution of Australia’s largest and most successful smart meter program.

Situation

A field services subsidiary of a large electricity distribution business was responsible for the installation of 1.1 million Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) ‘smart’ meters over a four year period.

The scale of the mass rollout of ‘smart’ meters necessitated that the organisation engage field force contractor workforce of over 200 personnel to complete the meter installations. The outsourced field force model necessitated that the client have a high focus on contract and commercial management both at contract establishment and over the 4 year deployment period.

The client engaged Baylink to support it to establish and manage contracts with field force contractors, further to existing work to help it prepare for the installation of 1.1m ‘smart’ meters.

Objectives

The objectives of the Baylink engagement included to provide contract, commercial and management support to the client to:

  • Select field force contractors.
  • Establish suitable contracts with contractors.
  • Develop, maintain and manage commercial models.
  • Ensure effective contract management to achieve the client’s objectives.

APPROACH

Baylink worked with the client to select and engage field force contractors and establish practical contract management, including:

  • Commercial model development.
  • Outworking of tender evaluation to select
  • Contractors.
  • Contract scope of works and schedule development.
  • Supporting development and refinement of terms and conditions.
  • Ensuring a clear allocation of scope, costs and risks.
  • Structured and effective performance management of contracts.
  • Ensuring commercial management processes would be constructive and adaptable without exposing the program to inappropriate risks.
  • Continuous improvement of safety, quality, cost and deployment.

Over the life of the rollout Baylink provided commercial management of the field force contracts including:

  • Budget oversight & forecasting up to $45m per annum.
  • Negotiation of commercial variations.
  • Governance of contract administration and performance management.
  • Reporting of deployment, health, safety, environment and quality management outcomes.
  • Project management of capability upgrades and continuous improvement projects.

Results

Effective field force commercial management was a key element in the success of the client’s mass rollout of over 1.1m ‘smart’ meters. With an on-time and on-budget delivery of over $100m of contractor costs, industry-leading safety and customer satisfaction and no unresolved commercial disputes, it is widely recognised as the leading example of AMI mass deployment in the Australian utilities market.