Device Management

Contents

• High Level Data Model

• Technical Master Data
• Devices
• Meter Reading Process
 Data Model

Technical Master Data Business Master Data

Connection Business
Object Partner

Device Contract
Premise
Location Account

Utility Contract
Move-in/ Move-out
Installation

Device
 Connection Object

Installation # Contract # Premise = Apartment 1

Apartment 2
Device 1 1
Location Water Meter Water
#1

Business Partner
Hall
Installation # Contract #
Contract
2 2
Account
Gas Gas

Apartment 3
Device
Location
#2 Installation # Contract #
Basemnt 3 3
Electricity Electricity
Service Connection Water
Service Connection Gas
Service Connection Electricity
 Technical Master Data
• Connection Object
• Premise
• Device Location
• Utility Installation
 Connection Object

• A connection object is usually a building, but it can also be a

property or other entity such as a fountain, construction site, cattle
trough etc.
• A functional location in Plant Maintenance is created
automatically when the Connection Object is created, sharing the
same number or key.
 Create Connection Object

Menu Path: Utilities Industry Technical Master Data  Connection Object

 Create
Transaction Codes: ES55: Create Connection Object
ES56: Change Connection Object
ES57: Display Connection Object
Steps:
1. Call transaction Code: ES55
2. Click Enter and then: Enter address information
3. SAVE: the connection object and a corresponding functional
location is created in Plant Maintenance.
 Premise
• A premise is an enclosed spatial unit (such as an apartment or
suite) to which a utility service is supplied.
• Several installations can be allocated to one premise (for
different divisions: water and wastewater, for example).
• The premise is allocated to a connection object and contains
the address of that connection object.
• You can maintain additional data about the location of the
premise (for example, which floor).
• Premise types are used for describing the nature or type of use
of the unit. (Commercial, Domestic, Mixed)
 Create Premise

Menu Path: Utilities Industry  Technical Master Data  Premise  Create

Transaction Codes ES60: Create Premise

ES61: Change Premise
ES62: Display Premise
Steps:
1. Call transaction code: ES60
2. Enter the connection object number on the next screen after clicking
Enter.
3. Enter additional address details: apartment number in the house
number supplement field
4. Enter a premise type
5. SAVE
 Device Location
• The device location is a place within a connection object where
devices are installed.
• The device location is allocated the address of the connection
object and premise
• Contains a description to define the exact location of the devices.
This means that you can use the device location to locate an
installed device.
• A functional location in PM is created automatically when the
Device Location is created, sharing the same number or key.
 Create Device Location

Menu Path: Utilities Industry  Technical Master Data  Device Location

 Create

Transaction Codes: ES65: Create Device Location

ES66: Change Device Location
ES67: Display Device Location
Steps:
1. Call transaction code: ES65
2. Enter the connection object and premise number on the second screen
after clicking Enter.
3. Enter additional information as needed to identify specific data about
a meter or its actual placement
4. Enter Notes to the meter reader for the download
5. SAVE
 Utility Installation
• The connection between the premise, devices, and contracts is
referred to as a “utility installation” (or “installation” for short).
• contains data relevant to billing contracts, for example the rate
category and installation facts
• An Installation is assigned to a Meter Reading Unit (MRU), This
determines the meter reading dates for the Meter / Device
• The MRU links the installation to a Portion where the billing
dates are defined.
• Rate Categories are stored in the installation. These determine
the relevant rates used for bill calculations
 Create Installation(s):

Menu Path: Utilities Industry  Technical Master Data  Installation 

Create
Transaction Codes: ES30: Create Installation
ES31: Change Installation
ES32: Display Installation
Steps:
1. An installation will be created for each service needed: water, fire and wastewater.
2. Call transaction code: ES30
3. Enter a key date (as far back in time as needed for any activity)
4. Enter the appropriate division: note: this is the only technical master data object to be
division specific.
5. Press Enter
6. Enter the premise number on the next screen
7. Enter the time dependent data needed: billing class, rate category and MRU.
8. Enter a MR Control group
9. Enter an installation type and supply guarantee reason as needed.
10. SAVE
 Connection Object Data Environment

SAP Utilities  Customer Service  Customer Information  Connection Object Environment

Premise Data Environment
Installation Data Environment
Business Model

Business Partner

Contract Account

Contract
(Water)

Utility Installation D ev ice

Premise Dev iceLocation

C onnection
Object
DEVICES
 Device Hierarchy

Device Category

Device

Register
 Device Categories
SAP Definition:
The device category groups together devices (meters) with the same
features.
Southern Water’s naming convention for device categories is a
concatenation of:
• Meter Make
• Meter Size
• Number of Dials
• Meter Type
For Example a 5 dial, kent, 25mm, MSM device would exist in
device category KE-25-M5-MSM
 Device
SAP Definition:
A Device is an instrument that is used to measure consumption,
process data or control and protect other instruments.
Devices are managed in the Plant Maintenance (PM) application
component as pieces of equipment.
Holds the following data items:
• Serial Number
• Status
• Production Year
• Manufacturer
• Model Number
• Register Group
 Register
SAP Definition:
A device that meters consumption, energy, and so on.
This can refer to the actual instrument or simply the display in an
electronic device.
Used to record the actual consumption
The register reading is used in the calculation of the bill
A Register can be part of a “Register Relationship” such as
Main/Sub relationship
 Device Installation

Three types of Device Installation within SAP:

Technical Installation:
SAP Easy Access  Utilities Industry  Device Management  Device Installation 
Installation  Technical Installation (Transaction EG33)

Billing Related Installation:

SAP Easy Access  Utilities Industry  Device Management  Device Installation 
Installation  Billing Related (Transaction EG34)

Full Installation:
SAP Easy Access  Utilities Industry  Device Management  Device Installation 
Installation  Full (Transaction EG31)
 Technical Installation Only

Use this option if a meter is not to be billed. This applies if the

meter is a control meter or if it belongs to the utility company.
There can only be one technical installation of a device at any
given time.

The technical installation is performed at the device location

level.

The device location is a functional location in the PM module. It

contains details about the actual location of the meter at the
premise and can include notes for use by the field service
technicians.
 Billing Related Installation

Use this option in the following cases:

• If meters in an apartment building are installed first and allocated

to specific apartments later.
• If the two steps are handled by different agents.
 Full Installation

This will be used for the majority of installations within Southern

Water.
This transaction allows for the device to be both Technically and
Billing Installed at the same time.
 Reversal Meter (Device) Installation
When an error has been identified, the installation process must be
reversed to provide a clean environment for the correction.
Although the installation can be completed in a single step (Full
Installation EG31), the reversal is a two step process.
The billing related installation is reversed using transaction EG35.
The installation is reversed using the same date as the installation
date.
SAP Easy Access  Utilities Industry  Device Management  Device Installation 
Removal  Billing Related (Transaction EG35)
The technical installation is reversed using transaction EG51.
SAP Easy Access  Utilities Industry  Device Management  Device Installation 
Installation  Technical Reversal (Transaction EG51)
 Device Removal
Like the device installation process there are also three different type
of device removal within SAP:
Technical Removal:
SAP Easy Access  Utilities Industry  Device Management  Device Installation 
Removal  Technical (Transaction EG36)

Billing Related Removal:

SAP Easy Access  Utilities Industry  Device Management  Device Installation 
Removal  Billing-Related (Transaction EG35)

Full Removal:
SAP Easy Access  Utilities Industry  Device Management  Device Installation 
Removal  Full (Transaction EG32)
 Technical Removal

Technical removal is used to remove the device from its allocation to

the device location.
If the removal process is executed in its separate components: billing
related and technical removal, then the billing related removals must
be performed first.
Technical removal is performed using the device location object.
Billing Related Removal

Billing related removal is performed at the installation level.

It is also used as the first step in a meter reversal process.
 Full Removal
A full removal processes both the billing related removal and the technical
removal in a single step process. This removes the device from the
installation for billing purposes and from the device location technically
You can enter the meter reading recorded at the time of removal.
When the Device is removed from an Installation Object, the system status
of the Device changes from INST (installed) to AVLB (Available).
Naturally, as the Device is no longer installed at the Installation Object, all
links previously inherited by the Device from the Installation Object are
broken. (Links such as such as Billing related data (Rates), Meter Reading
groups (MRU) are dynamically severed.
Additionally, each time a Device changes its system status, a new time slice
is created and held directly against the device. These time slices holds all
historical information and enable the user view all previous installation
history.
 Reversal of a Removal

If the removal should not have been performed at all, the move-out
processed must be reversed as well.
The technical removal is reversed using transaction code: EG52.
SAP Easy Access  Utilities Industry  Device Management  Device Installation 
Replacement  Technical Reversal (Transaction EG52)
Once the meter is physically re-installed, it must be installed for
billing purposes.
The billing related installation EG34 is executed to enter the rate data
needed.
SAP Easy Access  Utilities Industry  Device Management  Device Installation 
Installation  Billing Related (Transaction EG34)
Additional processing might be needed depending on the specific
conditions of the account.
Meter Reading Process
Meter Reading Overview
Meter Reading Cycle

Periodic Meter Non-Periodic

Reading Order Meter Reading
created Order created

Meter Reading
order downloaded
(10)

Meter Reading
Orders flow to
MVP

Meter Reading
done in MVP

Meter Reading
uploaded into SAP
 Grouping of Meters for Reading Purposes

All metered Properties are subject to cyclic reading either Half

Yearly, Quarterly or Monthly.
To facilitate the efficient scheduling and collection of meter readings
all metered properties must be logically grouped.
In SAP the grouping of metered properties is done at 2 levels:
Portion
Meter Reading Unit (MRU)
 Portion

Portions are the equivalent of billing cycles, they combine contracts

that are to be billed together, and contain dates for billing.
Within the Southern Water Implementation there will be:
26 Annual portions (Read either half yearly or quarterly) - PMA01
1 Monthly Portion - PMM01
11 Unmeasured Portions - PUABN
 Meter Reading Unit (MRU)
Meter reading units group customer accounts together according to
regional criteria. They contain all the data relevant to the scheduling
of the meter reading.
Within Southern Water the MRU will be based on the postcode
sector and named as follows:

Characters 1-5 are the postcode sector

Character 6 is the sequence within the sector
Character 7 is the read frequency
Character 8 is the owning utility

e.g. TN341NHS will contain properties that reside in the ‘TN34 1’ postcode sector,
are half yearly read by Southern Water.
ME138BQE will contain properties that reside in the ‘ME13 8’ postcode
sector, are quarterly read by Mid Kent.
 Scheduling

Based on the dates set up in the portion, schedule records are

generated for all MRU’s
When the download date associated with an MRU is reached Meter
Reading Orders and Billing Orders are generated automatically and
the devices to be read are downloaded to MVP.
Each night a file of meter readings is uploaded from MVP, these are
matched to open Meter Reading Orders and a bill produced
 Reading related activity
Reading Types:
Periodic - Scheduled Cyclic Reading
Non Periodic - Event Driven such as Move In / Move Out
Readings may be received with a ‘trouble code’ entered by the meter
reader which may require further investigation (Water in Pit, Broken
Glass etc.)
Readings may be received with operational notes (Nasty Dog, Specific
directions to meter location etc.)
Readings may be sent with an associated service order
Readings may be sent with special instructions (Must Read etc.)
 Meter Reading Validation

All readings are validated using standard SAP validation rules.

Any readings that fail validation will be marked as ‘Implausible’ - the
business need to review all implausible readings and either ‘Release’
for billing or enter a corrected reading.
All readings that pass validation will automatically be considered as
‘Plausible’ and bill (If appropriate)
 Estimation
If a periodic reading has not arrived by the time the bill period end
date is reached an estimated reading will be generated and a bill
produced based on the estimate.
Estimated read will not be produced for installations marked as
‘Must Read’.
The estimate will be calculated using standard SAP functionality
based on previous meter reading history.
If insufficient history exists then the estimate will be based on
periodic consumption.