Interview: Q&A on the Go Live of the Copperleaf Suite at VISUE in Denmark

The Copperleaf^® Decision Analytics solution is now live at VISUE. We spoke to Claus Lund, CEO of VISUE, and Fin Jennrich, Copperleaf’s Regional Lead, Central Europe, to get their thoughts on the implementation and how it has helped VISUE on its asset management journey.

Can you share a little bit about VISUE and why you selected Copperleaf?  

Claus: “VISUE is not a utility company; we are an organisation that provides Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) and IT Security Services to 13 distribution system operators (DSOs) in Denmark. We’re the only service provider in Denmark that does this.

The DSOs were looking for a solution that would enable them to plan investments and manage risk in a streamlined and optimised way. With the implementation of the Copperleaf Decision Analytics Solution, this is now a service that VISUE can offer.”

What were your main goals for this project?

Claus: “The electricity sector needs to be able to optimise investments as the infrastructure gets older. The importance of investing in the right thing at the right time has become mission critical.

With the previous system, it was very difficult for DSOs to explore multiple investment scenarios, and get a complete understanding of how different funding and resource levels and timing will impact asset reliability and performance. With the Copperleaf Suite, we have a complete view and are confident that all investments are in one system for stakeholders to collaborate on.”

Fin: “With the Copperleaf Suite, the participating DSOs can streamline and optimise their investment decision making and manage their asset risk exposure more effectively. Each DSO has its own system, but with a shared configuration that leverages the UK Common Network Asset Indices Methodology (CNAIM).”

With the Copperleaf Suite, we have a complete view and are confident that all investments are in one system for stakeholders to collaborate on.

Claus Lund
CEO
Visue

What were the key things you felt made the project successful?

Claus: “Asset Investment Planning and Management (AIPM) is a completely new discipline for the DSO participants; their high engagement and openness, as well as Copperleaf’s support, were the key things that made this project successful.”

Fin: “Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, we only had two in-person meetings at the beginning of the project before switching to a remote delivery model. I think both the flexibility and responsiveness of the project team, paired with frequent, short, focused, and well-prepared meetings, made the project a success.”

Were there any lessons learned?

Fin: “CNAIM is a great but complex model that was developed by the DSOs in Great Britain to meet regulatory requirements for a common reporting mechanism. Making it fit the Danish market requirements was challenging, especially since we didn`t always have enough statistical data to clearly justify changes to standard parameters of the model. By extensively testing our changes, we learned that we didn`t need to adjust everything up front. Instead, some of the standard parameters are sufficient to start with and can be reviewed and updated later.”

Claus: “Remote workshops and training are more intensive and require greater coordination, planning, and feedback to ensure everybody is aligned.”

What are the key benefits you think you’ll get out of implementing the Copperleaf Suite?

Claus: “The Copperleaf Suite will help DSO’s invest in the right things at the right time! It will also provide valuable support for budgeting across 3-5- and 5-15-year planning cycles that consider both economic and human resources.”

Fin: “Our solution will provide a completely new level of transparency around costs, risks, resource usage, and other parameters, like the System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI). Paired with the capability to develop, optimise, and compare different what-if scenarios, the DSOs will be able to make better decisions, and justify those decisions, resulting in higher value for their businesses.”

Have there been any other added benefits?

Claus: “I think the DSOs realised that IT support of asset management is only a small part of the picture. Streamlining processes and preparing the organisation for a new way of investment decision making and project management is the more important part of this journey.”

Fin: “I believe the DSOs have learned a lot about risk-based asset management and decision making throughout the project. These lessons will impact the way they manage their businesses holistically, even beyond investment planning.”

The Copperleaf Suite will provide a completely new level of transparency around costs, risks, resource usage, and other parameters. Paired with the capability to develop, optimise, and compare different what-if scenarios, the DSOs will be able to make better decisions, and justify those decisions, resulting in higher value for their businesses.

Fin Jennrich
Regional Lead
Copperleaf Central Europe

What’s next on your asset management journey?

Claus: “We strongly believe that the Copperleaf solution can meet our current and future needs. The roadmap Copperleaf has created, and the way it is shaped through client input, is a great strength of the system today and in the future. In addition, we know there are other capabilities that we can add if and when the need arises. It is reassuring to know that we won’t have to go to a third-party supplier as our business needs evolve.”

Fin: “We have jointly finished the first phase of the implementation, focusing on a specific set of asset types. In future phases, VISUE will take the driver’s seat and expand the coverage of asset types in conjunction with the DSOs.”

How would you describe the experience you had working with Copperleaf? 

Claus: “Copperleaf was very professional; from the sales process through to implementation, we were extremely impressed by the team’s precision and competence.”

What’s one word you would use to describe what it was like working with Copperleaf?

Claus: “Committed!

Sometimes a vendor/supplier can be interested in your company only to sell their product and then over time, their commitment might fall. With Copperleaf, we have had the same level of commitment throughout all phases, and I think this is unique.”

Learn more about how Copperleaf clients have been able to improve their business outcomes in our client success stories.