TMNG Global Improves Error Management and Quality Control for Energy Retailer

Challenge

A competitive energy retailer’s largest customer’s billing operation was engulfed in a state of chaos resulting in a severe billing backlog, representing over $200 million. This backlog resulted from a conversion by the energy retailer of its large and contract accounts to a new billing system that was completed without proper testing prior to conversion. A billing and revenue recovery team was established to focus on reducing the billing backlog and to identify and eliminate revenue leakage. TMNG Global was engaged to manage two critical functions on the team—error management and quality control.

TMNG Global Solution

The billing and revenue recovery team’s mission was to reach a managed state through implementation of sound business practices and methods and procedures while working to reduce the backlog. The mission included specific objectives. First, the team performed an analysis of the overall billing operation and identified areas where revenue was at risk. The team generated invoices sufficient to induce payment and identified gaps in the processes and resolved them. The team was expected to increase cash flow by performing root cause analysis on high impact issues and implementing irreversible corrective action to stop the revenue leakage. The team then established business rules for all critical issues as well as methods and procedures for all critical billing processes. In addition, the team developed training specific to the billing operations organization and completed training in each area. Finally, the team identified system enhancements to alleviate manual intervention.

In the area of error management, TMNG Global worked alongside the manager of the function to create a new methodology for grouping like errors into “error families.” This facilitated a much better understanding of error dependencies and redundancies not understood before. It also enabled the client to identify errors at their origin. To address the client’s quality control issues, we worked with the manager of the function to revamp the processes for correcting invoices in error.

Benefits to the Client

The client benefited from improvements in both its error management and quality control functions. Specifically, errors can now be corrected in a more timely fashion and duplication of work has been eliminated. The client now has accurate counts of errors and percentages that are meaningful and root cause analysis can now be completed at the origin of the error. Quality control improvements included the establishment of metrics and measures that are focused on getting results versus “peg counting,” improved overall accuracy and timeliness, and prioritization of work that ensures revenue is the key criteria.