2020 Copperleaf UK AIPM Forum – A Digital Success!

On March 27, Copperleaf™ hosted our first online UK AIPM Forum, which brought together almost 60 thought leaders in the Asset Investment Planning and Management (AIPM) community, from across the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Network. Share. Learn…While Staying Safe

Although we originally planned the Forum as an in-person event in London, the COVID-19 virus pandemic forced us to quickly transform this annual event into a digital format. The Copperleaf team worked hard to ensure that the AIPM community did not miss out on the opportunity to hear from industry thought leaders about the challenges they are facing, and how they are overcoming these challenges with the help of Copperleaf. A first-time attendee commented:

Given the strange times we are in, the online conference event was expertly pulled off by Copperleaf in such a short time. We were all relaxed, at home, watching the experts talk passionately about their software and chatting together as peers. Being new to Copperleaf’s capabilities, it was great to hear from current users and the difference it has made to their business.

Thought Leader Insights

An integral part of the Forum is connecting organisations from the energy, water, government, and transportation industries, to facilitate cross-sector knowledge sharing.

Anglian Water is the largest water and water recycling company in England and Wales by geographic area. Chris Royce, Head of Strategic Investment Management, explained how partnering with Copperleaf has helped Anglian Water achieve greater alignment and transparency across the company on how spending decisions are linked to financial, customer, environmental, and safety objectives. Having a single system with one version of data has also increased productivity and confidence in planning processes.

National Grid Gas Transmission (NGGT) manages and operates the national gas transmission in Great Britain with a network of approximately 7,660 kilometers of high-pressure pipe and 618 above-ground installations. Neil Tansley, Asset Modeling Manager at NGGT, shared how C55 has replaced its previous asset risk management solution and is being used to support its integrated end-to-end portfolio planning and investment governance processes.

National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET), owner of the high-voltage electricity network in England and Wales, co-developed a unique ‘Intelligent Bundling’ capability with Copperleaf to minimise circuit outage requirements across its entire network. Stewart Whyte, Optimisation Manager at NGET, presented how this circuit optimisation capability is helping the company save costs by reducing the number of outages, and increase the amount of work that can be accomplished by maximizing the use of critical resources.

Northern Gas Networks (NGN) is a gas distribution company serving over 2.7 million homes and businesses in the North East, Northern Cumbria, and much of Yorkshire, England. Liam Parling from the asset risk & strategy department at NGN, led a session on how C55 has impacted their business as well as the key lessons learned throughout the project. Attendees also learned how NGN’s partnership with Copperleaf has enabled the company to implement value-based decision making and improve its asset management and decision support capability.

Value Framework Roundtable Discussions

Following the guest speaker presentations, Copperleaf facilitated breakout discussions on the topic of “value” and what that term means to different people. Participants from different departments, organisations, and industries were combined into virtual breakout rooms for engaging and interactive discussions.

Product experts from Copperleaf explained how the Copperleaf Value Framework helps clients objectively compare investments, quantify the benefits, and gain agreement on the value of those benefits. We shared real-world examples of what a value framework within C55 looks like, and how it helps drive business benefits to clients. Another attendee commented:

The Copperleaf team delivered real insight into the challenges and solutions around asset management in a virtual way that was fun and engaging.

The value framework discussions offered an opportunity to address questions such as:

• Does your organisation have a ‘visual’ for communicating strategic objectives?
• Do you link your organisation’s strategic objectives to measurable KPIs or value measures?
• Are your decision-making criteria the same for annual/regulatory planning and in-year or in-period investment approvals?

Wrapping up the day, Gabriel Lessard-Kragen, Director of Product Management at Copperleaf, provided attendees with an exclusive look at the Copperleaf product roadmap, including new features, initiatives, and products in the development pipeline. Copperleaf clients across the globe will have the opportunity to provide input on these features in the 2020 Copperleaf Online AIPM Summit, taking place May 5-7, 2020.

The digital UK AIPM Forum was a great success. Thank you to all our valued clients for sharing their experiences and input, and helping the AIPM community grow stronger together.

Stefan Sadnicki
EMEA Managing Director
Copperleaf

If you missed the event and would like to speak to one of our product experts, please reach out to us.

Our next European event, the Nordic Online AIPM Forum, will be held on 28 April 2020. Please visit the event page or contact us  for more information.