How Location Intelligence Can Help Utilities
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So-called location intelligence can help utilities in every sector address one of the key issues they are facing – the aging of the workforce and the related impending retirement boom. With the average age of a utility worker approaching 50 years, it’s easy to see how this situation is like a ticking timebomb. But maybe, just maybe, location intelligence can help. Let’s dive in!
The Nuts and Bolts of Location Intelligence
Location intelligence platforms collect and analyze location data generated by equipment, industrial machinery, sensors, gauges, and mobile devices. The technology essentially absorbs or ingests information as employees perform their jobs, and then digitally captures and documents the information so it does not get lost in the ethos.
In theory, this technology solves the biggest problem with the retirement boom – the dreaded brain drain. As I’m sure you know, many old-timers keep most of the information they need to perform their jobs inside their heads, and when they retire, it basically goes ‘poof’ and disappears. But thanks to location intelligence tools, the brain drain can turn into a brain dump that reveals how to manage things from large equipment all the way down to tiny nuts and screws.
This is especially pertinent in the context of emergency preparedness. Employees that are experienced in outage restoration and recovery know the tricks of the trade, and can therefore avert unsafe situations and perform at a more efficient level. With location intelligence, this information can be made available to younger, less experienced workers as well. This helps the workers, the utility itself, and their customers, a true win-win-win
Of course, like most things in the technology arena, what sounds good in theory can be a beast to implement in reality. But the good news is that location intelligence tools are becoming smarter, cheaper, and more effective, and as such the technology is something that all utility companies should be exploring sooner rather than later.
