SAP Cloud for Utilities foundation, or the Measurement Concept Management

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In a fast-paced world of Energy Transition, where changes are continually occurring, the challenge of effectively monitoring all these developments presents itself to the Utility Industry. The Utility Industry must keep track of an increasing number of units installed at residential, commercial, and industrial customers, such as solar panels, batteries, heat pumps, and other energy assets in numerous combinations.

This is where SAP Cloud for Utilities foundation, also known as the Measurement Concept Management, or MCM for short, comes into place. This cloud-based solution enables the Utilities Distributors and Integrated Utilities, to manage the increasing complexity and lifecycle operations of metered installations in a world of Distributed Energy Resources.

Let’s observe a use case that aims to explain and take us through the process of a change of a residential units’ measurement concept, start to finish.

Here we have an example of a simple consumer, within a residential unit: a standard consumption model that everyone is quite familiar with (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Graphical representation of a residential unit in a standard consumption use case

But now, what happens if the owner of this residential unit decides they wants to upgrade, and they have a solar panel, as well as a charger for their new EV installed (Figure 2)?

Figure 2: Graphical representation of a residential unit in a prosumer use case

The unit's measurement concept has been altered, shifting from that of the consumer into the one of a prosumer → a unit that both generates its own power and uses the power from the grid.

As the measurement concept tied to the residential unit evolves with time (e.g. adding a storage system, or a heat-pump) the way business processes related to the end customer, the energy and the assets operate, have to change as well (e.g. billing)

MCM makes it possible to track each of these changes and allows to seamlessly conduct updates for each end customer when needed.

Now, how is this done?

There are three dimensions to MCM: classes, models, and instances.

An MCM class serves as a general measurement concept. It consists out of Actors (e.g. consumer, generation unit) and Metering Locations. These Metering Locations and Actors succeed one another in a way which forms the final class. A succession relationship serves to ensure that the energy is flowing out of the grid and is being consumed by the Consumer. To better understand and visualize this, let’s look at how a measurement concept for the two cases we mentioned beforehand would look like inside of MCM (Figure 3 & Figure 4).

Figure 3: Schematic depicting a standard consumption use case

Figure 4: Schematic depicting a prosumer use case

MCM Models are built on top of the MCM Classes, using them as a basis to which they get a certain set of characteristics assigned, such as the market locations and formulas for billing, settlement, usage, etc. Visually, the models do not differentiate from the classes, and are graphically represented by the same schematic, only having this “background” additions set them apart.

Finally, an MCM instance is an exact end customer occurrence that has a model being put into place at a certain point in time. So, each residential unit has their own instance of the model. Multiple households can follow the same model, which is built on top of a certain class. To reiterate, one class can be a basis for several models.

Through instances, one can access a variety of available information: Master Data Objects, Process Documents, Clarification Cases.

For each step of instance creation , MCM generates a process document and a clarification case, along with an abundance of other data such as Master Data Objects,

This is made possible through the native integration of the MCM Cloud Application with the SAP S/4HANA Utilities MCM Add-on using SAP Event Mesh to orchestrate the master data updates.

Figure 5: Technical Overview of the Integration between MCM and SAP S/4HANA Utilities MCM Add-On

To delve into it a little deeper, we see that the application is split into two parts.

At the top in the center, we see the cloud application built on the SAP Business Technology Platform, and at the bottom we see SAP S/4HANA Utilities MCM Add-On in which all the master data changes are reflected.

Figure 6: Technical Overview of the Measurement Concept Management

This way, we have the best of both worlds. On one hand, the SAP Business Technology Platform gives us a flexible solution and the connectivity with the SAP Event Mesh, which is crucial to integrate third party systems. On the other hand, SAP S/4HANA Utilities stays as the stable system of records for the Utilities relevant master data.

This architecture will change based on the customer landscape, and processes in Device Management or Energy Data Management could be handled in SAP S/4HANA Utilities, SAP Cloud for Energy, or third-party applications.

Now with a knowledge of all this, let’s look at the bigger picture for the previously described use case, and see when and by whom are these changes in the measurement concept triggered, and what is the role that the utility company plays in this entire setup.

Figure 7: From Consumer to Prosumer with Measurement Concept Management Example Process

So, the owner of the residential unit wants to upgrade to e.g. solar power and an EV, and this this triggers the change. The change process is then set into motion.

Firstly, the customer voices their desire to upgrade their system, and based on that, an instance change is requested (Figure 7). The following part, pictured in the green rectangle on the image above is under the “jurisdiction” of the solution itself. After receiving an instance change request, a change process is started, the master data gets prepared, the devices needed are getting installed, the commercial data gets ready, and this results in an active new instance according to which the measurements are now done.

To provide more insight into the process (Figure 8): when the owner of a residential unit wants an upgrade, an energy advisor from the utility company steps in to identify the best solution for the customer, presenting them with a tailored offer. If the customer accepts the offer, a highly standardized process for implementing the new instance is set into motion. This sequence of steps, outlined below, ensures a seamless transition. Following the installation of the necessary devices and the completion of the MCM process, the customer adopts a new measurement concept. Should the customer opt for further upgrades or anticipate future changes, this process repeats itself, demonstrating MCM's ability to accompany an instance throughout its lifecycle.

Figure 8: Transition from Consumer to Prosumer

Finally, what happens in the background of the process that we are discussing, that is, behind the curtain for the end-customer (Figure 9)?

Based on a new installation requirement, the Metering Expert defines a new physical location structure for the identified use case. Together with Billing Experts and Product Management colleagues a commercial model is defined based on the Measurement Concept Class and created via a Measurement Concept Model. This new product is then offered to the customer.

Figure 9: What happened before the processes we previously described

This means, that the utility company already has a list of defined measurement concepts, meant to cover most possible use cases, with, of course, a possibility to model any new ones that have not already been predefined. This way, all flexibility regarding the complexity of the model is kept, while keeping the simplicity of just choosing an option from the list for most use cases.

Finally, what is the value that the MCM adds?

• Firstly we had a chance to see how it streamlines the entire process, for installation, modification, dismantling and decommissioning.

• Secondly, MCM offers a great user experience, by comprehensive definition of measurement concepts using an easily understandable visualization within a network diagram (Figure 3 and Figure 4).

• Thirdly, it offers seamless SAP S/4HANA Utilities integration support out-of-the-box via SAP S/4HANA Utilities MCM Add-On within market process management for utilities for SAP S/4HANA.

• Fourth, MCM allows for event-based architecture, and open OData APIs allow easy integration of 3rd party systems into the standard process.

• Fifth, the quality of data improves, by automatizing and validating the master data updates, avoiding manually produced errors in prosumer data changes.

• And finally, the multidivisional support as the standard process across divisions enables synergies to be created and reduces the quantity of different approaches within the company.

In conclusion, at its core, this solution enables the utility companies to manage, streamline, and unify processes around installations, including decentralized energy resources throughout their entire lifecycle, from creation to their final shutdown. The significance of this capability becomes increasingly evident as the energy transition gains momentum, highlighting the need for robust systems that can effectively adapt to the ongoing transformations in the energy landscape.


Had fun reading this? Check out our Introductory Video about the MCM for a visual guide through the solution: MCM Introduction Video

Also check out our video on MCM Classes and MCM Models for more information about this solution!