Enexis is one of the largest regional grid operators in the Netherlands. More than 5,900 employees work on reliable gas and electricity networks every day. This involves more than 3 million connections of businesses and households across the country.
In addition to constructing and managing networks and energy meters, Enexis transports energy from energy companies and provides accurate consumption data and direct billing to large business consumers.
This requires a large volume of outbound communications to customers through various channels and media such as customer portals, emails, paper letters, and an increasing number of digital platforms.
Enexis transforms its outbound communications with Canon
Learn how Enexis and Canon partnered to transform Enexis’outbound communications with e-invoicing.
Objective
Enexis was looking for a more efficient way to manage its various output streams across an array of channels, tools, and platforms.
It needed to create an improved outbound communications management environment where messages could be sent and tracked via any desired channel.
Challenge
Enexis’ approach to customer invoicing and other outbound communications was struggling to keep pace with a rapidly changing environment. The business needed to:
- Standardise IT solutions across traditionally autonomous business units
- Stay aligned with digital transformation initiatives to meet the evolving needs of large business and government customers
- Meet the growing demand for output management despite limited staff
- Deliver outbound communications that are fast, accurate, and compliant
Approach
Canon worked with Enexis to establish a close collaboration with full integration with Enexis’ IT infrastructure, and extensive testing to ensure minimal downtime.
Why Canon
Enexis’ collaboration with Canon continues to be successful because of Canon’s commitment, its extensive expertise, and its ability to provide direct Dutch support. This contrasts with other large international partners that can only offer remote helpdesks based in countries such as India or Hungary.
What characterises Canon is: always a listening ear, always a solution, thinking along and the ability to work closely together. That’s what you want, especially in important development processes!”
Approach
Seamless implementation with a tight-knit team
Canon and Enexis worked side by side throughout every phase. As Cristian Lemmens remarked, ‘the collaboration was so close that we even coordinated our holidays with each other!”
Hosted on the Canon data centre
Enexis brought its desire for e-invoicing to Canon’s attention. In close cooperation, Canon and Enexis created a solution based on a previously delivered customer communication platform. Since 2024, Canon has been hosting Enexis’ platform in the Canon Datacentre and offering it as a Managed Communication Services solution.
Full integration with Enexis’ IT infrastructure
The implementation of e-invoicing came as Enexis carried out a major IT change program, ENEXT, which included a migration to its own cloud environment with both Microsoft Azure and Amazon AWS. This prompted the need for an alternative mail solution, as the collaboration with Amazon turned out to be extremely difficult. Canon introduced a service provider in line with the PEPPOL standard, and along with uniFLOW sysHUB and Quadient Inspire, this made it possible to set up automated e-invoicing via Simplerinvoicing.
Extensive testing
e-invoicing not only ensures less downtime and less management, but also better payment morale and faster payment. Enexis and Canon made sure that testing was a key part of the project.
Fully automated output also requires fully standardised input. In the test phase, we did a lot together with Canon.”
Benefits
Enexis has seen a range of results from its collaboration with Canon:
e-invoicing reduces downtime compared to invoicing via e-mail by 99%
Greatly reduced time spent on managing solutions
Creating possibilities for new applications
More control and flexibility in IT solutions
Canon offers a complete solution as a package; the integration offers certainty that you will get the invoices delivered to every customer. Failed episodes can be counted on the fingers of one hand.”
A wider deployment
During the project, the ENEXT change program decided to appoint uniFLOW sysHUB and Inspire as the target architecture for all Enexis business units. Due to the broad use of these as Enterprise Output Management Systems (EOMS), there was demand for these in other areas, such as SAP ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) finance or logistics with Oracle Work Management.
As Cristian explains:
“The number of export flows is really going to increase sharply in the coming period. Since 2024, the solution has been transferred to Canon and the support is guaranteed through an extensive SLA. Because the management base within Enexis became too narrow, Enexis was able to take on the directing role it had always envisioned. And Canon’s plans to provide more SaaS-like services have now become a reality.”
Related products and solutions
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Customer Communications
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uniFLOW sysHUB
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Quadient Inspire
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Document Production Automation
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