We, as product managers, would hope that the creation of new products procedure and the product definition are smooth and orderly procedures. But the reality is usually different. New products have the habit of appearing suddenly, so as Product Managers, we have to be prepared to respond to this and respond. The energy distribution and generation business provides us with an excellent illustration of how to deal with this…
Say”Hello” to The Smart Grid! Smart Grid
Have you heard of”the “smart grid”? This is a revolutionary technology that is taking over the distribution and generation business. Power companies are replacing the basic meters that people have connected to their homes for years with more intelligent, digital meters. The new meters provide homeowners as well as power companies with plenty of information on the amount of power that the home is consuming, as well as the times it is being utilized.
It is thought that by using this kind of information, energy companies will now be able to charge their customers different rates for energy based on the time of day they are using it. For instance, it costs more during working hours, and less in the evening. This could become a bigger problem when you decide to charge your electric vehicle into the nighttime plug.
Another benefit of creating the new intelligent grid is the fact that companies’ product managers suddenly are faced with a brand new product to oversee. The exact nature of this product or what issues it could help solve isn’t 100% evident at this moment in time. But, that’s what the product managers are trying to figure out.
New Products that are a part of the Smart Grid have been created.
Through a process of testing, Energy company product managers are finding new ways in which the smart grid could be utilized to develop new products. One of these products is related to how the power company handles customers’ additions, moves and modifications. In the past, when a person relocated into or out of their home, the power company would have to send a truck to make the necessary changes. But, with the intelligent grid in place, this can be made by the use of a few buttons on the keyboard.
The smart grid enables customers to monitor the amount of energy their home is using in real-time. Through incentive programs, the energy firm can now convince their customers to cut down on their consumption of energy during peak times in order to cut costs. This can benefit the energy company as it means that they are able to put off the need to build expensive additional capacity for energy generation.
Before energy can reach the residence of a consumer, the energy must go through an electric transformer. The power companies were not able to assess the efficiency of a transformer running prior to the time of the installation of the smart grid. But now that they are able to monitor the ends of the customer in a better way, they’re able to monitor the operation of the transformer from a distance.
What Does This All Mean for What Does This Mean For
The introduction of new products can fall onto the desk of a manager in a flash of a moment. This means that a new element of every job description is the capability to handle the situation when it arises.
The energy sector has put in an enormous amount of dollars and time to roll out its intelligent grid. This has provided the product managers of the energy industry with an opportunity to develop and launch a variety of innovative and new products. Their task is to match the capabilities of their new tool to the demands of their clients.
There will always be requirements that a product manager can’t solve with their current set of products. When a new item is launched, the main challenge is to figure out what issues customers have that can be solved with the new product. If you do this right, you’ll have a new item you can add to your resume for a product manager.
Dr Jim Anderson
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