Davao Light Innovation Digitalization

Robots to enhance efficiency in Davao Light

February 02, 2023

Davao Light and Power Co. Inc., an AboitizPower subsidiary, deploys 34 additional robots on top of the existing 16 to enhance the efficiency of its operations.

“They are not electromechanical robots but software robots. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) will perform any established steps, instructions, logic, or error handling using your computer,” Engr. Jeffrey Lingatong, Davao Light’s RPA expert explains in an interview.

Currently, there are seven robot experts in the utility company. Together, they created a total of 16 robots which saves 700 hours of manual manpower.

“Doing menial things repetitively will consume so much of an employee’s working hours. It is really stressful, time-consuming, and prone to human error. With Robotic Process Automation (RPA), different business processes can now be automated and the employee can do more value-adding tasks, be more creative, and come up with new ideas for the company while the robot performs in the background. As a result, automation will increase the productivity and efficiency of an employee and further improve the quality of our services,” Engr. Lingatong explains the benefits of robots in the workplace.

These robots are also called collaborative robots or “cobots” because they will help the employees perform tasks more accurately in lesser time. Thus, the robot can help them efficiently analyze data and make better decisions.

For example, a recently deployed robot in Davao Light processes 25,000 eBillTxt accounts per batch per month. eBillTxt is the new billing service of Davao Light, wherein customers can receive their electricity bill through text. With manual processing, it takes more than one month for 25,000 customers to be enrolled in the system. Instead of an employee spending their whole working day processing the accounts, the robot can automate the process for up to 8 hours per day, resulting in 25,000 customers registered under one month, just in time for the next billing cycle.

“The ultimate measure of success is the satisfaction of our customers and we hope to continue to improve the efficiency and quality of our services through the automation of our processes at Davao Light,” President and COO of Davao Light, Rodger Velasco, said in a statement.

Davao Light aims to replicate the RPA developers to automate and improve its business process through a Robotic Process Automation (RPA) boot camp - a short, intensive, and rigorous course of training in developing software robots. The boot camp was participated in by 40 employees from different departments resulting in 34 more robots this year. Team members will be equipped with new tools and skill sets to innovate new and efficient solutions in the current processes of Davao Light.

Lastly, the program is in line with AboitizPower Distribution Utilities’ massive transformative purpose, “Empowering the Evolution of our Cities” through Davao Light services and continuing product innovations in distributing power that will help the cities it serves to reach greater heights.