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Feb 2021 Implementation Planner

Initiative

What was released last month? (Jan)

What is planned for release/pilot/rollout over the next month? (Feb)

General Updates on Key Projects

Blockers (Issues getting in the way or slowing things down)

Initiative

What was released last month? (Jan)

What is planned for release/pilot/rollout over the next month? (Feb)

General Updates on Key Projects

Blockers (Issues getting in the way or slowing things down)

HW Value Proposition

@Peter Kossakowski (Unlicensed)

 

HW Competition

  • Preliminary Report expected by mid Feb based on desktop research

HW Competition

  • Data collection (desktop research) ongoing

  • Support needed from all NGU’s to purchase locally available competitor products. PeterK reaching out.

  • Final Report expect in March after HW analysis in China after CNY

HW Value Proposition (Naming, redesign, packaging)

  • We need feedback from NGUs

    • B2B product naming (survey already sent)

    • PV Panel design (mounting kit, cable length (survey will be sent)

    • light cable set design (survey will be sent)

    • packaging and user guides (survey will be sent)

 

Appliances

@Peter Kossakowski (Unlicensed)

 

Dimmable light

  • Pilot 100 samples in Rwanda

  • Details to be inquired from Claudine/PeterK

Dimmable light

  • After pilot in RW, confirm for mass production in March

Sample orders

  • 3 samples to be added in the next container going to Bboxx DRC after CNY.

  • NGU’s can order 2-3 samples for testing for free, to be shipped in next sea freight. Contact Claudine/PeterK to confirm sample order.

Phone Charger

  • Reworking the phone charger design

  • First samples are produced, to be shipped by first week of February to Rwanda and Kenya for initial customer/staff feedback collection

Next step

  • QA testing, confirming new design and supplier

32”TV :

Pilot Stage

  • DRC start collecting customer and staff feedback .

  • Share pilot report by Mid February.

  • Next steps: confirm product for mass production in February depending on pilot report

Orders from NGUs

  • 500 TVs left China and will be expected to arrive Kenya by End March.

  • DRC order

    • 143 TVs: TVs left China and will be expected to arrive in DRC during Feb

    • Further 150 TVs shipment date to be confirmed

Parabolic Antenna

  • Trial order of 1,000 pcs will be produced after CNY and ready for the shipment by end of March to DRC

Samples orders

  • Kenya will receive sample by February

  • DRC orange will get a sample once a product is ready

  • NGU’s can order samples (contact Claudine/PeterK)

Subwoofer

  • Waiting for V2 sample (with improvements) from supplier

  • new orders to be placed after CNY (to be confirmed, depending on v2 QA testing)

Torch:

  • Updated version developed and trial production completed

  • Samples tested and agreed on trial order

  • Placed trial order of 130pcs to Rwanda (ready for shipment ~March)

Radio v5 :

  • Updated sample has been produced and sent to Kigali for user feedback collection

Stoves:

  • Both containers to Kenya and DRC loaded and ready to be shipped

  • New request for more basic and more premium stoves from DRC collected to offer a range of stove solutions

Cylinders + regulators + hose pipes:

  • Order for 11k+ cylinders placed and DP paid

  • Certification process started

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Subwoofer

supplier delayed production of v2 sample to after CNY (previously communicated to arrive before CNY)

bP3-12/Taal Phase 2

@Peter Kossakowski (Unlicensed)

N/A

N/A

  • bP3 and bP12 samples arrived in Kigali → Focus group planned for Feb to gather customer insights

  • bP3 and bP12 samples arrived in China → Ongoing QA testing to determine final supplier selection

Next Steps:

  • Finalize supplier selection

 

bP20-10 / Taal Phase 1

@Peter Kossakowski (Unlicensed)

N/A

N/A

bPower20

  • Ongoing Rollout in KE, RW

  • Roll out Preparations in DRC, Togo

bPower10

  • finalizing product, preparing trial production of 200pcs for Verasol certification

 

bPower50 and Redesigned bPower100 (Teide)

@Juma Stephen (Unlicensed)

bPower50

  • Overvoltage Alert has been released to all shops in Rwanda

Teide - N/A

Pilot bPower50 Lithium (13.2Ah) in Rwanda

  • 55 CUs are awaiting clearance from customs.

  • They will be used for a 1 month pilot with friendly users this month (20 Bboxx staff and 10 customers).

Pilot bPower50 Lithium (13.2Ah) in Bboxx DRC

  • 10 CUs are will be send to Goma for a pilot with the 32 inch TV customers (depending on preliminary report mid Feb from Pilot in Rwanda)

  • Details of the pilot plan will be provided later

 

Teide - N/A

bPower50 Lithium (13.2Ah)

  • RW Pilot results will determine launch date for mass production (target: Mid March)

bPower50 Lithium (9.9Ah)

  • Development started

  • Product should be available in June 2021 (exact timeline tbc)

  • Product Specs:

    • 9.9Ah @12.8V

    • 90% DOD = 114Wh usable energy

Teide - Engineering sample

  • High level schematic (electronics design) is ready

  • Development is on going

Teide - Target cost

  • Estimated use cases per product size are ready.

  • Approve estimated use cases and cost then share with MDs for feedback

Overvoltage is not completely automated in the CSCC module because of a bug in the system. Support team is working with the software development team to get this done

Cook LPG

@Paul Büttner (Unlicensed)

Upgrade:

  • Pilot in DRC relaunched with new pricing (shorter payment term, 10$ for 15months)

  • Piot in Kenya launched

PAYC:

  • Pilot in Kenya launched

Upgrade:
N/A
PAYC:

  • Pilot in DRC planned to launch in Feb

Upgrade:

  • Good traction in DRC (10 new customers from one cooking demonstration event)

  • Underperforming sales in Kenya (only 5 sales after 4 weeks), no sales created from Cooking demonstration event

PAYC:

  • Close to finalizing contract with PAYGO E for DRC to launch in Feb

  • Underperforming sales in Kenya (2 sales after 2 weeks)

Upfront:

  • Demonstration of PAYGO E platform done to see how it can be used for upfront LPG products (tag and trace)

PAYGO E integration:

  • Design has started but Development is waiting for execution of contract with PAYGO E

Business planning (B2B/B2C):

  • Kick-off meeting with Omar done to work on multi-level BP based on addressable market

Trafigura relationship:

  • Kenya and DRC specific workshops happened to see how Trafigura can help with LPG supply chain

  • Underperforming sales for Upgrade and PAYC in Kenya - No commitment from sales team (a lot of no shows from sales agents during events and trainings) - no leads in the system

  • PAYGO E contract (blocks PAYC pilot in DRC and payment service integration with PAYGO E platform)

Next Generation Pulse

@Andrew Kent (Unlicensed)

n/a

n/a

We need feedback from NGUs! We will be sending you documents for comment, and if necessary setting up calls, on three topics this month:

Sales process - we have finished a design that:

  • combines upgrades and new sales into one process,

  • has upfront sales

  • allows you to have multiple ways to pay for one package (for example, select the “TV Kit Basic,” then choose how to pay: upfront, 24-month HPA, 36-month HPA, subscription, etc)

Product Config: in Next Gen, NGUs will be able to configure commercial terms for products themselves without needing input from Group. We have decided how this will work conceptually, and will be starting on detailed user stories in Feb

PAYG 2.0: we are starting design of how PAYG and different billing methods will work in the new system

Need feedback from NGUs to move forward now

Managing Field Staff

@Jacques Kagabo (Unlicensed)

@Ruairi McLoughlin (Unlicensed)

Call Centre to Pulse:

The below features was released as part of Call Centre to Pulse migration but SM and RS can use them too.

a) Sending SMS to the customer through Pulse:

  • What it is: will allow the Pulse user especially Call Centre to send SMSs to the customers through the customer page.

b) Automatic Shop Selection based on the selected installation address (in Pulse)

  • What it is: Pulse to automatically suggest the shop that will do the technical actions based on the selected installation address during the lead creation.

c) Editing the installation address in the customer details page (Pulse)

  • What it is: it’s the ability of editing the installation address of the customer in Pulse.

d) View on-time history (Pulse)

  • What it is: view how customer has been receiving on-time days by date. It is located under “Recent Payments” card in the customer detail page.

Able to sell an upgrade to an existing customer through Pulse

  • What it is: It is a new feature that will allow the Pulse user to sell upgrades to an existing customer.

  • Why it is important: Soon Call Centre won’t be using ERP again and there were only to options to upgrade customers, that are through ERP and Agent App. NGU needed this so that this action can be performed in Pulse too.

BAU:

  • Released the new Ivory Coast phone number format validation in both Pulse and current Agent App

  • Fixed the issue of Recently viewed customers in Pulse that was not displaying some customers

  • Fixed the issue of Customer page in pulse displaying wrong number of customer pictures

Agent App with a New Format:

The work is in progress:

Call Centre to Pulse:

The work is in progress too and we are releasing individual features once they are ready:

The status of Leads submitted through Pulse is still “Application Form Incomplete” because the story for the fix is still pending for development.

Fighting Fraud & Enforcing Payment

@Anthony Mabonga

Automated pending enable/disable messages:

  • What is it: Sometimes units get stuck in pending status (pending enable or disable) because of communication breakdown between the units and SMART Solar, and not because of lack of connectivity. This project is aimed at reducing the number of customers stuck in pending status by periodically sending enable and disable messages from SMART Solar.

  • Why is it important: By minimizing the number of devices stuck in pending status due to non-connectivity issues, NGUs can now focus on a significantly reduced list of customers stuck in pending status due to connectivity.

  • What is the update: The back-end work to send enable/disable messages to units from SMART Solar has now been automated. NGUs should now expect a meaningful reduction in units stuck in pending status, which should have a notable impact on cash collections.

NGUs impacted: All NGUs

Total UR breakdown in Portfolio Dashboard:

  • What is it: NGUs will be able to see how the different times of ontime (payment, bonuses, manual, enable etc.) have been utilized every month. This will be an improvement to the current reporting, which only shows payment (ontime used as a result of a customer purchasing ontime) ontime utilization.

  • Why is it important: This dashboard will enable NGUs to understand/explain trends in cash collections by correlating cash collections with how the different ontime types have been utilized in a particular period. For example, if cash collections in a particular period is low but an NGU has given out a lot of bonuses in the same period, the NGU will know that the drop in cash collections is correlated with the bonuses given.

  • What is the update: Development work is almost done and this dashboard will soon be available to NGU.

NGUs impacted: All NGUs

Extracting Lists in Power BI: Soon, NGUs will be able to export the list outside PBI in csv/Excel for customers impacting their portfolio quality e.g., DP only Defaulters and customers stuck in pending status. This will enable NGUs to get more information on customers they would like to follow up with so they can take necessary actions (e.g. following up with DP only Defaulters) to improve their portfolio quality. This will also reduce the time spent by HQ stuff to prepare the lists manually and send to individual RSs, as RSs/RAMs will be able to extract the lists from PBI by themselves.

Credit check for upgrades, Phase 2 (Credit check in Pulse Web App): The first phase of credit check for upgrades (implementation in sales agent app) has already been released. In this second phase, we will be introduction credit credit check in Pulse Web App. This will ensure that for NGUs where credit check has been turned on, eligibility for upgrades is determined by the model. This will result in better quality upgrades and low churn rates among customers who upgrade.

 

ESF Compatible PULSE

@Gilbert Ishimwe (Unlicensed)

ESF UR cohort analysis in portfolio dashboard

What it is: A page which allows NGU portfolio managers to follow cohort per cohort the UR of ESF-only customers, and the difference before / after joining ESF.

Why it’s important: This serves as a proxy for understanding clarity of communication to customers. As customers upgrading or opting out will leave the ‘ESF-only’ pool and this analysis, each NGU will be able to make sure that ESF-only customers are happy customers.

Filters to access amount remaining before ESF only and ESF only date in the ERP advanced search

What it is: It is a filter that allows NGU to easily filter ESF only customers amount and date details under ERP advanced search and use that information as a trigger for some actions.

Why it is important: This information/data helps to enhance actions like:

  • Proactively connecting with ESF only customer to sell them upgrade

  • Sending congratulations SMS once a customer reach ESF only

  • Provide bonus days when joining ESF-only period, etc…

Updates:

  • Story about having a filter to access amount remaining before ESF only is development in progress and ESF only date in the ERP advanced search is in UAT.

  • Drafted stories to allow completed customers to opt-in. This will allow you to upgrade and swap a completed/opted out customers

N/A

PULSE Product Integrations

@Davis Nteziryayo (Unlicensed)

SunCulture - Phase 1 (Manual switch on/off)

  • What it is: add water pump customers to ERP and be able to switch on/off manually in the SunCulture sentinel system

  • Why it’s important: Togo NGU will be able to sell solar water pumps to non Bboxx customers. Also SunCulture water pumps are going to be the first non Bboxx product that will be sold and managed in Pulse which make it first market place product.

  • Update: Development work for phase 1 has been completed and all phase 1 features released. The Togo team will now be able to record key actions (e.g. assign stock, record installation, record repo) in both ERP and Pulse. Additionally, the team will be able manually enable/disable SunCulture water pumps in Sentinel while tracking performance in Pulse and ERP.

NGUs impacted: Togo

Materials:

La Poste integrations

  • What it is: La Poste in Togo will start qualifying subsidy customers automatically.

  • Why it’s important: Togo NGU shares weekly CSV files of newly installed customers with La Poste so that customers can be qualified for government solar subsidy.

  • Update: Integration is complete and now La Poste automatically qualifies customers by searching Bboxx systems for customers installed in period specified in search parameters.

Safaricom Kenya integration (Dependent on Telco)

  • Bboxx will have a direct integration with Safaricom without going through an aggregator (Kopo Kopo).

  • Kenya NGU will launch solar payments using M-PESA paybill

Payments dashboard

  • What it is: have a payments page on finance dashboards

  • Why it’s important: Innovation can have access to payments detials i.e. payments per NGU, telco, monthly breakdown, subsidy components, etc

Bboxx USSD application

  • What it is: build a new USSD application that allows Bboxx customers and non-Bboxx customers to have access to Bboxx products and services

  • Why it’s important: customers will have self service option available to them 24/7.

SMS provider for TOGO, PAS Nigeria, and DRC Goma

  • What is it? above mentioned NGUs will start paying for their own sms messages used.

  • Why it’s important: Currently PAS Nigeria, DRC Goma, and Togo are not paying for their sms messages. The cost is included in the pulse fees.

  • Update: Account registration and configuration for Togo PAS Nigeria, and DRC Goma is complete. Training for NGUs on how to use Africa’s SMS dashboards will follow within the next two weeks.

Orange Ivory Coast payments integrations

  • What it is: Orange NGUs want to start accepting payments through Bboxx payments services

  • Why it’s important: The servers being used for solar payments are in Paris and will be decommissioned Orange end of January.

SunCulture - Phase 2 (Integration to automate switch on/off)

  • What it is: Automatic switch on/off for customers with SunCulture water pumps. Follow up from phase 1 to enable Togo to scale water pump sales.

  • Why it’s important: Togo NGU will be able to sell solar water pumps to non Bboxx customers. Also SunCulture water pumps are going to be the first non Bboxx product that will be sold and managed in pulse which make is first market place product.

  • Update: A few stories are going to be releases in the next month including:

    • Automatically creating a customer profile in Sentinel once an installation has been recorded

Vodacom DRC integration (Dependent on Telco)

  • What it is: add Vodacom M-PESA payments as new payment option for DRC NGU

  • Why it’s important: DRC NGU will be able to accept M-PESA payments from Vodacom and expand to new territories

  • Update: Integration code is complete and testing session is scheduled January 18th.

MTN Rwanda integration

  • Integration is resuming week of February 8th using MTN open APIs.

  • MTN payments will go through Bboxx USSD app

Orange Guinea and Senegal payments integrations

  • What it is: Orange NGUs want to start accepting payments through Bboxx payments services

  • Why it’s important: Orange NGUs are currently accepting solar customer payments through servers in Paris. Servers being used for solar payments will be decommissioned Orange end of January.

 

Complete Care & Repair

@Longin Sebahizi

  • Completed both RC setups in Kenya (Ruiru and Kisumu)

N/A

  1. UAT the IRT/ERP Integration Tool:

What it is:

DC repair technicians use IRT to report spares used. This is the data we use to generate the monthly warranty claims. However, DC logistics officers use ERP stock moves to manage inventory of spares. We often have a variance between spare stock moves done by the logistics officers and what repair technicians report in IRT

Why it is important:

The purpose of the sync tool is to synchronize IRT and ERP and trigger automatic stock moves when technician reports a part in IRT to capture accurate spare Usage in ERP.

Update: We are still working with the integration squad to have the test instance of IRT to be able to UAT.

N/A

Supply Chain Integrated Tool

@Jackline Abagwaneza

@Abdulrazack Karim (Unlicensed)

n/a

n/a

Barcode Scanning and Tracking:

Tracking Project was split into different phases as described below:

a) Phase 1 ( Asia):

b) Phase 2 (Asia to DC & stock moves at the DC):

c) Phase 3 (Tracking at the shop level) - We are currtenly in this phase

Barcode Scanning and Tracking: Currently progress blocked as low front end developer resource.

B2B Systems Migration (From ERP 7 to SAP) - BONSAI Project

@Duarte Ferreira (Unlicensed)

  • SAP test environment ready for UAT - Modules Finance & Supply Chain

  • Training sessions booked for Supply Chain and Finance with super users - Sessions organized by Orchard House (3th party SAP by Design provider)

  • Creation of quick guides

  • Super users training the other users

Testing phase in progress - Critical milestone to identify gaps and create new processes if applicable

Chinese new year - Asia users won’t be available on the next two weeks

Nigeria Market Re-Entry

@Robin Scanlon (Unlicensed)

Lagos and Southwest region decided as head office and initial market locations.

Company incorporated.

Start of Pulse configuration, including ERP instance creation, Firstbank payment integration, dashboard creation, etc.

Processing of first stock delivery with support of third party importer.

Recruitment of Logistics and Finance managers.

Scouting for office and warehouse locations.

First sales targeted for 26th March, a lot to do in a short amount of time!

Issues setting up bank account blocking several other actions.

Rwandan NGU staff joining Nigeria team having visa issues due to covid, delaying arrival in Lagos.