Cogas Netherlands

ABOUT COGAS

The Cogas Group 

The Cogas Group has been active since 1966 as a regional network company in a large part of Twente. The organization has more than 250 dedicated colleagues who work together with great energy on the energy infrastructure. The Cogas Group is an organization characterized by short lines of communication, where everyone has the opportunity to develop both professionally and personally. Through its infrastructure, the Cogas Group ensures the transport of gas, electricity and heat to over 142.000 customers in its service area.

In the past, the Cogas Group also owned a cable television (CAI) and fiber-optic network. Thanks to its expertise in these technologies, infrastructure and the service, the Cogas Group is frequently contracted to carry out projects and maintenance in the field of telecommunications infrastructure. 

The mission of the Cogas Group is to work together with its societal partners to ensure a future-proof energy infrastructure, accelerate the energy transition, and contribute to the quality of life in our region. The Cogas Group aims to be a sustainable network company that, from its social role and the regional position, actively focuses on both excellent network management and accelerating the energy transition in the region. The Cogas Group focuses on three strategic pillars:  

• Excellent Network Management 

• Contributing to the energy transition in our region 

• Sustainable Business Operations

The RFP

In early 2024, The Cogas Group issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) to find a partner capable of replacing its partly outdated and overly fragmented application landscape, used to support the primary and supporting business processes outlined below, with an integrated set of applications. This integrated business operations solution will be securely offered and managed as a service over the internet for the Cogas Group. Ferranti Belgium responded to this RFP with its proven expertise in delivering robust, cloud-based solutions tailored to the energy and utility sector. 

The various business processes that need to be supported are: 

• The Financial domain – including financial administration, invoicing and collection, procurement and payment, and project cost control 

• The Warehouse domain – including logistics and inventory management 

• The Market Facilitation domain – including contract management, master data management, and meter management 

• Integrations – between these core processes and other existing Cogas applications 

This project aligns with the following strategic goals of the Cogas Group: 

• Connecting processes 

→ Resulting in better service delivery and more efficient information management for customers 

• Simplification of the application landscape 

→ Ensuring continuity and making the Cogas Group more agile, with reduced management costs 

• Effectiveness 

→ Achieving efficiency in both primary and supporting processes, as well as in the overall management of information 

MECOMS 365 

To modernize and streamline its IT environment, Cogas has selected MECOMS 365 to replace its current, partly outdated and fragmented application landscape. This includes phasing out their older, Oracle-based MECOMS 365 solution,  previously used for meter and connection registration as well as invoicing  and their BAAN application, which supports key activities in finance, logistics, and project management. 

As part of this transformation, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain Management will be deployed for ERP capabilities across finance, warehousing, logistics, and project management. MECOMS 365 will provide core functionalities in contract management, master data management, invoicing, market communication with EDSN, and integration with other Cogas applications and processes.