Anglian Water

In late 2019, Anglian Water started planning a 10-year programme to upgrade all their water meters across East Anglia. These new devices allow customers to monitor and understand their water consumption, encouraging them to be water efficient.

As part of the project, labels have to be attached to every single water meter. They must be suitable for outdoor use and have enough space to record information about the property the meter relates to.

Having sourced its original labels from BDH Tullford, Anglian Water turned to us for the design, print and stock management of new water meter labels, ready for the project launch in April 2020.

The Challenge

With the ambition to install 200,000 new meters every year for the next decade, Anglian Water needed to make the installation process as efficient as possible. From turning off the stop tap and removing the old meter, to attaching the label and turning the stop tap back on, each step had to be refined.

When it came to the label, Anglian Water needed a design suitable for recording the property address, which was both easy to fill out and simple to attach.

The Solution

Says Programme Manager Robert Mann: “Although BDH Tullford supplied our old labels, I didn’t realise it at first. They produced them such a long time ago that none of the paperwork related to the order survived. It wasn’t until a senior member of the team came across some old files that I knew about them.

“Because we’re both based in Norwich, I popped to their office and spoke to Paul in the production team. He knew all about our labels and our requirements.

“He knew the right gauge of plastic and the right type of ink to use. He also knew I needed a box on the label that could be written on in indelible ink.

“I gave him my own design mock-up as a guide and, within a matter of days, they provided their own artwork, a proof and a quote. It was all very seamless and easy.”

We worked closely with Anglian Water’s procurement team to ensure the volumes required are distributed to the right locations at the right frequency over the five years, so stock management doesn’t become an issue.

The Results

Anglian Water now has a streamlined process in place for the production and delivery of water meter labels, allowing their operational teams to work as efficiently as possible.

“BDH Tullford was also cheaper than the other two printers we got quotes from, while their labels were of a higher quality,” adds Robert, “It was a win-win for me. I got the volume of tags I needed, delivered at the rate I needed at a price I needed.”