Venture objective
Help the Board establish a business that can manufacture, sell and support gas and water smart meters with proven measurement, safety, communications and lifecycle performance.
The assignment starts before major capital release. Gas and water are not interchangeable products with different housings. Measurement principles, materials, pressure, contamination, temperature, installation and service requirements differ. Connectivity adds a second accountability: an accurate device must also communicate securely and remain supportable when batteries, networks or software change.
Product decisions before factory decisions
Segment applications, operating conditions, sizes, accuracy, service life and procurement requirements. Identify testing and approvals with qualified specialists. Decide whether the business sells devices, software, installation, communications or managed services; each promise has different economics and liability.
Evaluate measurement principles, pressure loss, contact materials, durability, ingress, electronics, battery, tamper detection, firmware and any proposed remote valve function. Define failure criteria and independent design review. Remote functions require assessment of safety, misuse, loss of communication and human control—not merely a feature comparison.
Technology rights before supplier dependence
Determine what the business must own and what it can license or source while retaining product accountability. Examine IP, design files, embedded software, tooling, update support, repair, component authenticity, alternate qualification and obsolescence.
Technology and supply agreements should preserve access needed over the promised product life. A low entry cost is not attractive if the company becomes dependent on a vendor that controls firmware, calibration or critical replacement components without usable exit rights.
Pilot proof before expansion
Design flow, process controls, fixtures, calibration, leak and pressure checks, firmware loading, traceability, inspection, release, scrap and rework. Establish operator competence and testing independence. The pilot must produce evidence of yield, cycle time, accuracy drift, reliability and consistency across configurations.
Nominal capacity should not be treated as qualified production. Expansion proposals should disclose the constraint, approval status, trained people, test capacity, supplier maturity and commissioning risk.
Smart-device integrity through the whole life
Govern identity, secure provisioning, keys, updates, logs, interfaces, interoperability, data ownership and retirement. Show how the architecture handles a weak battery, communications outage, tampering, compromised access and an unsuccessful update. Customer data must not become an unplanned secondary revenue source.
Define installation competence, commissioning, acceptance, spares, warranty, complaint, recall and replacement. Field trials should expose realistic water or gas conditions, pressure, climate, installation variation and network constraints rather than demonstrate only favourable sites.
Capital discipline
Present full unit cost including approval, tooling, calibration, rejects, warranty, working capital, customer credit, communications, software and service. Tie capital release to named technical and commercial evidence, with explicit stop, redesign and defer decisions.
The advisor will deliver a business architecture, product and technology roadmap, testing plan, pilot-factory design, sourcing strategy, field-trial protocol, commercial guardrails and capital-release framework. Board reporting should show what is validated, qualified, approved and merely assumed.
The person needed
Candidates should have at least 25 years across metering, instrumentation, utility equipment, fluid or gas systems, electronics, industrialisation, quality or technical business creation. Former CEOs, CTOs, manufacturing heads and utility-equipment executives may be suitable. Direct gas or water measurement and launch experience is strongly preferred.
IICA registration is not required. This advisor does not replace testing, certification, safety or regulatory authorities. Interests involving manufacturers, licensors, utilities, laboratories, suppliers, investors or contractors must be declared. The role must not be used to place connected-party technology, equipment, components or testing work.
The end point is a validated, safe and supportable manufacturing model with controlled pilot evidence—not a factory commissioned ahead of product proof.