Droppoint is a first-of-its-kind solution removing inventory obstacles for battery installers and operators.
The battery boom is here, with the role of both grid-forming and household BESS increasingly recognised as a key enabler of Australia’s energy transition.
The stats don’t lie. According to Rystad Energy, 4.1GW (11.9GWh) of utility-scale BESS had commenced construction in 2025 by early December. This equated to, for the third consecutive year, the largest roll out of all renewable technologies, with utility-scale solar the next highest at 1.4GW.
BESS installation has become a fantastic business opportunity for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), including local electrical contractors and service providers, who have the technical expertise and agility to mobilise quickly.
But as Droppoint chief executive officer Jason Flanagan explains, SMEs don’t often have the scale or systems to support burgeoning customer needs post-installation.
“BESS is moving fast, and the operational model is still evolving,” Droppoint chief executive officer Jason Flanagan told Energy.
“Many installers and service providers are small to mid-sized teams who might be excellent at delivery on-site, but don’t have the resources to run enterprise-grade warehousing, transport coordination and inventory governance.
“When technicians and supervisors are on the tools, logistics becomes an avoidable constraint.”
While installation and commissioning might go to plan, SMEs can have difficulty responding to component failures due to their inability to store adequate and easy-to-access spare part inventories.
As we know, operational problems can occur at any time, and the ability for a service provider to respond quickly to client downtime can be their biggest strength.
This is where Droppoint, as Australia and New Zealand’s only complete inventory and managed logistics solution, comes into its own.
“We provide the supply chain and inventory capability in a way that is practical for the mid-market, with a dedicated operations team that manages movements, staging, storage and urgent replenishment so service teams can stay focused on commissioning and maintenance,” Flanagan said.
Energy distributors see Droppoint as a critical checkpoint on the road, with the company’s Pick-Up-Drop-Off (PUDO) inventory network spanning over 1000 locations across Australia and New Zealand, with the ability to expand and contract the network based on customer requirements.
In-night delivery can be organised to ensure parts arrive at a Droppoint close to technicians or job sites.
“Our decentralised model gives energy operators flexibility that centralised warehouses and fixed footprints struggle to match,” Flanagan said. “We can dynamically position inventory closer to sites and technicians, with 24–7 access and pre-8am delivery options across a broad network of locations.
“Our footprint can expand or contract as programs change, without forcing customers into long-term fixed-cost infrastructure. This agility matters in energy, where projects scale quickly, geographies shift and service demand is rarely static.”
Flanagan said he is seeing energy organisations under increasing operational pressure, with the need to scale faster, respond quicker and deliver tighter SLA (service level agreement) performance, often across wide geographic footprints.
“Droppoint addresses this with our secure and widespread PUDO inventory network across Australia and New Zealand, but also our proprietary materials orchestration software (MOS), which improves visibility and control, and a managed service layer that takes the logistics burden off field teams,” he said.
“By providing spare parts warehousing, bulky and time-sensitive freight, and project logistics for complex rollouts, customers are drawn to solutions that lift technician productivity while reducing inventory waste and downtime risk.”
Droppoint’s solutions are seeing the strongest momentum from energy applications with a large, distributed asset base and from a field workforce that needs fast, reliable access to parts.
This includes smart metering roll outs, EV charging deployment and maintenance, and renewable generation to accompany the fast-growing energy storage ecosystem.
Flanagan said he is seeing the inventory challenge in the BESS sector becoming very clear.
“There are two phases where inventory strategy will make or break outcomes,” he said.
“First is delivery and commissioning at scale. Battery systems and supporting equipment are heavy, high value and often imported, which means long lead times and real risk if components arrive out of sequence.
“Add the reality of moving oversized loads to remote or greenfield sites, managing safe delivery windows, and staging equipment on constrained ground conditions, and it becomes obvious that inventory planning needs to start early.”
The second phase where inventory strategy can fall over is in operations.
“As deployments accelerate and the market matures, uptime will be won or lost on spares availability and service responsiveness,” Flanagan said. “With multiple OEMs and integrators in market, and a growing installed base spread across regions, holding critical spares only in a central warehouse is a vulnerability.
“The future looks like distributed inventory – shared stocking locations closer to sites and aligned to service patterns, so technicians can access the right components quickly and consistently.”
This is where Droppoint plays a practical role.
“We help energy organisations position critical parts closer to where work happens, then orchestrate movements through software so inventory is visible, controlled and available when it’s needed,” Flanagan said.
“In short, we de-risk the build phase through smarter staging and delivery coordination, then support the operating phase by enabling reliable access to spares that protect uptime, reduce unnecessary stockholding, and keep maintenance teams moving.”
Droppoint will be at Smart Energy 2026 in Sydney from May 6–7 and All Energy Australia at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from October 28–29.
The company will use these events as a platform to educate industry on practical ways to improve uptime and service performance through better parts positioning and simpler logistics execution across a distributed asset base.
For more information, visit droppoint.com.au
