1. A method implemented by a meter data management (MDM) system, the method comprising: under control of one or more processors configured with executable instructions: collecting, by a process/control module, data that was obtained from a plurality of utility data collection devices, wherein the collecting comprises importing data blocks containing i) header information identifying a type or model of individual ones of the plurality of utility data collection devices and ii) the collected data that was collected by the plurality of the utility data collection devices; determining processing requirements for each of the data blocks, based at least in part on a channel used by each respective data block; selecting a pipeline to use to process each data block based on the type or model information identified by the header information of the respective data block, the pipeline being selected from among a group of pipelines including a validation pipeline where the processing includes validation processing, an estimation pipeline where the processing includes estimation processing, and a work item pipeline where the processing includes work item processing; directing the data blocks to the selected pipeline for processing, the directing comprising sending the data blocks directly from the process/control module to at least one of the validation pipeline, the estimation pipeline, or the work item pipeline; directing processed data blocks to the process/control module; and directing the processed data blocks from the process/control module to a queue of available valid data suitable for analysis and for billing purposes.