The Benefits of a GIS System

supporting Field Automation for

Utilities

Rod O’Strand

Utilities Account Manager -Esri

GIS is used across all Patterns of Business Behavior

Asset

Management

A Complete Integrated System

Planning &

Analysis

Field

Mobility

Operational

Awareness

Constituent

Engagement

Transform Data

Into Actionable

Information

Collect, Organize,

& Exchange Data

Get Information

Into and Out of

the Field

Disseminate

Information Where

and When it is

Needed

Get Feedback and

Make Informed

Decisions

GIS Deployment

Common Characteristics

GIS is used across all Patterns of Business Behavior

Asset

Management

A Complete Integrated System

Planning &

Analysis

Field

Mobility

Operational

Awareness

Constituent

Engagement

Transform Data

Into Actionable

Information

Collect, Organize,

& Exchange Data

Get Information

Into and Out of

the Field

Disseminate

Information Where

and When it is

Needed

Get Feedback and

Make Informed

Decisions

Field Automation Focus

Common Characteristics

Mobile Workforce Profile

Location based activities

• Construction

• Routine Maintenance

• Inspections

• Repair

• Staking (Marking) locations

• Customer Service

• Disaster preparation and responds

• Marketing new business opportunities

• Others.....

Affected Business Systems / Departments

System to system coordination

• Asset Management

• Finance

• Inventory

• Customers

• Subcontracting

• Planning

• Operations

• Emergency Response

• Others.....

Business

Partner

Designing

& Planning

Organizational

Data

Business Workflows

• AsBuilt / Mapping

• Staking / Design

• Asset Management

• Land Management

• Network Analysis

• Economic Development

• Environmental

• Mobile / Field Solutions

• Operations / Maintenance & Inspections

• Vegetation Management

• One Call / Locates

• Joint Use Tracking

• Routing / Logistics

Business Systems Integration

• Customer Information Systems

• Engineering Analysis

• Outage Management

• Work Management

• Document Management

• Finance & Accounting

Potential Recipients

Impacted workgroups

Field Workforce _ without automation

What have we created

• Individual and none standard data formats

• Tabular and Graphic information

• Digital and paper source inputs

• Data accuracy gaps

• Inconsistent or redundant information

• Mutable updating / posts back procedures

• Data transfer / handoff logistics

• Others…..

Related Effects

Cause and effect

• Multi department participation (data gathering)

• Creating mutable processing channels

• Call or drive back time for verification

• Dependency on work crew knowledge

• Troublesome updating post back processing

• Complicated crew training requirements

• Others…..

Many Forces Are Converging

Enabling a Pervasive Geospatial Platform

. . . Creating greater consciousness and collaboration

Mobile Technology Trends

Usage of maps continues to increase

New market potential

Internet / Cloud

GPS

Shared Infrastructure…

More Collaborative…

More Integrative…

More Real-time…

Easier, More Fun and Productive . . .

. . . Providing a Framework for More Efficient Organizations

GIS Mobile Field Automation

These trends will change how we work

Business Drives

Why is this so important?

• Provide a reliable and cost-effective product

• Supports a profitable sustainable business

• Improve customer and public relationships

• Creates meaningful workplace

• Promotes a safer and more productive environment

• Improve overall service efficiency & effectiveness

• Others….

Return-On-Investment (ROI) Methodology

Overview of the ROI methodology…..

1. Prepare for ROI Project

2. Identify Business Opportunities

3. Prioritize Business Opportunities

4. Construct GIS Program

5. Define Project Control

6. Specify and Cost GIS Projects

7. Estimate Benefits

8. Create Benefits Roadmap

9. Calculate Financial Metrics

10. Build and Present Report

Planning &

Investigation

Program

Definition

Business

Analysis

Reporting

Asset Management – Solution Map

Problem Cause of Problem

Negative Business Impact

How We Solve The Problem

Positive Business Outcome

Problem Solution

• Difficulty to

access

comprehensive

information about

assets to enable

accurate and

timely decisions

• Lack of good

record keeping

tools &

processes

• Lack of

centralized data

management

• Disparate Asset

information

sources • Paper

• Cad

• Access/Excel

• Loosing

Institutional

knowledge

• Aging

infrastructure

• Unexpected

equipment failure

• Increased labor

costs researching

& accessing data

• Inability to make

timely decisions

• Risk in Capital

Improvement

Planning

• Variability in

O&M expenses

• Processes to

migrate legacy

data to enterprise

asset

management

environment

• Solutions with

cascading

benefits for: • Executives • Managers • Planners • Customer

Service Reps • O&M Field

Crews

• Reduce risk of

unexplained

failure

• Provide facility

maintenance

planning

• Reduce time to

make operational

decisions

• Visibility into

corporate assets

ROI _Areas to Consider

Labor is the largest controllable cost

• Map Book Creation, updating, distribution

• Preparation and travel time

• Fleet operational cost

• Outsourcing cost (vendor and management)

• Reporting

• Safety

• Emergency responds time

• Asset accounting (inventory, operational, retired) timeline

• Others….

Questions ?

Resource Idea:

http://esripress.esri.com

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