Enterprise wide decision support system for the city of San Diego water department
Richard Hammett Water Department, MIS/GIS Selection Manager Linda Schmidt MIS/GIS Selection, INfrastructure team supervisor Larry Rinehart MIS/GIS Section, Infrastructure team Supervisor Susan Wynne MIS/GIS Section, GIS team supervisor Tom Miller San Diego data processing corporation, General Manager Information for running a business is a strategic asset that must be developed, stored and retrieved using the most efficient, reliable and cost effective practices. This paper briefly discusses the technology practices used by the City of San Diego Water Department to manage information. The City of San Diego Water Department has developed an enterprise-wide decision support system to provide information for water facilities planning, design, operation and maintenance. This system is referred to as TIDES: Total]y Integrated Data Enterprise System. Developed using an emphasis on mission-critical data, TIDES is composed of eight technology components that are briefly discussed in this paper. Objectives of the presentation and paper are to help the reader and audience understand the process to create an enterprise-wide decision support system; demonstrate the success of the enterprise-wide approach and highlight the potential problems with this approach. Lessons Learned From the Tides Experience Here are some of the most important lessons that have been learned from the TIDES experience:
As the first step towards creating an enterprise-wide decision support system, a long range plan was established. A high level description of the water organization processes and the need for information was developed to isolate problems and deficiencies in the pre-TIDES information system. The results of this planning were to highlight the need for an Enterprise Wide Decision Support System to support the planning, design, operational and management needs of the various programs and sections within the Water Department, including the spatial needs of the Water Facilities Network. Tides: Overview TIDES is being developed using an emphasis on mission critical data accessed from workstations at the user work site using Remote Data Access techniques. TIDES combines the legacy mainframe systems, desktop modeling tools, spatial mapping tools, clientiserver applications, document management applications, the associated network and databases into one integrated information system. Additionally, TIDES is designed to incorporate American Water Works Association (AWWA) standards for computer databases, communications and systems development where possible. Tides: Mission Statement At the beginning of the strategic planning process, it was determined that the mission of TIDES was to provide the Right Information at the Right Time in the most efficient manner for the benefit of the users within the Water Department and the City of San Diego. Providing timely information has been the driving force as TIDES has been developed. Tides: Objectives Also, in the strategic planning process set of simplified objectives to support were developed to support the mission of providing timely information. As the various components of TIDES have been developed the need to focus on cost/ benefits became evident. The objectives have been revised to include and address the need to link investment in technology to improved business performance.
The strategic planning process identified department computer system applications that support the data management for the business operating processes. In TIDES, these computer applications are divided into the four following data management categories: Simulation Systems, which provide the information required to confirm design and operational scenarios, such as emergencies, low pressure system response, unexpected drought strains, and main breaks. The sub-system includes the following applications: The Water Model and Sewer Capacity Model The Water Quality Model The Distribution and Collection Optimization Models The Energy Management and Disaster Recovery Models The CIP Cash Flow Model Operations Systems, which process transactions immediate to the daily operations of the business and provide the data required to support the Production and Distribution Systems operation and maintenance and infrastructure repair. This sub-system includes the following applications: The Water Quality Laboratory Information Management system The Treatment Plant Morning Reports The Telemetry / SCADA System The Tool Room Inventory Management System (TRIM) The Sewer and Water Infrastructure Management System (SWIM) The Automated Mapping (SPLASH) System The Aerials / Photogrammerty System The Treatment Plant Processing Control System External Systems, which are owned by other departments in the City Enterprise and provide information to the Water Department sections for use by the Business Operations and Simulation Systems. The sub-system includes the following City-wide applications: The Building Permit Inspection System (BPIS) The Regional and Urban Information System (RUIS) The Financial Management Budget System (FMBS) The Accounting Management Information System (AMRIS) The Fixed Assets Management Information System (Inventory-FAMIS) The Payroll and Personnel (CAPPS) System Support Systems, which provide engineering and administrative information to the business operations and simulations systems which provide data required to fulfill design, construction, financial services, human services, customer service. This sub-system includes the following applications: The Computer Aided Design and Drafting (CADD) System The Water Conservation Management (MARSI) System The Project Management (WINGS) System The Design Specification System The Cost Estimating System The CIP Financial Tracking (CIPRES) System The Installation Order System The Customer Information System The Meter Reading / Routing System The Automated Time & Attendance (ATA) System The eight technology components of Tides TIDES is composed of eight technology components that combine to create workstations, databases and computer applications that are accessed by the users to update and retrieve information. These eight components are summarized briefly below. Enterprise Wide Management System Practice To accomplish integrating the various computer applications an “Enterprise Wide” view has been used to develop and implement TIDES over a five year period. Consideration was given to the overall City Enterprise and how each City wide computer application is incorporated for use by TIDES. This enterprise-wide concept addresses the business operations of the programs and sections required to acquire, treat, store, and distribute, water to the customer, including CIP engineering and associated service operations as they participate as an operating department of the municipal enterprise. Enterprise Wide Integration Practice TIDES views the separate computer applications within the water department programs and sections as one integrated system. To accomplish this, three integration architecture plans were set in place during 1994 and 1995:
TIDES hardware/software infrastructure entails acquiring desktop and laptop computers to the City of San Diego standard specifications. Data and file servers are tailored to specific need with in a standard specification range. CADD and GIS workstations are acquired to a tight standards. A common Windows Graphic User Interface (GUI) is required for all software on all desktop, laptop and workstations. Network Communication Practice An integration architecture plan for microcomputers, wide and local area networks was established in 1995 and implemented in 1995 and 1996. TIDES is using enterprise data servers, distributed file servers, Fiber Distributed Data Interface and co-Axel cabling to connect the five hundred (500) office and field desktop/ laptop microcomputers, the seventy five (75) CADD and GIS workstations and the one hundred thirty six (136) pen based microcomputers. Network hubs, routers, data services units and other communications devices have been implemented to support Ethernet switching technology. Switched Multi megabit Data Service is used to move text, GIS and CADD data across the Wide Area Network. Data Base Management Practice One central component of TIDES is the “data management policy”. This practice represents how all of the Water Department data will be processed, stored and accessed . TIDES has been structured around a common integrated database practice. Data is developed in a logically consistent manner using sound principles of data management that 1) minimize the occurrence of redundant data, 2) streamline updating, and 3) create user-oriented data definitions. Data tables are created incrementally in a phased approach using process and data models to get data that is related to user requirements. Additionally, the TIDES phased approach allows the data structures of each table to be related to each other. Data Managers and a Systems Integrator combine to manage quality into enterprise data. This two-tier approach is being used to strengthen the quality and reliability of the Department data. Data Managers are responsible for the ownership, definition, integrity, use and security of all data associated to a specific application module or group of modules. The CADD and GIS Data Managers are working examples of this practice. A Systems Integrator from the MIS Section is assisting the Data Mangers with the integration of applications into TIDES. The Systems Integrator is working with Executive Sponsors, Data Managers, and Database Administrators from SDDPC to apply Water Department MIS operating practices and standards to applications and database design. As the first step towards accomplishing this integration, City Water and SDDPC conducted a four month process and data modeling of water and sewer facilities and created a logical data and process Facilities Information Management Model (FMIM) on paper. All business operations were included in creating this Data Architecture Plan. FMIM was used to create the physical relational tables for facilities maintenance management system text data in a project called Sewer and Water Information Facility Tables (SWIFT). As new computer systems are developed SWIFT is expanded to included any new data entities and attributes. The result of this practice has been to eliminate capturing and storing the same data redundantly at many sites. The FMIM model was also used to create the spatial database physical structure in the GIS automated mapping system (SPLASH). End User Data Access Practice The anticipated benefits of the TIDES program are predicated on realtime access by users to accurate and reliable data from remote locations. Allowing the user access to Water Department data is accomplished through pre-determined queries for each application. In addition, a report writing tools have been added to help users develop their own custom or ad-hoc reports. Spatial Intergratino Practice TIDES has been designed to capture data for analysis of the water facilities network using both traditional text based methods and spatial tools for analysis using “Smart Maps”. Strategically, TIDES is intended to shill the department from paper maps to electronic or digital data. The Field Acquisition Data Device (FADD) project has used the FMIM data structure to integrate the SWIM Service Request with the digital SPLASH mapping data on the pen based microcomputers for use by crews in the field. Computer Applicaiton Practive The way that Water Department is using TIDES is through automated applications, such as TRIM, SPLASH and SWIM that automate business activities, such as tool tracking, mapping and maintenance management. Each application is designed to support the updating, display, graphing and reporting of data in a reliable manner. There are 29 major applications in TIDES. that have been grouped into four major data management categories as discussed above. To ensure that the business operations are fully committed to the application, an Executive Sponsor is identified for each automated application with the role to provide stable functional requirements for the system, including approval of and implementation of necessary changes to existing business operating practices prior to or with implementation. Tides: Accomplishments On March 20, 1997, TIDES will have been enhanced with the following technology automation to support the business operations of the Water Department:
Information for running a business is a strategic asset that must be developed, stored and retrieved using the most efficient, reliable and cost effective practices. This paper has briefly discussed one the technology practices used by the City of San Diego Water Department to accomplish a mission of providing “the right information at the right time in the most efficient manner for the benefit of the users within the Water Department and the City of San Diego. The city of san diego water department The Water Department (WD) is a financially self-supported department within the City of San Diego municipal government. The department provides treated water and water services to the City and portions of San Diego County including a lakes and recreation program. The water system consists of approximately 2,600 miles of treated water pipes ranging in size from 2-inch to 54-inch. The water system is operated on a Secondary Yield Basis at the direction from the City Council. This operating policy requires the use of local water resources prior to the use of imported water. Due to the City’s location to the south and west of the San Andreas earthquake vault line, a seven-month local reserve (14 1,600 acre-feet [AF]) is maintained at all times in ten local reservoirs that have a maximum storage capacity of 415,936 AF. Local water is collected from eight watersheds that provide rain and snow run-off to ten reservoirs. Imported raw and finished water is received at nine sites within the water distribution system, via the First and Second San Diego Aqueducts, from the San Diego County Water Authority (CWA). Finished treated water is imported from the Lake Skinner filtration plant to the North of San Diego County. The water distribution system operates using gravity flow over 87 pressure zones at a pressure between 40-90 PSI, with booster assistance from 45 water pump stations. Regulating reservoirs are located at three local water treatment plants at Miramar, Alvarado and Otay, and finished water storage facilities are located at41 sites throughout the distribution network. Three filtration treatment plant services areas provide approximately 7.3 billion gallons of water a year to 246,640 customer accounts ( 1.2 million San Diegans) . | ||
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