A GAS Conversion Experience
Conversion Support Resources
The pilot identified the most time-consuming and labor intensive activities from conversion to
post conversion cleanup. SCE&G determined it was essential to the success of the project to keep
the conversion cleanup process as short as possible. We feared that our users would lose
ownership of their data and ultimately lose buy-in to the project if the conversion process
dragged on. The pilot exercise highlighted the labor intensive process of cleaning up annotation
placement conflicts. To deal with this problem, the conversion specification became more
detailed in describing the correct placement of annotation and a hierarchy of rules to be followed
when the placement rules conflicted. Subsequently, more weight was given to annotation
placement correctness for the acceptance criteria.
A Different Definition of “Pilot Proiect”
A pilot project should be defined by objective or mind-set as opposed to a pre-defined set of data
to be converted. The objectives are to learn, apply, test and analyze the results of your initial data
708?conversion, until a point at which the product meets all expectations and the rules to convert data
are consistently understood by all involved parties. Begin with fundamental objectives and build
momentum towards that final polished product. In effect, we learned that a pilot is a mind-set
related to goals, you may finish your pilot maps, but still be in pilot mode for several more
deliveries.
Cryogenic Specification Storage
To the extent possible, we discovered that “freezing” the specifications until a pilot review has
occurred will best serve all participants. This is not a blacldwhite or absolute recommendation,
but the Gloser you can come to obtaining this goal, the more expeditiously the project will get
started in earnest and build momentum. Occasionally a mid pilot clarification or enhancement
can be applied or accommodated without losing ground on the learning objective. Save any
alterations of magnitude for the pilot validatiotidiagnosis exercise.
Get Your Hands Dirty
And finally, all personnel involved in conversion, including the utility company and the
conversion service company associates, should do some of everything that involves conversion.
Managers should edit, digitize, gather maps and plots, run validation software and correct errors;
the technical support staff and all production related personnel should also participate in the
aforementioned tasks. By doing this, each participant will have a personal understanding of the
various tasks, and be able to communicate intelligently and help solve design and process
problems. Make time and don’t be above any task during the pilot phase of the project, get your
hands as dirty as possible.
Pilot Review Objectives
- Evaluate the projects status - cost/benefit, proof of concept, etc. Are they still intact?
- Summarize the pilot validation results and make necessary alterations
- Justify your original intentions - By now, you should have a good idea of what to expect
regarding the final conversion outcome, and be able to start looking towards bringing the GIS
online, maintenance and other future considerations.
The overall experience of the pilot allowed SCE&G and Cartotech to fine-tune the conversion
specification and identify the key elements that needed to be mastered by the collaborative team.
Conversion
Once the pilot phase was completed, conversion began on a division-by-division basis. This was
decided to allow SCE&G to limit the number of maps that were to be maintained in the map
freeze plan. It also allowed the Gas GIS team to maintain an effective pace which provided
timely feedback to Cartotech as new data was delivered.
Teamwork
The basis for successfully surviving a conversion project is the teamwork between the client and
vendor. SCE&G found it very beneficial to contact Cartotech prior to the pilot phase to develop a
dialogue in which both were able to describe what priorities drove each other’s business. By
gaining a better understanding of these priorities, we built a clear path for both parties to travel.
One example of successful teamwork was setting the schedule of the delivery sets from
Cartotech to SCE&G. The Gas GIS team was very concerned that Cartotech would convert the
source maps faster than SCE&G could effectively process and provide timely feedback to
Cartotech. This concern was communicated between both parties addressing the delivery
schedule and amount of data per delivery.
Another concern was the orchestrated implementation of each team member’s automated QA/QC
routines. Both Cartotech and SCE&G had developed their own palette of automated checking
programs. We were concerned whether both packages of programs would track and identify the
same errors. This issue was resolved by allowing SCE&G to implement their routines on site at
Cartotech. Cartotech runs SCE&G’s QA/QC programs on each data set prior to delivery. When
errors are identified, Cartotech resolves the problem within their conversion process prior to the
data being shipped to SCE&G.
We learned that there are two major components making up teamwork: the “heart” representing
people and the “soul” representing communication. Communicate in every way possible within
your collaborative conversion team, e.g., frequently, orally, formally, non-verbally, jokingly,
with hand gestures and all the other ways we can communicate. Remember that everyone’s goals
are identical and that its people and computers, people and specifications, and people and the
software. Eighty percent of all conversion related challenges can be successfully met by focusing
on the humans involved.
This atmosphere of communication and teamwork between the two parties was the cornerstone
to successfully surviving a conversion project.
Total Quality Management in practice
In some form or fashion Total Quality Management (TQM) methods or techniques must be
applied to a conversion project to assure its success. Embrace the general philosophies and apply
a personalized TQM hybrid to your project and goals. Tap the collective knowledge of your
organization, break down any existing adversarial climates, then build your plan and monitor its
activities to continuously improve your results.
TQM plan for the SCE & G Gas Conversion Project
- Identi& the customer requirements - work in great detail, then mutually agree to the
written documentation of the requirements.
- Define a clear, detailed process - illustrate by a detailed flow diagram. This will serve as a
plan for building the database.
- Focus on customer needs - both internal and external, each individual playing a role
within the conversion effort is a customer. To meet all the customers needs, you need an
accurate database that completely satisfies the final external customer.
- Without fail, gather the facts and continuously analyze productivity and quality - the
key goal is information which will help re-engineer your process.
- Improve the process based on your statistical analysis - redesign, test, measure, enhance
software/hardware, continue training and then start the TQM process again. This process is
perpetual. Continue the cycle on any given project from inception to completion.
Cartotech applied elemental Statistical Process Control techniques to this conversion process. All
graphical features were grouped at the most basic level to begin the statistics based improvement
program. Standard error categorizations were established and edit results of each map were
tallied in the system. The next step was to graph the data as an aid in targeting the weakest areas;
therefore, showing us where we needed to bolster our training or modify our graphical placement
tools. By utilizing this method we were able to quickly identify the most efficient process and
greatly enhance the quality of our output product.
Summary
The lessons learned by our collaborative team during this first portion of our conversion project
regarding planning, implementation and monitoring our efforts have been identified below:
- Map inventory is a must
- Listen to the Operations Department
- Make Operations personnel a critical member of your team
- Focus on developing fast, simple and flexible conversion tools
- A focused pilot can save both time and money in the future
- Flexibility between both client and vendor is critical
- There are many things to do before you can begin
- A pilot project is a period of time where you learn, not a set of maps
- Do your best to freeze specifications once you have started the pilot
- Everyone should do some of everything related to a conversion project
- Focusing on people and communication will resolve 80’70of all problems
- Teamwork or partnership between the gas utility and the conversion vendor is essential for a
successful completion of the conversion project
