A GAS Conversion Experience
Patrick Dolan South Carolina Electric and Gas 440 Knox Abbott Drive, Suite 550, Cayce, South Carolina, 29033 Chris Deasy Cartotech, Inc. 11900 Crownpoint Drive, Suite 100, San Antonio, Texas, 78233-5349 Abstract South Carolina Electric and Gas (SCEC%G) and Cartotech, Inc. will discuss the user and vendor perspectives regarding planning, implementing and monitoring the conversion of the Charleston Division gas mains and appurtenances. Focal points of the presentation will be the pilot project, legacy data, multiple scale products and areas targeted for improvement, based on statistical data. SCE&G will review the user’s struggles relating to the quality of SCE&G’s legacy data. The legacy data challenges include matching map records with corresponding mainframe records, mapping at multiple scales from one data set and defining operational wants versus needs during the start-up period. SCE&G will also discuss how they maintained a parallel system of manually drafted updates while tracking those changes concurrently with the conversion process to be added to the database post conversion. Cartotech will also address the conversion contractor’s perspective of planning, implementing and monitoring SCE&G’s gas conversion project. This portion of the paper will address the uniquely challenging aspects of this conversion project. Cartotech will discuss targeted improvement areas based on results of quality assurance statistics and how those results will be applied to enhance the process for the remainder of conversion. Both companies will address the importance of the client-vendor relationship and the teamwork required to have a successful conversion project. In the Beginning In 1993 the Gas Strategic Business Unit (SBU) of South Carolina Electric and Gas began the implementation of a Geographic Information System (GIS). This was in response to the critical issues outlined in the Gas SBU Five Year Business Plan, which stated that the goal of being recognized “by our customers as the most competitive gas company in the Southeast, in terms of price and quality of service.” To achieve this goal, the Gas GIS team decided to focus on using GIS technologies for Gas Operations. The goals of the GIS project were to provide our technicians maintenance capabilities for the gas distribution system, provide our engineers modeling capabilities, and finally, to build a foundation for other information systems through a common geographical link. Step One The first step for the Gas GIS team was to assess the “health” of the source data. To accomplish this, the source data was divided into two categories, 1) source maps, and 2) legacy mainframe data. Source Maps Gas Operations normally deal with five map types for its distribution system. These include system facilities/grid maps, town maps, network maps, sectional maps, and valve reference maps; all of which were maintained by a centralized drafting department. It was determined that the basis for conversion would be the system facilities/grid maps. To assess the condition of these data sets, a map inventory took place. The inventory was designed to determine what mapping consistency existed between the four Gas Divisions, the level of detail being mapped and what anomalies occurred on the source maps. Legacy Mainframe Data The legacy data contains information on facilities such as valves, regulating stations, pipes and cathodic protection devices. The goal of examining this data was to determine if any discrepancies between the mainframe records and source maps existed. If any were found, Operations personnel would resolve them prior to conversion. Clean up Process Once the source map inventory was completed and mainframe match up was final, the Gas GIS team identified three major issues that needed to be resolved before conversion could begin. This included equipment location dimensioning, source map to legacy records linkage and map updates for Operations. Equipment Location Dimensioning The first major issue identified was location dimensioning. The source maps were littered with a variety of different types of dimensions. Dimensions were measured from building footprints, valve boxes, centerlines, right-of-ways, street intersections, trees and utility poles. However, it was important to determine which of these measurements were the most accurate and necessary for the users in the field. It was equally important to determine a consistent rule for our conversion vendor to follow in capturing and placing these dimensions from our source maps. Gas Operations determined that the most consistent and reliable dimensions were those measurements taken from road centerlines and building footprints, as well as end of line measurements. Source Map to Legacy Mainframe Records Linkave The second major issue identified by the Gas GIS team was the need to maintain the link between the legacy data and the source map information so that after conversion the two sources 706?of data could be related. The current link between the two sources was based on the mapsheet number. However, this link would be broken after conversion due to the implementation of a new mapsheet numbering scheme. The issue was resolved by creating a new key that was stored on both the mainframe data set and the newly converted data set from Cartotech. The result allowed SCE&G to maintain the link between the two sources once conversion was completed and to enable a tracking process to ensure both the mainframe and GIS data sets stayed in synch. Map Updates for Operation The last major issue uncovered by the Gas GIS team was the need to provide map updates to Gas Operations. Gas Operations decided it was necessary to continue providing updated maps to the field during conversion. The Gas GIS team devised a map freeze plan which maintained a parallel system of manually drafted updates while tracking those changes concurrently with the conversion process. The first step to this process was to make two photocopies of the original source maps. One set of copies would be sent to Cartotech and the other would be stored at SCE&G. The SCE&G copy would be red lined for all updates that occurred during conversion. This allowed SCE&G to track facility information Cartotech was converting as well as track all new updates. These maps were then photocopied and sent out to Operations as their updated source maps. Once conversion was completed, the SCE&G source maps were used as a training tool for Gas Operations by having the technicians add the red lined updates to the GIS database after conversion. Pilot Project Everything we had to do Before We could start Prior to beginning the pilot project, SCE&G had accomplished many of the prerequisites regarding a conversion project. Those accomplishments included: a risk analysis, costlbenefit analysis, a theoretical plan addressing the inter-relationship between Operations/Work Management and Customer Information System/Accounting, a resource requirement evaluation, management’s support, proof of concept testing, well-defined project expectations and identified areas of potential concern. It took both the utility and the vendor, working as a team, approximately one full year to accomplish these tasks. Beginning the Pilot Now that it seemed we had all our ducks in a row, it was time to test our plan. We chose the most challenging area based on map congestion, an average representation of mapping standards, and the oldest legacy data set as our pilot area. Based on this criteria, the Gas GIS team decided on the peninsula of Charleston. It was made up of fourteen map sheets which consisted of 102 miles of main and 451 valves. Before sending these maps to Cartotech, a preliminary conversion specification was written to guide Cartotech on what SCE&G needed to be converted for the pilot. This simple conversion specification later became our foundation for the database design as well as final conversion specification guide. The only constraint placed on the pilot was that it needed to be completed within twelve months. The Twelve Months of Pilot During those twelve months of the pilot, the Gas GIS team and Cartotech learned a tremendous amount about what the critical issues would be once conversion started. The pilot project gave SCE&G the opportunity to prototype their applications and build their Quality Assurance/ Quality Control routines. Finally, h allowed Cartotech and SCE&G to build a working relationship which would anchor the composite team throughout the conversion endeavor. Lessons Learned form the pilot Conversion Specifications One of the first critical lessons SCE&G learned from the pilot was how to build a solid conversion specification. Since Cartotech had no knowledge of the internal design and mapping practices of Gas Operations, it became important to write a document which not only stated the database design, but addressed placement rules, facilities to be captured and priorities to be followed when rules conflicted. The document also created the foundation for further rule sets to be built upon as new problems surfaced. Capturing Key Attributes Another lesson was the importance of focusing on the crucial elements that needed to be addressed during conversion. One example of this was populating the correct size and material information for mains. Since every pipe segment was not denoted with material or size, it became critical to have Cartotech populate records only when those attributes could be determined with certainty. Once conversion was completed, the technicians would fill in the unknown pipe material and size. This helped ensure the integrity of the GIS database by relying on trained personnel to provide the missing information. 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
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
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:
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