Mainstreaming AM/FM at transalta utilities
Position AM/FM for m’oliferation throughout the corporation
Out of a potential 2500 users, only 150 currently use AMFM. Porting AM/FM to windows
NT made it more readily accessible, to every sector of the corporation, especially the
Area Business Unit’s.
Alian AM/FM with the Cor~orate SAP strateuy
By enabling AM/FM’s proliferation into the same computing environment as SAP,
convergence of AM/FM and SAP into an integrated workflow became possible. We can
now strive to adhere to the corporate goal of data capture as early as possible; capture
it only once and use many times.
Protect Investment in AM/FM
Migration of AM/FM to Windows NT ensures the life of TransAlta’s investment beyond
the year 2000, when support for our UNIX/CLIX environment would no longer be a
certainty. Additional applications, which were foreseen but difficult to accomplish in the
UNIX world, can now be revisited and built.
Increase Productivity of Personnel
Replacement of out-of-date workstations with faster, newer machines, frees up
operators’ time, which they can use to do work of higher value.
717?Even though this project came in on-time and on-budget, there were many unforeseen,
and unexpected issues that arose during its life cycle. These issues led to the following
Freeze Production Rulebase durina Miaration
We expected to freeze the production rulebase for eight months during the development
of the NT rulebase, except for true bug fixes. We were unable to do so as the 150 users
needed enhancements to continue to function productively. Enhancements which were
made to the UNIX side had to be put into the NT rulebase before it went into Production.
This caused three weeks of extra work, which was not in the original schedule.
Fast Track Redacement of all UNIX Workstations
- It was our original intention to support a hybrid NT/UNIX environment and replace
H/W as it depreciated (5yr depreciation rate). As we got further into the Windows NT
Migration project, it became more apparent that maintaining a hybrid environment
was fraught with many downsides.
- With AM/FM becoming 100% Windows NT, the following obstacles were eliminated:
- Changes only need to be done in one rulebase.
- Administration became simpler. Selection of a system that would run on both
operating systems, and deliver to two different environments was no longer
necessary.
- Support staff and developers will not have to maintain two machines, two
operating systems, and potentially four rulebases on their desks, in order to
support this hybrid world.
Because of these new concerns, we re-worked the original business case to replace all
UNIX machines by end of first quarter 1997, instead of the original replacement
schedule which took us to the end of 1998. We gained corporate suppott to proceed with
this fast-track replacement, as it actually improved the benefiticost ratio to 1.21.
Hiah Level Management Sumort and involvement
Even though we had all the proper approval to proceed with this project, it was difficult
to maintain commitment and support throughout the project. Our SAP and Infrastructure
projects were running concurrently and these higher profile projects made it hard to get
appropriate resources needed to complete some of our required tasks. This meant we
had to do a lot more negotiating and hair pulling, than normal. If you find yourse/f in the
same situation, expect to have the same experience and allow extra time for resolving
issues. We do not believe there is any way around this.
Influence of changes brought about by other application
Even though other major initiatives like SAP and Infrastructure were going on at the
same time as our project, and that we were told we would not be impacted by them in
any way, this did not turn out to be true. We ended up having to adjust our application to
fit the needs of these other projects, and to do it NOW. /f other high profi/e projects are
being undertaken concurrently, allow time and resources in your project plan to meet
these ad hoc, urgent requests.
Integration Opportunities
By bringing our AM/FM system into the Windows NT world, it opened many integration
possibilities with existing applications and future project opportunities. Some of the new
initiatives we have been working on include:
Field View/Mobile Computing
Phase 1of this project provides functionality for front line staff to view and enter data in
the field on a laptop computer. This will eliminate duplicate effort and improve timeliness
of new data entry and corrections. R/W Maintenance will also use this to record
maintenance activities by geographic area and keep history for forecasting future
requirements. Phase II will enhance this basic functionality and allow for streetlight
management, pole replacement and line patrol. Phase Ill will proliferate this technology
throughout the entire corporation.
Interface with SAP for Estimating
AM/FM in conjunction with our DES (Design Estimating System) allowed our designers
to plan, design and estimate all new and maintenance activities. With the advent of
SAP, and its Work and Material Management modules, we needed to interface directly
with SAP to achieve the same functionality. We have built an interface that allows an
AM/FM user to draw a fence around new facilities in AM/FM and send the information to
SAP where the cost estimate is produced.
We view the interface between AM/FM and SAP as an interim solution. It is our intention
to partner with both vendors and achieve full integration between FRAMME and SAP to
eliminate all duplicate data entry. This will be accomplished by calling SAP functions
directly, while in an AM/FM work session.
AM/FM Portability
By standardizing our AM/FM system in Windows NT, we are improving its portability.
Currently we are in the process of delivering our AM/FM system to our newly acquired
company TransAlta New Zealand. AM/FM’s rulebase encapsulates TransAlta’s
expertise, which requires only minor modifications which address such differences as
voltages, while at the same time maintaining one model and rulebase.
