Mainstreaming AM/FM at transalta utilities
Pat Drinnan AM/FM Coordinator, Transmission & Distribution Services TransAlta Utilities Corporation, P.O. Box 1900 Calgary, Alberta T2P-2M1 Ann Ulesoo Euloth Project Coordinator, AM/FM Development P.O. Box 1900, Calgary, Alberta T2P-2M1 Abstract TransAlta Utilities is actively converging its AM/FM System with mainstream Information Technology in several significant domains. In order to achieve these objectives, it was necessary to first migrate our mature AM/FM System from UNIX to Windows NT. This provides the platform which allows for integration opportunities, greater accessibility and ease of use throughout the corporation. This presentation will deal mainly with the migration project and touch on future integration opportunities such as the initial merging of AM/FM and SAP (Systems, Applications and Products), TransAlta’s new corporate business control and management application, mobile computing and port of our AM/FM System to new acquisitions such as TransAlta New Zealand. Introduction TransAlta Utilities is the largest investor owned electric utility in Canada with over 81,000 kilometers of transmission and distribution lines in a 248,000 square kilometer service area. The AM/FM System models TransAlta’s entire electrical network both in a graphical and pure data representation, with true connectivity. It links installed distribution and transmission facilities (155,000 transformers, 700,000 conductor segments and over 1 million poles, among others), to actual geographical and customer information, within this integrated model. AM/FM is used to manage $75 Million of new capital and maintenance projects as well as $30 Million of operating Iabour per year. All this work is processed by 80 regional staff, who use AM/FM to plan, estimate, design and re-vamp TransAlta’s distribution and transmission system. AM/FM is also used by Plotting Services to produce between 3,000-5,500 plots per month, of a vast variety of map types, sizes and colors, for use throughout TransAlta and the private sector. TransAlta’s AM/FM System previously ran in a client/server environment under a UNIX operating system. There were 80 networked client workstations and 9 servers storing 8.3 GB of graphics and 6.4 GB of database, distributed throughout our service area. As well, a master copy of all graphics resides on a server in Calgary at Head Office, which is used for seamless operations plots. Project Background The project took four dedicated AM/FM team members, one project manager and two lntergraph consultants, over eight months. Total project cost was projected to be $592,000 ($50,000 for detailed analysis, $477,000 for software conversionand $65,000 for training/new software). Nineteen UNIX workstations were replaced with NT workstations (200 MgHz, 64MB RAM, 2GB drive, 4MB VRam), at an additional cost of $190,000. The project had a Benefit/Cost ratio of 1.06, with a payback period of just over 1 year. The project scope included the following major activities:
Move TransAlta to current “mainstream” technology By providing the open architecture and accessibility of the Windows NT environment, TransAlta could achieve convergence of all its business tools, on one computer. Take advantaue of ureatlv reduced hardware prices Migration of AM/FM to Windows NT allowed the application to run on lower-priced hardware, with accordingly reduced maintenance costs. Replacement of proprietary workstations with new Intel based workstations was done at a 3:1 capital savings. The price of NT software is lower than that of proprietary software. By remaining in older technology we were open to the risk of reduced or non-existent support services, as vendors’ personnel expertise got more experienced in the new technology, and less in the old technology. 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
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. | ||
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