El Paso Energy's - Field force automation project
J. Stephen Ellis
El Paso Energy, P.O. BOX 2511
HoustoL Texas 77252-2511
Abstract
This paper will review the former Tenneco Energy’s (now a susidiary of El Paso Energy) mobile
computing and field force automation initiative which is essential to distributing its innovative
World Class Operations technologies for in-field use along a 12,000 mile corridor stretching fi-om
the Gulf Of Mexico to New England. This initiative covers Tennessee Gas Pipeline, East
Tennessee Natural Gas, and Midwestern Natural Gas, collectively known as Tennessee.
Tennessee is in the deployment phase of a three year World Class Operations (WCO) effort aimed
at re-engineering its core engineering, constructio~ operations and maintenance processes with an
emphasis on maintaining operating cost leadership and sustaining high system reliability. The
redesigned, end-to-end business processes associated with the WCO Project require the
implementation of new technology and the integration of multiple applications spanning the
Tennessee enterprise. WCO initiatives include AM/FM/GIS, Document Management, Work
Management and Project Planning and Control. Key points of discussion will include Tenneco
Energy’s connected and disconnected mobile computing applicatio~ its supporting architecture
and “in-field laptop and penbased hardware, application middleware requirements,
communications support and the integration of GPS technology with specialty pipeline data
recording applications.
Project History
Whh the advent of Order 636, Tennessee was faced with the biggest challenge in its fifty year
history - transforming a traditional, regulated company with a fixed-rate-of-return mentalhy into a
world class service provider in a highly competitive, deregulated, global marketplace. The
company had already been confronted with the hard reality of the economic scissors curve: rising
operations costs on its fifty year old pipeline system and lower revenues fi-om the sale of gas
transportation services. Steps had been taken to control costs and improve customer service, but
by early 1994 it was clear that ii.uther measures would be necessruy. A three-year re-engineering
project, which we call World Class Operations (WCO), was initiated shortly thereafter to firther
streamline our operations and maintenance processes. In the late fall of 1996, Tenneco Energy
was merged with El Paso Energy Company. The merger did not significantly impact the project in
that the project was completed as designed, however, the actual implementation was transfemed
to the line organization to ensure alignment with the new company strategies.
The WCO vision is to provide real-time operating data throughout the company to ensure higher
quality, lower cost, and more timely product and semice delivery. We are moving away flom
disconnected databases that can’t share information across the company towards a technology
solution that will enable employees to enter data at the source where the work is taking place and
distribute that data seamlessly across the organization. Previous technical solutions had been more
departmentally focused and created small islands of information within the company. This in turn
placed additional administrative burdens on the field worldorce to supply duplicate data to the
728?difkmt departments via the fragmented systems. The result was higher operating costs, less
timely data availability and inefficient use o~ and access to, company resources. We expect the
WCO project to correct these problems, and enhance Tennessee’s ability to make and meet
customer commitments through improved management of our gas facilities, and the associated
records, maps, scheduling and human resource activities. This will be accomplished through
re-engineered work processes, automated where appropriate, and use of off-the-shelf technology
enablers to modernize and standardize our operations business approaches. The project will
implement SAROS Document Management (DM) solutio~ PSDI’SMaximo Work Management
(WM) systeq Primavera’s Project Planning and Control @P&C) package, and Intergraph’s
Automated Mapping/Facility Management/Geographic Information System (AIWFIWGIS). A
key component of the AM/FM/GIS initiative was tooling the field operations personnel with a
mobile computing solution to capture our facility data dkectly at the source.
Mobile Computing and the AM/FM. IGIS Solution
Our strategy in deploying the AM/FM/GIS technology within the WCO project included
capitalizing on the knowledge of our field personnel and providing the tools they needed to
accurately record itiormation about the location and composition of our facilities. This concept
formed the foundation of the mobile computing, or worlciiorce automatio~ portion of
AIVUHWGIS.The intent of workforce automation was to develop a field system that was easy to
use and wouldn’t place additional work on operations personnel. We decided on a mobile
computing solution combined with global positioning system (GPS) technology as a means to
correct our alignment sheets and maps. This process was also utilized to capture critical facility
data.
Members of our pipeline crew were included as part of the team developing the system and
defining the look and feel of the mobile AMiFM/GIS field applications. In order to select a crew,
we needed to narrow our choices to a location on the pipeline that would reasonably represent the
Tennessee syste~ which includes over 17,000 miles of pipeline stretching from Texas to Canada.
The location needed to have a good operating history and we had to have a group of people who
believed in the project. We finally settled on a district location on our East Tennessee Natural
Gas system located in Ooltewfi Tennessee.
During workshops conducted at the Ooltewah office, participants agreed on four major categories
of work to be included as part of the project. These included Preliminary SurvV, As-Built
Constructioxq Final Survey and Operations& Maintenance. After agreeing on these four
categories, we put our software developers side by side with the pipeline crew to arrive at the best
solution for capturing data associated with each work process and then verified the data for
source locations. A review of all the currently used paper forms was also conducted to ensure that
our design would provide the information required by all areas of the organization. Based on
information gathered during the workshops and associated prototype sessions, we developed a
detailed design document detlning each new process. Equipment options were matched to the
work performed, and the crew members evaluated a variety of mobile computing units before
selecting the unit they felt best matched their needs and environment. Applications were then
developed for the selected hardware.
As might be expected, many technical challenges arose during development of the worl&orce
automation solution. One of the largest issues related to moving large design data sets across the
729?company’s wide area network which eventually was resolved by cutting C D‘s of data sets from
the main AM/FM/GIS system and shipping them to field locations. Smaller amounts of data
could be passed through a message server which acts as a request manager between the mobile
computing agent and the AM/FM/GIS server. This approach lessened the demand on the main
system and the need to put high end software on each mobile unit. Additionally, to meet the
challenge of managing a number of applications on the unit, we settled on a single viewing
software package that allows the end user to view a variety of document formats. By limiting
ourselves to this one viewing applicatio~ employees don’t have to become experts on the
AMA?IWGIS,work management or document management systems and we reduce the transition
period for end-users to adapt to the new system. Everything is delivered through the single
viewing application that has been tailored to fit their work process. Information to be sent to a
user is placed in an in-box on the message server. The next time the user connects to the system
the data is automatically delivered. If they have information to send back to the main system it is
removed from their out-box and delivered to the server and later passed into the main
AM/FM/GIS server for processing.
In planning the way to capture information for the four work processes, we tried to mirror the
current work flow processes as much as possible while eliminating non-value added activities.
For example, in the current paradigm the crew members report to work in the morning to receive
their assignments. They gather up the tools, materials and documentation needed for the work to
be performed each day and then drive to the facility site, often quite a long distance from the
office. In the evening, they drive back to the office and give any forms they completed that day to
the administrative person for data entry. They also advise the superintendent or foreman of any
conditions they noticed while they were out that need to be scheduled for follow-up, such as the
right-of way requiring mowing or other minor repairs.
Using mobile computing, we will follow a similar work flow, but streamline the process. The
employee logs into the system in the morning to get the latest information and assignment for the
coming day, including necessary documentation and tools required for the job. During the day, the
employee will update and record information related to their assignments on the laptop,
eliminating the need to keep up with paper copies of forms, maps or procedures. The~ at the end
of the day, the employee will log back into the system and upload the day’s information onto the
network. During the night, the system processes the informatio~ dhibuting to various
departments as needed, and places the next day’s work in the system mail box. Further
efficiencies can be gained in the process by having the information available to the employee from
the office, on the road, or at home. In this way the employee can head straight to the worksite in
the morning.
