A new approach in GIS cost-benefit analysis

3. Cost-Benfit analysis

3.1 Scope of the analysis
The analysis considered:

The identification of the improvements benefits quantification for all processes of the Distribution Business Unit, derived from the SIGRID implementation.
The influence of the technical information for every individual process.

The analysis studied the profitability of the information for the different levels of voltage, depending on the characteristics and typology of the information (graphic or alphanumeric).

3.2 Quantitative global analysis of benefits for every business process
At the beginning, all the distribution business processes were identified, defined, and detailed by activities. Afterwards, their impact (high, medium, or low) on the AM/FM system SIGRID was assessed. The results of the analysis indicated that the high or medium impact corresponds to the following processes:

Satisfying and executing the new supply request.
Planning and developing the network, guaranteeing adequate operation.
Conducting preventive, corrective, and predictive maintenance.
Solving outages and breakdowns in the electrical supply (service restoration).
Detailing if the representative and critical information is graphic or alphanumeric, and what voltage level is involved.

3.3 General concepts of benefit to be considered
We have considered two types of benefits.

QwQi&d- specific Of a process Or multi-process (generic).
Qualitative - merely identified.

In detail, the specific benefits are:

By design and opportunity cost reduction.
By personnel cost reduction, in the activities:
- Obtaining the basic information.
- Processing and handling the information.
- Updating the information.
By exploitation (maintenance and operation) cost reduction.

To reduce the in-field data collection cost, Iberdrola is leading a European project called INTFO. The goal of INTFO is to create a new multi-utility software system that operates on standard hardware and provides superior data handling and validation.