Operations Management via the Web: PacifiCorp’s Operations Visualization System Puts Facilities Maps on the Web
Bill Elliott
Marketing Manager, Baker GeoResearch, Inc
8120 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 300
Bethesda, MD 20814
Reengineering the Field Technician
A few years back a well-known cable company analyzed how their field technicians were
spending their time. The analysis revealed the following utilization statistics:
- 57'XOOn-Job Time - time spent installing and servicing customer accounts.
- . 31% Job-Related Overhead - time spent driving to customer sites, communicating with
dispatch, and waiting for assignments.
- . 7% Management-Related Overhead - time spent in team meetings, training, and reporting.
- . 5'%Vehicle-Related Overhead - vehicle refueling and maintenance time.
It's About Time
Further investigation revealed field staff had difficulty getting through on the radio, and were
sitting in their vehicles waiting for instructions to the next service call. With over 40°/0 of a
technician's average day spent on activities other than installing and servicing customer accounts
(i.e. overhead), any technology that can assist in reducing field technician overhead time would
have a positive effect on operational productivity. The inability to contact a dispatcher because
of a high volume of traffic are time wasters. For the mobile worker, increased productivity is all
about saving time. Automated Vehicle Tracking (AVL) is one technology that can save time. For
most organizations, an increase of one customer service call per day by each field technician
would significantly improve the bottom line.
AVL moves AM/FM out of the box
Integrating GPS positioning, AM/FM databases and wireless data communications, AVL offers
opportunities for better management and utilization of a utility company's mobile workers. If the
benefits are there, why has the industry been slow in adopting this technology?
Perhaps, the main reason that AVL has been slow to take hold is the fact that vehicle tracking
alone does not yield the business improvements required for a company to invest in the
technology. AVL is apiece of the technology that needs to be integrated into work management
processes and software applications. As the utility industry heads toward deregulation, many
companies are investing in business process reengineering. Products that incorporate AVL into
their solutions, addressing not only newer technologies such as AVL, but go hand-in-hand with
recommended improvements fi-om reengineered work flows, will be in great demand as
competition forces utility companies to reduce their costs and improve service.
Today, utility companies are increasingly evaluating AVL technology in the form of pilot
projects. As the industry leaders roll out and successfully integrate these AVL products into
company operations, other utility companies will quickly follow suit. This day is f~t
approaching, with AVL imbedded solutions projected to grow exponentially over the next few
years.
Organizational Imediments
Another impediment to the advancement of AVL technology within the utility industry is the
natural fi.mctional compartmentalization that exists within most utility organizations. In a sense,
functional compartmentalization has hindered cross pollination of key technologies between
fi.mctional departments. This is particularly noteworthy of AMIFM and its key role in facilitating
such technologies as AVL and map-based Computer Aided Dispatch within operational
departments.
AM/FM by tradition has been a "records management" technology used in the office to
streamline the update and maintenance of facility map databases, and to support design,
engineering and work management recordkeeping processes. Since AM/FM had little direct
impact on the mobile workforce, few saw the need to introduce and promote the technology to
the operational departments.
Emerging technologies of GPS, mobile computers, and wireless digital communications have
brought AM/FM in direct support of real-time operations through applications of AVL, and
map-based Computer Aided Dispatch. The emerging view of AM/FM is its expanding role as
facilitator for new operations-orient applications that add a real-time geospatial component to
work management/field force management processes.
