Economic justification work management and AM/FM/GIS systems
Robert L Trotter
Executive Consultant, Logica
Energy & Utilities Division
10375 Richmond Avenue, Suite 1000
Houston, TX 77042, 713-954-7000
Introduction
This paper describes benefits and pay back that a utility may expect to gain by installing
a work management information system (WMIS) and/or an AM/FM/GIS system
(WMIS/GIS). It also describes a process for evaluating the current processes and
defining the specific benefits for a particular company considering its organization and
operating practices.
Utilities in the United States are facing new challenges, including deregulation,
competition, stranded asset recovery, process reengineering and downsizing for cost
control. Along with these pressures are environmental issues, such as the total social
cost of generation, hazardous waste sites and etc., which utilities must resolve these
issues while trying to run their core business, selling electricity and gas to customers.
The transmission and distribution (T&D) expense for capital improvements and
maintenance is second only to the cost of generation in most electric utilities. In gas
utilities the cost of the distribution system is a bigger part of the cost. Only in recent
years have utilities begun to change processes that have been in place twenty years or
more by re-engineering and automation of the core utility processes. To survive and
better yet, prosper in the new paradigm of competition requires that utilities consider
immediate process changes, new organization structures and new technologies to
achieve operational excellence. This leads to improved customer service and customer
loyalty. Customers able to choose between suppliers will base their decisions on price
and service. Using computer technology as a strategic asset offers four primary
advantages.
- First, customer service will be more responsive and the costs reduced in all areas of
operations. For example, a request for new service can usually be handled with one
phone call. A customer's questions about the status of requested service restoration
during a storm can be answered immediately; and work can be planned and
scheduled more easily.
- Second, resources, both human and physical, can be utilized more effectively. For
example, maintenance and construction work can be addressed "just in time" based
on a known need date. Purchasing can be better controlled, allowing reduction of
inventory. Redundant work and mundane clerical tasks can be eliminated.
- Third, installation of WMIS/GIS provides an opportunity to review processes and
practices throughout the utility. Many work methods in use may not have changed for
some time. Also, the installation of new technology can encourage employee
participation. Employees know what their work requires, what customers want, and
how processes could be changed for the better. Their knowledge should be tapped.
- Fourth, records can be consolidated, thus improving timeliness, accuracy and
availability. This will also reduce the cost by not having to put data in multiple data
bases. Client-server technology is in place, but in many cases high volume
applications are used sparingly. It is difficult to fill requests from the operating areas
for systems or for information. Departments, such as operations, do not have some of
their major functions computerized. There is a transformer file, a pole file, a street
light file and so on; but they require that a piece of paper be sent to a data entry
operator for input. With the paper system it is not easy to know when changes have
been made but with an automated system the work request is tracked until all
changes have been done. This helps assure that when reports are sent out
periodically they are up to date.
While most utilities are aware of potential savings, it is difficult to come up with an easy
plan for change. Each utility has a unique situation, and no single plan could satisfy
everyone. What this paper attempts to do is to provide an explanation of the possibilities
for change, how the changes should be implemented, and what results can be expected.
The following discussion provides information to evaluate the benefits of change related
to WMIS/GIS and to help utilities start the process.
Traditional Manual Work Flow Problems
With this brief background, let's first review problems with traditional, paper-driven work
flow and then describe a WMIS/GIS system, see how the work flows automatically, and
discuss the savings.
There are many typical problems with a traditional, paper-driven work flow. Each
department keeps its own log books, causing redundant records. When two departments
communicate by paper, a lost sheet of paper means the loss of potentially important
data. When a customer has a question about a job, only the one person working on that
job can answer the question fully. Management cannot know what is occurring at all
levels of the organization and cannot easily compile statistics to search for cost-cutting
improvements.
As an example, we will create a hypothetical job and follow it through the manual system.
When customers request needed work, the customer service department initiates a form
or a memo in multiple copies. They send it to other departments, and record the job. The
papers are received by the other departments, and they log the job. Someone in each
department is assigned to each relevant task, but other departments do not know who
that is.
Each department begins the tasks associated with the job and many tasks are
duplicated. For example, the meter department and the engineering department both
may visit the simplest service drop. Each department devises the necessary plan and
does the paperwork. The engineer takes field notes at the site and creates a rough
sketch of the work area. At the office, the existing maps are used by the engineer to
create a work plan drawing. From this drawing and the field notes, the order is written
and may require several copies. Each order takes a great deal of clerical time often done
by the engineer. The completed work order package is sent to the construction
department and placed on a stack of orders, waiting for construction.
The stacks of orders cause a constant state of chaos in the construction department.
Employees search for jobs, while customers wait for the status of their job. Piles are
searched and when the order is found, crews are pulled off on-going work to put out the
"fire." This results in not only an irritated customer, but also a loss of productivity for the
crews. The root problem is lack of planning; planning is impossible without knowledge of
the workload and the status of every job. Worse yet, the areas or districts are run as
many small companies doing their own thing. No one is able to compare overall priorities
and backlogs.
