Project Summary
Project Type:
Mobile Map Viewer – Digital maps to the field
Locations:
Midwestern United States
Number of Customers:
2.4 Million +
Applications:
Enable Ameren field users to interact with their work through a mobile map interface.
Solutions Implemented:
EpochField
Customer Benefits
Graphical, data-rich environment
Simple, cost-effective solution
One integrated solution
Introduction
Ameren is a gas and electric utility company headquartered in St. Louis servicing 2.4 million electric and 900 thousand gas customers across Illinois and Missouri. Ameren’s transmission subsidiary manages an infrastructure of high-voltage electric lines. 8,500 co-workers provide services to these customers over a 64,000-square mile servicing area. Recently, Ameren was seeking a solution to increase efficiency in their field applications.
This case study outlines how Epoch Solutions Group was able to provide their mobile workforce solution, EpochField, that allowed Ameren to fully leverage their asset data through a superior mobile mapping interface in their daily routine. EpochField was chosen by Ameren to replace its current field application for its robust workforce management feature set and offline capabilities.
The Challenge
Ameren’s Electric Transmission group currently utilizes Esri’s suite of GIS technology but did not have a mobile solution for their field crews that seamlessly integrated with Maximo. The transmission group now uses Click for managing work assignments and is going through the process of updating to a newer version of Click, while at the same time desiring to have enhanced mapping capabilities.
Also, Ameren has a business line for their Substation and Relay groups, which utilize the same data. These groups underwent an effort to integrate with Maximo, and both groups now leverage Maximo for their work management solution. Along with the Maximo integration, the team also now utilizes Click for managing work assignments.
The Solution
Field users can use the tools in EpochField to initiate tasks in Click based on assets available through the map interface.
EpochField’s capability to integrate with Click, along with its high-quality mapping and ability to work with an offline first approach, made it an ideal solution for Ameren’s Transmission, Substation, and Relay groups. Field users can use the tools in EpochField to initiate tasks in Click based on assets available through the map interface.
One of the challenges facing Ameren’s Substation and Relay groups was that their data was primarily housed in Maximo and is not fully integrated with a GIS system. Epoch Solutions Group developed some custom data preparation scripts that assisted in providing a solution that was efficient and easy to use for the end-user.
The Results
Users throughout the Ameren Transmission, Substation, and Relay groups can now access GIS Data in the field at any time, and initiate work based on assets found in the field. When Ameren completes the rollout of EpochField to all Transmission, Substation, and Relay workers, over 700 field workers will be using EpochField on various mobile touch screen devices and getting updated data feeds regularly.
EpochField was a proven success to fulfill Ameren’s goal for the Digital Field Experience, in making their work more efficient and increasing productivity. It also provides a consistent look and feel to field users across different business lines and devices, which helps Ameren’s overall DFE objectives of unifying technology across the company.
