Case Study

Gulf Power Company - MYRIAD Goes Mobile for Power Viewing

When Gulf Power Company service workers in the field need to know the location of underground power lines, they no longer have to pull maps or call the control room. The service workers use laptop computers mounted in their trucks and equipped with MYRIAD viewing software to instantly call up the information they seek.

It's all part of a pilot project at the Pensacola, Fla., company - a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Company - where 25 trucks will be outfitted with the laptop computers containing scanned images of thousands of maps. Improved customer service, time savings, and increased safety are the goals.

"As a leader in adopting new technology, this is another positive step we can take in providing even better customer service," Steve Higginbottom, company spokesman, said. "This can help set us apart as we enter a more competitive environment."

Each service worker at Gulf Power Company performs several jobs - from setting meters and troubleshooting to repairing lines during thunderstorms. And the new system is designed to help with all of them.

The drawings provide the information the workers require to do their jobs, according to Power Delivery Systems Engineer Sybelle Fitzgerald, who directed the project. "The crew members will now have all the information they need at their fingertips," she said. "The maps show the location of all primary services, transformers and cables, as well as wire size and location, switching details and construction layout. And MYRIAD's zoom function makes it easy to home in on exactly the information they're looking for."

Fitzgerald said the benefits of the new system are immediately apparent. "Now when service workers are sent out to repair a power outage, they won't have to work with maps in the dark and rain," said Fitzgerald. "They can pull up the drawings they need on a lighted screen."

Steve Miller, a planner/scheduler who coordinates work between the engineering department and line construction, agreed. "The new system eliminates the need for those time-consuming activities, like searching for paper drawings, calling the control room, sometimes even driving back to the main facility to pull photocopies," he said. "This project is a big help to us. We'll be able to restore service a lot more quickly."

And that's important to Gulf Power. Since 1987 the company has reduced the time average customer is without power during an entire year by 58 percent - from 98 minutes to 38.6 minutes.

"Reliability will be a key factor in separating the winners from the losers in a competitive marketplace," Higginbottom said. Eliminating the potential for miscommunication between the control room and the workers in the field was an important factor in the decision to implement the new system, according to Fitzgerald. "It's much safer for the workers to be able to access information directly, without having to go through several levels, each of which carries a potential for misunderstanding," she said.

In addition, the computerized system allows for comprehensive information delivery. "There's so much more information you can give the servicemen when they have computers," said Fitzgerald.

Gulf Power called on AA Scan Inc., an engineering services firm in Akron, Ohio, to scan the drawings and aid in execution of the project. A team from AA Scan Inc. traveled to Pensacola and scanned 2,500 maps in three days.

"AA Scan had the best rate and the fastest delivery," said Fitzgerald. "And they were extremely easy to work with." The pilot program will run for six months, during which time Fitzgerald hopes to discover still more applications for the system. She already foresees an important use for MYRIAD's redlining function.

"I'd like to see workers using redlining to make field notes and annotations in cases of incorrectly marked drawings," she said. "The redlines can be sent to drafting for correction. That's much more efficient than jotting down notes on paper."

And with the company's new intranet, Fitzgerald expects to see field engineers using MYRIAD to pull up maps to aid in the creation of work orders as well. "The payoff for this kind of project is tremendous," said Keith Snyder, director of sales at AA Scan. "Gulf Power has done what many power companies have only dreamed of."

For more information about AA Scan Inc., contact Keith Snyder at 330-794-6940 or visit the company's web site at www.aascan.com.