St. Paul, MN (May 17, 2007)—Powel, Inc, an industry leader in providing Operational
Resource Planning (ORP) software to utilities worldwide, announced today that Adams-Columbia Electric Cooperative in North America has chosen Powel Mobile Work Management Software to streamline operations and integrate with multiple systems including customer information, billing, and GIS at its three district locations.
Adams-Columbia Electric Cooperative located in Friendship, Wisconsin, serves more
than 35,000 members. They chose Powel’s Mobile Work Management software to
manage and streamline the entire work order process, from job initiation to close-out including GIS posting. They will use Powel StakeOut design software to capture all the information needed in the field and synchronize with multiple systems in their three offices—dramatically reducing the number of manual steps and saving precious time.
The utility currently employs four full-time field designers and utilizes three additional supervisors to help generate and process the more than 700 annual new service orders in addition to managing large ongoing development projects.
“For every service order we construct, we generally create two additional new-service
estimates that never get constructed.” said Chuck Spargo, Vice President – Engineering and Operations. “We expect significant process improvement gains with Powel’s solution that will allow our four stakers alone to process the same work load right in the field.”
The Mobile Work Management software will integrate with their ATS customer information and billing system, facilitating field-to-office data synchronization. Data can be accessed and used directly in the field for increased accuracy and instant project estimations. Field designers no longer have to return to the office to create an estimate; with Mobile Work Management, all the necessary information is readily available in the field, reducing needless travel time.
A key driver in the decision was Powel’s screen-driven, user friendly software interface. The powerful drawing and editing tools within the StakeOut design software are easily accessible and readily available to the user, allowing stakers and service staff to quickly adapt to the new technology.
In addition, Adams Columbia Electric purchased Powel InfoCenter to streamline the
work process and share information online among their corporate facility and two district offices. InfoCenter online allows everyone in the organization to access and update work order information in real time.
“The StakeOut software will allow us more flexibility managing our work order process without sending paperwork from one office to another – a needless delay” commented Spargo. “Now information is accessible by all CSRs and engineering staff online allowing us to electronically manage the entire work process. Because most of our projects are firm bid contracts it is critical we accurately estimate the work and manage the work flow.”
According to Spargo, phase two of the Adams Columbia Electric project will include
integrating Powel’s mobile solution and the ESRI GIS software from ATS and next year expanding the mobile software application to include Right of Way (ROW) management.
“We were impressed by the variety of work that Powel’s software can manage” said
Spargo. “This will provide a flexible software platform that will grow with us over time.”
Powel's Mobile Work Management software can model any type of work, from design to inspection to vegetation management. The software suite offers unique flexibility in a single work management system to meet the diverse requirements of building, operating and maintaining utility facilities. By implementing applications that are part of a comprehensive suite, utilities can centralize communication with back-office systems, reduce the total deployment cost and simplifying IT and administrative support. The industry leading StakeOut technology base and interface reduces training time and maximizes the ability to deploy the software to the entire work force.
“Everyone at the utility should have direct access to the work that drives their business, whether they are in the field, at the office or online” said Corey Maple, CEO of Powel, Inc. “We have worked closely with our utility clients to develop and configure a Mobile Work Management system that meets the unique needs and challenges of Electric Coops, Municipals, and Investor-Owned Utilities.”
About Powel:
Powel ASA, headquartered in Trondheim, Norway, delivers software solutions and related services designed to help energy companies and public utilities work smarter, to increase their operational efficiency and service quality. The company is a market leader in Scandinavia, and has established offices in Sweden, the U.S., and Canada. Founded in 1996, Powel ASA is a publicly traded company and has grown from 37 employees to more than 230 in its 10 years of existence. Growth opportunities for the company remain strong in both the energy industry and the public sector. For more information visit www.powel.com.
Powel contact info:
President/CEO Bård Benum (J) +47 73 80 45 00 (M) +47 48 16 46 70
CFO Øystein Sæther (J) +47 73 80 45 00 (M) +47 48 16 45 58