DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

College campus utilities organization embraces digital transformation and deploys digitized workflow solutions to achieve optimal performance.

Application

Opening the door to endless possibilities for continuous improvement with eschbach Shiftconnector® and GoCanvas software

• Enabled a central electronic logbooks platform to create a single version of truth across critical functional areas
• Transitioned from traditional paper forms and data re-entry to a collaborative platform with a searchable database
• Leveraged multiple digital workflow software solutions to ensure consistent, efficient communication

Customer

The college’s facilities and operations department services campus-wide utilities purchasing, generation, and distribution, as well as metering and billing energy consumption for all university buildings 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.

Distribution includes the operations and maintenance of hundreds of miles of underground utility systems from outdoor lighting and high voltage circuits to water mains to tunnel piping.

The division also provides engineering services primarily dedicated to energy management, the operations and maintenance of university facilities, and the utilities infrastructure.

Challenge

With 24/7 operations, the University sought to enable a central electronic logbooks platform to record all information for high priority shift logs, shift handover, open tasks, operator rounds, unacknowledged instructions, and production loss accounting across critical functional areas.

The information needed to be organized and easily accessible to designated operations team members, from front-line staff to supervisors, at any moment in time, to create a single version of truth.

Solution

An important component of the Digital Workflow Solution included the following:

• A collaborative platform with a searchable database
• Transition from traditional paper forms and storage methods to electronic records
• Removal of data re-entry into multiple disparate databases

The University selected a simultaneous deployment of Shiftconnector and GoCanvas workflow solutions with both being deployed as Software as a Service (SaaS). Leveraging both solutions provided a host of necessary features including the ability to:

• Build and assign tasks and checklist forms that can be completed anywhere, with or without a reliable internet connection
• Capture GPS coordinates, time stamps, signatures, annotated images, and media
• Export data and forms to .pdf files and share by Email
• Program intelligent business logic workflows to trigger flags and notifications for issues requiring immediate attention
• Customize unique landing pages and views for each functional area, with the data for each area kept separately from each other
• Connect with third party and legacy software through API integrations to enable bidirectional data synchronization
• Enable single sign on

Following an initial configuration workshop, the entire development and deployment process took approximately 6 months from start to finish, with the University’s project team’s requirements and feedback being incorporated into the functionality at every stage.

Outcome

The University made an investment in their future by implementing software solutions to ensure consistent, efficient workflow and communication between operators and supervisors across several functional areas.

Regardless of the team in place at any moment in time, the applications allow staff members to manage day-to-day operations easily and effectively. The real-time visibility into their workflows helps ensure that safety and productivity are maintained throughout each shift and through the transfer of responsibility at handover.

Deploying Shiftconnector and GoCanvas complements the University’s PLC/DCS automation investments, allowing them to digitize much of their manual workflow. Related, the deployment has not required alterations to their current processes, making this a low-risk and high-impact digital investment.