Title of presentation

Transkript

1 Title of presentation Southwest Gas Corporation Las Vegas, Nevada Lynnette Cervone/Project Manager

2 AMR Installations History of Meter Reading at SWG Factors contributing to implementation of AMR Project Plan for AMR technology Timeline of Project Prior to implementation Lessons learned Project Transition

3 History of Meter Reading In the beginning Meter Cards During the 80 s First handheld 300 meters per day During the 90 s First memory based handheld 400 meters per day

4 History of Meter Reading First AMR Installations Lake Tahoe Due to heavy snowfall Las Vegas Difficult to read areas Summer of 2002 SWG installs AMR device on all new meter installations

5 History of Meter Reading January 2003 Use of first radio based handheld Up to 1,000 per day saturated June ,000 AMR devices installed September ,000 AMR devices installed Average 12,000 installed per month

6 Utilization of Technology Assists meter reading departments Manage growth Become more efficient Improve accuracy Decrease re-reads Enhance customer service Increase safety AMR also provides an opportunity to enhance skills in other work areas

7 Plan for Future Technology 2006 SWG embarked on a 3-year AMR Installation Project Key players SWG management Meter reading departments Customer service departments Vendor

8 Timeline of Project Second --Las Las Vegas First Phoenix Third --Tucson

9 Prior to Project Implementation Planning, planning, planning Determine the pre-installation, installation and post-installation responsibilities Who will manage the project? - Project Manager Utility - Project Manager Vendor - Project Management Subcontractor Objective of the project - AMR installations - Meter changes

10 Prior to Project Implementation Requirements for the project Scope of Work / Terms of Contract Meter analysis - Determine meters to be retrofitted - Decide what to do with non-retrofittable meters Change out who will perform task? Read manually who will read meters? Software utilization for work orders - Interface with CIS system - Responsibilities / Deliverables Installations Quality audits Inventory control process

11 Prior to Project Implementation Requirements for the project Scope of Work / Terms of Contract - Responsibilities / Deliverables - Scheduling of work orders - Customer appointments - Exceptions / investigations - Timeframe of project Monthly installations - Facilities Provided by Utility Provided by Contractor - Personnel Uniforms, Identification, Training, Testing, Security Background

12 Prior to Project Implementation Requirements for the project Scope of Work / Terms of Contract - Responsibilities / Deliverables Customer Complaints Required number of installation attempts Return to Utility Monthly reports Material provided o Utility o Vendor o Contractor Route Acceptance o Test o Billing

13 Prior to Project Implementation Utility responsibilities Communication - Meter Reading - Company personnel - Customers

14 Meter Reading Employee Communication

15 Customer Communication

16 Project Team Southwest Gas Project Manager Technical Resource Communications Information Services Engineering Staff Gas Operations Support Staff Business Operations and Technology Support Human Resources Purchasing Legal Accounting/Finance Operations/Division Representation Vendor Project Manager Technical Resource Subcontractor Perform installations

17 Prior to Project Implementation Utility responsibilities Training - Office personnel Billing adjustments Communication with project team Field personnel - Meter Reading Recycles Mobile routes Meter Reading reports

18 Prior to Project Implementation Utility responsibilities Training - Technical Services Large meters - Customer Service Process for Return to Utilities - Warehouse Scheduled shipments Material to purchase

19 Lessons Learned

20 Unknown extra costs Material Adapters for AMR retrofits Indexes & Screws Lessons Learned Adjust budgets Inform Project Sponsor Order according to new plan

21 Meter Analysis Incorrect Data in CIS Meter makes Meter numbers Lessons Learned Data corrected in CIS due to completion of AMR install Information correct for future Family Sample/Exchange process Purchase orders had to analyzed prior to completion of project

22 Team Assumption of manpower needs too low/required additional personnel Review exception report daily Determining exception responsibility - Contractor vs. SWG - Process exceptions and manually process AMR installation Review reports due to issues arising in field

23 Team Division Liaison Assist Project Manager - Weekly schedule - Test accepting - Support - Status updates - Training - Exceptions - Customer complaints

24 Exceptions Assumption - CIS reports catch all exceptions Found reports do not catch exceptions when they are less than 10 therms No CIS data on drive rates Possible drive rate errors

25 Exceptions Non-registering meters due to incorrect installation of AMR device Lessons Learned 2 company employees utilized for reports - Billing adjustment experience necessary Determine process for catching exceptions, both high and low usage

26 Lessons Learned Exceptions New process for exceptions between company and contractors Data stored and includes drive rate Changes made to reports to ensure all low and zero usage reviewed and investigated Continual training / communication with meter reading, customer assistance and representatives working reports

27 Installations - Damaged Meters Meters with AMR damage AMR device broken off due to damage Lessons Learned New process for Meter Reading representative working Tamper Report Ordered additional adapters Implement new procedures

28 Training New Position Field Technician Review amount of time spent working AMR type orders Ensure training includes enough hands-on Lessons Learned Met with division Creation of work order documentation

29 Project Status - Phoenix Read Shop Contract or Start Date (Estimate d) Completion Date (Estimated ) # of Retrofits (Approx.) Completed Remaining (Approx.) % Completed (Approx.) SE May-06 Nov-06 90,199 90, % Central Nov-06 Feb-07 49,580 49, % SW Feb-07 Jul-07 75,901 75, % Subtotal 215, , % NE Jun-06 Dec-06 80,288 80, % NW Dec-06 Jul , , % Subtotal 180, , % Project to Date May-06 Jul , , %

30 Project Status Las Vegas Read Shop Contractor Start Date (Estimated) Completion Date (Estimated) # of Retrofits (Approx.) Completed Remaining (Approx.) % Completed (Approx.) Tropicana Jul-07 Jul ,000 94,316 11, % North L.V. Aug-07 Jul-08 67,348 58,464 8, % Subtotal 174, ,780 20, % Henderson Jul-07 Jul , ,182 12, % North L.V. Aug-07 Jul-08 57,970 51,369 6, % Subtotal 178, ,551 18, % Project to Date Jul-07 Jul , ,331 39, %

31 Project Transition

32 Meter Shop Project Transition Upload any incoming AMR data files - Except devices being sent to manufacturer Remove AMR device from condemned meters - Place back into inventory Check AMR device before placing back in inventory Remove index - Send warranted AMR device back to Vendor (RMA) - Battery replacement process

33 Project Transition Warehouse Receive inventory back from Project Purchase inventory needed for O & M - Indexes - Index screws - Tamper seals - Index covers - AMR device

34 Meter Reading Project Transition Continue to improve productivity with obtaining mobile reads - Recycles - Route Specialist Read rate expectation of 99.5% or better Monitor using reports

35 Meter Reading Project Transition Track Read Performance - Any route with a read % of less than 99.5% should be investigated to determine reason for poor performance - Any account that has not had a successful automated read 2 months in a row should have a field visit to investigate the cause

36 Project Transition Meter Reading Meter Reading reports - Work daily - Meter Reader/Driver performance Technical Services/Measurement Budget for meter changes

37 Office Personnel Project Transition Foot soldiers obsolete Ensure order must go to field prior to sending - Reports will take the place of foot soldiers Access to field system - Tool to be used in Meter Reading & Office Determine need Schedule training

38 AMR Project Team Support SWG Project Manager Division Liaison - Loaned to the AMR Project / life of project - Assist division with questions / issues Division exception representative - Assist with questions regarding AMR and billing

39 AMR Project Team Support Company Staff Support - Hardware - Recycles - Training - Installations

40 Questions?