MittSverige Vatten (MSV) is a Swedish water utility company providing clean drinking water to residents within the municipalities of Sundsvall, Timra, and Nordanstig. MSV recently implemented Server AMS to assist in asset management needs and looks forward to additional benefits as a result of expanding the system throughout the organization.
When there is a problem with an asset or process, MSV usually receives multiple calls reporting the issue. Before implementing Cityworks, this process was problematic because there was little time to get the information to staff members. MSV wanted to provide efficient service to customers from first contact and envisioned a system that could allow multiple staff members to register problems directly, giving everyone access to the information simultaneously.
MSV was also looking for a program with strong GIS capabilities. While planning for development and renewal of the water and wastewater networks, MSV wanted historical problems in a GIS environment, so they could create reports and analyses utilizing the GIS.
When searching for a CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System), a group of individuals from different departments at MSV gathered for several days to discuss expectations for a new system. In accordance with Swedish law, the group formed a procurement (an evaluation and selection process based on capability, cost, and a few other factors) for the purchase of their CMMS. After researching many different software solutions, MSV selected Cityworks as the application that best fit the organization’s needs.
“Now, with MSV’s Cityworks implementation, it’s possible for staff members who first receive a work report to create one work order that is viewable for everyone in the system, eliminating the issue of duplicates,” said Asa Snith. “When further information on the issue is received, the work order can be updated so everyone has the right information at their fingertips. Through its efficient workflow and GIS capabilities, Cityworks now enables us to make better decisions about asset management and workflow including how and where to spend time and money.”
Cityworks is used within MSV’s Customer Service and Network Departments. The Network Operation Unit cares for disturbances and reports problems to Customer Service. Using Cityworks, Customer Service is now able to extract more data from the system, which produces valuable information to analyze and helps improve processes.
“Cityworks is very simple to use and everyone at MSV that utilizes the system likes it,” Snith said. “We recently upgraded our server and will upgrade to the latest version of Cityworks Server AMS at the end of the summer, which will improve our processes even more. With Cityworks, we are able to easily extract all the information that we put in.”
The municipalities have suggested additional long-term plans for the network that will also benefit their processes. Cityworks will play a key role in these steps continuing to help improve the organization’s workflows.
Snith said, “At MSV we face the challenge of having different expectations and needs from the system, depending on where we preside within the organization. We recognize the importance of having a correct database with all the information on our network and are working on quality assurance for this. Cityworks is a clever and useful program that provides us a way to store and access information, but we realize that in order to get the best of it we must develop improved routines to take advantage of the information we now have for our use.”
In the future, MSV looks forward to incorporating a reporting tool Esri is developing specifically for them. The new tool, which will soon be completed, will integrate with Cityworks and provide reports on useful statistics such as leaks, stops, water quality problems, network length, and so on. These statistics must be reported to MSV’s board and to Svenskt Vatten (a Swedish industry organization) three times a year. Having a tool to make these statistics easier to produce and analyze will be a great benefit to the organization. MSV also wants to report all planned operations, such as replacements and interruptions of service (including specific locations and durations), on the water and wastewater networks to Customer Service and customers alike. Utilizing this tool within Cityworks will facilitate these processes.
Snith concluded, “As we have only begun using the Cityworks system, we are taking our use of the software one step at a time and look forward to further benefits as we expand the system.”
More about MSV
Providing potable water to around 110,000 people, MSV produces water for the Sundsvall region of Sweden, which has some of the best tasting water in all of Europe. Their vast knowledge of water and water purification, combined with ideal climate and nature, are contributing factors to the high quality of their water. With 46 purification plants and 22 water sources, MSV produces 15.1 million cubic meters of water and purifies 21 million cubic meters of wastewater annually.
By Asa Snith, Head of Network Department, MSV
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