Implementing Workflow Solutions to Improve Gas Distribution Maintenance Processes

This paper describes the results of a pilot project where the Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) Gas Distribution department has applied workflow technology to improve certain maintenancerelated business processes. The pilot is testing the developed applications to manage district regulator station maintenance at one of the local offices. “Workflow is the IT supported simplification and automation of a business process”, [1]. Modern workflow engines can enhance operations efficiency through simplifying and automating execution of business processes that interact with people and computer applications. There are many potential applications for workflow in the utility industry, and utilities are beginning to explore the potential applications of workflow [2]. Reported applications mostly involve simple document routing and approval processes. Application of workflow to mission critical areas, such as emergency corrective maintenance has yet to emerge. This paper describes a pilot application of workflow to improve the efficiency of: 1) a corrective maintenance process, and 2) an order completion process at PG&E Gas Distribution department. These processes involve many steps that are performed by field technicians, maintenance supervisors, and clerks. The corrective business processes involve emergency as well as nonemergency work. The two workflows were implemented using the SAP workflow engine, with tight integration with the work management module of SAP, Microsoft Outlook, SAP Enterprise Portal, and PG&E ePage paging system. The two workflows span the full cycle of corrective maintenance and work completion, and are seamlessly integrated with each other by events generated in one triggering activities in other. The notifications for different steps are sent as emails in outlook with all necessary information and a hyperlink to a portal. In the portal all executable steps appear as Work Items. When the Work Items are executed, the corresponding screens appear to perform the function. The information entered is visible to other users in the enterprise application in real time. Several manual activities involving navigation through many screens have been simplified with background jobs. User experience has been enhanced with portal-based screens and forms with built-in validation checks. The paper describes the results of the pilot obtained so far and the lessons learned. 1 While this paper describes techniques developed and work done at Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E), this paper does not represent the opinions or conclusions of PG&E, PG&E Corporation or its subsidiaries, nor does this paper represent an express or implied endorsement of any product or service described. Introduction PG&E provides natural gas and electric service to approximately 14 million people in northern and central California. The Gas Distribution department serves 3.7 million gas customer accounts through PG&E’s 45,800 miles of natural gas pipelines. In June of 2004, PG&E embarked on a workflow pilot project to manage unscheduled work (Corrective Maintenance) as part of PG&E Gas Preventive & Corrective Maintenance (GPCM) project. Subsequently the scope of the pilot project was expanded to 1) apply workflow technology to the Work Completion process, and 2) to explore benefits of applying (enterprise) portal technology in conjunction with workflow technology. The workflows for Corrective Maintenance and Work Completion processes were put in production in San Francisco Division in June of 2005. They were focused on district regulator station maintenance. Other features included in the pilot are Preventive Maintenance processes for regulator stations and enterprise portal. The pilot project is successfully continuing as of this writing. Background The objective of the GPCM Project is to implement an electronic asset management system for gas facilities maintained by PG&E Gas Department that will be fully integrated within PG&E’s enterprise systems. SAP (www.SAP.com) will be the asset system of record, directing capital projects, and both the preventative and corrective maintenance. The system will utilize a mobile technology to collect field data and communicate with SAP. Primary benefits will be realized from the synergy of information system integration and data input time reduction. GPCM uses SAP Work Management to process notifications and service orders. It enables supervisors and supervisor’s clerks to take work requests from others (notifications), and create Plant Maintenance (PM) orders in SAP, for prioritization, scheduling or same day assignment. Handling unscheduled work is an important part of the GPCM process that could significantly benefit from applying SAP workflow. Workflow technology applies IT to simplify and automate the execution of business processes that interact with people and systems, both within and across organizations [1]. As it is described in [2], workflow can improve operations by providing the following benefits: Automation of manual tasks Consistent execution of business processes Improved user interfaces Timely event/task notification Active deadline monitoring Managing substitution and delegation Detailed documentation of business processes Facilities to monitor and evaluate business processes to quickly identify weak spots and potential improvements Facilities to efficiently implement, administer, and modify business processes The SAP workflow orchestrates triggering of workflow, execution of different tasks, auditing of execution and post processing activities. Workflow Project Objectives The objective of the GPCM workflow pilot project was to explore and prove that workflow technology could indeed provide the following expected benefits: Effectively automate processes that improve consistency and reduce cycle time Handle local unscheduled work scenarios for both emergency and normal notifications. Provide interfaces that are intuitive and require minimal user training. Provide increased visibility of the notification process to everyone involved. Effectively integrate processes between SAP, Outlook and PG&E’s e-page system. Provide a flexible tool to modify process steps as the GPCM process gets refined Effectively assign different statuses to notifications based on review Provide flexible approval scenarios with substitution and delegation Reduce approval cycle time through deadline assignment and monitoring Centralize maintenance of users and routing rules Make training easier The Gas Preventive and Corrective Maintenance Processes The GPCM pilot is composed of several processes including preventive maintenance, corrective maintenance, and work completion. Preventive Maintenance Process Preventive maintenance occurs on a periodic basis to keep equipment operational and meet code compliance requirements. Notifications and orders are created to document the work required and later performed. Capacity planning and scheduling are performed in SAP Work Management. Key requirements of this process are: Consistent process and auditable process Visibility of resource utilization in real time Flexibility for scheduling The Corrective Maintenance Process The corrective maintenance process includes emergency response, requiring the immediate dispatch of a field technician, and non-emergency work that goes through an approval-permitschedule cycle. Both cases require creating a notification and a corresponding order in SAP, with all relevant data. Key requirements of this process are: Timeliness Effective communication of relevant information to resolve the problem Consistent and auditable process Work Completion Process Completed work needs to be documented. Problems identified during the completion process need to be resolved with further scheduling, and additional work completed need to be captured. Maintenance data need to be entered for each of the component worked on. Key requirements of this process are: Ensuring that all relevant information is entered User friendly data entry forms Automated triggering of further notifications Validation of input data Automated closure of related notifications and orders Managing the Maintenance Processes Effective management of these maintenance processes requires computer tools that can meet the following requirements: Flexible design tools to accommodate changing processes Modeling the business process to reflect real life situations Getting the right information to the right person, at the right time, in the right form Minimal ongoing maintenance Full integration with business applications such as SAP, Microsoft Outlook, and ePage Minimal training User friendly interface Workflow Models The workflow models used in the PG&E Corrective and Preventive Maintenance involved approval and cross application integration scenario. The Work Completion workflow involved process simplification and web-based data entry forms. The diagram in Figure 1 describes the process for handling emergency as well as non-emergency notifications. Different persons (actors) involved in the process are identified by icons in different colors (shades of grey). Each step in the process is numbered and each email/ePage is numbered. When an emergency notification is identified, the supervisor and clerk are alerted through ePage. Supervisor identifies the suitable field technician to handle the problem and informs the clerk. The clerk follows the link in the email to create order. Assigning the order and sending ePage to field technician LanID is handled in the background automatically. In non-emergency cases, the supervisor is notified through Outlook email that a notification has been created, to log into the portal and takes the necessary action. The notification can be deferred, cancelled or processed for creating an order. If approval is required, an email is sent to the approver and subsequent information provided to supervisor. Decision on permit and schedule are entered as part of the process. Figure 1 also explains how a corrective maintenance notification identified during preventive maintenance is completed and closed. The diagram in Figure 2 depicts how the work completion for preventive and corrective maintenance is managed. Preventive maintenance work completion forms are filled in and checked for validity. Any problems identified or additional work completed during preventive maintenance is used to create further notifications. Corrective maintenance work completion provides a corresponding notification screen for completion and closure of notification and associated order. The diagram in Figure 3 explains how the two workflows interact. Corrective Maintenance workflow calls the Work Completion workflow after setting the order to a constructions completed (“cons”) status. The Work Completion workflow calls the Corrective Maintenance workflow for additional work completed, problems identified or other equipment maintenance done. Figure 1: Corrective Maintenance workflow Figure 2: Work Completion workflow Figure 3: Integrated workflow Diagram