Flowfinity is the only platform I've found flexible enough to create the custom solutions that fit my needs. I wanted very specific functionality for operators, and it was unique in the way that it needed to work.
National Water Infrastructure Optimizes
Utility Operations and Asset Management
Region: Southern USA
Company Size: Medium-Sized Enterprise
Industry: Water Utility / Field Services
Function: Work Orders and Dispatch, Asset Management
The Challenge
National Water Infrastructure (NWI) is Louisiana's largest privately owned sewer utility company, servicing over 16,500 customers. The water utility was using off-the-shelf software to manage work orders and field service, but found that it was inflexible in ways that made it inconvenient for operators to use and not suited to cover all staff needs.
The previous solution included mobile apps for field staff to use, however technicians complained the apps weren't useful because they lacked key functionality. For example, bottlenecks were created because users couldn't look up historical job records to help troubleshoot on-site or dispatch new work orders from their mobile devices.
This led to delays and frustration when field techs had to call into the office throughout the day to complete their work or request additional resources. At times they also had to skip over unnecessary information to find relevant records and instructions.
"The previous work order management application we were using had become slow and cumbersome," said Drew Pertuit, COO at National Water Infrastructure. "I had to curtail the way I did business to the way that their program was."
When management would ask the software provider to modify the apps, they found that any requested updates were expensive and time consuming. "Anytime I wanted to make changes to the solution, I had to pay an exorbitant amount," said Pertuit.
NWI was also looking for an integrated solution to help track equipment and manage assets in addition to a custom work order dispatch system. They realized this was not going to be readily achieved with their existing solution.
"The previous work order management application we were using had become slow and cumbersome."
Software Selection
To move forward, the management team wanted to take a mobile-first approach with a more flexible, user-friendly solution for utility operations management that was completely customized to the way that they did business.
NWI identified their key requirements for an effective custom field service and asset management solution:
- The ability to easily generate work orders and dispatch resources from both the office and smartphones deployed in the field
- Two-way information access that allows supervisors to look up previously submitted work orders on mobile devices
- Automated workflows including system-generated emails to notify appropriate personnel when certain tasks were completed, or issues arose
- Applications and interfaces had to be user-friendly for technicians and managers to ensure adoption and satisfaction
- Custom data validation rules to ensure that all the required information was entered into work orders before submission
- The ability to track and manage serialized assets such as pumps, motors and other equipment to improve efficiency and maximize ROI
- A fully customizable solution with the ability to easily make changes to processes and launch new apps, without having to pay external resources or modify code
This was a tall order to fill and although there are various software solutions that claim to be well suited to utility operations NWI ultimately selected Flowfinity.
The platform was flexible enough to meet all the requirements, and experts from Flowfinity Professional Services helped configure suitable mobile work order dispatch and asset management solutions.
"The reason I chose Flowfinity is they were the only software provider that customized the program to fit my needs," said Pertuit. "I wanted operators to be able to create work orders from their phones, and it was unique in the way that I wanted it to work. I wanted yes or no answers and time stamps, I wanted to ensure that all the required data was entered, and to be alerted if certain tasks did or did not happen."
The Solution
NWI Louisiana now uses Flowfinity to manage its daily operations. The staff at the office log incoming calls and dispatch work orders to field technicians, who record all of their work in Flowfinity apps on smartphones.
Supervisors in the field also review the work being performed and can dispatch new work orders from the field as required, greatly increasing efficiency.
In addition, NWI has also developed a custom asset management solution to track physical equipment vital to their operations such as pumps, motors and blowers. All of this serialized equipment is captured in the Flowfinity app to be tracked as it's in use, pulled for repair, requires maintenance or needs replacement, leading to further increases in efficiency and smoother operations.
Plus, since Flowfinity is billed on a per-user basis, there is no additional cost to deploy as many applications needed digitize all your processes within one solution.
"We keep track of everything that we do here in the company with Flowfinity," said Lauren Bankston, Utility Manager at NWI. "Our Flowfinity solution is much more flexible than the previous work order management software we were using. It's tailored completely to what we need."
Results
- Real-time management visibility of field operations
- Better tracking of field service activity and assets
- Greater efficiency in the field and at the office
- Streamlined dispatch operations
- More accurate work order records
- Money and time savings from in-house app changes and updates
"Overall, Flowfinity has been very helpful for us," said Pertuit. "The ROI we achieved from time savings was quick."
Improved tracking of field service activities
The field service team at NWI performs regular maintenance work and ad-hoc repairs to maintain wastewater treatment infrastructure in its service area. Now all of that work is dispatched and tracked in Flowfinity. Work orders are submitted from the field in real-time, allowing management to monitor the work being performed throughout the day and the status of vital equipment and resources in the field.
"We use Flowfinity for all of our work orders out in the field, and when work is complete, our field technicians enter how and why the work was completed, including dates, pictures, and other critical information"
Streamlined dispatch operations
Often on regular maintenance visits, field technicians will find that additional work needs to be completed. Now, instead of contacting the office, relaying all of the necessary information and having the office dispatch a new work order, they can dispatch a work order directly from their smartphones. This saves time and effort and eliminates delays.
"If we have any mechanical issues that the operator sees when they go to the treatment plant that need to be fixed immediately, or if there is some other work needs to be done at the plant, they can make the work order themselves on an app we created on their phone," said Bankston. "This was an important time saving feature for us."
Improved efficiency at the office
In the office, the staff is busy dispatching work orders, monitoring work orders that are being completed, pulling reports, and taking calls. Flowfinity has made those tasks more efficient, and provides more accurate and easily searchable service records.
"The new Flowfinity solution is more efficient. We have better records of all of our construction that has been done, and it's easier to keep up with reports that we have to complete," said Bankston.
With all of the service information now readily available, centralized, and easy to search, it's more efficient for the staff to find records.
"If we get questions from either a regulating authority or a customer, we have better records to tell them what's going on," said Bankston. "We can find the logged calls a lot faster and more easily in Flowfinity."
"Our Flowfinity solution is much more flexible than the previous work order management software we were using. It's tailored completely to what we need."
Agile, customized solution saves time and money
Flowfinity is the leading no-code platform for creating custom mobile apps and automating processes in the water utility operations industry.
NWI was able to define their specific requirements for the solution and have Flowfinity's team of industry experts help deploy a fully customized solution built to their exacting requirements.
The new apps are embraced as a significant time-saver by employees, as apps are customized to the way NWI does business. It also saves money as changes to apps can be made easily by managers at the utility without coding and instantly published to all staff and devices.
"All of our forms in Flowfinity were made specifically for us, so it's better for our company. It's more flexible than our previous work order management software, and you can create exactly what you need in the forms," said Bankston. "The big thing is that anytime I want to add something to our Flowfinity solution, they really help us out."
Going Forward
Having found success with Flowfinity for work order dispatch and asset management NWI is considering how to leverage additional functionality to optimize their operations. By adopting the Flowfinity M1 IoT Controller it would be possible to continuously monitor the status of pump stations to send alerts and emergency repair crews in the event of a failure or flood. Additionally mapping integrations could be used with interactive dashboards to improve visibility into asset locations, status and operations.
