GE Digital (GE) (General Electric) > Case Studies > Waterford Township Improves Maintenance Consistency and Efficiency

Waterford Township Improves Maintenance Consistency and Efficiency

Technology Category

Automation & Control - Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition (SCADA)

Applicable Industries

Cities & Municipalities

Applicable Functions

Business Operation

Use Cases

Process Control & Optimization

The Customer

Waterford Township

About The Customer

Located in the center of Oakland County, Michigan, Waterford Township is known as a Lakeland Paradise for its 34 lakes that surround the area and cover 35.3 square miles. Over 71,700 Waterford residents rely on the Department of Public Works (DPW) for ser

The Challenge

Waterford Township has been faced with losing a significant number of DPW staff, some with more than three decades of water and wastewater knowledge, to retirement. The company began to search for a solution that would like real-time operational data from its SCADA systems to its CMMS and DMS to create standard operating procedures and work orders automatically when conditions were met in defined workflow procedures. One key aspect of the project was to get operating procedures standardized and in a format where staff in the field, who might not be familiar with the system, could follow the necessary steps to correct the issue.

The Solution

DPW decided to implement Workflow from GE Digital to provide the department with the ability to apply logic to SCADA values for work order generation, employ eSOPs, and create inspection forms for data collection.

The implementation was split into two phases, the first of which was centered around automating workflows triggered by two incidents—those based on data coming in from the SCADA system such as pump starts, runtimes, and sewer station inspections that dealt with specific activities or a regularly occurring schedule.

The next step was to create Workflow templates that contain the procedures and steps for DPW staff to follow when completing the workflow. The procedures and steps can be executed automatically such as having a pump turn on or off or manually through interaction by the user. These procedures and steps can be modified by the workflow authors, and services can be added by the administrator to refine the process.

Data Collected

Operation Performance, Process Procedure, Production Efficiency, Wastewater, Water Quality

Operational Impact

[Efficiency Improvement - Operation]
Improved process consistency due to electronic standard operating procedures. Greater efficiency with automatic work order generation
[Efficiency Improvement - Labor]
Faster identification and proper correction of process deviationsBetter operational responsiveness with the ability to manage by exceptionSignificant time savings of staff with automated step-by-step work processes and procedures