Introduction to Autodesk Utilities Design: Integrating the Network Design Process

Transcription

1 Introduction to Autodesk Utilities Design: Integrating the Network Design Process

2 Introduction Electric, water, and gas utilities share a number of similarities. They depend on distribution networks to deliver vital services to customers, and they must keep costs in check while ensuring network reliability. Meeting these strategic needs requires that utilities design, build, operate, and maintain their networks efficiently and success begins with the design process. This is true for every size and type of utility from the smallest cooperative to the largest investor-owned company. In an effective design process, a utility s design workforce and outside service providers create the designs that drive efficient network construction, operation, and maintenance. Utilities need an integrated design process that effectively supports the entire design, build, operate, and maintain workflow. While network design is crucial to the overall success of a utility, few utilities have the integrated capabilities they need to optimize their design process and efficiently replace an aging workforce. In fact, the opposite is often true, with designers unable to move efficiently between tasks such as laying out designs, validating engineering calculations, and creating bills of materials (BOMs) and cost estimates. Even the simplest designs require that designers use and toggle between multiple applications. These applications often include AutoCAD software, work management systems, engineering calculation software, and materials databases. Utilities lacking an integrated process find that it: Reduces productivity, due to duplicate data entry Increases the risk of design inaccuracies, which can result in expensive construction rework Causes longer design apprenticeships for new hires, due to the difficulty of embedding institutional knowledge and design standards into the design process Makes it difficult to accurately order materials and estimate the cost of projects Leads to inconsistent interpretations and applications of design standards Hampers efforts to design more reliable networks and standardize design processes To overcome these problems, utilities need a more integrated design process, one that effectively supports the entire design, build, operate, and maintain workflow. Autodesk Utility Design (AUD) software addresses these key requirements. AUD connects the tasks associated with designing electric, gas, and water distribution networks and automates many of the more inconsistency-prone steps within the process. AUD also integrates with other business systems, such as GIS (geographic information system) and work management systems, to enable the seamless exchange of data beyond the design department. With AUD, utilities can get more done with current resources, bring new designers up to speed more efficiently, and further system reliability goals. This is because AUD allows utilities to: Create accurate designs more quickly Optimize operational and capital expenditures by utilizing material, personnel, and equipment resources more efficiently Enable new designers to become productive sooner Use standards and business rules to support reliable system design and reduce the risk of inconsistencies In this paper, we will explore the design challenges that utilities face in more detail. Then we will look at how AUD addresses those challenges while delivering significant benefits.

3 The Utility Design Challenge Let s take a closer look at the disconnected design process that utilities depend on today. It s a process which too often leads to inconsistencies, wasted time, and tedious duplicate data entry. As an example, we will focus on the design of an electric distribution system, but water, wastewater, and gas utilities employ a similar process and face similar problems. The design process typically begins when a new residential or commercial customer (or their builder) makes a call to the utility s customer service center. In our example, a machine shop is moving to a newly built facility, and requires special equipment to meet its specific power requirements. While the request is straightforward, fulfilling the design portion of the request is a time-consuming, multistep process: The Challenge The typical utility design process requires that designers work with multiple applications, each addressing different aspects of the design process. Step one: The construction manager for the machine shop calls the utility s customer service line to request service by a certain date. Step two: The utility s customer service agent enters the request in the company s work management system and the request is routed to a designer/estimator. Step three: The designer prints out the work request for easier reference. This is necessary because the work management system is not integrated with her design application, and toggling between the two systems is even more time-consuming than printing the document. Step four: The designer queries the company s GIS to get existing network information. Because the GIS is not integrated with the company s design software, designers at the utility must sometimes draw their own simple base maps before beginning the design process. On this occasion, the designer does need to draw a base map in AutoCAD. She then integrates the shop designs provided by the machine shop contactor; this process is easy because the designs are provided in the same DWG format used by AutoCAD. Step five: Using the base map as a starting point, the designer creates her design in AutoCAD. With her 15 years of experience and knowledge of the company s design standards, she is able to complete the design quickly despite having to draw all elements of the design manually. However, her productivity is slowed as she fields questions from a more recent hire about a similar design job he is completing. Step six: To conduct the necessary engineering calculations, the designer must shift to her load-analysis application, enter the facility information, and reference the company s standards manuals. Even with her experience, she occasionally makes data entry mistakes in the analysis application leading to incorrect equipment specifications in designs. Step seven: Turning to the company s materials database, the designer creates a bill of materials (BOM) by counting the pieces of equipment specified and manually entering the lengths of conductor required. She must toggle frequently between AutoCAD and the database. In her effort to account for sweeps and other estimates, the designer orders too much extra conductor. Once cut on the job site, some of this extra material will not be reusable. Step eight: The designer manually enters all equipment quantities into the company s accounting system. Then she manually completes a work order package in the company s work management system, which moves the project to the construction phase.

4 Not only is the design process unnecessarily lengthy and time-consuming its difficulty is compounded by the fact that a significant portion of the experienced designers and planners at the company are eligible for retirement in the near future. This aging workforce is slowly being replaced by new hires with less experience. Many of these new hires expect greater process automation and less toggling between applications. The manual processes and current design technology employed by utilities today simply do not support the need to effectively transfer knowledge and meet the automation expectations of younger workers. This is because commonly used general design software does not embed institutional knowledge in the form of process automation, standards, and business rules. To streamline every step of the design process, utilities need a multifaceted design application that: Integrates with the utility s work management system Accesses base map information from GIS and other data sources easily Incorporates intelligent CAD-based standards and automation rules to save time, prevent errors, and leverage institutional knowledge Completes design engineering calculations based on the construction layout Automates and standardizes the BOM creation process using the utility s business rules Optimizes equipment ordering to reduce capital expenditures and waste Supports reliable distribution networks by embedding best design practices within design layouts In Autodesk Utility Design (AUD), Autodesk delivers each of the capabilities needed to streamline the design process. Autodesk Utility Design: The Design Solution for Utilities Purpose-built for utilities, Autodesk Utility Design (AUD) is an intelligent CADbased design tool. It features true rules-based automation that enables designers, planners, and estimators to produce distribution network designs quickly and accurately. However, AUD is more than just a design tool. It helps eliminate the need to toggle between applications, making the design process more seamless. With AUD, utility designers, planners, and estimators take advantage of a single design interface that incorporates: Standardized design, drafting, and layout tools Rules-based design automation Design engineering calculations Materials ordering Cost estimates GIS and work management system integration AUD is appropriate for utilities of every size. Any utility that routinely adds, modifies, or removes customers; orders materials; and makes engineering calculations can benefit from AUD. Small utilities can use AUD to extend limited design resources further. Large utilities can leverage it to enforce design consistency and to realize more value from their investments in other business systems. For example, utilities using SAP for work management can integrate designs and work orders. They can also integrate AUD with leading GIS technology, thanks to embedded feature data object (FDO) capabilities. FDO allows users to work easily and natively with a variety of spatial data formats without the need for data translation.

5 Additionally, any type of utility can benefit. AUD supports the design, planning, and cost estimating of distribution networks of all types. Water utilities can use configurations that support systems of pipes to more efficiently design water and wastewater networks. Natural gas companies can take advantage of these same pipe configurations. Electric utilities can leverage standardized design layout and design engineering calculation tools to get more done and control costs. Increasingly, utilities of every type are outsourcing some of their system design needs. These outsourced designs must adhere to established standards. AUD is ideally suited to the engineering firms that provide design services to utilities. With AUD, service providers can easily comply with diverse clients design standards while improving the efficiency and consistency of their design process. AUD in the Utility Workflow: Design, Build, Operate, and Maintain Because AUD is built to integrate with other business systems, it enhances business processes beyond the design phase. After distribution networks are designed, they are built, operated, and maintained. AUD s integration capabilities help to make each of these downstream processes more efficient. Idaho Power Improves Design Process We have eliminated areas of duplicate data entry, eliminated a cumbersome file management process, decreased design time, improved standardization of design and construction methods, and streamlined data flow. Kodi Ekker, Technical Support Analyst, Idaho Power Company Customer Drawings Materials Management DESIGN BUILD OPERATE MAINTAIN Work Management Construction Drawings Figure one: An effective design process enhances the build, operate, and maintain phases of the utility workflow. To support the design and build phases, AUD integrates with leading work management systems, including SAP, Maximo, and others. Before design, this allows designers to refer to work request specifications directly within their AUD interface. They do not have to print out requests or toggle between screens, which helps prevent data entry errors. After design, integration with work management systems allows organizations to include design information and automatically generated BOMs in the work orders that field crews use to plan and execute the construction of distribution assets. This saves time and reduces the risk of errors.

6 After assets are built, utilities need to enter them into GIS and asset management systems so they can operate the networks efficiently. Using AUD s FDO capabilities, designs created with AUD can easily be integrated into commonly used GIS and asset management systems, including Autodesk Topobase, ESRI ArcGIS, Smallworld, and Intergraph. If the utility s mapping staffers need to update design data with as-built information, they can quickly incorporate as-built modifications into designs with their GIS software or a CAD-enabled GIS application, such as AutoCAD Map 3D. In the maintain phase, utilities need designs to execute certain maintenance activities, such as relocations. AUD aids in this process by automatically enforcing design rules and standards to ensure that crews take design information that is accurate, consistent, and understandable into the field. Additionally, many network repair, refurbishment, and replacement activities require design engineering calculations and new equipment. When that is the case, designers can use AUD to quickly perform necessary calculations and automatically generate BOMs. The Business Benefits of AUD AUD delivers business benefits that originate in the design and engineering department and ripple throughout the organization. By addressing traditional challenges in the design process and integrating with other business systems, AUD enables utilities to: Accomplish more work with current resources in the design department and beyond Manage the transition to a less experienced workforce more efficiently Design more reliable networks while reducing waste Do More with Less With AUD, utilities can be more productive, helping to optimize operational expenditures. During the design phase, the application allows designers, planners, and estimators to complete tasks faster and with greater consistency. As these skilled resources increase their productivity, the utility realizes more value from the same number of employees. Because AUD automatically enforces design rules and standards, it reduces the risk of inconsistencies without forcing designers or design supervisors to devote excessive time to manual quality checks. Why AUD instead of AutoCAD? AUD is a more advanced system than AutoCAD for utility design. While AutoCAD is a good fit for general design, it lacks the utility-specific capabilities of AUD. However, AUD is based on the AutoCAD interface, so users get the familiarity advantage of AutoCAD in a purpose-built tool. Some of the AUD capabilities not found in AutoCAD include: Project header and configuration tools Utility-specific layout tools Design engineering calculations Automated materials ordering Intelligent utility-specific blocks Cost estimation tools GIS and work management system integration AUD improves core utility design tasks by: Accelerating base map creation by natively accessing GIS data Embedding organizational standards into layouts and enforcing rules through automation Enabling users to save time by selecting preconfigured design layouts based on the job type Providing simplified tool palette interfaces that make it faster and easier to manipulate elements within designs Creating intelligent blocks that can extend content with compatible unit information and include connectivity checks and validation and calculation rules

7 Nevada Power Increases Efficiency and Responsiveness We rely on Autodesk technology to make us more efficient, more responsive to our customers. The Autodesk Utility Design solution does that by helping us standardize our design, drafting, cost estimating, and engineering calculations. Dennis McCombs, Senior Consultant for Information Technologies, Nevada Power Figure two: AUD allows designers to define required materials by location or for the project as a whole. In addition to streamlining design drafting, AUD integrates materials ordering, engineering calculations, and work request completion into the design process. This saves time and money by letting designers avoid inefficient toggling, manual tasks, and duplicate data entry. AUD streamlines design-related tasks by: Performing design engineering calculations such as voltage drops and sag based on a utility s preferred design parameters Using utility-specific business rules to help designers interpret calculations and choose the most cost-effective equipment Generating BOMs automatically based on design details, engineering calculations, and business rules Integrating with GIS and work management systems for a faster and more connected design, build, operate, and maintain workflow Meet the Challenge of an Aging Workforce Utilities depend heavily on the knowledge that resides in their aging workforce and many face a growing shortage of designers with extensive utility expertise. Utility personnel with high levels of experience are retiring or moving to other areas of the organization. As a result, the average experience level of designers is lower than in prior decades, and utilities must train new designers quickly. With AUD, utilities can efficiently capture institutional knowledge and pass it on to the next generation of designers, estimators, and planners. AUD includes embedded design standards and enforces a rules-based design process, making it easier for a less experienced design force to create high-quality designs. It also reduces the risk of design errors and deviations from preferred

8 drawing and labeling practices. Just as important in today s tight market for qualified workers, the CAD-based interface helps accelerate time to productivity for new hires who have an AutoCAD education but limited utility knowledge. AUD allows such workers to learn the basics of engineering calculations, materials ordering, and GIS technology through a familiar interface, reducing training time and costs. Support Reliable Design and Building Practices Utilities recognize the increasing importance of building optimally reliable networks to help control costs and reduce waste as well as to satisfy customers and regulators. More reliable networks require less routine maintenance. Reliable networks are less likely to cause outages and require emergency repairs, which have both a monetary and customer satisfaction cost. Reliable networks also generate less waste in the form of equipment, field crew, and fuel costs. By generating less waste, reliable networks are in line with the trend toward more ecologically sustainable practices many utilities are adopting. AUD can make an important contribution in supporting reliability and sustainability while reducing waste. Distribution network reliability begins with good design and construction practices. AUD makes it easier for utilities to infuse best practices into their design process. Because designs created with AUD are based on organizational standards and rules, utilities can configure the application with design conventions less likely to result in the building of unreliable system components. The automated material ordering functionality prevents the common and wasteful problem of over-ordering. It also prevents under-ordering and incorrect equipment mistakes that can lead to extra fuel-consuming trips between the job site and materials warehouse. AUD Enhances the Use of Externally Generated AutoCAD Designs In today s utilities, all designs do not originate in the design and engineering department. Some are generated by outside service providers, and others come from designers employed by customers. Most of these designs are created with AutoCAD and provided in the DWG format. Because it is based on the AutoCAD platform, AUD works seamlessly with designs created in AutoCAD. AUD also makes using externally generated designs faster and easier by: Streamlining the process of standardizing external designs Helping ensure that designs conform to business rules Providing tools to confirm design engineering calculations Integrating external designs with materials, GIS, and work management systems Figure three: Built-in engineering calculations help enable better design decisions and more reliable networks.

9 On a more strategic level, reliable networks further utilities ability to keep customer satisfaction high while meeting the requirements of regulators. For example, new regulations for the electric industry, which stem from a significant power outage in the U.S. in 2003, mandate new standards for reliability. Utilities that fail to meet those standards face fines of as much as $1 million per day. Moreover, across all regulated utilities, being able to demonstrate improved network reliability and sustainable design practices makes strong contributions to rates cases, helping to result in more favorable outcomes. A Streamlined Design Process with AUD AUD allows utilities to adopt a design process that is more integrated, automated, and consistent all by leveraging a single CAD-based tool. In our earlier example, we detailed a design process plagued by disconnected applications and manual tasks. Now let s examine how AUD transforms that process. Service Request WORK REQUEST Work Management System Integration AUD Access to GIS base maps and design layout tools accelerates design Integrated design engineering calculations and embedded standards reduce risk of errors Construction Manager Utility Customer Service Agent Materials Management System Integration Automated BOMs and accurate construction drawing generation save time and help control costs Figure four: AUD connects and transforms the utility design process. Build, Operate, and Maintain Step one: The construction manager for the machine shop calls the utility s customer service line to request service by a certain date. Step two: The utility s customer service agent enters the request in the company s work management system and the request is automatically routed to a designer/ estimator. Step three: The work request specifications appear within the designer s AUD interface, and she is able to begin her design immediately. She directly accesses the company s GIS to select a base map, and she then takes advantage of the design layout tools and embedded standards within AUD to complete the preliminary design in record time. Step four: The designer completes her engineering calculations within AUD, saving time and reducing the risk of errors as she does not have to enter the information into another application. Because the rules-based functionality helps her select the optimal equipment for the project, she often modifies the design to match the precise needs of the project, helping to prevent over- and under-ordering of materials and supporting system reliability over the long term.

10 Step five: She quickly reviews the BOM that AUD automatically generates and closes her work request. She estimates that automated BOMs save her at least 30 minutes on small jobs and hours on larger ones. The fact that AUD is integrated with the company s SAP work management and accounting systems also saves her time and helps eliminate the tedium of duplicate data entry. When she s done with a design job, the required construction drawings are readily generated, and the project seamlessly moves into the build stage. AUD helps the experienced designer in the example do more in less time. But for new hires, the benefits are even more dramatic. Though many new hires join the organization with little utility experience, thanks to AUD, after an accelerated training program they are quickly able to apply prior AutoCAD knowledge to their work at the utility. During their training, they are able to focus on mastering utility-specific tasks from within a single, familiar interface instead of learning to juggle multiple applications. Today, AUD helps new and experienced designers at the utility make smart design choices quickly through the use of embedded design standards and business rules. The automated BOM capabilities of AUD have proven particularly beneficial for new hires as they help prevent common mistakes, such as ordering inconsistencies. Figure five: Using AUD, utilities can quickly generate construction drawings for use in the build phase of the project. The benefits of AUD have also spread beyond the design department. In the build phase, field crews can plan jobs more efficiently, thanks to design and work management system integration. They see fewer errors in materials ordering, so they are less likely to arrive at a construction site without necessary equipment or leave with excess materials after jobs are complete. During construction, field crews have consistent designs to follow, which reduces the risk of deviations from the design. After construction, the GIS department integrates the design information into operational systems. Because field crews follow designs more consistently,

11 there are fewer as-built modifications to document and enter into the GIS. And when new design information is needed to maintain the network, AUD again helps ensure the process is efficient and cost-effective. Conclusion: Realize the Benefits of AUD Given the pressures that utilities are facing to design more efficiently, train new designers faster, and support sustainable design, AUD is the right choice at the right time. Forward-looking electric, water, and gas utilities of every size are turning to AUD to streamline the design process while connecting design with build, operate, and maintain workflows. With AUD, utilities can: Create accurate designs more quickly Reduce the risk of design inconsistencies Optimize spending by using personnel, material, and equipment resources more efficiently Train new designers and enable them to become productive faster Adopt design practices that support increased network reliability and reduce waste Integrate the design process with other business systems, including GIS and work management systems To learn more about transforming your design process with AUD, visit today. Autodesk, AutoCAD, Autodesk Utility Design, and Topobase are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product offerings and specifications at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.