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Engineering Drawing Processing Optimisation

Sector/s: Utilities
Technologies Used: Power Apps, Power Automate, Power BI, Jira
Key Services: Data Strategy & Design, Data Management & Optimisation, Data Empowerment

Our client, a company that lays pipes across Australia with the majority of the work completed by contractors, faced significant challenges in managing and updating pipe location data. The primary issues included delays in processing newly laid pipes, data quality problems, and a lack of automation, which led to potential financial, regulatory, and reputational risks. To address these issues, a comprehensive solution involving automation and improved reporting practices was implemented, resulting in enhanced data accuracy, reduced manual effort, and better visibility of team performance.

Problem

A triggering event for this engagement was the discovery of an unsupportable internal system that was not approved to go live. An upcoming audit necessitated a new mechanism to automate drawing submissions and improve reporting practices, addressing the latency between pipe installation, invoicing, and data submission to BYDA.

  • Processing Delays: Significant delays in updating newly laid pipes within their internal system and reporting to the Dial Before You Dig (BYDA) service, posing financial, regulatory, and reputational risks.

  • Multiple Contractors: Work completed by multiple contractors with different business processes across states, leading to inconsistencies.

  • Lack of Automation: Minimal automation of processes, contributing to inefficiencies and data quality issues.

  • Low Visibility: Poor visibility of team performance due to the complexity and differences in recording and tracking across states.

  • Unapproved Automation: Internally developed automation solutions were not approved due to unsupportable components (Python scripts, virtual machines, SQL databases).

  • Latency Issues: Delays between contractor invoices for laid pipe and the submission of corresponding images of the work.

Solution

Power Automate Flow: Created a single Power Automate flow to handle SharePoint submissions, inserting them into Jira for various business cases. This included processing three types of submissions with multiple attachments and implementing a five-point data check to determine if submissions should be added to existing Jira issues or create new ones.

Real-Time Data Access: Developed an access point for Jira data updated hourly via Power BI. This involved a dataflow obtaining data directly from Jira and a semantic model to structure the data.

Data Integration: Modeled a dataset to map SharePoint submissions, Jira issues, and Maximo work orders to each other. Created additional reports to check for data exceptions and ensure completeness and accuracy between systems.

Business Analysis: Provided comprehensive business analysis to integrate business units, aligning the components of the solution to address the overall problem.

Benefits

The implemented solution revolutionised automation for the client, crossing multiple internal and external systems, as well as the data being sourced from many external contractors.

Functional Automation: Implemented a functional automation system that significantly reduced manual effort and improved data quality.

Enhanced Reporting: Developed a reporting suite with automatically updated Jira data, enabling the business to track submissions and administrative tasks more effectively.

Improved Visibility: The new system allowed comparisons between Jira data and Maximo work orders, identifying any gaps in data capture and ensuring better overall performance tracking

Conclusion

The comprehensive solution implemented has markedly transformed the client’s operations, addressing critical challenges in managing and updating pipe location data. By introducing automation through Power Automate and enhancing reporting practices, the client has achieved a notable reduction in manual effort, improved data accuracy, and enhanced visibility into team performance. The integration of real-time data access and streamlined processes has mitigated financial, regulatory, and reputational risks, setting a new standard for efficiency and reliability in their operations. This project not only resolved the immediate issues but also positioned the client for long-term success through improved data management and operational excellence.

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