Kelag, Austria

Kelag Manages Multi-utility Environment with G/Technology-based Solution

Integrated workflows help Kelag meet the demands of a deregulated energy market

In order to adapt to the fast-changing utility market, Kelag needed a highly performant, transaction-based, multi-user geofacilities management system to manage and maintain its electric, gas, district heating, and communications networks. It also wanted the capability to incorporate new functionality into its solution in the future. Kelag plans to integrate G/Electric with SAP, the GPS surveying program, and several network calculation modules.

Kelag chose G/Electric, Intergraph’s G/Technology-based, configurable solution, to support a Geospatial Resource Management (GRM) environment. GRM meets the geo-based information needs of the organization through integrated, seamless workflows and helps Kelag maximize resources by integrating geospatial and other data. This enables Kelag’s corporate systems, including work management and network analysis, to share data through one central database.

G/Electric provides an open architecture based on a geospatially enabled relational database that stores all of Kelag’s geospatial and attribute data, as well as metadata containing configuration parameters and business rules.

Kelag was looking for a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solution that would eliminate the need for customization when adding new functionality. G/Electric provides the ability to upgrade more easily and quickly, and results in lower maintenance costs throughout a project lifecycle.

The configurable COTS solutions make it possible to scale up to support additional users distributed throughout the organization. Kelag is able to minimize the risk of maintaining the system over the long term in a rapidly changing organizational and technological environment.

G/Electric integrates Kelag’s electric, gas, and district heating asset data, resulting in higher productivity and simplifying administrative processes. Kelag’s specifically configured system supports integration with other enterprise applications, including SAP, rmGeo, and GPS Survey.

The G/SAP interface uses job definitions defined in the work management system to govern design work. Additionally, Cadaster (DKM) and Topography (NBA) data from Austrian mapping agencies have been migrated into Kelag’s G/Electric system.

As part of its comprehensive GRM environment, Kelag is implementing related components of the G/Technology software suite. For example, with G/NetViewer, enterprise users have the ability to view data and interrogate the geofacilities database via the Web. Standard Web access to the database is combined with “smart graphics” and a variety of tools to enable the development of robust Web applications. In addition, all multi-utility data is available on mobile terminals. Redline data can be created and edited in the field, then merged into the corporate data vault back in the office. The capability for ad hoc and routine analysis supports management decisions. Other solution components include G/NetPlot Server and G/NetExport Server. G/NetPlot Server enables Kelag developers to build an interface to launch plot requests, including batch plotting; while G/NetExport Server provides a way to export geofacilities data into other standard data formats. Users may create exports of entire jobs for approval by outside agencies or export only ad hoc areas on an as-needed basis. This simplifies the integration and data exchange between Kelag and organizations that use other CAD engineering packages.

Gerhard Müller, project manager at Kelag, commented, “Since 80 percent of a utility’s data is related to geographical information, the next step for Kelag is to take advantage of G/Technology’s extensive data-utilization possibilities.” Müller sees clear benefits in the G/Technology implementation. “Mobile GIS and Web-based viewing and analysis tools with links to SAP and work management systems will help Kelag prepare to meet the demands of a deregulated energy market by enabling fast, informed decision making and improved customer response time,” he stated.

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