Autodesk Utility Design

White Paper

Increasing Utility Design

Efciency with an Integrated
Autodesk and SAP Solution

Introduction
With the housing boom showing no signs of abating, and commercial and industrial
development resuming growth after a recent slowdown, gas and electric utilities are under
increasing pressure to complete construction work orders on budget and on time. Utilities
must improve the bottom line by not devoting additional resources to the process while at
the same time making customer satisfaction a priority.
Many utilities, however, are hamstrung by the manual, error-prone processes involved in
designing, engineering, and estimating the costs of utility work orders, affecting service
delivery timelines and build-out costs. Specically, the lack of integration between the utility
design process and customer material ordering and supply chain information stands in the
way of timely, accurate, and cost-effective service delivery. Lead times of 12 to 16 weeks in
the delivery of services to the customer are common but increasingly unacceptable in an
environment where customer satisfaction is a priority.
By automating and integrating key functions and systems in the work order process, both gas
and electric utilities can improve process efciency, reduce redundant data entry and costly
errors, and enhance customer satisfaction with more timely delivery of work order packages.
This white paper describes the typical, manual work order process in use at most utilities
today and then shows how Autodesk Utility Design software, along with the products new
integration with SAP R/3 Enterprise 4.7 via Autodesk Utility Designs Work Order Interface
2006, streamlines the same process.

Increasing Utility Design Efciency

Todays Manual Work Order Process
The construction work order process typically begins when the contractor, landowner,
or owners representative contacts the utility to arrange for new service to a site. For
the purposes of this paper, lets take the example of a new, 40-home subdivision in a
developing suburb.
The representative contacts the local utility to arrange for service to the new
subdivision with an expected move-in date for homeowners. The service
representative reviews the information and enters it into the utilitys customer
database. Then, the representative places the same information into a paper-based
work order tracking system and routes it to an estimator or designer at the utility.
This double-entry process is a lightning rod for human error. For example, the service
representative may enter the correct move-in date into the customer relationship
management (CRM) system but write it incorrectly on the work order.
Then, the designer begins the design phase of the work order process by meeting
with the owners representative to discuss specic project requirements, including
the typical gas and electric service needs for each house in the subdivision and
any atypical requirements. For example, the contractor may indicate that the new
subdivision plan calls for a tness and community center with a heated pool, requiring
additional gas and electric facilities in that building.
At this point in the process, the designer designs the new utility network
infrastructure using anything from paper and pencil to a computer-aided design
(CAD)based application, such as Autodesk Map 3D software. After consulting
maps of the areas current network infrastructure stored in a geographical information
system (GIS) to determine the nearest gas and electric power sources (for example,
poles or gas mains), the designer creates the design for the new subdivisions service
from those sources. Because the utilitys CAD and GIS systems are not integrated, the
designer is forced to draw information reected in the GIS into the new design, which
is time-consuming and can endanger the homeowners move-in date. In addition,
designers can introduce errors when copying the information.
Moving into the engineering phase of the work order process, the designer sizes the
facility and performs engineering calculations. Again, many opportunities arise for
errors in this phase, as multiple engineering calculations are done manuallyusing
cheat sheets or best-guess estimationand entered as notations into design
applications that cannot verify calculation accuracy.
Finally, once the designer completes the plans for the new service, the work order
process moves into the cost-estimation phase. In this phase, designers must
determinemanuallywhat material to order for the plan. Again, because the systems
are not integrated, the designer must manually enter information into the work order
system. Using a ruler to take measurements and by counting devices and boxes on the
utility plan, designers are often forced to estimate materials requirements, resulting
in short orders or missing materials. The problem is compounded because these
calculations use imperfect engineering calculations carried over from the engineering
phase of the process. Moreover, duplicate data entry increases the risk that a part will
be missed until the eld crew is at the work site. In cases where additional or different
materials must be ordered, the time lag can result in missed delivery datesand
unsatised customers.
Gas and electric utilities need a way to automate todays manual, time-consuming, and
error-prone work order process so that they can improve process efciency, reduce
errors, and enhance customer satisfaction.

Increasing Utility Design Efciency

Automating the Work Order Process with Autodesk Utility Design and
Integration with SAP R/3 Enterprise
Using Autodesk Utility Design and built-in integration with SAP R/3 Enterprise via
the Work Order Interface 2006, which uses the SAP Product Lifecycle Management
integration scenario CA-PLM, gas and electric utilities can streamline the work order
process.
Built on the Autodesk Map 3D platform, Utility Design extends the functionality of
Autodesk Map 3D with features that help gas and electric utilities plan changes to
their distribution network more efciently. It helps designers and estimators perform
engineering calculations and directly order material while concurrently creating a
construction sketch. Throughout the work order process, from layout and engineering
to material ordering, modeling, and cost-estimating, Utility Design and SAP R/3
Enterprise work together to automate the on-time and on-budget completion of
accurate construction work orders.
By revisiting the process outlined earlier, we can see how Autodesk Utility Design
and SAP R/3 Enterprise streamline the process. First, when the customer contacts
the utilitys customer service center, all the information about the jobjob location,
customer name, start date, completion date, power requirements, and designer
assigned to the projectis entered directly in the utilitys SAP customer relationship
management application.
Then, using the integration with Autodesk Utility Design, the job information is
automatically imported into Utility Designs Project Explorer module for the designer
to use in the design phase of the projecteliminating most duplicate data entry and
resulting errors and speeding designs to completion (see Figure 1). Because everything
the designer needs is in Utility Designthe utilitys gas and electric design; drafting,

Figure 1: Through Autodesk Utility Designs integration with SAP R/3 Enterprise, job
information can be automatically imported into the Utility Design Project Explorer
module.

Autodesk Utility
Design enables us
to automatically
gather material data
for construction,
in conjunction with
creating the graphical
piece of distribution
design, all in one
environment. We have
eliminated areas of
duplicate data entry,
decreased design time,
and streamlined data
ow. It has proven to
be an invaluable tool
for eliminating manual
tasks and allowing us
to develop processes
that gain efciencies.
Serving the customer is
now much easier.
Kodi Ekker,
Technical Support
Analyst,
Idaho Power Company

Increasing Utility Design Efciency

engineering, and construction standards; existing facilities, accounting, and project
informationthe design phase proceeds more quickly and more accurately. Integration
with GIS systems also makes the necessary land base drawings accessible in Autodesk
Utility Design.
During the engineering phase, Autodesk Utility Design virtually eliminates the
guesswork, time-consuming manual checking, and costly late-stage redesigns by
automating layout and engineering calculations, ensuring data accuracy the rst
timeevery time. Engineering calculationssuch as voltage drop and icker, pole
and transformer sizing, and cable pulling tensionare done directly in Utility Design,
according to the individual utilitys predened standards (see Figure 2).
Finally, once the project moves to the cost-estimation phase, Autodesk Utility Design
automatically generates the required list of materials for the project, based on the
engineering calculations conducted in the engineering phase (see Figure 3). With
Autodesk Utility Design, gas and electric utilities can design, engineer, estimate, and
deliver construction work orders using a single application, enabling them to complete
residential, commercial, and industrial work orders faster and more accurately, at less
cost, and with better customer service in mind.

Figure 2: Autodesk Utility Design virtually eliminates guesswork and time-consuming

manual checking by automating layout and engineering calculations.

We rely on Autodesk
technology to make us
more efcient, more
responsive to our
customers. Autodesks
Utility Design system
does that by helping
us standardize our
design, drafting,
cost estimating, and
engineering calculations
with one tool.
Dennis McCombs,
Senior Consultant
for Information
Technologies,
Nevada Power

Increasing Utility Design Efciency

Figure 3: Autodesk Utility Design automatically generates a list of materials

required for the project based on engineering calculations
conducted by the application.

Conclusion
Using Autodesk Utility Design software and integration with SAP R/3 Enterprise,
gas and electric utilities can improve the efciency of their organizations and reduce
redundant data entry and resulting errors. Together, Utility Design and SAP automate
and integrate key functions in the construction work order process, helping utilities to
deliver more timely construction work order packages. The result? Satised customers
and a better bottom line. With todays ever-growing pressure to deliver work orders on
budget and on time, leading-edge gas and electric utilities that use Autodesk Utility
Design and SAP will improve their competitive advantage.
For more information about Autodesk Utility Design, visit
www.autodesk.com/utilitydesign

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