Datastream Systems, Inc. announced that the Water and Wastewater Services Division of the Regional Municipality of Niagara’s Public Works Department has successfully deployed the Datastream 7i™ Asset Performance Management solution. With Datastream 7i, the Water and Wastewater Services Division plans to reduce its reliance on contracted maintenance services and provide higher quality and more cost-effective services to the more than 485,000 citizens living in the 11 Canadian municipalities in the region.
The Water and Wastewater Services Division is responsible for the operation and engineering of water and sewer systems across six water plants, 10 wastewater plants and approximately 200 remote facilities that range from sewage lift stations and water storage tanks to reservoirs and water transmission lines. Historically, the division has managed these facilities through the use of a paper-based work management system and, more recently, with a client/server-based computerized maintenance management solution.
The Web architecture of Datastream 7i will significantly streamline operations by improving access to critical asset-management information. Workers can access Datastream 7i from any location using standard Web browsers and benefit from advanced integrated technologies including geographical information systems (GIS), asset analytics and mobile device capabilities. The Web architecture also enables the Water and Wastewater Services Division to extend Datastream 7i functionality to other departments within the municipality and even to citizens for “self-service” work requests.
“Datastream 7i is the only product we evaluated that either met or exceeded every one of our requirements for a Web-architected asset management solution,” said Joe Gouthro, manager of Technical Trades for The Regional Municipality of Niagara. “We are moving ahead with our plans to centralize on Datastream 7i to support our goal of providing a more accessible, customer-focused environment. Now, we can automate and expedite work orders and cost-effectively allocate resources to better serve the citizens of Niagara.”
The GIS functionality built into Datastream 7i enables the division to integrate work orders with mapping technology, making it much easier for field managers to locate specific assets and to provide work crews with the most efficient route for traveling to them. This allows for more effective operations and better service quality.
According to Gouthro, the division’s next steps for Datastream 7i will include further applications of GIS mapping, remote access to digital drawings, Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) functionality and use of wireless technology in service vehicles. These applications and capabilities will be incorporated into Datastream 7i through a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), leveraging Web Services to integrate complementary applications while maintaining a single view of asset management operations. Datastream 7i is the only leading Asset Performance Management solution built on a Web-Services foundation, which makes it the ideal solution for organizations adopting SOAs.
“Our customers are operating under tighter regulations and need to do more with fewer resources,” said Larry Blackwell, CEO of Datastream. “By providing the Web Services foundation required for SOA deployment, Datastream 7i provides a key advantage in this environment because customers can leverage complementary applications across the enterprise to drive asset performance. Ultimately this promotes resource optimization while reducing operating expenses.”
Source: Datastream Systems, Inc.
