Previously, the City used an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to manage municipal assets and work orders. However, the ERP did not provide a geographic context; this was particularly problematic for linear assets which are continuous and typically part of a network such as roads, railways and water pipes. These assets are often serviced by segments so being able to tie maintenance services and repairs to the assets’ specific location is critical to effective management. The City evaluated several CMMS solutions and selected Azteca Systems’ Cityworks Suite, which is built on Esri’s ArcGIS platform and provides a comprehensive set of applications for asset and work management.
“Having municipal assets that are tied to a location is important because it ensures that we can quickly locate assets or issues in the field,” noted Joel Sanchez, asset manager, City of Lethbridge. “That’s why we believed implementing a GIS-centric asset management solution is the most effective platform. Cityworks has become a hub of information and activity reporting connecting Water Operations crews and office staff that’s helping them communicate and share information more effectively.”
Since implementing Cityworks in 2013, the City has achieved the following efficiencies:
Unified work order management – All work orders received for the Water and Wastewater department from both City staff and citizens are now tracked along with capital improvement projects. Previously, work orders were managed separately by source.
Better access to data – Field crews now have online access to asset records in Cityworks through their laptops and tablets. Previously, PDF copies of asset records were printed every three months and distributed to field crews for reference purposes. They also had to bring large map books to access GIS data in the field. Now, they can view customer information, which is linked to property data in the GIS, to verify property ownership and ensure that service billings are sent to the right customer without returning to the office to look it up in the corporate GIS.
Reduced costs – The move to paperless records has eliminated significant printing costs. Service requests are now submitted online and routed to field crews via the system.
Increased data accuracy – Field crews can now update asset records with information on the asset’s condition and work performed through their mobile devices while they are on site. Previously, they had to write their comments and activities on print service request forms.
Seamless workflow – Cityworks supports end-to-end asset management processes, from receiving and fielding work orders, to fulfilling and reporting on service requests, to tracking the costs of capital projects, maintenance and repairs. The system integrates with Lethbridge’s financial system which makes it easy to prepare reports required by the Public Sector Accounting Board.
“In adopting Cityworks, the City of Lethbridge extends location intelligence to their asset and work management processes and significantly increases the return from their ArcGIS platform,” said Alex Miller, president, Esri Canada. “They’ve also established a modern and very effective asset management system that interoperates with other key business systems and applications to further improve efficiencies and deliver better services to their citizens.”
Lethbridge is working on integrating Cityworks with their civic engagement Web app that will allow citizens to submit service requests using their mobile devices and receive updates when requests have been completed. They are also looking to integrate the CMMS with their pavement management system to be able to create work orders based on the road’s condition and update the condition of the segment being repaired back into Cityworks.