District outfits fleet for real-time communication
The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD) is using wireless technology to connect its sewer fleet to the district’s database and dispatcher. In doing so, it is creating an environment for real-time communication and data updates that allow MSD to improve efficiency.
The district automated portions of its sewer management program — including infrastructure inventory and customer service — years ago. However, in 1998, as it was updating its software to a new version, MSD determined that its automated system no longer met its needs.
“[The old version] allowed you to enter work order information in a stand-alone mode, so we had trucks equipped with laptop computers that were not connected to the MSD network,” says Robert Zinkl, project manager for MSD’s information systems. “The fellows in the field would record their information on their laptops; extract the info onto floppy disks; and give the disks to their boss for uploading into the database.”
That process changed with the new software, Zinkl notes. “The new product required that you have an image of your database on your laptop, changing the whole concept from a static environment to a dynamic one,” he explains. Using that technology, MSD’s field workers would have to download the district’s database to their laptops each day and, after a day in the field, upload their changes to the database.
“The download and upload would have taken at least 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the afternoon,” Zinkl notes. “When you consider that we were potentially going to have 50 laptops out there, the lost time became unacceptable.”
To devise a solution to that problem, Tom Kearns, maintenance supervisor for MSD’s operations department, began working with Sacramento, Calif.-based Hansen Information Technologies. Determining that a wireless platform would eliminate the upload/download dilemma, he spearheaded a conversion.
Now, using laptops and wireless modems installed in their trucks, field workers can connect to the MSD database, access the management software and make real-time database updates via metaframe. Additionally, they can receive real-time digital work orders and retrieve work histories for specific sites. Once work orders are completed, the crews do not have to notify MSD’s Customer Service; rather, Customer Service can access the database and check the status of the order in real-time.
MSD has installed the new technology — consisting of a laptop, a modem and an antenna — in 20 trucks. Although it has not set a schedule for additional installation, the district intends to outfit its full fleet of 50 trucks.