Project eases utility data flow

Water and electricity firm United Utilities is using online collaboration software to run a £2.9bn asset management programme.

The firm, which serves three million customers in north-west England, is using the system to allow 3,500 people in its supply chain to share documents and work together more effectively.

Using the system for construction means processes relating to the design of mains water and sewage systems are far more efficient, says United Utilities special projects manager Glyn Hughes.

‘We do not have to physically post drawings, people can circulate ideas more quickly and gather feedback faster,’ he said.

‘This collaboration system is an integral part of the whole asset management process, right up to the point of construction.’

The software, from supplier Business Collaborator, is particularly useful because of the sheer scope of the programme, which involves a lot of different engineering disciplines, says Hughes.

‘Typically, on a water treatment station there are civil, mechanical and electrical engineers contributing to a design, producing a specification,’ he said.

‘This system offers the collaboration facilities to know which version of a document they are looking at, and plan and develop a business process for the four firms in our supply chain.’

Business Collaborator defines a workflow for each project, tracking formal documents from one design stage to the next.

At the final stage, the system supplies operating manuals and full plans to construction contractors for the final building of assets, says Hughes.

‘Because everything is stored in the collaboration software, it can be controlled and passed on much more efficiently,’ he said.

Using collaboration systems for construction allows more data to flow up and down the supply chain, easing decision-making on how to work with assets, says Ovum analyst David Mitchell.

‘If you can use it, you can keep constant track of who has done what and when. This can extend the life of assets and make big savings,’ he said.

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