 Project Appreciation and ObjectivesThe right information is the key element to effectively planning asset expenditure and then successfully monitoring the performance resulting from that investment. All water companies have established corporate information systems to support their business requirements. There is move towards Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions (such as SAP and MAXIMO) whereby all of a water company’s business information is coordinated into a single system environment. However, these solutions in themselves do not solve the problem of providing suitable business planning data. This project helped improve asset inventories by: - Collecting the right data;
- Improving the quality of information being collected;
- Finding more effective ways of collecting data;
- Identifying how information might be derived where data is difficult or expensive to collect.
In this way more effective data streams is available to support regulatory reporting. Benefits to Clients - Reduce costs in generating PR14 submissions by having the appropriate information available when required;
- Maximise return on investment made in ERP systems;
- Save costs through the utilisation of derived information and the identification of information collation that is not required;
- Improve Business Planning decisions through better information and supporting systems;
- Enhance understanding of data quality problems and access to proven techniques for improving data quality;
- Improve regulatory rating by demonstrating that information provision is being effectively tackled.
Work Programme - A comprehensive Information gathering exercise that identified all business planning data quality issues and investigate alternative data sources to fill gaps.
- Categorisation of business planning data quality issues and the definition of possible solutions.
- Identification of data gaps that could be satisfied by alternative data sources.
- The development of a best practice guide for improving data quality and for improving the utilisation of corporate systems.
- Pilot studies to prove selected solutions.
Project Output - A comprehensive report identifying companies data gaps and data quality issues.
- A best practice guide for addressing data quality issues and addressing data gaps with alternative data sources.
- A report of three pilot studies proving data quality improvement and the use of alternative data sources.
Related WRc Work - Business Planning projects for PR09 - Various Clients, 2007 to date.
- Geographical Information User Group (GIUG) CP024, 2000 to date.
- Real-time data for Asset Management, CP2952006 - 2007.
- WISE (Water Information System for Europe), 2003 to date.
- Utilising DOMS for PR09, CP322,2007 - 2008.
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