Winner

Huntsville Utilities has historically maintained separate records in various systems for the electric, gas, and water departments. The Alabama municipal utility implemented Bentley solutions in conjunction with a spatially-enabled Oracle database to standardize processes and software across departments. As a result, the utility will design work orders, maintain permanent as-built records, and manage assets more efficiently.

The utility formed a cross-functional project team with Bentley to configure software and convert data. The project included linking Oracle Spatial with Bentley’s utility solution, integrating Bentley Expert Designer with ProjectWise, and interfacing these products with SAP. The benefits of standardization became apparent with the first comparison test of old versus new systems. Errors in the old system had caused a costly miscalculation.

Watch the Be Inspired best practice presentation

Energieversorgung Mittelrhein supplies gas, water, electricity, and sewage disposal to 160,000 customers in the northern region of the German province of Rhineland-Palatinate. By introducing GIS management with Bentley sisNET, the firm improved information flow, minimized errors, and optimized and accelerated processes—especially personnel-intensive maintenance processes and data preparation processes for the Federal network agency.

The project group represented all areas of the business affected by the GIS, which ensured that the necessary technical knowledge and appropriate process know-how were represented. Requiring a user-friendly program, the group selected Bentley sisNET. Implementation of the 2.2 million euro system has produced measurable savings in labor and operating costs and helped Energieversorgung Mittelrhein meet the challenges of the deregulated markets.

Watch the Be Inspired best practice presentation

The Zorlu Energy group of companies, which includes Trakya Bolgesi Dogal Gaz, expanded gas and electricity distribution services throughout Turkey, which involved merging CAD and GIS functionalities on a common platform to enable data standardization and centralization. The central database also allowed Zorlu Energy to integrate GIS data with the SAP ERP tool, so information needed by the ERP was transferred from GIS to SAP online.

For the first such integration in Turkey, Zorlu Energy used Bentley’s GIS technology—Bentley Power Map, MicroStation GeoGraphics, and Geo Web Publisher—for its compatibility with the ERP system. The data production process included organization, quality control, and verification prior to transfer to the ERP system. The process was achieved more efficiently compared to systems in which CAD and GIS data are processed separately.

Watch the Be Inspired best practice presentation