GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS)

What is GIS?    Issues     Solutions

A GIS is a computer-based mapping system that correlates location information with asset attributes. A GIS can be used to create, produce and maintain map information, graphs, lists and other reports. Utilities that harness GIS capability can use it to improve many business processes including customer service, operations and maintenance and planning.

 

The map-based interface of a GIS can be customized to deliver information and detail a viewer’s needs based on one's job function – whether at a desk or in the field. Because digital maps are interactive and intuitive, they can be used for navigation, analysis and data collection. For example, a maintenance crew might need a manhole location and information about the associated pipe segments (age, depth, condition, etc.). Customer service could select addresses of customers near a work site. A service manager might lay out meter-reading routes. A maintenance scheduler could identify work orders in a given area to schedule repairs in a single trip.

When integrated with other core business systems, GIS can be used in processes across business and operational units. Its data becomes even more valuable – enabling analysis to correlate geospatial values with business or operational facts. This leads to GIS becoming an essential tool to improve asset management, job performance and streamlined business processes.

Solutions
GIS can capture and store spatial relationships and leverage this information for analysis, process improvement and better decision making. This is particularly true of a water or wastewater agency’s need to improve maintenance productivity and customer satisfaction. For example, Westin has helped water and wastewater agencies:

• Reduce windshield time by grouping work order assignments based on location and service type
• Provide information for maintenance or construction decisions based on complete data about asset location and/or condition
• Manage linear, buried infrastructure as assets for work orders and R&R planning
• Expedite problem identification, analysis and resolution by enabling asset selection based on any parameter (e.g., location, condition and problem)
• Identify geographic trends (neighborhood, collection system or watershed)
• Empower service representatives to solve problems quickly with fewer calls
• Analyze water consumption in a spatial manner
• Improve efficiency and scheduling of meter-reading routes
• Provide work crews with intuitive access to information associated with an asset (e.g., material lists, safety hazards, permitting requirements and photos)
• Deploy a unified data repository to maintain addresses, street names, facility identifiers and other spatial indexes
• Provide field crews with accurate, up-to-date maps through mobile GIS computing. Crews get information at their fingertips and handle corrections digitally – streamlining updates and reducing time and data-entry errors
• Help staff trace water systems (e.g., find valves associated with a water main break)
• Store attributes about infrastructure for accurate hydraulic modeling and to reduce time for system setup

Westin helps you use GIS to improve what you do and how you do it. We help you determine how your organization can use GIS and what integrations you need to achieve your goals. Our GIS services include:

Westin is an authorized ESRI Business Partner