Sanitation District No. 1 (SD1) announced that as part of the utility’s commitment to continuous improvement in a Lean Culture, a recent collaboration between SD1’s geographic information systems (GIS) and engineering departments brought automation to sewer line locate requests.
The project, which began last year, is a case study in collaboration, innovation, and automation to improve customer satisfaction and increase efficiency in the workplace.
Each year, SD1 receives about 1,000 requests to locate underground sewer lines and other assets. These requests come from homeowners and contractors across Northern Kentucky who plan to dig and are required by law to first have utilities mark nearby lines. A prompt response from SD1 and other utilities is critical to protect our region’s infrastructure and avoid delaying someone’s project.
The Challenge
For decades, SD1 processed these line-locate requests manually. When a customer called the SD1 Customer Care center, the call was manually transferred to the engineering department, where the caller would wait while a technician looked up the location on a map to determine if any nearby assets necessitated a work order. If a work order was needed, the technician would manually create an order. A few days later, an SD1 inspector would visit the location and mark the assets, completing the request.
SD1’s engineering team evaluated the process and identified some key areas where improvements could be made. The process was time-consuming and inaccessible. It required considerable time on the phone for SD1 customers and staff, and there was no option for making a request online.
The process also had the potential for costly delays, and communication with customers was poor, leaving customers without a reference number or notification of a request’s completion.
The engineering team determined that a new process would help resolve these issues while improving customer communication and operational efficiency.
The Solution
The engineers contacted SD1’s GIS team, including project manager Jordan Hamm, where collaboration and innovation met automation.
“Many ideas were tossed around,” said Hamm, an SD1 GIS data scientist, “but we settled on a user-friendly yet out-of-the-box solution.”
The GIS team modified software already licensed by SD1 called Citizen Problem Reporter and integrated it with the District’s comprehensive asset management program, Lucity. The result is a new feature available on SD1’s website called SD1 Customer Reporter (sd1.org/linelocate), which launched in January.
This new feature allows customers to easily determine if underground SD1 assets near their worksite need to be marked. If so, they can quickly submit an online line-locate request anytime, anywhere, without having to talk to an SD1 employee.
The form automatically generates a work order for SD1 inspectors and triggers an email to the customer that includes a reference number. Once assets are marked, the system automatically notifies the customers that the request is complete. This feature speeds up the process and reduces the potential for delays while also enhancing customer communication.
“SD1’s new line-locate process is just one example of our dedication to continuous improvement,” Hamm said. “It positively demonstrates how collaboration, innovation and automation improve customer satisfaction and efficiency in the workplace.”