City of Ruston Selects Miner & Miner's ArcFM MultiSpeak Solution
The City looks to the future in implementing GIS technology for managing its assets
Fort Collins, CO -- The City of Ruston, LA is implementing Miner & Miner's (M&M) MultiSpeak Electric Distribution model and ArcFM product in its effort to achieve improved asset management.
The City of Ruston is located in Lincoln Parish, which was created from existing Parishes in north central Louisiana in 1873. The City is home to 21,000 residents and also has a student population of 10,000 from Louisiana Tech University. Created from the old “Ruston Ice Company,” the city-owned electric utility today has 9,299 customers, of which 7732 are residential.
The City has seen many changes in recent years as it has sought to take advantage of new technologies and modernize its utility operations. Several projects initiated at the utility included pole inspection and mapping efforts, as well as the hiring of an urban forester for tree trimming. However, not having a system to support effective asset management was still a major problem for the utility. Zack Spivey, the Ruston Light and Power director, sought a solution that could support the ability to easily identify where facility components of the distribution system were located and be able to query about their condition.
The City chose Miner & Miner to provide an enterprise GIS software solution to solve their requirements. The City purchased ArcFM 8.3 to work with ESRI's ArcInfo and ArcEditor 8.3. An existing ArcSDE 8.3 geodatabase server is accessed by both the Parish and the City and is operated by the Lincoln Parish GIS Office.
The City is currently collecting field data and mapping its electric network using GPS technology. Trimble GPS units are being used by city electric employees to map the locations of the City's facilities and, at present, 25% of the system has been completed. The GIS Office will migrate the GPS data into the pre-configured ArcFM Geodatabase and, with the help of M&M, configure the remaining tools and QA/QC the data.
In the past, facility inventory and materials at the City had been difficult to track. The new system will allow the City to manage assets with much greater precision using a simpler process. The ability to produce maps for crews and tree trimming operations will also benefit the utility. In addition, ArcPAD may be used in the future to bring hand-held GIS to the field, further enhancing data quality.
“The City is looking to the future with its GIS now in place. Although, management of the electric utility is the present goal, migrating the City's water and wastewater system will be the next project,” states Lincoln Parish GIS Manager, Aaron Norby.
Scott Koehler, Miner & Miner Project Manager at the City of Ruston, adds, “The City is an excellent site for implementation of the ArcFM product and MultiSpeak data model because its staff has the expertise to perform the data migration, a system architecture exists, and more importantly, they have the technological vision to develop the project into an enterprise solution.”
About Miner & Miner
Miner & Miner (M&M) is a world leader in the development and implementation of GIS software for utilities. M&M's ArcFM Solution and extended services assist electric, gas, water, and wastewater utilities in increasing productivity, lowering costs, and improving services by allowing them to effectively manage spatial information. Founded in 1946 as a full-service electrical engineering firm, M&M has been a business partner of ESRI since 1987. This partnership has enabled M&M to become the world's leading developer of ArcGIS applications for the utility industry. M&M services include implementation and customization of software to fit the needs of individual utilities. For more information, please visit www.miner.com.
About ESRI
For more than 30 years, ESRI has been the leading developer of GIS software with more than 300,000 clients worldwide. ESRI also provides consulting, implementation, and technical support services. In addition to its headquarters in California, ESRI has regional offices throughout the United States, international distributors in more than 90 countries, and more than 1,400 business partners. ESRI's goal is to provide users with comprehensive tools to help them quickly and efficiently manage and use geographic information to make a real difference in the world around them. ESRI can be found on the Web at www.esri.com.
Designer, Responder, Conduit Manager, and Network Adapter are trademarks of Miner & Miner, Consulting Engineers, Inc. ESRI, the ESRI globe logo, GIS by ESRI, ArcGIS, ArcSDE, ArcFM, ArcFM Viewer, ARC/INFO, ArcIMS, www.esri.com, and @esri.com are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of ESRI in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners.
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