Draining the asset data backlog through automation

Asset owners across New Zealand struggle to balance daily operations with the need to update and add new assets to their asset management information systems (AMIS). As Councils upgrade and expand water asset networks, large volumes of new features (e.g. water meters, pipes and valves) are being capitalized into AMIS, GIS and Financial systems. Integrating these assets into enterprise databases and systems requires precise workflows and multi-layered verification to ensure the linkages between the systems are managed accordingly. Manual data entry mistakes can confuse daily operations, limit planning and modeling, and impact financial reporting and control.

Managing assets using operational processes and tools that are in-built within AMIS is feasible for a small number of new assets. But what happens when you need to load and integrate over 10,000 new water meter assets in a short timeframe, and with the added pressure of an external audit?!

This paper will describe a major asset capitalization project undertaken with Waipa District Council in which conventional (manual) data entry workflows were replaced with data automation and systematic verification processes. This resulted in substantial productivity gains and improved data quality, and allowed Waipa District Council to reach their audit deadlines with time to spare.