Barrie Hydro Distribution Inc. (BHDI) was recently presented with an Award of Excellence at ESRI Canada's Regional User Conference in Toronto. John Houweling, Ontario Regional Manager, ESRI Canada, presented the award in recognition of Barrie Hydro’s efforts in consolidating several different business processes and data environments into a centralized GIS database.

“Barrie Hydro is an excellent example of how enterprise GIS can be leveraged for managing complex networks and the assets that comprise their business,” said Houweling. “The consolidation of all of their asset information has improved the organization's ability to make better informed decisions about their assets.”

Barrie Hydro is implementing an enterprise data model that will capture asset and network information to support various business requirements throughout the organization. The approach is based on a phased implementation with the technology and data as the foundation which can support future applications such as design and cost estimates, outage management, schematic representations, work management, and field data access and collection.

Phase one of the implementation is an enterprise geodatabase using ArcFM to enable Barrie Hydro to consolidate its asset and network data in a relational database. In addition ArcIMS will provide a platform for sharing geospatial information throughout the organization.

“The GIS database allows us to keep our electrical data in one central location which improves the accuracy and integrity of our data,” said Rusty Hastings, engineering supervisor, Barrie Hydro. “With ArcFM, we are able to update one map as opposed to multiple maps that had to be updated in the past. When there are data changes in the GIS database the maps are automatically updated. We are very pleased to be receiving this award from ESRI Canada for our efforts.”

The executive management of BHDI has recognized the value of GIS in terms of improving data integrity and making it accessible to a variety of users in the organization. Through Barrie Hydro’s Intranet site, all staff can view maps and asset information. The tools are designed to be intuitive so that the staff can easily maintain, analyze, and access information as well as provide reports in the form of maps, tables, or graphs. The database will help support several business applications and help reduce redundant work processes.