It's not the most glamorous of acronyms, but EDSIP (Energy Delivery Systems Integration Program) is paramount to the future of Cinergy Corp., Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. The company recognized early on that in the new competitive utility environment, efficiency improvements were the key to the continued success of its energy-delivery business unit. To prepare, Cinergy first examined its work processes to see how they could be made more efficient. Then, with the help of Denver-based systems integrator Convergent Group, the company looked at how it could integrate new and existing systems to match newly engineered work processes. The result was EDSIP, a massive systems integration effort that will support the work processes that ultimately were designed to meet the needs of Cinergy's customers.

The integration of these systems is critical for improving efficiency and customer service while reducing costs. Implementing a communication network that moves information more easily within the company means improved customer service, as more people are assisting the customer. In addition, integration ensures that there won't be separate data and mapping systems for system planners and gas and electric operations personnel, as is currently the case. Currently, five systems must be updated when a change occurs. With EDSIP, the system will be updated only once and everyone will share the same information.

EDSIP, which is being designed, developed and deployed over a three-year period, is turning dozens of disparate systems into a fully integrated, PC-based "super" system. Under EDSIP, Cinergy is consolidating and updating more than 30 existing information systems used by its energy delivery business unit.

Project History The project started in 1994, when Cinergy contracted with Convergent to look into geographic information system (GIS) technologies and to address commercial and technical issues facing a GIS implementation project. Convergent performed an appraisal and valuation of Cinergy's database and interviewed executive managers and end-user personnel to determine the system's functional requirements. As a result, Cinergy migrated from the systems of its subsidiaries, PSI and CG&E, and implemented a new, open enterprise system using technology from Smallworld System Inc., Englewood, Colorado, U.S.

In 1997, when the EDSIP program was launched, Cinergy appointed Convergent Group as overall project manager and systems integrator. Cinergy added to the GIS a work management system (WMS), a system to schedule customer appointments, a trouble call/outage management system (TC/OMS), an energy delivery asset system (EDAS) and a distribution planning system (DPS). The project also called for integrating Cinergy's existing customer information system (CIS) and resource allocation/computer-aided dispatch system (RA/CAD) with WMS and TC/OMS while improving engineering functions with EDAS applications and DPS functionality.

The system now shares the same common distribution network model, which is maintained within the Smallworld GIS software system. Using a fast-track approach to data conversion and project implementation, Cinergy achieved tangible benefits within a realistic deployment schedule.

Managing a change of this magnitude has required employee cooperation, commitment and effort. New work processes needed to be put in place along with the technology. In addition, it was necessary to communicate and foster a two-way dialogue with the end users. To support the technical portion of the project and complement re-engineered work processes, a work plan and schedule were developed at three levels that involved strategic initiatives, automated systems planning initiatives and the operational plan. The data model itself was particularly critical. The logical model addressed functionality over all of the newly implemented systems and established how the various systems would access the appropriate data. From that, the physical model was developed that actually described the data's relationships and the constraints to be maintained within the database.

When fully operational, operations will be standardized around a PC-based computing architecture and tightly integrated software products that will aid Cinergy personnel in communicating and exchanging information without wrestling with multiple software programs, file transfer problems and other burdens that characterize today's business environments. Cinergy sees the resulting business solution as important in supporting new work processes, making better use of data and delivering high levels of customer service-the tasks energy companies must do more effectively in the future. Ultimately, EDSIP should better equip Cinergy for future competitive energy-delivery markets. The goal is to allow people to focus on their jobs rather than on the tools they use to do their jobs with systems that work to support personnel whose job is to provide quality service and products to customers.

Customer-Driven Benefits EDSIP will change the way hundreds of people perform their jobs. The systems help to bridge many of the boundaries that previously existed between Cinergy's different geographic units, with the added advantage that once data entry has been completed by the individual or group responsible for it, other employees can readily use that information when needed. By providing a one-source data-entry system, both accuracy of data as well as the efficiency of data-updating processes will be improved. Not only is it important to start with good data, it is equally important to establish the processes needed to keep data up to date and accurate.

Among the many internal benefits, the improvements in customer service can be identified in a variety of areas.

- Design and Construction-One data set means that once the job is closed, all relevant information will be instantly placed into the system in its final form. Several employees will no longer be involved to ensure that the job is complete and accurate, as is the case in many utility environments.

- Activating New Services-From the customer's perspective, EDSIP should dramatically improve Cinergy's level of service and reduce its response time. When a customer requests new service, for example, a representative will be able to make a specific time commitment on new activation by referring to a master schedule. Cinergy field personnel who respond to the same service request will be able to design facilities in real time using current records right from the job site. And, because the EDSIP system houses both gas and electric distribution system information, gas and electric personnel will share the same systems, from work management to mapping to facilities design. Natural economies and customer-service improvements are provided by this new ability to use the same systems for both gas and electricity, allowing the same customer project coordinator to design both gas and electric facilities for a particular location.

- Work Management-Because construction crews will enter schedule updates on the work management system as their work progresses, EDSIP will allow Cinergy employees to provide instant job status information to customers. For example, an employee in a base office could use the system to determine that a gas meter has been installed and is ready for inspection.

- Crew Management-With the ability to see all current jobs that range from routine tasks to emergency work, priorities can be set and dispatch streamlined, enabling schedulers to use ESIP for managing crews more effectively. In times of major outages, the information provided by the system will help to identify trouble spots quickly and to mobilize work crews while accurately updating customers and the media on current status.

- Outage Management-With the trouble call/outage management system and customer records being updated automatically throughout the Cinergy information base, customer care personnel will be able to tell a customer whether a crew has been dispatched and give them a call-back when power has been restored. After restoration activities, systemplanners can use outage information to improve reliability in trouble areas and make decisions about where system upgrades and major additions are needed.

Summary Strategically, a critical success factor in the administration of performance-based rates in the competitive, deregulated utility industry will be the ability to demonstrate reliability performance through quantitative indices such as SAIDI and SAIFI, which provide measures of duration and frequency of interruptions. EDSIP will enable Cinergy to improve reliability and meet its customers' expectations for information in a proactive manner. Staff personnel will be better able to understand outages, prioritize work for maximum customer benefit and manage their work force more efficiently to effect this improvement in reliability.

Danny Williams is manager, Distribution Support Services, for Cinergy. Williams earned the BS degree in engineering and technology from Purdue University and the MBA in finance from Indiana University. His most recent assignments include overall responsibility for project management of EDSIP. He is a member of the Project Management Institute and speaks at various utility forums.