ESRI to Provide Software, Miner and Miner to Provide Contract Services - MDU Implements Enterprise GIS

Redlands, California-Montana-Dakota Utilities Co., a division of MDU Resources Group, Inc., Bismarck, North Dakota, is implementing an enterprise geographic information system (GIS) based on ArcFM GIS software. The system will include ArcSDE software for integrating spatial data and applications within a relational database management system, ArcIMS software for developing Web sites with interactive mapping and analysis, and MapObjects software for embedding GIS functionality into custom applications.

The project will entail building a relational database over a five-year period with a schedule focused on areas determined to derive benefits beginning in 2001. Miner and Miner will provide contract services in the near future. Montana-Dakota’s 260,000 gas and electric customers are spread out over four states and roughly 5.5 percent of the continental United States. Applications will be developed for engineering, operations, customer service, marketing, and finance. Data on facility networks, customers, and regulatory compliance will be managed within the GIS environment.

“Montana-Dakota plans to utilize ESRI’s software initially within its utility business segment,” says Bruce Nelson, gas distribution manager, Montana-Dakota. “Long term, we envision the technology becoming an enterprise system, with technology implemented within MDU Resources Group, Inc., other business units. The system will initially have over 110 active users, but that number will grow as the system’s advantages and business solutions become known.”

The GIS system will supplant mostly manual mapmaking and paper-based data management methods. While these manual mapping techniques were effective for the utility, the new, fully automated solution will leverage the advantages of client/server relational database management system technology.

“There were several key factors that played into the selection of ESRI as the AM/FM/GIS partner of MDU Resources,” says Jeff Rashid, Utility Solutions Group, ESRI. “Two of the most significant were the support of the existing WAN configuration to far-reaching offices of Montana-Dakota and the vast array of commerical off-the-shelf (COTS) technology developed by ESRI and its business partners.”

Montana-Dakota will utilize ArcSDE and its client/server technology to take advantage of the power of client/server geoprocessing via limited wide area network configurations. “We are very happy and proud to be the AM/FM/GIS partner of Montana-Dakota Utilities Co.,” Rashid adds. “We look forward to working with their Geospatial Enterprise Management System (GEMS) team closely during all phases of the project.”

Vendor selection came after an extensive evaluation that included the services of GIS consultant James W. Sewall Company, Old Town, Maine. Montana-Dakota and Sewall evaluated GIS software and based their selection on areas such as data management, data model flexibility, COTS, and flexibility between operating systems and other software.

At the core of the new GIS is ArcFM, a powerful ArcInfo-based application for the editing, maintenance, modeling, and data management of utility information. ArcFM version 8 consists of a family of geodatabases, which are intelligent sets of objects that represent the behavior and characteristics of land, energy, telecommunications, and water utilities, plus a thin application layer that is an extension of ArcInfo 8. ArcFM 8 allows utility businesses to make use of a single integrated environment to manage and map multiple utilities, leveraging all the power of ArcInfo’s object-oriented architecture. Editing functionality includes fast geometric coordinate geometry commonly associated with map feature management without add-on programming or customization.

Montana-Dakota has more than 14,000 electric transmission, electric distribution, and natural gas distribution maps. Approximately 11,000 of these are in linen format, with some dating back to the 1930s. Another 3,000 maps are maintained in AutoCAD format. GIS will meet the need to view, query, and manage map-related data electronically.

Montana-Dakota will develop a relational database associated with the information contained on its linen maps. The system will be developed to allow Montana-Dakota field crews to add or retire facilities in the field using mobile data terminals. This data will be transferred for posting. Once this step is completed, operations and maintenance functions, such as pole treatment, transformer maintenance record keeping, leak surveys, valve maintenance, and joint pole use applications, will be developed and implemented.

For more than thirty years, ESRI has been the leading developer of geographic information system (GIS) software with more than 220,000 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 ninety countries, and more than 700 resellers and developers. 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.

ESRI, MapObjects, and the ESRI globe logo are trademarks of Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc., registered in the United States and certain other countries; registration is pending in the European Community. GIS by ESRI, ArcFM, ArcSDE, ArcIMS, and ArcInfo are trademarks and www.esri.com and @esri.com are service marks of Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. Other companies and products mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners.

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