APA is a leading Australian energy infrastructure business. The company has been a client of Mipela since 2002 when X-Info DBYD suite was first implemented to initially protect its Queensland transmission pipelines. Since that time Mipela have worked closely with APA Group to automate many business processes including land, stakeholder and third party works management, safety management studies and of course Dial Before You Dig automated response system – to name just a few.
As Mipela continually develops and evolves its software, there are often opportunities to optimise and further automate existing business processes. This was the case in a recent project that was undertaken to reduce the large number of changesets and simplify the current workflows for all of APA Group’s National third party works and DBYD assessment processes using X-Info Connect Activities.
Mipela were able to provide APA Group with a proof of concept which assisted in getting early adoption of the proposed changes with key stakeholders and clear benefits realisation. During the project, an agile approach was taken to test for business process improvement and data management, contributing to a well run project and excellent outcomes for all involved.
“Searching encroachments now is much easier and intuitive for users. It has reduced workload for each team member by 1 to 1.5 hours a day,” said Rae Wood, Team Lead Infrastructure Protection Services. She added, “The time it previously took to process and manage DBYDs assessed as encroachments has significantly reduced, resulting in an average time savings of 37% for that assessment type.”
Manager Infrastructure Protection, Engineering and Planning, Ross Larsen said, “This was a well run project that has delivered great results for APA Group”.
Earlier this year, Dial Before You Dig Queensland, in conjunction with Construction Skills Queensland, delivered a new safety initiative for its Queensland Dial Before You Dig members. This initiative, called the Infrastructure Damage Incident Gateway (IDIG) is a data capture and benchmark reporting tool aimed at quantifying asset damage to its members.
IDIG is a tool that enables users to submit asset damage information for analysis and reporting purposes, allowing this information to provide important focus on minimising future damage. The aim of IDIG is to reduce damage to infrastructure assets through proactively providing a clear focus for targeted damage prevention campaigns.
IDIG has several user interfaces, based on what, where and how a user wants to access the system. For field workers there is a mobile app that can capture damage and associated information such as photos, video, or GPS locations or a browser based portal that can also be used on any device – in the field or in the office. IDIG can also work in areas with no internet connectivity, cleverly caching data on the device and automatically sending it through as soon as the user returns to connectivity.
Under the hood IDIG sits on Mipela’s X-Info Suite software, delivering an easy to use and intuitive user experience. The configuration of this solution is similar to the Australian Pipeline and Gas Associations’ Pipeline Incident Database and the Australian Association of Dial Before You Dig Services’ Infrastructure Damage Reporting System but it takes it to the next level with its mobile data capture app.
“The team at Mipela were instrumental in providing valuable experience to support the development of this solution,” said Dial Before You Dig Queensland’s Utility Liaison Officer, Alison Sharkey. “This secure system is flexible in how it can be used and allows our Queensland Dial Before You Dig members to have a strong grasp on any damage reporting. IDIG is aimed at providing greater awareness, workplace health and safety and benchmarking to provide better damage prevention outcomes”.
IDIG is available to all DBYD Queensland members at no cost. For more information please contact Alison Sharkey from Dial Before You Dig Queensland directly.