City Uses GIS-centric Solution Citywide, Sees 400% Boost in Work Output
Jul 25, 2014 -- Sandy, UT — At the City of Greenville, South Carolina, Cityworks® is being used in nearly every operational department for public asset management. The scalability and flexibility of Cityworks allows city employees to work together, coordinating time and efforts to accomplish daily tasks and boost productivity.
With more than 85 Cityworks users throughout the city, Greenville uses Cityworks to help manage assets in numerous city divisions and areas including Utilities (Wastewater and Stormwater), Traffic (signs/signals), Solid Waste, Streets, Parks and Recreation, Call Center/Customer Service, the Police Department, the Engineering Department, and the Parking Bureau. Matthey Maxey, assistant city engineer in the Wastewater Division, said, “Cityworks played a significant role in increasing our work output by 400% from 2010 to 2012.”
Cityworks work orders and service requests displayed on Esri’s ArcGIS map provide a visual snapshot of projects clustered throughout the city. Wayne Owens, superintendent of the Stormwater Division, said, “Cityworks is vital part of our day-to-day operation. As a manager, I use Cityworks to measure the productivity of my crews by tracking the number of serviced storm assets, along with the length of pipe or ditch cleaned.”
The ability to accurately record labor, material, and equipment spent on a job is useful for establishing baselines for future project plans and budgeting. One of the division’s objectives is to respond to citizen requests within 24 hours. Because division supervisors have instant access to Cityworks in the field, they are able to monitor incoming requests in real time and respond accordingly. “As a result, I often receive compliments from citizens who can’t believe we are out in the field looking into their requests so quickly,” said Owens.
Greenville Cares, the city’s office for taking and routing citizens’ service requests, uses Cityworks all day, every day, sending citizen requests to every department in the city. “When citizens call to check on the status of their requests, we can give immediate updates, rather than checking with the department and calling them back,” says Kristie Anderson, Greenville Cares coordinator. “This saves time and improves citizen satisfaction.”
Prior to Cityworks, Greenville Cares spent too much time researching old requests that were often neglected and forgotten. With Cityworks, the staff can enter service requests using custom problem codes that lead them through a series of questions to make sure they obtain the necessary information the first time. Based on the answers, the system routes the request to the appropriate city staff. The entire history of the call is tracked from beginning to end.
Greenville’s Parking Bureau oversees the operation of all city garages and parking lots, including ten structures, two lots, and on-street spaces, totaling more than 7,000 parking spaces. The bureau uses Cityworks to log customer calls and track damages and repairs, tailgating, and validation sales.
“What I like most about Cityworks is that it is easy to learn and use,” says Penny Jones, Parking Bureau manager. “It allows us to have well-defined process workflows and track all kinds of activity.” Cityworks also helps the bureau identify customers who continually do not have money to exit the facilities. Tracking in Cityworks allows the bureau to put a stop to habitual abusers.
Like many other departments in Greenville, the Solid Waste Department uses Cityworks to input and track public requests, and develop plans of action to respond to those requests in the most efficient manner. The Solid Waste Department was the first to implement Cityworks Storeroom to inventory as well as track and manage a “just-in-time” approach to restocking materials and supplies.
The Engineering Division’s Construction Inspection (CI) team has utilized Cityworks for all major permit functions since 2008. Cityworks saves inspection and clerical time by automatically generating and printing letters and inspection reports. The fact that everyone in CI can access all the information stored in the system makes researching questions or responding to complaints more efficient and timely for customers.
John Brogdon, construction inspection manager, uses Cityworks to ensure his team’s work processes are both efficient and effective. He explains, “What I like most is the flexibility of the system. We create custom procedures based on how we do business. And if our processes need to change in the future, it can easily modify and adapt to meet our needs. In this day and age of doing more with less, construction inspection could not operate without Cityworks. It is essential to our function, and it allows us to be very productive and cover more territory without having to add more inspectors.”
Cityworks is an integral part Greenville’s Weather The Storm, Keep It Onprogram, an on-going effort to subsidize the conversion from overhead power lines to underground lines in residential areas. Cityworks helps keep the project organized with past and present applicants. Since coordinators can log notes for each caller, they have no problem staying informed of their situations.
“I like being able to reference projects from past years,” said Brittany Keller, Weather The Storm, Keep It On coordinator. “Often callers will have applied in the past, and I can see why they chose not to proceed or any issues they faced in the process.”
Scalability is what makes Cityworks such a powerful software solution for Greenville. For example, last year Greenville configured Cityworks to support their Ice and Snow Emergency Operations, creating a time-stamped log of sand and salt distribution or plowing. As a result, they are better protected from civil liabilities, which can arise from accidents.
“There is no doubt local government agencies have their work cut out for them in managing and maintaining their many public assets,” said Brian Haslam, president and CEO of Cityworks—Azteca Systems. “What Cityworks does is provide a tool for these agencies to help manage work and materials, and to track projects, enabling the organization to work together efficiently to accomplish work processes. As exemplified at Greenville, when agencies take Cityworks and run with it, the sky is the limit.”
About Cityworks
Since 1996, Cityworks® has been streamlining the way agencies manage public infrastructure and property by combining the asset geodatabase with the business logic of agencies that care for infrastructure and property. An authoritative resource and system of record, Cityworks elevates Esri®’s ArcGIS® Location Platform specifically to manage workflow, schedule resources and prioritize activities—saving time and improving operational efficiencies. Time-tested and proven technology, Cityworks is Empowering GIS® at more than 500 organizations around the world.
Photographs available upon request.
For more information, contact:
Lindsay Ferguson
Communications Specialist
Cityworks®—Azteca Systems
801.523.2751
Email Contact
www.cityworks.com
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