IT forAsset Management

Asset management plays an important role in the current scenario. The availability of assets in power plants depends on critical functions being handled expeditiously. One such leading function is Asset Management and Maintenance. The modern IT-enabled packages in this area have the following features:

• Full scale asset management and mapping.

• Predictive, preventive and routine maintenance management.

• Work order generation, activity scheduling.

• Open system platform and database management.

• Enterprise-wise documentation management.

In addition to getting the maximum life out of an asset, the fixation of tariff by the regulator is also based on the funds required to maintain these assets and the funds required to build new assets to meet the load growth. Therefore, the value of assets plays a key role in the operation of a utility.

You may like to know the benefits of IT use for asset management (Box).

Box : Benefits of IT Use for Asset Management

IT use in asset management

• helps in the formulation of proper movement policy and facilitates in better management of assets;

• facilitates maintenance of database on location-wise availability of assets and its movement;

• facilitates correct valuation of assets across the company based on information on reliable and true asset inventory;

• facilitates proper formulation of utility tariffs;

• helps in monitoring the movement and repairs of assets;

• helps in the best utilization of assets;

• helps in planning for retirement of assets taking into account the life served, amount spent on repairs and its residual life; and

• helps in monitoring the maintenance of assets to get the maximum life out of it.

The following three assets play a crucial role in the distribution network:Distribution Transformers, Meters and Feeders and their management is crucial for the reasons described in Sec. 9.3.1 of Unit 9. For implementing an effective IT based asset management system, a detailed survey for asset mapping and its indexing is needed to prepare an asset repository and introduce proper asset management system.

For an IT-enabled business process environment, no separate hardware is required to implement an Asset Management System. Onlysoftware system support will be required to implement Asset Management System. Let us describe the software needs.

Software/System Functionality Requirements

The system should

• have the capability to record conditional assessment and analysis.

• have the ability to track insurance values (e.g., replacement value).

• allow the utilities to provide a ‘condition of the asset’ at the date of

physical inventory, e.g., New, Good, Poor or Broken.

• allow electronic certification of physical inventory for locations such as Circles, Division or Sub-division.

• allow utilities to provide the capability to identify all assets that have been missed and not updated by the physical inventory process, or to identify all assets in the categories like Missing or Lost, Stolen,Destroyed or Under Disposal.

• provide the capability to scan their own bar code tags and automatically upload the physical inventory for review, reconciliation, and approval.

• generate reports detailing the cost of new assets acquired to replace an asset lost, missing, stolen, or destroyed.

• provide the ability to deactivate an asset when removed for maintenance and allow reactivation based on proper authorization.

• provide the capability to update the individual component of a group of assets and to re-group into an existing group or component structure.

• have the ability to initiate the creation of asset master records from the process of creating and processing store issue documents.

• have the ability to identify potential fixed assets through store transaction details.

• contain a population table for the purpose of identifying ownership and maintenance responsibility for equipment.

• allow for major asset class (e.g., personal property including vehicles, buildings (new, improvements, renovations), land, land improvements,infrastructure, leasehold improvements, and construction in progress) dependent features for tracking and reporting data elements.

• allow different depreciation schedules and methods for different assets within an asset group.

• be capable of tracking an alternate replacement date besides useful life expiration date.

• have the ability to link asset master records to other asset master records for grouping.

• have the ability to flexibly track assets (parent to child relationships), to effectively have asset structures, record components and ‘complex’ assets, essentially allowing a ‘roll up’ feature (e.g., the individual asset values for routers will roll up to the asset value for the network rack,which is the asset master record).

• have the ability to track multiple location codes. These codes would provide utilities with the ability to identify where the assets are located, including but not limited to substation, feeder or buildings.

• allow for the identification of maintenance or capital costs performed.

• calculate replacement costs by tracking values − current or the ones forecast.

• allow and track adjustments to historical cost.

You may like to know: What are the Deliverables?

Deliverables

When the history of an asset is easily available, preventive maintenance can be scheduled and it will be possible to predict the completion of useful life of the asset and initiate timely action for its replacement.As the asset management system helps in reducing the inventory and down time for outage management, reliability of supply to customer is improved by tracking and providing for short time portable equipment such as distribution transformers, modular substations (pantograph type).Besides the features listed above, this also helps in the following aspects:

− condition of assets,

− criticality of assets,

− asset age, asset performance and asset value.

• Risk Management (insurance claim, etc).

• The asset management system coupled with the data acquisition system can help in conducting


Statistical analysis regarding

− load analysis;

− fault analysis; and

− failure mode analysis.

The asset management system coupled with Trouble call management system can keep track of maintenance work carried out on each asset and the cost of the same.

•IT enabled Asset Management facilitates resource planning in an efficient way so as to enable the utility to take quick and correct decisions in day to day operational functions.

Transformer Information Management System (TIMS) and Meter Information Management System (MIMS) in APTRANSCO

The Transformer and Meter Information Management System (TIMS MIMS) is a basic system to track and monitor the utility’s primary inventory items, i.e., transformers and meters. TIMS-MIMS will capture data relating to the complete lifecycle of a transformer/meter right from Receipt at Stores,Repairs, and Maintenance to the final Scrapping. It will provide detailed reports to help track transformer/meter assets, analyse critical indicators and parameters and provide exception reports. It will also provide detailed reports to help in tracking and monitoring right down to an individual transformer/ meter.

PROCESSES COVERED

TIMS MIMS covers the key processes associated with distribution transformers and meters. These can be classified as follows:

• Material Procurement Cycle: From procurement initiation to the delivery of goods.

• Material Request and Issue Cycle: From preparation of work orders to the issue against material indents.

• Material Repair Cycle: From receipt of failed material and issue of replacements to complete repairing activity.

• Material Scrapping Cycle: From the request for scrapping to the final approval of scrapping.

• Material Diversion Cycle: From the issue of diversion orders to the receipt of the material.

The system’s functionality would also assist in tracking material (transformers or meters or both) across the system by capturing data at the Stores, Spare Parts Maintenance (SPM) and Meters Relay Testing (MRT). In its entirety, the system would broadly enable the following activities through its various modules:

• Utility

− Assistance in providing information relating to critical indicators and parameters and provide exception reports.

− Central reporting on Stock status, Transformer and Meter failures, etc.

− Tracking of events/issues/receipts at various locations such as circle office, SPM, MRT and stores.

• Circle

− Tracking of events at various entities including SPM, MRT, stores.

− Review of critical indicators and parameters.

− Issue/Receipt/Repair/Scrapping of transformers and meters.

• Division

− Creation of work orders and their subsequent approval.

− Access to Section/SPM related information such as Transformer/Meter Tracking, Failures, etc.

•Stores
− Receipt of new transformers and meters at stores.

− Issue of new transformers and meters from stores.

− Status of transformers and meters at stores.

•SPM

− Receipt of faulty transformers at the SPM.

− Repair of transformers by the SPM/PA.

− Issue of healthy transformers from the SPM.

− Replenishment of SPM rolling stock.

•MRT

− Receipt of faulty meters at the MRT.

− Repair of meters at the MRT.

− Issue of healthy meters by the MRT.

− Replenishment of MRT rolling stock.

Modules of TIMS MIMS and their Interactions

Fig. details the various modules and broad interactions between the various modules as well as the details of all the activities that come under the purview of TIMS MIMS for each of the different offices.TIMS MIMS enables a standardised methodology for dealing with DTRs and meters that enables key data capture to provide valuable insights into the day-to-day operations. By following the outlined methodology, the utilities would achieve many medium and long-term benefits. For example, TIMS MIMS will help in

− reducing the number of touch points in the system and decreasing process lead time;

− enabling the identification of defective structures and thus reducing overall downtime;

− improving visibility thus enabling appropriate inventory holdings at all stocking points; and

− enabling personnel to effectively track transformers and meters through their entire life-cycle.

APPLICATION SYSTEM

The methodologies suggested in the TIMS MIMS outline the data capture details associated with each of the business events. This data needs to be transferred to the TIMS MIMS application system on a regular basis. The application itself is available in the following two forms:

−Online Version: In the online version, the different offices access the TIMS MIMS central database directly through LAN (Local Area Network)/WAN (Wide Area Network) using an appropriate networking arrangement like VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal), RF (radio
frequency), leased line, etc.

− Offline Version: In the offices loaded with the TIMS MIMS offline version, the data capture happens locally into a database that is not directly connected with the TIMS MIMS central database. The data is transferred between these local databases and the TIMS MIMS central database by using floppy disks/CDs/Pen drives. The offline version’s Data Integrator module enables transfer of data.

− Ideally, all the offices related to TIMS MIMS viz., Transco, Discom, Circle, Division, Store, SPM and MRT, would have the necessary IT infrastructure to access the TIMS MIMS online version. But the system can be used, with lower scale of benefits, by using the TIMS MIMS offline version and/or paper templates given as data forms in the TIMS MIMS Operations Manual.

Initially, the transactional data at the MRT, SPM, and Stores on the data forms would be entered into the TIMS MIMS offline version at the division offices. The circle offices and above run the TIMS MIMS online version. Regular exchange of data ensures that the offline versions at the divisions have the latest data points. Once the IT infrastructure is in place, more offices can access the TIMS MIMS online version directly.

APPLICATION DETAILS

Office Hierarchy and Administration of TIMS The system administrator sets user access and security details (login names, passwords, and permissions) in the Administration module for the users.Access to the different functions is dependent on the level of office, to which the user belongs, in the given hierarchy. The hierarchy is shown in Fig. .

Hierarchy Level of Various Offices under APTRANSCO

Fig.: Hierarchy Level of Various Offices under APTRANSCOData once entered and submitted for on-line forms and subsequently saved for off-line forms is not editable. Users must therefore take care in entering data correctly and verify it before saving or submitting. If any modification is required, the user must place a requisition for the same to the authorized person at the corporate office for making the necessary alterations.

Data Requirements

The system will require some pre-identified master data to be present in the system. The following is a list of the key data requirements of TIMS:

• The different item types that the system will track, along with the names of the properties, and the possible value that can be assigned to these properties.

• The different Stock Keeping Units (SKUs), along with the exact property values.

• The different spares that are related to DTRs. This includes the full list and specifications of each of the spare items.

• The packing list associated with each of the SKUs. This will tie the details of the SKUs with the spares.

• The different makes of each of the items.

• The vendor-make relationship which makes a binding or constraint regarding which vendor can supply which make and vice-versa need
to be entered into the system.

• The purchase orders that are raised by the different offices and their details need to be available at each of the installations for enabling entities to validate materials against the same.

• The dispatch instructions that have been issued by the different offices for authorizing transfer of goods from a vendor to a store or from one store to another need to be loaded onto the system.

• The master list of all transformer structures needs to be loaded onto the system. The system will issue transformers only to structures that are defined in the system.

Both the online and offline installations of TIMS require the above basic data to function. The above data is nearly static with changes being made occasionally, once the initial setup is complete. The access to the different master-data forms which allow updating of the above mentioned data would be given to certain special users at the Discom level. All changes to the above static data need to be replicated to the relevant child installations at appropriate time intervals as the offices with the child installations will not be able to function without the latest master data.