DENVER, Jan. 01, 2015 — In December 2014, SSP completed an ArcFM™ implementation at Belmont Light in Belmont, MA.  Prior to initiating the project, Belmont was familiar with Esri technology.  Their legacy system contained electric feature classes in an Enterprise SDE environment and they mostly used the data for system mapping.  Belmont wanted to do more than just map their electric assets – they wanted to manage them, and ArcFM™ fit the bill.

To completely leverage the ArcFM™ tools, a data migration effort was first required to convert Belmont’s legacy data to the Electric MultiSpeak Model.  SSP worked onsite very closely with the Belmont team to determine the best migration plan for maximum long-term benefit.  Once a migration matrix was completed, conversion code was constructed to automate the conversion process and minimize downtime. 

For the most part, the conversion went smoothly.  Beyond the usual source data errors (i.e., missing features, incorrect attributes, etc.) that are usually discovered in a normal conversion effort, the biggest problem was a missing phase attribute on the vast majority of features in the system.  When possible, SSP was able to programmically infer three-phase features when logic enabled such action.  

In 2015, Belmont plans to clean up issues (such as feature phase) one feeder at a time.  Leveraging ArcFM™, they plan to start at each circuit breaker and confirm proper digitizing, attribution (i.e., phasing), and connectivity.  They are also currently upgrading their CIS and Financial Systems.  According to Director of Operations Craig Spinale, their goal is to have the cleanup completed by 2016, and leverage the GIS with their new WMS, OMS, and Asset Management Systems.