Electric Utility

Customer-funded equipment relocation (without meter): technical study, design/approval, cost confirmation, payment, execution and energization of the relocated equipment.

Meter Removal Sub Process is an electric distribution utility planning process executed across FSM/FSM Connect/FSM Mobile with SAP ISU and GIS integration. It is mapped to IFS Equipment & Installed Base and comprises 11 extracted steps covering request intake, validation, site/technical work and cost/work-order handling. Provenance is the client To-Be draw.io planning flows.

Meter and Equipment Removal is an electric distribution utility planning process executed across FSM/FSM Connect/FSM Mobile with SAP ISU and GIS integration. It is mapped to IFS Equipment & Installed Base and comprises 25 extracted steps covering request intake, validation, site/technical work and cost/work-order handling. Provenance is the client To-Be draw.io planning flows.

Recurring visual and instrumented patrol of overhead distribution and transmission circuits, executed as ground patrol, aerial or helicopter flight, drone and LiDAR survey, and post-event damage assessment. In IFS Cloud the circuit is carried as a Linear Asset segmented span-by-span with poles, crossarms, insulators and switchgear held as Functional Objects against those segments, and patrol cycles are driven from Maintenance Plan / PM Action definitions that generate Work Orders and Work Tasks per segment. Inspectors record condition codes as Measurements/Parameters and raise Fault Reports for defects, which are triaged into priority bands that feed corrective work, wildfire mitigation and the asset health model.

The cyclic groundline program that keeps a wood pole fleet serviceable: excavate and sound or bore each pole, measure residual shell and strength, apply remedial preservative treatment, reinforce with a stub or truss where economic, and replace the poles that fail the reject criteria. In IFS Cloud each pole is a Functional Object positioned against the circuit Linear Asset, the inspection cycle is a Maintenance Plan / PM Action, and strength, decay and treatment results are recorded as Measurements/Parameters so that reject and treat decisions are auditable. Rejected poles become change-out Work Orders or, at volume, a funded replacement Project with materials drawn from Inventory Part and Purchase Order.

Condition assessment and renewal of underground cable systems: manhole and vault inspection, cable and accessory diagnostics such as insulation resistance, VLF withstand, tan delta and partial discharge, fault location, and programmed section replacement or rejuvenation. In IFS Cloud the cable run is a Linear Asset segmented between terminations and splices, while joints, terminations, switchgear and network transformers sit as Functional or Serial Objects, and diagnostic results are captured as Measurements/Parameters against the tested section. Test results drive a disposition of return to service, retest sooner, rejuvenate or replace, and the replacement volume is planned as a Project with cable and accessory demand flowing through Inventory Part and Purchase Order.

Plans and executes the recurring vegetation inspection programme for NERC-applicable transmission line rights-of-way and assesses observed clearance against the Minimum Vegetation Clearance Distance (MVCD) for each voltage class. In IFS Cloud the applicable circuits and ROW spans are modelled as Linear Asset segments, the inspection cycle is driven from Maintenance Plan / PM Action, and findings are captured on inspection Work Orders and Work Tasks. The resulting dated inspection records become the primary FAC-003-5 R6 compliance evidence.

Capex work order lifecycle: design, planning and SAP Finance approval, budget tracking against material and labor cost, and completion/invoicing.

Contractor invoice sub-process: on work-order completion, return balance and pulled-out material, reconcile inventory, SEC review/approval and completion certificate before invoice.

Integration Plan Preparation is an electric distribution utility planning process executed across FSM/FSM Connect/FSM Mobile with SAP ISU and GIS integration. It is mapped to IFS Work Order Management and comprises 27 extracted steps covering request intake, validation, site/technical work and cost/work-order handling. Provenance is the client To-Be draw.io planning flows.

Identifies structurally defective, dead or dying trees inside and outside the right-of-way that could fall into an applicable line, and drives their prioritised removal. In IFS Cloud the finding is raised as a Fault Report or high-criticality Work Order against the Linear Asset span, with landowner consent, permits and crew qualifications tracked as supporting Documents. Immediate-risk conditions trigger the FAC-003-5 R4 control centre notification, and constrained removals trigger R5 corrective action.

Plans and executes selective herbicide and cultural control work that converts transmission and distribution rights-of-way to stable low-growing plant cover, under an integrated vegetation management plan. In IFS Cloud the treatment is issued as a Work Order and Work Tasks against Linear Asset spans, with product drawn as Inventory Part, procurement through Purchase Order and Supplier, and applicator certification held as Competency/Qualification. Application records are retained as regulatory evidence alongside NERC work plan evidence.

Recurring route-based inspection rounds at transmission and distribution substations, combined with periodic infrared thermographic surveys of energized connections, bushings, bus work, breakers and cable terminations. In IFS Cloud the rounds are driven by Preventive Maintenance Actions against substation Functional Objects, executed as Work Orders and Work Tasks on mobile, with condition readings captured as Measurements and exceptions raised as Fault Reports. Thermal anomalies are graded by temperature rise and converted into prioritized corrective Work Orders.

Time-based and operation-count-based preventive maintenance and electrical testing of high-voltage circuit breakers, switchgear, disconnects and their operating mechanisms. In IFS Cloud this is driven by Preventive Maintenance Actions on breaker Functional Objects or Serial Objects, triggered by calendar interval and by operation counters recorded as Measurements, with test results captured against the object and defects raised as Fault Reports. Outage-dependent tasks are bundled into planned station outage Work Orders to minimise clearances.

Establishment and execution of a documented Protection System Maintenance Program covering protective relays, communications systems, voltage and current sensing devices, station DC supply and control circuitry that affect bulk electric system reliability. In IFS Cloud each protection system component type is registered as a maintainable object with the applicable maximum maintenance interval configured on a Preventive Maintenance Action, producing dated Work Orders and test records that serve as compliance evidence. Findings that cannot be corrected immediately are tracked as Unresolved Maintenance Issues through to closure.

Inspection, testing and replacement management of substation station DC supply - battery banks, chargers, DC distribution and associated alarms - which provide the tripping and control power for protection systems. In IFS Cloud the mandated inspection cycles are configured as Preventive Maintenance Actions on the battery bank and charger objects, with cell voltages, specific gravity, connection resistance and ohmic values recorded as Measurements trended against the commissioning baseline. Degradation trends and capacity test results drive planned bank replacement rather than reactive failure.

Runs the routine reliability engine of a generating plant: criticality-driven preventive maintenance programmes and recurring operator rounds that capture condition readings against plant assets. IFS Cloud holds the Maintenance Plans and PM Actions, the generated Work Orders and Work Tasks, and the Measurements captured on rounds, with out-of-limit readings converting into corrective work. The purpose is to convert emerging defects into scheduled or outage work rather than forced unit events.

Periodic and online monitoring of oil-filled power transformers, load tap changers and bushings using dissolved gas analysis and oil quality testing to detect incipient faults before failure. In IFS Cloud the sampling cycle is driven by Preventive Maintenance Actions against each transformer Functional Object or Serial Object, lab results are stored as Measurements against the object, and diagnostic exceedances raise Fault Reports that drive engineering assessment and corrective Work Orders. The resulting gas and oil history becomes the transformer health record used for risk ranking and replacement planning.

Programmatic shift from purely calendar-based maintenance to condition-based and predictive maintenance across transmission and distribution assets, using inspection findings, test results, online monitors and operating data to decide what work is done and when. In IFS Cloud the programme is built on Measurements and condition rules against Functional Objects that generate Work Orders only when a condition threshold or predicted failure risk is reached, with asset Criticality determining the response. The resulting risk view is used to reallocate maintenance spend and to feed asset investment planning.

Turning condition, age, duty and failure data into an asset health index per asset class, combining it with consequence of failure to produce a risk score, and using that score to rank maintenance, refurbishment and replacement investment across the T&D portfolio. In IFS Cloud the inputs are already resident - inspection Measurements/Parameters, Fault Report history and Work Order cost against Functional Objects, Serial Objects and Linear Asset segments, with Criticality carrying the consequence dimension - and the scored output drives PM regime changes, corrective work prioritisation and the capital project pipeline. The framework is the CIGRE and ISO 55000 model in which risk is probability of failure multiplied by consequence of failure, expressed through an asset health index.

Converts inspection findings and cycle policy into the annual vegetation work plan and dispatches contractor line-clearance crews against it. In IFS Cloud the plan is carried by Maintenance Plan / PM Action and Work Orders against Linear Asset spans, while contractor capacity, unit rates and settlement run through Supplier Agreement and Purchase Order. Completion tracking supports the FAC-003-5 R7 obligation to complete 100% of the annual vegetation work plan.

Bundles outage-dependent maintenance, capital and inspection work into approved outage windows, obtains the operational and reliability approvals, and executes the clearance and tagging that protects the workforce. IFS Cloud holds the outage request, the bundled Work Orders and Work Tasks, the controlled clearance documents and the as-left asset record; switching authority and device operation remain with system operations. The process must also support late cancellation or recall of outages when system conditions change.

Plans, executes and reports generating unit outages across the full event spectrum - planned overhauls and refuelling outages, maintenance outages, and forced events. IFS Cloud carries the outage scope as a Project or Maintenance Event with Work Orders and Work Tasks, the long-lead procurement, the component history on Serial Objects, and the event data needed for availability reporting. Correct event classification and cause coding is what makes the resulting availability statistics defensible.

Administration of third-party attachments on utility poles end to end: attachment application intake, field survey, engineering and loading analysis, make-ready design and execution, permit issuance, periodic joint-use audit, unauthorized-attachment resolution, and annual rental billing. In IFS Cloud the pole is a Functional Object under the circuit Linear Asset with attachment records held against it, make-ready is executed as Work Orders or a small Project, and the attaching party is a customer whose rental and make-ready charges are raised through Customer Order and Service Contract. The whole process is timeline-driven because the FCC prescribes fixed day counts for survey, estimate, acceptance and make-ready completion.

The monthly and annual cycle that turns raw outage events into audited reliability indices - SAIFI, SAIDI, CAIDI and the related IEEE 1366 measures - classifies major event days, publishes internal and regulatory reports, and drives the reliability improvement plan. The outage event data originates in the OMS and the customer count in CIS, while IFS Cloud contributes the asset-side attribution: which Functional Object or Linear Asset segment failed, the Fault Report cause code, and the Work Order restoration record that supports duration and cause validation. The indices then feed circuit-level worst-performing analysis, inspection cycle changes and the risk-based investment plan.

Governs the collection, retention and presentation of the evidence that proves compliance with the NERC vegetation management standard, and keeps the utility audit-ready between engagements. In IFS Cloud the evidence is the operational record itself - dated Work Orders, Work Tasks, inspection records, Documents and Measurement readings against Linear Asset spans - assembled per requirement rather than re-keyed into a separate compliance system. The process also produces the quarterly periodic data submittal on vegetation-related Sustained Outages.

Load Forecasting Process is an electric distribution utility planning process executed across FSM/FSM Connect/FSM Mobile with SAP ISU and GIS integration. It is mapped to IFS Demand Forecasting & S&OP and comprises 39 extracted steps covering request intake, validation, site/technical work and cost/work-order handling. Provenance is the client To-Be draw.io planning flows.

Definition, stocking and lifecycle management of critical and long-lead transmission and distribution equipment - spare power transformers, breakers, bushings, relays and battery banks - where replenishment lead times are measured in years rather than weeks. In IFS Cloud the spares policy is expressed as Inventory Parts with criticality, min/max and reorder rules linked to the Functional Objects they protect, replenished through long-horizon Purchase Orders and, for major units, managed as capital Projects. The spares strategy is periodically re-evaluated against fleet failure risk and current market lead times.

Delivery of transmission and distribution capital construction from approved work plan through design, material and contractor mobilisation, field construction, and the as-built closeout that converts spend into a recorded, maintainable asset. In IFS Cloud the job is a Project with Project Activities per structure run or circuit section, construction is executed as Work Orders and Work Tasks under those activities, and material and contractor cost lands via Inventory Part, Purchase Order and progress-based contractor certification. Closeout is the critical control: the as-built redline is reconciled to the design, new Functional Objects and Linear Asset segments are created or updated, retirements are recorded, and the capitalised cost is unitised and settled to fixed assets.

Independently audits completed vegetation work against specification and clearance targets before the contractor is paid, and rolls the result into supplier performance management. In IFS Cloud the audit is a separate Work Order or Work Task against the same Linear Asset span, with findings feeding Supplier evaluation and gating Purchase Order settlement. The dated audit records also serve as FAC-003-5 work plan and inspection evidence.

Escalates the utility from normal operations to a storm organisation, quantifies the resource gap, and secures, onboards, houses and costs the additional crews needed to restore service. Incoming mutual-assistance and contractor crews are created as schedulable, qualified resources in IFS Cloud so they can be dispatched and their cost captured for regulatory storm-cost recovery. The process closes with demobilisation, cost reconciliation and an after-action review that updates the playbook.