Reference Customer | Case Study

CKW AG plans, controls, documents, and analyzes maintenance activities primarily in the medium and low voltage sectors and in the public lighting segment with GS-Service.

Case Study: Experiences of the utility company CKW AG (Centralschweizerische Kraftwerke AG) with the maintenance applications GS-Touch and GS-Web

CKW – Yes to tomorrow.

Right in the thick of it: CKW AG relies on maintenance and operational management with GS-Manager, GS-Touch, and GS-Web.

“CKW – Yes to tomorrow” – a utility company positioning itself as progressively as CKW AG must confidently keep both in mind: past and future. To achieve this, CKW, today the largest energy service provider in Central Switzerland, has been investing since 1894 in both new infrastructure and the maintenance and optimization of existing assets. Since 2009, GreenGate’s (D/CH) IT system GS-Service has been used at the critical point of commissioning objects in CKW’s low-voltage network.

Key data of the practical report: GS-Service & GS-Mobile in use at CKW AG:

Industry: Energy, Network Operations

Software used:

GS-Service – GS-Manager, GS-Touch, GS-Web

Supported processes:

Consistent, personnel-independent management and documentation of data for objects, assets, operating equipment, and processes in the medium and low voltage sectors
Planned/unplanned maintenance of transformer stations, overhead lines, and distribution cabinets – on-site with GreenGate mobile applications on various devices
Maintenance of public lighting on behalf of some municipalities

Planning, control, and documentation of the commissioning of new plants and infrastructures, including the recording of master data in the GS system
Management and control of operating equipment (PPE, vehicles, tools, etc.)
Master data storage and event documentation in the GS system for assets in the high-voltage sector (substations, high-voltage lines)
Visualization of functional relationships in the GIS system/integration with network information system (daily, bidirectional synchronization)
Information transfer to the SAP ERP system

Challenge:

Planning, control, and documentation of operational maintenance activities
Creation of an interactive knowledge platform for technical operational management
Legally compliant documentation of maintenance and defects/events
Integration into CKW AG’s IT landscape (e.g., with NIS AG’s network information system with Smallworld GIS system; SAP ERP system)

Procedure:

Continuous digital inventory of plant infrastructure, operating equipment, and personnel in GS-Service; inventory, definition, and analysis of maintenance processes in GS-Service; setting up checklists, work orders, etc. in GS-Service; integration of mobile GreenGate solutions; integration with network information system/GIS system; interface to the ERP system

Result:

CKW AG plans, controls, documents, and analyzes maintenance activities primarily in the medium and low voltage sectors and in the public lighting segment with GS-Service. The GreenGate mobile solutions GS-Web and GS-Touch are used in daily operations.

With GS-Service, CKW maps the digital shadow of its maintenance personnel, assets, and operating equipment. The dynamic component in daily operations is also GS-supported: the lifelong maintenance of all objects required for electricity distribution – such as transformer stations and distribution cabinets. Street lighting and personal protective equipment (PPE) are also managed in the system. The GreenGate solution for maintenance and operational management is used mobile with the GS-Touch app and, more recently, in the field with the browser-based GS-Web. In conversation about this: Application Manager Thomas Brändlin, business informatics specialist and GS application manager at CKW.

Profile: CKW AG

Founded in 1894, CKW (Centralschweizerische Kraftwerke AG) is today the largest energy service provider in Central Switzerland with over 200,000 end customers in the cantons of Lucerne, Schwyz, and Uri. The company, headquartered in Lucerne, employs 2,000 people throughout Switzerland, including over 300 apprentices in 16 professions. CKW is the largest private sector training company in Central Switzerland and offers private and business customers products and services in segments such as electrical, photovoltaics, heating technology, e-mobility, building automation, ICT solutions, and security.

The security of supply in the CKW area is 99.996 percent. To ensure this remains the case, CKW is currently investing in expanding the capacity of the power grid for the energy solutions of the future. CKW’s vision is: “We are the first point of contact for our customers for the transformation towards attractive, climate-neutral energy solutions, thus transforming ourselves from a pure energy supplier to a holistic decarbonization partner.”

This includes not only the ongoing operation of its own hydropower plants throughout Switzerland but also the significantly boosted solar energy business. CKW now installs 700 solar systems per year with a department of around 200 employees, including large-scale systems over two megawatt-peak. CKW has been working with GreenGate’s GS-Service maintenance and operational management system since 2009 – 30 employees use GS-Manager, and around 100 colleagues, primarily from maintenance, use the mobile solutions GS-Touch and GS-Web.

Interview with Application Manager Thomas Brändlin

CKW’s strategic objective is a “Sustainable future through innovative energy solutions.” To what extent does GS-Service, GreenGate’s maintenance and operational management system, support this approach?

Thomas Brändlin: With GS-Service, which we call NIS-IH, we manage the operational maintenance business in the medium and low voltage sectors. This is the core of the application: we are talking about 2,430 transformer stations, 8,200 distribution cabinets across the entire area, 7,600 km of overhead lines, and public lighting.

Today, the rule of thumb is: the smarter the power grid, the easier it is to implement the energy transition with the climate-friendly provision of affordable electricity. However, this cannot have been the primary intention behind the implementation of GS-Service back in 2009.

Brändlin: Our main focus then, as it is now, was on driving digitalization. We want to keep processes lean and make them even more efficient. The question is always: Can manual tasks be automated? This shapes the mindset within the company. Before GS-Service, there was only a rudimentary, rather static solution, an ‘asset database.’ The old data was then migrated to GS-Service.

What exactly does CKW plan, control, and document with GS-Service?

Brändlin: For example, the inspections and maintenance of assets in the medium and low voltage sectors. This runs smoothly, especially for planned, recurring tasks that are defined once and then reused each time they are performed. The maintenance teams from the Network Services department usually have a one-year window for planned tasks. They largely organize themselves, retrieve information from the system, and are guided by the GS. When on-site, they carry mini-tablets the size of a chest pocket or smartphones. Here, information, work orders, and checklists can be accessed and filled out from the GS. The use of GS-Web has significantly increased the degree of self-organization, as it allows for a ‘live’ retrieval of open tasks with a map view online.

“The mobile access with GS-Touch and now GS-Web is certainly an ‘outstanding’ feature that simplifies the work of technicians and planners.”

Application Manager Thomas Brändlin, CKW AG

The 120 colleagues from the maintenance department use GS-Service not only for work in the medium and low voltage networks.

Brändlin: That’s correct. The management and control of operating equipment such as PPE, vehicles, and tools, etc., run via GS-Service. Usually once a year, each employee has a personal task, which they complete system-supported and store everything in the GS. Events, especially power outages in the high-voltage network, are also documented in the system. Furthermore, we organize and document the maintenance of public lighting for all municipalities in our network area via GS-Service. These are very specific tasks: regular officially prescribed checks, lamp replacement, etc.

However, the bread-and-butter business is…

Brändlin: …the regular inspections – partly annually, partly biennially – of the plants and lines in the medium and low voltage networks and the regular maintenance. These occur every two or five years. And clearly: GS is predestined for defect resolution, and the commissioning of plants can also be realized via GS.

Keyword commissioning: If a digital system like GS-Service is integrated into real processes relatively early as a kind of growing life-cycle record, various tasks from different trades can be effectively organized. Do you share this assessment?

Brändlin: That’s obvious. Let’s take the processes for commissioning a new transformer station. These are quite complex, as many different specialists, sub-processes, and several IT systems are involved. Therefore, it is important that the new object with its activities is created early and that the commissioning task in GS-Manager already corresponds to the necessary procedures or guides the technician on site. The same applies to subsequent defect resolution. The underlying process for planning and realizing due tasks must not only be clearly defined but also soundly and comprehensibly stored in the system for everyone.

Consistent data management is one of the major challenges for an energy service provider like CKW, especially since multiple systems need to be used, maintained, and networked.

Brändlin: Specifically, NIS AG’s network information system with the Smallworld GIS system is strongly integrated with GS; daily synchronizations occur in both directions. That’s why we also call GS ‘NIS-IH’ internally. Our assets in the high-voltage sector, such as substations and high-voltage lines, are only rudimentarily recorded as master data in the GS system. Even if maintenance sometimes runs via GS, our Plants and Engineering department, which is responsible for larger plants, uses additional software such as asset management solutions or modern modeling tools in the BIM area.

Inspections and maintenance of assets in the medium and low voltage sectors run smoothly with GS-Service – especially planned, recurring tasks that are defined once and then reused each time they are performed.

Application Manager Thomas Brändlin, CKW AG

Are there other interfaces to other systems?

Brändlin: Also to SAP, our ERP system. This involves reconciling master data or, for example, creating invoices for third-party customers. We handle the maintenance of public lighting via GS. Data from the GS is then read into SAP via an interface, and the invoice is generated from it. GS is also connected to our eDossier, where we centrally manage plant documentation: schematics, test certificates, images, contracts, etc. Finally, to our network control system, which reads certain data from the GS.

And is everything running as it should: well to very well?

Brändlin: GS is a largely established running system for us with many routine processes in daily business. We see room for improvement, for example, in upgrades to new versions, which are too cumbersome and insufficiently automated, or the sometimes sluggish processing of tickets. There are also some issues with the usability and error-proneness of existing functionalities, as well as new technical features. The communication with GreenGate employees, however, is very pleasant and friendly – always pragmatic and helpful.

GreenGate generally signals practical relevance not only in personal exchange but also with its solution portfolio. The no-code technology is one exclamation mark, the new mobile solutions are the other.

Brändlin: The mobile access with GS-Touch and now GS-Web is certainly an ‘outstanding’ feature that simplifies the work of technicians and planners. Tasks can now also be completed on the go system-side. This includes task processing as well as defect recording. All of this includes a map display for objects, tasks, and defects.

With GS-Touch, customer processes can be individually mapped as an app. The focus here is on the simple, fast processing of maintenance and repair tasks. GS-Web, however, can do even more, keywords being planning and dispatching.

Brändlin: With GS-Web, it is possible to carry out unplanned additional work nearby. A feature that our planning department has long awaited. However, we carry out the dispatching of assignments on a different system.

2,430 transformer stations

8,200 distribution cabinets, 7,600 km of overhead lines, and public lighting are maintained with GreenGate IT solutions.

100 employees

of CKW AG use the mobile GreenGate solutions GS-Touch and GS-Web – 30 employees use GS-Manager.

99.996%

supply security. To ensure this remains the case, CKW is investing in expanding the capacity of the power grid for the energy solutions of the future.

If you compare before and after: What has changed – what has improved – with the browser-based GS-Web?

Brändlin: Before we had GS-Web, everything was planned. Even with GS-Touch, someone had to actively assign tasks to the tablet. You had to know: something is coming, it needs to be synchronized. When only GS-Service was available, lists had to be printed out. With GS-Web, that is now changing. Teams can retrieve tasks themselves when they are on the go. Tasks are also immediately visible after logging in. A browser-based work platform has long been requested. And with GS-Web, we are really making progress. Although here too, we hope for improvements in usability – handling, configuration options, performance.*

*Editor’s note: With GS-Web.Next, the performance and usability of the application will be raised to a new level.

Image credits: All photos Centralschweizerische Kraftwerke AG, Lucerne

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