The other day I saw a guy wearing one of these and I thought “Really?  I thought they stopped making those things in the 80’s.”

Did you ever have a calculator watch?  I did.  Ask me how many times I used the calculator function – probably about 3 or 4 times – each of which was to show off the watch to my buddies.  Not once did I actually find myself wishing that I had a calculator on my wrist – much less a calculator that was hard to read and required microscopic finger tips to push the correct buttons.  However, there were plenty of times when I wished that the numbers displaying the time of day were larger.

Then it hit me – a lot of cities and utilities looking for GIS based asset and work management software are shopping for calculator watches.   No, they’re not shopping for real calculator watches – but when I look at the extensive lists of features and requirements some of these organizations are looking for I wonder if they realize that they’re trying to cram a calculator into a watch – and although it might seem like a great idea at first, when it comes right down to it the solution is just not practical.

What happens when you cram a calculator into a watch? Both devices are crippled.  So when you’re out looking for new GIS-based asset and work order management software try to find the right software for the right job – and remember that mixing too many things together may result in a calculator watch.

As you work to implement a new GIS-based asset and work management system (or improve your current system), a key component that often gets overlooked is the current value of all inventory on hand.

With such a strong focus on GIS assets, sometimes this critical component gets left behind. However, every time a Work Order is completed, inventory items are used.  Big or small, expensive or not, it’s important to manage the parts that are being used on your Work Orders.

Determining the Value of Your Inventory On Hand

At any given time it’s important to know the value of inventory on hand at any given location.  Your inventory locations might consist of one or more parts warehouses, service vehicles, inventory storerooms, or a combination the three.

When parts are used on a work order, it’s important to track where that part came from.  If we use a widget on a Work Order – did it come from Jon’s truck, Mike’s truck, did it come from the Warehouse, or somewhere else?  How detailed you want to be is up to you, but however you decide to manage your inventory, make sure you can pull the reports you’re going to need at the end of your fiscal year.

To property manage the value of your inventory you’ll need to decide which accounting method you’re going to use (if you don’t already have one in place).  You’ll get different results for each accounting method, so make sure you use the one that will give you the result you’re looking for!  (As a side note, we’ve found that almost all government and utility companies use the FIFO method).

As illustrated in the following examples, we can see that using the same dollar amounts and the same parts, the value of your inventory on hand will differ with each accounting method:

1. FIFO – Inventory on hand will be valued at $10
2. LIFO – Inventory on hand will be valued at $5
3. Weighted Average – Inventory on hand will be valued at $7.50

Here are how the values are determined for each method:

1. FIFO (First In First Out)

When using a part on a Work Order the oldest price you paid for that particular part will be used against the Work Order.

For example, lets say you have 2 widgets in your warehouse: you paid $5 for one widget on January 1, and $10 for the second widget on January 2.  You now have a total value in your warehouse of $15 ($5 + $10).  Now, after using one of these widgets on a Work Order, the oldest price paid gets used first, so the total value in your warehouse is now $10 using the FIFO method ($15 – your total warehouse valuation, minus $5 – the oldest price you paid for the widget).

2. LIFO (Last In First Out)

When using a part on a Work Order the most recent price you paid for that particular part will be used against the Work Order.

Again, lets say you have 2 widgets in your warehouse: you paid $5 for one widget on January 1, and $10 for the second widget on January 2.  You now have a total value in your warehouse of $15 ($5 + $10).  Now, after using one of these widgets on a Work Order, the newest price paid gets used first, so the total value in your warehouse is now $5 using the LIFO method ($15 – your total warehouse valuation, minus $10 – the most recent price you paid for the widget).

3. Weighted Average

This method uses the weighted average of all prices paid for a particular part to determine the value that will be used against the Work Order.

Again, you have 2 widgets in your warehouse: you paid $5 for one widget on January 1, and $10 for the second widget on January 2.  You now have a total value in your warehouse of $15 ($5 + $10).  Now, after using one of these widgets on a Work Order, the weighted average of these parts is calculated and used against the Work Order: $15 (total price paid) divided by 2 (number of units) yields a $7.50 average meaning the total value in your warehouse is now $7.50 using the LIFO method ($15 – your total warehouse valuation, minus $7.50 – the average price paid for the widget).

Did we forget something? Anything else to add?  Leave us know in the comments!

After declaring that Android would be the winner in the smartphone race, he spoke with Engadget and – referring to Android – stated that a product “…can get greater market share and still be crappy.”

There is a lot of wisdom in that statement.   A great example would be Windows Vista; anyone who ever used the thing would put it at the very top of the “Crappy Products with High Market Share” list.

Luckily, Microsoft redeemed itself with Windows 7 and luckily not all products with high market share are crappy.

When evaluating GIS-based asset and work management software be sure to look beyond the number of customers a vendor has; it’s surprising how many people actually will jump off a cliff just because their friends are doing it.

1. The most common types of work that take place within your organization, and
2. The important information that you need to track for each type of work

Here are a few quick examples:

These examples are maybe a bit oversimplified – but it should be enough information to get you headed in the right direction.  Be sure to write down the information – and remember, the more detailed you get the better off you’ll be when it comes time to implement your software!

1. You’re reading this post and you work for a municipality or utility serving a population of less than 40,000.
2. You use more than one application to manage your work orders, permits, licenses, and inspections.
3. You’d like to be able to manage all of the above information in a GIS-based environment.

(way to go if you actually raised your hand)

Most people know about the GIS-based work management capabilities found in Elements (service requests, work orders, etc.).  However, a lot of small to medium-sized municipalities and utilities are using Elements to manage much more than just service requests and work orders so I thought I’d post a few examples here.

Building Department

The dynamic data management tools in Elements give users the ability to efficiently manage Building Permits, Inspections, Certificates of Occupancy and other construction-related items. Basic features include:

• Customers and contractors can submit permit applications online
• Notify customers and contractors of status changes and application progress via email or text message in real-time
• Monitor interdepartmental approval statuses of each permit application
• Manage fees, building valuations, and footage assessments associated with permits and applications
• Create configurable inspections based on Permit Application types
• Generate permanent and temporary Certificates of Occupancy
• Monitor expiration and activity dates for certificates and inspections
• Manage contractors, certification levels, identification numbers, and other contractor related data

Code Enforcement

Elements offers the necessary tools to manage and enforce municipal code. Users can manage nuisance calls, code violations, case files, and other code-related items including the ability to:

• Monitor status updates for individual case files
• Set follow up dates for code violations
• Visualize code violation locations on GIS maps
• Schedule field inspections and reviews
• Manage fees associated with violations and permits
• Allow customers to submit complaints and violation reports via the web

Licenses, Permits & Other Applications

Manage Business Licenses, Conditional Use Permits, and other applications specific to the unique needs of you organization with Elements. Typical examples of licenses and permits managed within Elements include:

• Business Licenses
• Inspections
• Certificates of Occupancy
• Solicitor Licenses
• Home Occupation Permit
• Alcohol Beverage Control
• Animal Licenses
• Firearms
• Restaurant Licenses
• Fireworks
• Tobacco
• Watercraft
• Sign Permits

If you’d like to see how Elements can help manage permits, licenses, inspections, and code enforcement in a GIS-based environment you can request a live demo here.

If you’re looking to integrate your GIS with an asset management package there are several options to consider.  Elements Management Software offers the following features in a single, standalone application.

• Manage work orders, permits, licenses, inspections and other important data in a GIS-based environment using GIS data from any industry standard application including ESRI, MapInfo, Manifold, Autodesk, and others
• Maintain assets and critical infrastructure in a GIS-based environment without requiring third-party GIS licenses
• Tie work history and asset management data to any GIS asset
• Associate asset and work management data to non-customer related assets and accounts
• Take advantage of GIS-based asset and work management without incurring additional GIS expenses
• Visualize work history and asset locations on GIS maps
• Visualize geographic areas containing high concentrations of work orders and other data
• Effectively distribute capital improvement funds by quickly finding problem areas and assets with high failure rates
• Maximize existing GIS investments
• Use GIS data from any source or application to manage assets and infrastructure in a visual, geographical environment
• Powerful GIS Tools In a Standalone Application

Serving over 12,000 households, Bountiful Irrigation has been using Elements Management Software as their GIS-based work and asset management solution since the product was initially released in 2006.   Until recently, Bountiful has used the software primarily to create and view information including phone call logs, jobsite photos, service requests, and work orders in a GIS-based environment.

“We originally selected Elements because it saved us quite a bit of money up front on GIS licenses.  It also seemed to have a smaller learning curve and quicker implementation than some of the other packages we evaluated” says Wes White, General Manager.

The company recently expanded their Elements software to push all of their data, including GIS, over the web – giving field operators the ability to access GIS data and complete work orders in real-time while on the go.

“We save a lot of time and money using the software over the web,” continues White “everyone is always on the same page and it’s easy to see how our projects are coming along.”

Bountiful has also implemented novotX’s ‘Envision’ module for Elements, which uses the web to give field workers access to archived plat drawings, photos, and property assessment information dating back over 50 years.

“We’re a small district in terms of employees, so we’ve got to be efficient” says White “…the Elements software has been critical to our success over the past 4 years.”

About Bountiful Irrigation

Located just north of Salt Lake City, Bountiful Irrigation provides secondary water to over 12,000 residents throughout the city of Bountiful.  The district was formed in 1959 and has grown to be one of the most efficient pressurized irrigation systems in the state of Utah.

About novotX

Located near Salt Lake City, UT, novotX publishes GIS-centric asset and work management software for governments and utilities.   Elements Management Software, the flagship product of novotX, allows integration with any industry-standard GIS platform to provide a simplified, cost-effective approach to GIS-based asset and work management.

For more information contact:

Justin Gough

novotX, L.L.C.

801.682.1400

justin@novotx.com

www.novotx.com

Follow novotX on Twitter @ novotX_GIS

Elements harnesses the power of HTML in several areas – configuring record layouts, designing data input forms, setting up web submission forms, and rendering GIS maps.

Yes, that’s right – you can use HTML with your GIS map renderings in Elements.  What I love about HTML is you can pretty much do whatever you want with it; it’s simple to learn, and adds an incredible amount of flexibility to any application.

So here’s a quick map I threw together using basic HTML to render labels on a GIS map showing Work Order locations.  This map is nothing incredibly fancy or over-the-top… but it’s clean, simple, it displays the information I’m looking for, and it took about 2 minutes to put it together.

Basic GIS map showing Work Order locations; using HTML to render labels. (click to enlarge)

The neat thing about Elements is you can do the same thing I did here with Service Requests, Business Licenses, Permits, Inspections, and just about anything else you can think of.