Great River Energy Saves Over 40 Hours Per Month Per Tech With Syclo's Solution

Challenge:
Great River Energy provides wholesale electric services to 28 cooperatives who distribute electricity to 600,000 homes, businesses and farms in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The company knew its paper-based workflow system had become insufficient for managing its $1.7 billion in assets and 4,500 miles of transmission line. Data were chronically dated and inaccurate, and workers had to cut short their field time to handle data entry. Great River sought a solution to improve asset maintenance and management while extending its equipment life.

Solution:
After thorough research and cost analysis, Great River decided to implement Syclo's mobile work management technology. Deployment was easy with Syclo's preintegrated, configurable solution that works with an enterprise asset management (EAM) application, which Great River was already using. With the combined technology, Great River substation managers were able to streamline data flow and eliminate reliance on paper forms, boosting productivity.

Headquartered in Elk River, Minn., Great River Energy is the second largest electric utility in Minnesota, based on generating capacity, and the fourth largest generation and transmission (G&T) cooperative in the U.S. in terms of assets. The company's 2,500-megawatt generation system comprises an effective mix of base-load and peaking power plants. Effective data flow between the central office and the field is crucial because technicians must inspect and maintain more than 185 transmission and switching substations across a staggering 800-square-mile service area.