Electricity, always taking the path of least resistance, is efficiency in its simplest form. East Central Energy, as with many electric cooperatives, strives for the efficiency of the very product they provide. The organization had a bright idea to implement a GPS-based fleet management system to improve efficiency by optimizing fleet dispatching with the limited resources available to them across the 8,000 miles of power lines they service.

East Central Energy is a member-owned electric cooperative, formed in 1936, that currently provides electric service to more than 58,000 homes, farms, and businesses in east central Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin. With a mission to safely provide reliable service, East Central Energy, headquartered in Braham, Minnesota, has equipped over 75 vehicles with GPS Insight to further its values of accountability, innovation, integrity, and its commitment to the community.

Location, location, location
One of the most basic challenges for any organization, regardless of whether or not they are looking to deploy a GPS fleet management solution, is to know exactly where resources are located and East Central Energy was not immune to this challenge. Phil Beaupre, System Control Manager at East Central Energy, says, “We serve about 8,000 miles of [power] line which feeds out to about 58,000 customers. So we have a pretty big footprint. But comparatively our fleet isn’t quite as large as it could be and we want to use our resources as best we can.” With 14 counties to serve, and a limited fleet size for the coverage area, East Central Energy was very interested in resource optimization, and knowing where their vehicles are located at all times would provide them with the intelligence needed to best manage their fleet.

Outside of efficiency and fleet optimization, a new challenge was discovered when a distress call came into the dispatcher from an unseasoned apprentice. The apprentice did not know where he was, making an emergency dispatch situation extremely difficult. With this clear safety issue, an immediate need for a GPS-based fleet management system was identified. To meet its own heavy safety standards, East Central Energy needed a location system in place to prevent similar scenarios in the future.

Another challenge East Central Energy identified, and wanted their GPS vehicle tracking system to address, was their outage response time. What made this particular challenge a bit tricky is that it would require an integration of GPS data with a pre-existing system. East Central Energy uses a mapping system called MapWise by NISC to visualize their outage data and wanted their GPS partner to be able to populate this outage management system with the locations of nearby crews. Rather than have a dedicated response crew that was dispatched from a central location, East Central Energy wanted to improve outage response time by being able to identify the closest crews in the field to the source of an outage and dispatch them to that location.

Solving the Challenge of Efficiency and Optimization
East Central Energy understood the value of vehicle location but found much more after implementing the GPS solution. While it took many years to decide on a vendor and an appropriate rollout plan for their fleet, East Central Energy did their due diligence and felt that the ease of installation and implementation provided by the partner company was the deciding factor. Even though the decision and implementation were not a part of an overnight process, the goal was met and dispatchers at East Central Energy are now provided with a top-down view of where their vehicles are at any given point, effectively shrinking their 5,000 square mile service area.

The fleet management system provides a consistent experience comparable to familiar internet mapping tools and this was a very attractive feature for East Central Energy. Dispatchers could now identify technicians that are closest to an outage and dispatch them from there rather than from a regional service center that is much further away, greatly improving efficiency. In the same way that electricity finds the path of least resistance, East Central Energy applied the concept to dispatching service vehicles from a closer location rather than a service center that may be further away.

These efficiency improvements resulted in an average monthly decrease of miles driven by the entire fleet to the order of: 14,000 miles, or $3,300 according to AAA’s most recent driving costs report. That’s a $40,000 annual savings.

With East Central Energy’s heavy emphasis on safety standards, they are now able to best respond to emergency scenarios. Distress calls can be processed more effectively and scenarios in which technicians or apprentices who are unaware of their location can be addressed with precision. Gone are the days when an employee reports a stranded vehicle or an on-site injury and the dispatching team is left to wonder where exactly they are located. Dispatchers use the same tool to identify the closest vehicles –vehicles equipped to best handle the emergencies – rather than relying on a central service station.

With better insight into driver behavior, East Central Energy is also able to proactively improve driving habits. The new system provides reports and alerts for speeding, idling, unauthorized vehicle usage and many other driver behavior metrics. East Central Energy is equipped with tools that allow them to improve their driver efficiency and proactively review areas of concern. One specific tool East Central Energy gets plenty of use from is the vehicle history which allows them to replay a vehicle’s tracks – often referred to as a breadcrumb trail – ensuring drivers are taking efficient routes to work sites.

Another challenge to East Central Energy’s safety standards, and one often overlooked by many other organizations that operate a fleet, is vehicle maintenance. The new system provides a great way to track vehicle maintenance, keeping operations running smoothly and improving safety while reducing associated costs. “We have 5 shops that house equipment and vehicles. Before we head on the road to our districts we can see where the trucks are, if they are close, or at the shop. This way we can schedule work in advance and plan our day efficiently,” says Holly Giffrow-Bos, Fleet Supervisor at East Central Energy. Efficiency is key and ensuring all vehicles are on the road, operating as they should, will maintain and improve desired efficiency.

The flexibility afforded by the management system to integrate valuable data across nearly any platform made it a very intuitive and simple process to connect East Central Energy’s MapWise data with vehicle location data. By leveraging the robust set of application programming interfaces, or API’s, provided by GPS Insight, MapWise is able to seamlessly connect and speak with GPS Insight to provide East Central Energy with the information they require for efficient operations. This added functionality allows East Central Energy to view more data in one place to make better sense of their operations and how best to address their challenges.

East Central Energy has improved efficiency and safety though a GPSbased fleet management tool. Top-down views of overall fleet location make large service areas easier to manage. The ability to manage a limited amount of resources to cover an increased service area, while also ensuring the safety of technicians and the community, is ultimately what lead East Central Energy to implement the system provided by GPS Insight. It’s safe to say their bright idea is paying off.
 

About the Author

Robert Dennis is an accomplished marketing leader with over 10 years of experience working with emerging technologies to ensure customer satisfaction. At GPS Insight Robert has a vested interest in customer success and works closely with customer data to continually improve the user experience. Hailing from the island of Puerto Rico, Robert now calls Chandler, Arizona his home.