Simplifying Plant Maintenance Business

Processes at Marin Municipal Water District

Brian Richards
Marin Municipal Water District

Aparna Desai
Synactive, Inc.

A collaboration of:

What Ill Cover

MMWD Intro and Background
How MMWD Got Started with GuiXT
Plant Maintenance Business Process Improvements
Linking to Other MMWD Enterprise Systems
Key Points to Take Home

Marin Municipal Water District

Slide 3

Marin Municipal Water District

Potable & Recycled Water Service

Oldest Municipal Water

District in California
(established in 1912)
185,000 population
147 Square miles
62,000 Customer
accounts

Marin Municipal Water District

Facilities

913 miles of pipe

4 Water Treatment Plants
127 Storage Tanks
95 Pump Stations
Watershed- 21,250 acres
with 7 Reservoirs

Staffing

240 Employees

History of SAP At MMWD

Original Implementation of 4.6C with GoLive date of December

2001
Began using GuiXT in June 2002
Technical Upgrade to ECC 6.0, Enhancement Pack 4, with
GoLive date of July 23, 2010. This is where we are today.

SAP
Two Industry Solutions

Public Sector (IS-PS)

Funds Management
Financial / Control
Human Resources
Payroll / CATS
Material Management
Plant Maintenance
Project Systems

Utilities (IS-U)
Customer Services (CIC)
Billing / Invoicing
Device Management
FI/CA Contract Accounts
Work Management

MMWD Technical Staffing

IT Manager
1 Basis / Database Administrator
1 SAP / Network Security
1 ABAP Programmer
2 PC & Network Support Generalists
2 GIS Staff
3 Business Analysts in Business Units
o
o

SAP support is primary focus

Positions filled in late 2003

MMWD IT Architecture
IT Strategic Goal: Provide
information to the user when they
MMWD
need it and where
they
need
it
Enterprise
Applications

SAP
ECC 6-Ehp4
GuiXT

History of MMWD Work Orders and GuiXT

Background
o
o
o
o

Limited IT resources and SAP is not their only responsibility.

Desire to remain a vanilla implementation with minimal customization.
Usual Resource Constraints ($ / Time / Training)
O & M Staff with generally low level of computer skills

The Usual New System Problems

o
o
o
o

Unfamiliar Way to do Familiar Things

SAP Terminology and Business Processes
Competing Priorities (get the leak fixed!)
Training / Insufficient Experience with SAP

Enter GuiXT

Reasons for GuiXT Development

Improve ease-of-use over standard SAP.
No changes required to underlying SAP code.
Acquire familiarity with GuiXT tools and develop our internal
support capability.

Plant Maintenance Business Processes

Improved Using GuiXT

Work Orders, Notifications

Equipment Lookup and Display
Customer Service Searches
Transaction Navigation
Equipment & Functional Location Creation
Measurement Document Creation

MMWD Work Order Users

Facilities & Watershed Division
System Maintenance
o Facilities Maintenance
o Auto Shop
o Watershed Management
o

Environmental & Engineering Services Division

Subdivision and New Services Dept.
o Water Systems Operations
o

Operations (aka Dispatch)

Mechanical & Electrical Shop

Finance Division
o

Slide 13

Meter Operations

These Work
Orders are
primarily set
up to settle to
Cost Centers.

Initial Problems with Standard Work Order Process

Why was this process originally modified?
Lack of understanding how Work Orders affect FI
Incomplete / Inconsistent financial information in the Work Order
o User Issues with SAP terminology
o
o

Issues with failed Work Orders occurred in Accounting

o

Created problems in Accounting when we tried to transfer costs or run

settlements at the end of the month.

Solution Use GuiXT to develop Scripts for IW31 and IW32

Steps to create Work Order in native SAP

Slide 15

Steps to create Work Order in native SAP

Slide 16

Steps to create Work Order in native SAP

Slide 17

Steps to create Work Order in native SAP

Slide 18

Steps to create Work Order in native SAP

Slide 19

Steps to create Work Order in native SAP

At this point the work
order is complete and
ready to be saved.

Slide 20

Steps to create Work Order in native SAP

Slide 21

Steps to create Work Order in native SAP

Slide 22

Steps to create Work Order in native SAP

Slide 23

Initial Scripting Effort

Recorded the complete set of steps to properly create a work

order, including all financial settings.

Modify the recorded script to handle different parameters such as
Order Type, Work Centers, standardized Operations, etc.
Develop a Pushbutton Screen to allow any user to create a work
order using the script to achieve the correct financial settings.
Add buttons inside IW31 and IW32 for performing Release / Save
/ Print / No Print functions.

Work Order Creation for Maintenance Groups

Slide 25

Work Order Creation for Maintenance Groups

Slide 26

Savings Achieved using GuiXT

Standard
SAP
Clicks

42

34

Keystrokes

59

15

44

Screens

11

2:20

0:22

1:58

Elapsed Time
Slide 27

With GuiXT Savings

Work Order Savings Using GuiXT

Manually Created Work Orders per Month = 624
Average Time Savings per work order = 1:58
Average Time Savings per month = 20.45 hours
Average Time Savings per year = 245 hours
What is harder to quantify is the time saved by
needingProblems
fewer investigations
into =work
order
Fewer
in Settlement
Better
problems.
Relationship with Accounting

Work Order Creation for Other Departments

Leverage existing improvements and offer department-specific

data entry screens to other groups.

Assist our Engineering users who create Work Orders both to
Projects/WBS Elements as well as Cost Centers.
Support a Cost Tracking initiative in Watershed Management
group by integrating the selection of Standardized Task Lists to
define a common set of Work Order Operations for labor charges.

MMWD Work Order Users

Facilities & Watershed Division
System Maintenance
o Facilities Maintenance
o Auto Shop
o Watershed Management
o

Environmental & Engineering Services Division

These Work
Orders are
primarily set up
to settle to
various WBS
Elements.

Subdivision and New Services Dept.

o Water Systems Operations
o

Operations (aka Dispatch)

Mechanical & Electrical Shop

Finance Division
o

Slide 30

Meter Operations

These Work Orders are

primarily set up to settle
to the Meter Operations
Cost Center.

Work Order Creation for Engineering Users

Slide 31

Task List Assignment for Watershed Management

Slide 32

Task List Assignment for Watershed Management

Slide 33

New Enhancement Efforts for System

Maintenance Users
Address User Frustrations with existing MMWD Work Order
business processes
o

Increasing time spent on paperwork before and after field work

Pent up demand for additional functionality

o

Cant SAP do this(fill in your favorite desired process improvement)for

me?

Desire to reduce time spent on redundant data entry

o

Why am I typing the Work Order number AGAIN?!

Difficulty in finding useful information about the object to be

worked on (Service / Valve / Pipe / Hydrant, etc)

Other Factors at Work

Support Staff Position transferred out
o
o

Formerly performed most SAP steps to update and close work orders
Shifts more SAP work order steps to Crew Leaders

New tech-friendly manager of System Maintenance

o
o
o
o

Actually Uses SAP

Desire to get more out of SAP Plant Maintenance
Belief in Users Ability to Learn
Willingness to do hands-on training, lead by example

The importance of this last factor cannot be over

emphasized in introducing change.

Our Approach
Focus business process improvement efforts around the Work
Order
o

Keep the user in the Work Order context dont send them off to other
transactions unnecessarily

Reduce physical paperwork by moving to electronic forms linked

to the Work Order

Integrate with GIS and Document Management where feasible to
provide information about where the crews will be working
Incrementally add functionality and ease-of-use improvements

Initial Steps Taken in SAP

Define Crew Leaders and other work order users as Planner Groups

to allow assignment of work orders.

Use GuiXT to develop a push button screen for the IW38 Work Order
retrieval screen. This allows the Crew Leaders and others to pull up
their own work orders.

Steps Taken in SAP

Main Work Centers

Planner Groups for Orders

Address User Frustrations

CAT2 Time Entry Confusion and Redundancy
Paperwork - Additional paper forms used at MMWD
o

Manual paperwork. Lots of redundant data entry.

Navigating the Work Order system in general

o
o
o

How do I find what I need?

What do various fields mean?
What transaction codes?

Addressing CAT2 Time Entry

Use GuiXT scripting to:
o
o
o
o
o

Provide streamlined entry form, prepopulated with useful defaults

Process the users data from the Work Order into CAT2
Provide reasonable error handling for uncommon, but possible situations
Return success or failure messages to the user
Provide an inquiry tool to verify the time entry was processed

Time Entry from the Work Order

Slide 41

Time Entry from the Work Order

Clicking Step 2 initiates a

second session, and starts
the CAT2 transaction. Each
employee line is processed
individually and a result
message is returned. The
actual CAT2 processing is
hidden from the user.

Slide 42

Time Entry from the Work Order

Slide 43

Paperwork Forms associated with Work

Orders
Multiple types of forms and reports with different uses
o

Leak Reports, Street Opening Notices, Encroachment Permits, New Meter

Sets, New Service Turn Ons

Initial Efforts with MS Word and data merge were problematic

Use Notification attached to Work Order to create electronic
forms
o

Use the Classification System to create data tables to store relevant data
in each Notification Item.
Use GuiXT to create the data entry forms and manage the retrieval and
save process of the Notification Item data.

Form Data Stored as Notification Item

Use GuiXT to manage the Create /
Retrieve / Update process for the
Notification and individual Items,
which store the form data.
Work Order

Use GuiXT to display

the appropriate Data
Entry Form, perform
data validation, etc.

Notification

Meter Change
Data Entry
Form

Street Opening
Data Entry
Form

Leak Report
Data Entry
Form
Item 1
Text: Leak Report
Class: ClassName

The SAP Classification System is used

to create data tables to hold the data
values for each type of work order form.

Slide 45

The Notification specifics

are generally unknown by
the Work Order users.

Class: LRO
Form Data Field 1
Form Data Field 2
Form Data Field 3

Form Data Field n

Item 2
Text: Street Open
Class: STO
Class: STO
Form Data Field 1
Form Data Field 2
Form Data Field 3

Form Data Field n

Item 3
Text: MeterChange
Class: METER
Class: METER
Form Data Field 1
Form Data Field 2
Form Data Field 3

Form Data Field n

Paperwork Forms associated with Work

Orders
GuiXT allows us to default in data from work order and technical

objects (reduce duplicate data entry) including Classification data.

Encourage/enforce data consistency between forms.
As business needs evolved over time, additional data fields can
be added to the Classification table and the data entry screen.
GuiXT allows better data entry screens, taking advantage of the
usual form controls (calendar, checkboxes, radio buttons, drop
down lists).
Render printable images of the forms using HTML in a browser
window or by using Adobe Forms.

Work Order Forms

Leak Report

Street Opening Notice

Work Order

Encroachment
Permit
New Service
Turn On

Meter Change

Slide 47

Leak Report Data Entry Process

Slide 48

Forms Selection

Leak Report Form

Navigating the Work Order Finding Information

How do I find what I need?
o
o

Understanding how SAP uses Equipment and Functional Locations

How does this map to MMWD-centric naming and numbering schemes?

Getting supporting documents for field work

o

Sketches and Record Drawings

Integration/touchpoints with other Enterprise Systems (GIS &

Document Management)

Finding the Equipment

Slide 52

Finding the Equipment

Search using
IH08
(search optionEquipment by
Equipment List)

Slide 53

Finding the Equipment

Slide 54

Finding the Equipment (example)

Slide 55

Finding the Equipment (example)

Slide 56

Finding the Equipment (example)

Slide 57

Using GuiXT to Enable Hyperlinks to GIS and

Document Management from the Work Order

Thanks to our
GIS Staff who
added the GIS
Web server
capability.

Slide 58

Using GuiXT to Enable Hyperlinks to GIS and

Document Management from the Work Order

This URL
Hyperlink
function is built
in to our
Document
Management
System.

Slide 59

Extend This Functionality to Technical Objects

Same scripting code used to enable hyperlinks in the Equipment
and Functional Location records.

Additional Work Order Functionality enabled with

GuiXT Scripts
Enable Creation of Pre-composed Emails
o

Integrate Work Order and Technical Object Details into a pre-composed,

pre-addressed email
Crew Leader can add comments as needed before sending

Single Button Activation of User Statuses

Review Materials Charged to the Work Order
Convert Work Order to Settle to a Project (WBS Element)
Record Vehicle Time (and charge through KB21N if appropriate)

Additional Work Order Functionality

Slide 62

Enable Creation of Pre-composed Emails

Work Orders - Where We Are Today

GuiXT provides substantial improvement over native SAP.
Trainingeasier to introduce new users to work orders with

GuiXT hiding some of SAPs sharp edges and simplifying the

number of steps needed.
Ongoing GuiXT development as needs arise.

Slide 64

GuiXT Development At MMWD

In House development

Work Order Business Process

Simplified Equipment Lookups
Enhanced Equipment Displays
Customer Service Searches
Transaction Navigation

Outsourced to Synactive Inc. consultants

Corrosion Control Application to achieve similar functionality in SAP.
Replaced legacy application soon after SAP Go Live.
Performs on-the-fly creation of Functional Locations, Equipments, Measuring
Points and Measurement Documents.
Over 10 years of stable, functioning code.

Slide 65

Key Points to Take Home

Start Simple and Grow From There

Mistakes happen - how you handle them
makes a difference
Support, Support, Support

Slide 66

Key Points to Take Home

Start Simple and Grow From There
o
o

o
o

Look for the easy wins, the low hanging fruit.

Smoothing out or simplifying high volume transactions
provides quicker payback.
Expand use of GuiXT as opportunities arise.
Dont overlook GuiXT when thinking of linking to other
systems.

Key Points to Take Home

Mistakes happen - how you handle them makes a
difference
o

Include Reasonable Error Handling To Err is human, to

really screw things up you need a computer
Testing, Testing, Testing Users will always find an untested
possibilityonce the system is live.
Defensive Programming Techniques Try not to let an
unanticipated error ruin your day.

Key Points to Take Home

Support, Support, Support
o

User Support

Developer Support

Clear Requirements, Testing, Error Reporting, Error Correction

Feedback Loop
Synactive Support Including Documentation, Tips & Tricks
GuiXT Yahoo Group -

Professional Support

Synactive Consulting Assistance

Benefits Realized by MMWD

Quick and cost-effective way to modify user-interface
Automated data-entry, reduce redundant data entry and

fewer data entry errors

Less Actual Paper Pushed
Reduce end-user training time
Enhanced user satisfaction fewer complaints, less time
spent in correcting errors
Save Time and Money

Client Process Reengineering

Without Disrupting Core SAP Processes
Aparna Desai
Synactive, Inc.

A collaboration of:

Agenda
The Basic SAP End User Opportunity
The Synactive Solution Suite
Q&A

The challenges faced with traditional SAP use

Hasso Plattner at 2013 Sapphire

And a multitude of SAP solutions

Internally developed or acquired solutions

Silod solutions for different interfaces
Browser-based alternatives with latency issues

All solve a single problem but not the overriding issue

What if you could go from this

25 Screens with less than 4 input fields per screen

To this..
One Screen with all fields plus

Intuitive Screen Layout

One button click to access various

transactions

Pushbuttons and radio buttons for

repetitive search criteria

Allows data to be entered to screens that

are not showing

That also works with your mobile device

One development effort, multiple touchpoints

Agenda
How GuiXT works?
How do you create a Solution?
Where are the scripts stored?

How Does GuiXT Work?

1) User makes a
request via SAPGUI
(e.g. VA01)
2) SAP responds with
VA01 screen
3) GuiXT screen
modifications are
applied and SAPGUI
draws new screen for
VA01

SAPGUI
3
Desktop (PC)

SAP ERP

GuiXT Developer Toolkit used to generate GuiXT screens

The Synactive Developer Suite

Designer

Workbench

Designer Development Platform

Workbench Development Platform

Excel
template

Desktop
template

PDF
template

Offline
template

Access
template

Desktop

Excel

PDF

Windows
CE/Offline

HTML

Generated Scripts

Generated Scripts

Network, SAPWR, Local

Network, SAPWR, Local

One Suite Two Components

Designer
The Synactive Tool for Creating the Consolidated View

DesignerTrial.exe

2013 Synactive, Inc.

WYSIWYG Tool
Screen changes without
writing any code
Start with any SAP
transaction
Render to desktop or mobile
touch points
Enables personalized
applications based on roles
and functions
Automatic script generation

Workbench
The Synactive Tool for process flow collection

Record And Deploy

To All Touch Points

Workbench_Access.exe

Where are the Scripts stored?

Options for Script Storage:
o SAP Web Repository (SMW0) (Recommended)
(Integrated with SAP; uses SAP transport
mechanism)
o Network Server/File Share
o FTP/HTTP Server
o Local Machine (Developers)

With Synactive, you

GuiXT
Technology

Record/
Design

Automate/
Extend

Manage

start with existing complex SAP transactions and simplify them to suit
your needs!
record your business process flow once and redeploy to a more intuitive
interface!
extend your new screens and process customizations to any number of
touch points and devices
centrally manage all deployments

Extending Reengineered SAP Client Use To

Tablets and Phones

Browsers and Portals

Barcode/RFID Scanners

PDF/Excel Front-Ends

Liquid UI Platform
Connects directly to SAP through patented connectivity technology
Local
SAPGUI

Appl
Database
Connector

Web
Browser

Central
SAPGUI

Blackberry

Liquid UI
Platform

Android

PDF

Barcode/R
FID

iOS
Excel

Offline

Non-Disruptive Business Solution

Lean, Agile Development

Built on proven GuiXT technology

Consolidates business related

transactions, fields and tabs

Start from SAP, Record Once and

Deploy everywhere

No Java, ABAP programming; No 3rd

party application server required

Simple scripting to empower a

responsive IT Team

Extends your SAP across both desktop

and mobile devices

GuiXT Solutions Case Study Results

A white paper study for virtually all key SAP/Synactive functions

An ROI Worth Calculating

A simple way to measure the cost/investment

Go to Guixt.com
Enter your key use

parameters
o Time of transaction
o Number of transactions
o Number of users
o Employee costs
The system will calculate
your return

In Good Company!
Over 1000 Customers Across Multiple Industries

Some Of Our Utilities Customers

Slide 91

Thank You!!!
For more information about
Synactives GuiXT Solutions:
www.guixt.com
rfi@guixt.com
Tel: 650.341.3310

Questions???
Thank you for this opportunity to show
what MMWD has done.

Brian Richards
Marin Municipal Water District
brichards@marinwater.org

Aparna Desai
Synactive, Inc.
aparna@guixt.com

A collaboration of: