AmeriGas, with thousands of locations in more than 28 states, is the nation’s largest provider of propane gas providing services such as:
- AutoGas – powering fleets of vehicles with propane autogas
- Building with Propane – propane systems that power entire commercial and residential developments
- Temporary Heating – propane heaters for efficient and powerful warmth
AmeriGas works directly with many state 811 contact centers to locate utilities before construction occurs to prevent damage and keep communities safe. The company relies upon software to manage the extensive amount of locate utilities requests through a ticket submission process in collaboration with these state 811 contact centers. It’s imperative that they abide by the rules and regulations mandated for locate requests in the territories they serve.
Challenge
AmeriGas is a member of the 811 centers on the west coast – Underground Service Alert of Northern California (USAN) and Underground Service Alert of Southern California also known as DigAlert (USAS) servicing all of California and Nevada. Due to the overlap between the service area of the 811 centers, AmeriGas had difficulty producing streamlined reports and data across their locations.
Due to these challenges, the team at AmeriGas started looking for one system to manage the extensive amount of multi-state locates that would allow them to abide by the regulatory requirements and guidelines set forth by federal and state governing bodies. Integration with the 811 centers of their highest volume of locates would make it easy for their internal operations. It was also necessary that the new system provide seamless management of all their tickets in one united software platform across all locations for their more than 100 locators that use the system daily. Additionally, end of day reporting is key to deliver the oversight needed to manage the large geographical span of locations.
“An important consideration is that I did not have the time or internal resources to deploy a large-scale software development project that would require extensive IT involvement and employee training,” said Bill Runyans, Pipeline Manager, AmeriGas Propane. “I needed a locate management system in which I could be as hands off as possible during the transition from the old to the new system while completely confident that nothing would be missed in the process.”
Solution
AmeriGas chose Norfield’s LOCATOR LOGiX as their new software platform. As a web-based locate management system designed specifically for utilities and utility locators to manage their utility line locate requests sent by an 811 center, the system offers the ease of use and data preservation that they were looking for and more. The AmeriGas team subscribed to the Norfield locate management software LOCATOR LOGiX because their locators used Norfield’s previous system called WebTMS without any downtime and they were used to system. WebTMS was reliable and consistent with built-in automated regulatory rules for each state served.
“The team at Norfield did all the heavy lifting. They worked directly with the 811 centers to migrate our current and archived data as well as hold training sessions for our 100 plus locators,” continued Bill. “Frankly the entire experience was like a well-oiled machine from beginning to end. I responded to two emails with approval on the transition plan and timing, then we were up and running. The Norfield team delivered on every commitment that was communicated in the onboarding and rollout process.”
LOCATOR LOGiX provides seamless integration with the 811 contact centers so AmeriGas can focus on streamlining their operations across multiple states. LOCATOR LOGiX helped AmeriGas to modernize their location procedures with state-of-the-art intelligence, mapping, and reporting.
Core Features of LOCATOR LOGiX:
- Response and locator assignments
- Predictive analytics for risk assessment
- Accurate GIS mapping
- Robust reporting
- Advanced search functionality
- Electronic Positive Response (EPR)
“Due to the straight-forward design and ease of use of the LOCATOR LOGiX software, our locators attended one training session and they were off and running. I have received nothing but praise from my team on how easy the system is to understand and use,” said Bill Runyans. “Another key benefit is that when there is a change of personnel, there is a full support team at Norfield if help is needed so the process is smooth and quick.”
Result
AmeriGas now has a technology partner in the damage prevention industry that provides them with the ability to easily expand the system into other states to provide further operational efficiencies.
“We are seeing immediate cost savings from the start, but more importantly, our time to respond to any incident with Norfield’s modern technology and mapping tools has been greatly enhanced,” said Bill. “Overall, I’m very pleased with LOCATOR LOGiX and the team at Norfield. I’ve had a great experience – they lived up to my expectations and then some.”
