How Veolia tamed the data beast

These days, nobody complains about not having enough data to make the right asset management and maintenance decisions. If anything, the amount of available information can be overwhelming, given the onset of the Internet of Things (IoT)—which allows everything from complex equipment to everyday objects embedded with intelligent technology to talk to each other, and to us. Smart facilities, equipment, and processes are churning out enormous amounts of data. Now the challenge is to figure out how to efficiently access, mine, analyze, and share the right data.

Veolia ANZ has tamed the information beast by deploying Infor EAM, with mobility playing a key role. The company, a leading provider of environmental solutions across water and wastewater services, industrial cleaning, waste management and resource recovery, and energy services, operates 68 water and wastewater treatment plants in Australia and New Zealand. Veolia works with local authorities, industrial, and commercial clients to design, build, own, operate, and maintain their unique assets.

“For our customers, we manage lots and lots of infrastructure,” says Richard Mueller, Executive General Manager Technical & Innovation. Veolia takes responsibility for the maintenance, repair, and replacement of the assets. “We have over $10B of assets that we look after in Australia and New Zealand. We have an asset management system based on the Infor EAM platform, which is a really critical piece of our toolset that we use to manage those assets.”

Better decisions based on the right data

The amount of data generated by and about all those assets is vast, and Veolia has significantly improved data capture and data quality with EAM. For example, with the Gold Coast Desalination Plant, Veolia knows–at the touch of a button–if it is undertaking the right amount of preventive maintenance or if operational changes are required. Increased data visibility and integrity enable the company to achieve contractual obligations and regulatory compliance much easier than before.

Ease of integration with other systems has also been a key factor. When Veolia introduced its new SAP Financials system, the integration with Infor EAM was seamless. Today, the company has 11 interfaces between the two systems—essentially allowing two best-of-breed systems to operate as one. Veolia users can perform procurement tasks directly from Infor EAM without having to access SAP.

But integration is not just internal. Third-party integration with customers’ systems has been invaluable, too. Veolia now can obtain data from its customers and transfer it back again. It can also add value by analyzing the data and providing timely reports. When the company began managing the assets of 25 water treatment plants recently, it was able to transfer the data from its customers’ systems into Infor EAM and begin work within two months–a company record.

The company’s field technicians can access the asset management system with their mobile devices anyplace, anytime. They get the functionality they need to capture and manage information from the job site. As a result, their records are more accurate and timely, and assets are managed more efficiently since technicians can record information as they work and make decisions on the fly.

“We’ve been very happy with how the mobility solution has allowed us to manage work with distributed crews,” says Zach Phillipps, Head of Asset Management. “Its flexibility has given us the ability to deliver requirements at short notice and improve our overall processes.”

Watch the video to learn more about Veolia’s asset management success.