Applications: An intelligent, easy-to-use drawing tool in which all the features selected in the design phase are automatically saved in the GIS immediately. Customer benefits: • Improved bottom line • Better data quality • Better customer service • Greater organisational knowledge about the projects • Minimize the risks of errors

1. Smart Grid Solutions
DONG Energy
Improving the bottom line and getting better data quality
PROJECT AT A GLANCE
Project Type
Operational utility solutions
Location
Denmark
Number of Sites
More than 6,000
Applications
An intelligent, easy-to-use drawing tool in
which all the features selected in the design
phase are automatically saved in the GIS
immediately
DONG Energy—a large energy company headquartered in Denmark—
Software Implemented obtains, produces, distributes, deals and sells energy and associated
Designer Express products in northern Europe.
CUSTOMER BENEFITS DONG Energy specializes in the design and documentation of new electrical
facilities, developing more than 6,000 sites annually. Clients include entities
• Improved bottom line
with new buildings in a new location that previously did not have access to
• Better data quality electricity, factories in need of more power, maintenance on old projects or in
• Better customer service the case where existing wiring is exchanged with cables.
• Greater organisational knowledge about the
projects Throughout its projects, the project manager must first draw the first sketch
of cabling, electrical substations and transformer station when a plant is
• Minimize the risks of errors
projected.
Challenges
Redrawing entries and a lack of overview
The time spent on making the sketch was one of DONG Energy’s
challenges. Since a sketch can be changed during the construction
process—and sometimes discarded because a project is cancelled—it is a
waste of resources if too much time is devoted to the sketch.
Make the most of your energy SM

2. Smart Grid Solutions DONG Energy
“...now all projects are available to everyone in the organization because
they are in the GIS database from the beginning — and that is a great
advantage.”
Max Knudsen, GIS specialist
DONG Energy used a tool developed in ArcView In addition, the sketch is visible to everyone
which made it possible to draw cables and in the organization throughout the process—
substations. However, it was not an intelligent giving everyone an excellent overview of what
tool; when the sketch was entered into the is happening and an up-to-date status of the
Geographic Information System (GIS) to give project.
all the elements a correct geographic location,
everything had to be redrawn from scratch. After discovering Designer Express at the Esri
Nor was it possible — in a simple way — to International User Conference, Max Knudsen he
get a good overview of the materials used in started building a business case to determine
connection with the project. the potential savings by implementing Designer
Express. A pilot study was conducted on a full
Another challenge was the length of time from project and timing was tracked for all of the work
when a plant was built until it appeared in DONG processes.
Energy’s GIS. Once the sketch is approved, the
plant is established and clients can begin to get Knudsen explained: “I have examined how long
connected. But at this point, it is still only the it takes the different employees to do each work
project manager that knows what is established. task in a project process. How much of the day
Until the drawings from surveyors that measures do they use to draw? How much time is spent on
the cables and the documentation department entering data? It was a very detailed mapping of
has finished drawing the project into the GIS, it all the work flows where I measured it minute by
is not visible to others in the organization. This minute. First, we did it the old way. Then we did
timeline usually takes 5-6 weeks. exactly the same thing, this time using Designer
Express — and then we compared the numbers.”
”We have an SAP system where we register the
customer connections. But a new electrical plan Yearly savings of 2 million DKK
doesn’t exist in the SAP before it is registered The analysis showed that by using Designer
in the GIS because the GIS feeds the SAP,” Express in the design phase there was a yearly
explained GIS specialist Max Knudsen. “When savings of 60 percent in the time it takes to draw
a customer is connected to a newly established in a project — that equals almost two million DKK
substation, a paper note about it is placed in the a year (more than $350,000 USD). DONG energy
drawer and a couple of weeks later we go into the expects these savings to be consistent going
system to see if the substation has been entered. forward.
If it has, we pull out all the paper notes and enter
them in and thereby the SAP system is up to date. The Bottom Line
That didn’t work in a satisfactory way.” Improved bottom line and better data quality
With Designer Express technology, data is saved
Solution in the GIS as the project manager draws the
Schneider Electric’s Designer Express is an first sketch. Furthermore, the day the plan is
intelligent, easy-to-use drawing tool in which approved, established and ready to be put into
all the features selected in the design phase operation, the project manager can transfer all
are automatically saved in the GIS immediately. features directly to the GIS with one click.

3. Smart Grid Solutions DONG Energy
”All features are transferred directly and
automatically. What’s more, if I have drawn in a “The biggest benefit from Designer
cable, the system knows that there should be an Express is that we can re-use what
electrical splice closure in each end of the cable we have drawn and entered in the
in order for it to be connected — so it finalizes it design phase.”
for me,” Knudsen said. Max Knudsen, GIS specialist
The greatest savings are in the drawing phase.
With other technologies, the process would have
to start from scratch and take about a week to
draw in a whole project. The time studies show
that a project now can be drawn in using 40
percent of the time it took before if the project
manager uses Designer Express. Typing in data
is another place where great savings can be
made. It takes half the time it did before — saving
DONG Energy 50 percent.
Other benefits include better data quality, better
customer service and greater organisational
knowledge about the projects. ”If anyone is
digging in the ground, they contact us to hear
if we have cables there. Before, we could only
show them the cables that were already in
operation – now all projects are available to
everyone in the organization because they are in
the GIS database from the beginning — and that
is a great advantage,” said Knudsen.
Lower risk of data entry errors
Another benefit is minimizing the risks of errors
and misunderstandings when data is being
handed over from one person to another.
Before Designer Express, all the data about a
project was entered into an Access database and
from there it was printed out and entered into the
GIS database when the project was finalized. But
errors and mistakes were commonplace – now,
DONG Energy expects that data quality
will improve.
”The biggest benefit from Designer Express is
that we can re-use what we have drawn and
entered in the design phase. This is where we
save the most time and will get the biggest win
financially,” Knudsen concluded.

4. ©2012 Schneider Electric. All rights reserved.
Schneider Electric Industries SAS Energía solar, 1 (Palmas Altas), 41014 Seville (Spain) Telephone: 34-91-714-70-02 Fax: 34-954-926-424
www.schneider-electric.com
June 2012