AWWA IMTECH57861

A large manufacturing facility has developed a set of information systems to characterize and track waste discharges. One of the systems focuses on the assets in the industrial sewer (IS) system. A spatial decision support system (SDSS) was developed to record and track information about all waste discharged through the IS, and about the IS assets themselves. The company's ability to discharge waste is dependent upon information obtained during the most recent inspection of the IS structures that the waste will flow through. Accurate and up to date inspection data is critical to the functionality of the SDSS for regulatory reporting and internal decision making about capital improvements. Because technology and business rules have changed significantly since the systems were originally built, the systems are in the process of being redesigned into a single integrated system with a common database platform. Business modeling is a key component of the system redesign. There are a number of complex rules guiding the management of IS assets. To organize business modeling efforts, 7 general business processes have been identified. These include: Inspection Data Logging; Inspection Planning and Scheduling; Mapping and Spatial Queries; Reporting; Sewer Approval Process; Data Maintenance; and, Prioritization of Assets. This paper presents the methodology used to model these business processes and a case study of the Inspection Data Logging (IDL) business model, and its use in system design and development. The Inspection Data Logging process includes a number of interesting factors such as the need to validate data prior to storage in the database, and the need to categorize the IS assets to track progress with the facility's long term release prevention program.