Note from the Editor

Welcome! In our first quarter 2010 newsletter, we proudly present MORE new features and functionality in Version 8. We tell you "What's New", introduce you to another of our staff, and highlight another of our awesome CMS customers! Read on...

CitiTech is expanding its focus from Cities, Towns, and Counties into the world of D.O.T.s! As you'll see in the User Spotlight/Case Study section, Mississippi D.O.T. is putting CMS into production.

Of course, expanding our horizons doesn't mean we won't continue to provide the same great support to all our users, big and small! We care about our customers. Got a question, comment, or suggestion? Call or email! Our tech support personnel can help!

We here at CitiTech Systems would love to hear what our users think of Version 8. What's your favorite feature? What can we do to improve Version 8? What new features or functionality would you like to see added in the future?

Please continue to let us know what YOU think of our newsletter, and to suggest articles, give us feedback on your (our) software, or volunteer for our User Spotlight!

Version 8 Features & Functionality

Handheld Devices Provide True Mobility! Handhelds can allow users to bring existing work orders "into the field" with them - but that's just the beginning!

Handhelds can capture work at the time it's done, ensuring greater accuracy AND saving supervisors the double work of entering crew's time, equipment usage, and material usage on timesheets and entering the same information into CMS on a PC. Auto-synchronization of data when reconnected to the network will create work reports, including updating equipment readings and decrementing inventory quantities, AND update the status of any work orders completed in the field.

But, wait! There's more...

Global Positioning Systems (GPS) use satellites to locate a physical location, and greatly simplifies work reporting; GPS coordinates entered can be used to search for assets within a user-specified radius of the coordinates.

Work Schedules can be viewed on handhelds, and work orders scheduled or rescheduled.

New work orders can be created, right on the handheld.

Handhelds can capture asset inspection results on the spot.

New assets and resources can also be created on the handheld, and uploading that information will create the item in CMS, including GPS coordinates (for assets).

Inventory operations such as Warehouse Requisitions, Inventory Receipts, and Inventory Counts can all be accomplished using handhelds. Data entry in these modules can also be greatly simplified using barcoding.

In fact, almost anything that can be done in CMS on a desktop computer can be done on a handheld and uploaded at your convenience. Talk about freeing yourself from the PC!

What’s New

New Screen For Work Order Referrals! – In the Service Requests tab of Work Orders, users are able to enter a person, crew, department, or other entity they referred the Work Order to.

The field is a dropdown field that contains all entities that have already been created. If a new entry is made here, it will be in the dropdown field for use in future Work Orders. New entries also prompt the user for an email address to associate with the entity - which would populate the "To" field when the user clicked on the "Email" button next to the Action dropdown.

There was no way to delete the entity from the list, or change the email address... until now!

In keeping with our philosophy of listening to suggestions from our users, we are proud to announce the creation of the "Work Order Referrals" screen. It is found under the top-line menu Daily Operations... Work Orders. It allows you to create, modify, and delete entries that populate the "Refer to" field in Work Orders. Check it out!

Guru's Corner - Featuring Dwain Nell (Senior Analyst)

Dwain Nell (pronounced "Neel") has been with CitiTech Systems since June 1998. He was the first employee hired when CitiTech's president, Brian McKiernan, began hiring staff to help him develop "Complete Street", as the software was known at the time.

He's from Ellendale, North Dakota. He's lived in Grand Forks and Bismarck, North Dakota, Hawthorne, California, and Bozeman, Montana, but has been a resident of Rapid City, SD since 1996.

He holds two Bachelor of Science degrees - Mathematics (from the University of North Dakota) and Computer Science (from Montana State University). He's only two courses away from earning a third Bachelor of Science degree - in Education.

He is in charge of LOS (Level of Service) and Work Planning, among other things.

His favorite part of the job is the challenge of solving problems that arise. He's been programming and solving computer software problems for 35 years!

User Spotlight/Case Study

Mississippi D.O.T.    The Mississippi Department of Transportation put out an RFP (Request For Proposal), CitiTech Systems responded... and was chosen! Although our other users know our software as "CMS", MDOT calls it "AMMO", which stands for Accountability in MDOT Maintenance Operations.

MDOT took the time to review their business processes, determine which modules were needed, and to set up the system to meet their unique requirements. They analyzed work flow and historical data. Sessions were lead by Jacobs Engineering and included MDOT senior staff and organization representatives, Dye Management Group, and CitiTech representatives. Processes were reviewed in terms of current (“As Is”) and future (“To Be”) maintenance processes. They looked at current Bridge and Pavement Management plans. They identified modules (existing or not) they would need in order to meet their goals. They commissioned special screens, used only by MDOT, such as a Data Collection Form for inspections. They reviewed work assignment processes. They discussed reporting requirements.

MDOT wanted to spend time and money on the right things at the right time for the right reasons - using required resources more efficiently. They felt that by using the right software, operations would be smoother and would allow MDOT to adopt “best maintenance practices” for managing the asset inventory.

Business improvement opportunities were identified by the Dye Management Group. Throughout the work flow analysis, opportunities for improvement were reviewed and discussed, incorporating as many of these expectations as possible with each “To Be” maintenance process. BPI opportunities were found for Planning, Budgeting, Scheduling, Program Execution, and Evaluation processes.

MDOT found that CMS would enable a more proactive best practice approach to the management of maintenance operations. They felt that the implementation of maintenance quality assurance, level of service analysis, an annual planning cycle and associated scheduling would improve the standardization of work and the ability to influence the budget distribution process.

MDOT decided they would purchase the Basic System with many Multi-User Licenses, Work Planning, Work Order Management, Work Scheduling, Pavement Management, Roadway Features, Inspections, Contract Management, Remote Processing, and Bi-directional GIS. They purchased CMS Version 8 on January 15th, 2008. Once fully implemented, it will replace their existing system, called "MAS", and also allow data to flow to other systems currently in use, such as FMS.

The first of our users to begin using CMS in Version 8, MDOT is also the only user using Oracle database platform instead of SQL Server.

The Work Planning module will provide a department-wide analysis and consolidation of information to identify needs and budget requirements based upon level of service targets.

Work Scheduling will result in improvements in productivity, resource/equipment utilization and sharing. This will provide improved resource allocation, better management of material usage, and better allocation and sharing of resources.

Inspections will give them standardization of the maintenance management cycle - providing consistency at a department–wide level and enhancing reporting and analysis of the maintenance functions.

Using CMS will allow separate islands of information to be consolidated into a single system for reporting. This reduces the complexity associated with trying to understand many different systems. It allows easier consolidation of information resulting in the ability to view the organization from different perspectives with the same accurate, timely data. In fact, CMS Reports will allow MDOT to conduct a more detailed analysis of work activities with less effort at a department-wide level, resulting in the ability to compare work activities at a crew, county, district and state level through standardized reporting.

Mississippi D.O.T. reviewed the software in detail for quality assurance purposes; acceptance testing has been completed, and "Go-Live" testing is being conducted in one district of the state.

Since CMS Version 8 ("AMMO") will be used statewide, it's being rolled out in stages. To accomplish this, they began by developing pilot training and testing processes. They tasked a single district to be "pre-trained" and begin using the software - including groups of Managers, Supervisors, and Crew Leaders. The pilot training was done to ensure accuracy of information and consistency with their business processes, and to identify any changes needed for the formal training. District One began using the software immediately after being trained. This will allow department heads to evaluate effectiveness of the training, and ensure the data being entered meets their requirements, before rolling it out statewide.

Different groups were trained on different aspects of the software. Managers and Supervisors were presented "big picture" overviews of CMS. Training for Managers included work planning and LOS (Level Of Service). Since MDOT will be capturing data in the field using laptops and handheld devices, training for Supervisors included creating work orders, scheduling personnel, work reporting, and downloading data onto handheld devices (and uploading records). Training for Crew Leaders focused on accessing their work orders and doing work (against work orders and ad hoc) on the handhelds.

Jennifer Kiihnl, from the I.T. Dept in District 2, took the time to create “Cheat Sheets” for the various processes being presented during the training. "The quick reference guides should be a very helpful tool for our users, especially when familiarizing themselves with the system", she said. "Various quick reference guides will be developed as needs arise. Currently, quick reference guides exist for such tasks as creating a crew, creating a work order and completing a work report. I've also created them for handheld operations. These are step-by-step guides using screen shots and arrows to direct the user as they familiarize themselves with the software. These quick reference guides also point out fields that are especially important for MDOT data collection."

MDOT chose a "Train The Trainers" approach; select computer-proficient personnel are being trained, who will in turn train each district throughout the state, ensuring consistency of methodology throughout the organization.

MDOT also regularly takes advantage of Webinars offered by CitiTech Systems presenting CMS's capabilities - allowing them to see a quick overview of a feature or module, and evaluate functionality they may want to implement in the future, such as Templates.

Ken Hauser, from the Maintenance Division in Jackson, Mississippi, had this to say: "We have been waiting for a comprehensive Maintenance Management System for a long time. Now we have one and everyone is enthusiastic. We feel we have a good product with CitiTech."

Custom Functionality Makes Life Easier!

Users can commission special screens and/or add-ins to enhance CMS's functionality, save steps or even eliminate double data entry, and make their lives easier! Examples include MDOT's Data Collection Form and Indio Water Authority's NAPA Data Import add-in.

Although Mississippi D.O.T. purchased CitiTech Management Software, they wanted to continue to use their Data Collection Form (DCF) to capture information for Inspections.

Because CitiTech Systems offers Custom Development, the Data Collection Form was developed and folded into CMS.

It makes MDOT inspectors' lives easier because they can continue to use their own familiar form to capture inspection information. Using handhelds, they enter information and upload it. CMS's Inspection Results records are created automatically when they choose the "Process DCFs" menu item.

NAPA provides Indio Water Authority with repair parts and services, such as smog inspections, upholstery and commercial repairs as needed. In January 2008, the City of Indio contracted with NAPA Auto parts to set up and operate the spare parts requirements for the Fleet Maintenance Division, right on site! This required CitiTech and NAPA to work together to develop an interface to charge auto parts directly to the city’s fleet assets.

Custom development meant that a functional specification was created, and once approved, the interface was developed. Once it was put into production, as sometimes happens, additional items were found that required further coding, and Indio wanted to change some functionality. A new functional specification was created and approved, and was rewritten.

It makes IWA's life easier by eliminating double data entry and reducing data errors. It provides for a check and balance (a comparison of CMS inventory and NAPA inventory), and includes an Error Log Report that needs to be reconciled before payments are made to NAPA. It also ensures vehicle history reports show the full cost of maintenance on a vehicle, which affects the budgeting process for the equipment replacement schedule.

Are there areas of your work that require double data entry? Make your life easier! Consider custom functionality!