HomeMy WebLinkAboutFCS-15-026 - Meter Inventory Management System
REPORT TO: Committee of the Whole
DATE OF MEETING: February 9, 2015
SUBMITTED BY: Wally Malcolm, Director of Utilities, 519-741-2600 x 4538
PREPARED BY: Wally Malcolm, Director of Utilities
Bonnie Saunderson, Senior Financial Analyst
WARD(S) INVOLVED: N/A
DATE OF REPORT: February 3, 2015
REPORT NO.: FCS-15-027
SUBJECT: Meter Inventory Management System
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RECOMMENDATION:
That Purchase Order #206514 to Capgemini Canada Incorporated, Toronto,
Ontario be extended for the implementation of a Meter Inventory Management
System, by the estimated fee of $520,183.00 plus HST of $67,623.79, for a total of
$587,806.79 based on a satisfactory contract being negotiated and an upset fee
being established.
BACKGROUND:
The City of Kitchener has approximately 140,000 gas and water utility meters within the
customer network. Approximately 14,500 meters are processed and handled each year
for new installations, statutory and non-statutory changes, legislated inspections, etc.
The City currently manages changes to this extensive meter inventory manually, which
means that significant manpower is required to manage many electronic spreadsheets
and an antiquated filing system used to track and control meter inventory data. The use
of these types of tools to track and control meter inventory results in inaccuracies in
meters statuses, the location of meters, recalling of expired meters and the overall
availability and accuracy of meter inventory.
As a result of only having a manual meter management process, the City is not in
compliance with Measurement Canada’s meter inspection timelines. Measurement
Canada has not pursued remedies against the City on the understanding that the City is
implementing automation which will expedite meter management and bring the City into
compliance. Furthermore, one meter management staff position is underutilized
because it is consumed by recordkeeping tasks. Automating the process of meter
management will free up this staff position to perform meter maintenance duties and
*This information is available in accessible formats upon request. Please call 519-741-2345 or TTY 1-
866-969-9994 for assistance.
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reduce the requirement for external contracted meter maintenance services (yielding an
estimated 5 year direct payback).
Automating meter management means that many manual practices to update electronic
spreadsheets and an antiquated filing system will be eliminated. The manpower
required to manage the manual meter management system can then be reallocated to
actual meter maintenance functions. Under the recommended approach, the repository
for all meter management data will reside within an enterprise system shared by other
City of Kitchener departments, including Revenue. The meter management system will
offer immediate benefit to those requiring meter information including: accurate and up
to date reporting of meters to be exchanged, location and status of meters, current
meter inventory levels, historical meter reporting, etc.
REPORT:
The City documented its meter management requirements and completed an evaluation
of vendor offerings in 2014 to identify potential automation solutions. A cost
investigation for a third party meter management solution was conducted and resulted
in a budgetary cost similar to the costs outlined within this document but the solution
lacked the integration elements needed between the third party meter management
solution and the billing system (SAP) which is being implemented. The conclusion of
this due diligence process was a determination that the City should implement meter
inventory management functionality in conjunction with the billing system replacement
project to leverage cost-savings from combining the two projects and also provide a
meter inventory management solution that is highly integrated with the City’s utility
billing functions. Directly negotiating with an existing vendor is contemplated by the
Purchasing By-Law to ensure compatibility with existing systems and avoid technical
risk.
The City’s proposed 2015 capital budget includes funding for this project. It is
necessary to proceed with this recommendation prior to final budget approval as the
City is finalizing the functional design for the utility billing system imminently and is
commencing the ‘realization’ phase to configure the application. The project has an
extremely aggressive timeframe to “go live” by October 2015 and cannot be allowed to
deviate from the critical path by uncertainty surrounding the City’s meter inventory
management direction.
ALIGNMENT WITH CITY OF KITCHENER STRATEGIC PLAN:
Theme: Financial Management
Strategic Direction: Ensure responsible use of public funds within a supportive policy
framework.
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FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
The net cost for this project (A), is fair and reasonable for a purchase of this scope and
the upset limit is within the budget allowance (B) provided within the budget. Funding
for this purchase is included within the proposed 2015 capital budget. The estimated
surplus (D) will remain within the Meter Inventory Management Project budget to be
used for mobile device deployment.
Meter Inventory Management Project
The total budget for all phases of this project is $ 563,000.00
Estimated Cost for this Phase of Work
Total projected costs including HST 587,806.79
less: HST rebate on tender(65,135.78)
Net Cost Being Awarded 522,671.01 A
Costs Incurred to Date -
Total Estimated Cost for this Phase of Work 522,671.01 C
Budget for this Phase of Work
Gas Utility 410,000.00
Water Utility 153,000.00
Total Budget for this Phase of Work 563,000.00 B
Estimated Surplus for this Phase of Work (B - C) $ 40,328.99 D
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
INFORM – This report has been posted to the City’s website with the agenda in
advance of the council / committee meeting.
ACKNOWLEDGED BY:
Dan Chapman, Deputy CAO
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