The Value of Pole Inventories

If we’re looking for ways to provide maximum value to utilities, low-cost, rapid inventories are a huge opportunity. It might seem like administrative busywork, but documenting poles, their locations, attachments, streetlights, utility equipment, and other assets tells a critical story about infrastructure. 

At face value, equipment inventories offer tidy records. While that’s important, they serve a much greater purpose by revealing what actually exists in the real world. Unfortunately, true field conditions can vary from what we see in our databases, and that gap can affect everything from reliability measures to calendar days.

Precise records form the foundation of every utility decision, from planning maintenance to emergency response. When utilities know exactly what’s on the pole and where it’s far easier to resolve issues, tackle double wood conditions systematically, and pinpoint areas for reliability improvements based on actual field conditions. 

Getting the Most Out of Pole Inventories

Field data is never a one-and-done resource and pole inventories are no exception. Because they provide such a broad and expansive source of information, they benefit multiple teams by giving them the most up-to-date snapshot. 

Understanding Who’s Attached 

One of the most obvious benefits of pole inventories is identifying potential attachment issues. Delivering data on who’s attached and where helps true up attachment records and communicate clearly with attachers. Inventories can be used to run attachment audits to identify violations and initiate resolution and the make ready engineering process to build a more resilient grid.

Resolving Double Wood 

Double wood, where a new pole is installed but the old one isn’t removed, creates hazards and record-keeping issues. It’s hard to track moves and transfers and tracking assets in such close proximity in GIS systems is incredibly difficult. Good inventories can identify where double wood exists within regions, track parties that need to transfer, and create accountability for completing the removal process faster. 

Pinpoint Areas for Reliability 

With accurate data on field conditions, reliability teams can find the best, most impactful locations for upgrades. Photo documentation captures anything from aging infrastructure and vegetation patterns to hazardous areas and old equipment. Those details help identify assets that would profit from maintenance and create reliability plans to help get ahead of outages or power interruptions. 

Building for the Future

Despite its value and importance, maintaining accurate records is incredibly challenging. The work is never done because conditions are always changing (meaning we need really good integration between surveying, work in progress, and record-keeping databases). 

The value of accurate field data and pole inventories extends beyond the issues we’re currently facing. Good data lays the groundwork for tomorrow’s needs and goals. Gathering and maintaining comprehensive and quality data requires a future-focused outlook. Depending on the level of detail, accurate field data lets teams create digital twins, develop sophisticated emergency response systems, deploy and leverage predictive maintenance, and more.

As utilities face growing demands for reliability alongside increasing challenges, those with accurate baseline data will have a significant advantage. If you can deliver info on their assets and conditions at low costs, you help utilities make smarter decisions about where to invest limited dollars to create maximum value across their departments. 

Our solutions help you not just count what's out there, but leverage that information to improve reliability, recover costs, and prepare for the future. Get in touch with our team to learn more!

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