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| City of Orrville, Ohio |
| Background |
| Home to about 8,550 citizens, the city of Orrville has one of the few municipal electric systems in Ohio that owns its own power plant and generates its own electricity. The city features a park, hospital, public library and seven schools. The railroad has been supplanted as the key factor in the city’s economic life by many diversified industries. Drawn by a good labor market and prime location near the Akron/Canton and Cleveland metropolitan areas, new industry has put down roots in Orrville since the end of World War II. The city is home to many industries, including Smucker’s, Schantz Organ and Quality Castings. |
| Challenge |
 Orrville Utilities’ 100 employees are committed in their quest to fulfill the city’s mission to "provide quality services in a timely and efficient manner." They provide electric service to over 6,300 customers covering more than 100 square miles, water service to more than 2,000 homes and businesses, and wastewater services to more than 1,700 customers.
With so many customers and areas to cover, it is vital for Orrville Utilities to keep track of work orders and inventory information. This was a difficult task before the late 1980s when Orrville Utilities computerized their system.
"Trying to look through a pile of paper work orders when I was foreman and find work to do was a nightmare," says Paul Robey, Orrville Utilities’ planning and systems coordinator. "Inventory was worse." |
| Solution |
| Since 1991, GP MaTe™ software has helped Orrville Utilities organize its operations, including power plant maintenance and inventory for more than 14,000 items. The wastewater and water departments have inventory systems now, too. Future plans are to create an inventory system for the electric equipment, including miles of lines, thousands of transformers, poles and hardware.
Robey says GP MaTe has benefited Orrville Utilities in several ways: "We are more efficient and less wasteful. There is a history that can be looked up. With the paper system they never got filed."
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