Utility Pipeline

UTILITY PIPELINE INCREASES VISIBILITY INTO JOB COSTS AND LOGISTICS 

WESTERN COMPUTER DEPLOYS DYNAMICS 365 Sales Enterprise TO STREAMLINE OPERATIONAL AND PROJECT PROCESSES 

THE SOLUTION 

With projects to bring natural gas services to residents across five states, Utility Pipeline has a lot of moving parts to manage. In addition to coordinating logistics with developers, homeowners, and local government approval boards, the company collaborates with natural gas cooperatives, public utilities, gas producers, and interstate pipeline companies. 

“After we win a project, we need to closely track many steps that need to occur before we can break ground,” says Megan Niebuhr, Marketing Manager for Utility Pipeline. “We also need to communicate the status of all tasks and who is accountable on a daily basis to make sure projects keep moving forward and stay on schedule.” 

Logistics that Utility Pipeline needs to manage include developer and homeowner deposits on gas connections to households, rights of way, town permits, and knowing which residents in a neighborhood development have opted in to connect to a natural gas line. “The need for a centralized database to track all of our project activities as well as project costs compared to forecasted costs was most apparent at our bi-monthly meetings,” says Niebuhr. “We needed real-time access and the ability to keep teams informed of everything going on with each project.” 

To take on this challenge, Niebuhr began researching online project management tools and CRM solutions built for the construction industry. Soon after, the answer came from inside the company. 

“At the same time, our accounting team was migrating our ERP platform from Microsoft Dynamics NAV to Dynamics 365 Business Central cloud,” Niebuhr explains. “The CFO told me how well the software worked and about the great job Western Computer did setting up the ERP platform to streamline our financial processes. We decided to see what Western Computer could do for us on the operations side.” 

Western Computer recommended deploying Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales, which features a range of marketing, sales, customer service, and operational processes such as job costing and project management. With an in-depth understanding of how the construction industry operates and familiarity with the Utility Pipeline accounting processes, Western Computer hit the ground running—ready to customize Dynamics 365 Sales and address the needs of the project management and operational side of the Utility Pipeline business.  

THE BENEFITS 

“Dynamics 365 Sales provides a great way for the entire company to communicate on job status through one central database,” says Niebuhr. “And it’s an added benefit that the solution integrates with Dynamics 365 Business Central—our operational and accounting processes can automatically share information.” 

Specific operational processes that Niebuhr projects Dynamics 365 Sales will help include setting up job budgets and comparing actual job costs to projected costs. Utility Pipeline will also be able to better track customer signatures and deposits when opting into pipeline connections as well as job expenses. 

Western Computer customized Dynamics 365 Sales to handle the unique invoice processes Utility Pipeline requires. For example, when homeowners indicate an interest in connecting to a main gas pipeline in their neighborhood, Utility Pipeline sends invoices to communicate the cost. But the invoices do not get entered into the ERP system until homeowners submit payments. Some homeowners elect not to connect, so their invoices become void.  

“Dynamics 365 Sales helps us track the status of invoices before they are formally entered into the system, so we know who plans to connect and who to follow up with,” Niebuhr points out. “And once a homeowner does pay, their invoice becomes an official record in our system.”  

Niebuhr also appreciates how Dynamics 365 Sales quickly provides all the information teams need to manage project costs. This capability is particularly critical in the construction industry where unplanned changes tend to occur throughout projects—due to events such as permit delays, bad weather, supply chain bottlenecks, and customers who are late in submitting signature approvals or payments. 

“We can now better adjust as changes occur,” says Niebuhr. “With daily views into project costs, we can make sure each project stays within the budget and have more time to adjust project plans. Over time, collecting this information will also help improve our project workflow processes.” 

The success of the Dynamics 365 Sales implementation hit home for Niebuhr shortly after the initial deployment when a project manager from a remote office entered a note in the comment field of a pipeline connection project for a subdivision. “The entire team received instant notification,” says Niebuhr. “It happened so easily so that everyone was on the same page as far as what had happened on the project and the next steps to take. That allows us to collaborate efficiently and establish accountability among team members.” 

Looking ahead, the project logistics and cost management capabilities Western Computer has programmed into Dynamics 365 Sales are giving Utility Pipeline new ideas as to the possibilities to further leverage the solution. “Our wish list grew quickly once people saw what Dynamics 365 Sales could do,” says Niebuhr. “We’re just beginning to unlock the capabilities to help us manage projects more efficiently, and Western Computer has the expertise to show us the way.”