MDU Improves Accountability and Compliance by Integrating 10+ Systems

The Challenge  

Before MDU merged several of their systems, many locations and teams had different policies, roles, and tech for asset management. Disconnected applications, including ESRI and IQGeo for survey functions, Locus View for mobile construction, PowerPlan for capital and tax planning, JDE for compliance and financials, and various tools for leak surveys, A/C surveys, and corrosion checks, didn’t talk to each other. In some cases, data was culled by hand and reporting relied on spreadsheets, which was tedious and increased the risk of errors. These inconsistencies made it difficult to plan work, measure efficiency, and demonstrate compliance. Work orders remained open without oversight, and lack of visibility increased the risk of missing required maintenance windows. In addition, IT bore the high cost of management overhead. “In the old world, there was no way of proving that work was done or how it was done without a ton of digging,” recalls Dennis W. Hammer, Manager, Operations Systems Programs. “Someone would ask how many leaks we’d had or how many surveys were completed, and we couldn’t answer unless we went through hours of data and five different systems.”

Our Solution 

MDU set out to unify policies and procedures, consolidate data, and streamline workflows. The initiative included IBM Maximo as a centralized EAM system connected to 10 applications with over 70 integration points. MDU’s Joint Utility Maximo Project (JUMP) is rolling out in several phases:

• Phase I: Compliance and maintenance activities – Standard workflows, job roles, and location hierarchy, preventive maintenance plan, inspection and compliance management.

• Phase II: Gas construction – End-to-end digital lifecycle management, including mobile asset management, GIS mapping, inventory management, and work assignments.

• Phases III and IV (planned for 2026–2027) – Electric construction, using the same core architecture and leak management for all gas leaks.

MDU turned to the Cohesive team of Maximo and industry experts as a “brainstorming partner in the ‘art of the possible,’” says Dennis. Together, they integrated the siloed systems and devised innovative solutions that leverage Maximo in new ways. For example:

• Reorganizing the messy legacy structure of A/C surveys using data from GIS and sequenced lists to public land survey systems with multi-location routing. Asset managers and regulators can now clearly see completed work and next steps.

• Automatically creating and assigning deficiency orders with dates calculated to meet compliance requirements specific to the asset and location, triggered by inspections in the field. Orders can even be assigned to a tech while they’re still on site, with corrective action tracked separately from the original inspection.

“We try to build dynamic solutions we can use for other purposes,” explains Amanda Kadrmas, Manager of Enterprise Asset Management Systems. “Cohesive felt the same and that was clear in the collaboration. They wanted a successful project as much as we did.” In addition to leveraging existing Maximo capabilities, when MDU required support or enhancements from IBM, “Cohesive has gone to bat for us,” says Dennis.

“We blended better than I could have ever imagined. They just feel like an extension of our team. If there were problems, we could talk about them. Sharing the highs and lows, they’ve partnered with us. I’ve had experience with other contractors where they implement something without considering the long-term maintenance of the solution. With Cohesive I can tell they’re vested in a successful project just as much as we are.” 

Amanda Kadrmas – Manager of Enterprise Asset Management Systems

The Client Benefits  

What was once a mix of paper and digital records and disconnected workflows is now a unified system that ensures accountability, with detailed tracking and data for proactive asset management, and compliance checks that help MDU avoid fines and keep assets and people safe.

For example, Dennis recently shared a report with his executive team detailing 10,000 construction work orders in the first six months of the year. “Before, if you asked me how many work orders we had, I couldn’t tell you and my estimate would have been way off.”

Using data in Maximo, MDU’s team is now able to do things they couldn’t before, such as:

• Understand the backlog of mitigation work that must be addressed

• Decide when additional full-time employees or contractors should be hired

• Change how resources are allocated, or work is sequenced

• Estimate how long a work order will take to complete

• Easily show regulators an accurate, detailed breadcrumb path of completed work

• Alert compliance managers that work is coming due

As Dennis explains, “We closed the gaps in asset management. It is harder now to lose track of assets and tasks. I was surprised at all the things we found after we deployed Phase One, and now I’m even more astounded.”