Uppsala Vatten (Water) and Avfall (Waste) AB operate in one of Sweden’s strongest growth regions. Te Uppsala municipality is continuing to expand, and as new areas emerge and new workplaces take shape, a functioning infrastructure, secured capacity, and sustainable management of natural resources and facilities are required.
With more than 220 employees, Uppsala Vatten and Avfall AB are responsible for the operation, planning, and development of water and wastewater (VA) within the area of operation determined by the Uppsala City Council. They are also responsible for the collection and handling of household waste and operate eight recycling centers. In addition, they also produce bio-gas from collected food waste, which becomes a fossil-free fuel. Waste operations also include a sorting and landfill business.
THE CHALLENGE – SYSTEMS NOT LIVING IN SYMBIOSES
It is not uncommon today for organizations to possess systems that don’t actually meet the needs of the business; this was the case for Uppsala Water. Legacy systems forced employees to supplement their processes with lengthy e-mail exchanges or Excel spreadsheets.
THE NEED FOR A SOLUTION
A large part of Uppsala Vatten’s operations consists of a process industry, for example, the production and distribution of drinking water and bio-gas, as well as waste-water management. In addition to these production processes, there are also a number of processes for management, control, follow-up, as well as support processes within the company.
In 2017, a comprehensive project that mapped all the company’s processes was carried out, and the need for system support for modeling and visualization grew. Furthermore, a vehicle was needed that could contribute to the automation and optimization of these processes.
THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS
When Uppsala Vatten defined its requirements, needs, and wishes for system support, a request was made to three potential suppliers, with InRule being one of them. After an evaluation period, InRule was selected due to the quality, pricing, and user-friendliness it was able to offer. As a goal of its restructuring, Uppsala Vatten wanted to become more process-oriented. The requirements to facilitate visualization and survival of the new organization were of the utmost importance; InRule met the requirements set. In addition, these were addressed by the SaaS model and license management, with pricing depending on user levels.
RAPID IMPLEMENTATION
Implementation doesn’t solely mean getting a new system in place. It also means that it takes time to get an organization to mature in thinking about the processes and in building up a suitable structure. Throughout the implementation phase, Uppsala Vatten benefited from the experts at InRule, both in terms of getting started with modeling and addressing their challenges. This was done through workshops and through services consulting hours.
The consultancy help and support we received from InRule during the implementation phase was worth gold. In just a short period of time, it created a basis for us to be able to continue with implementation on our own.
Frank Weidinger, Digital Business Developer, Uppsala Vatten
InRule Process Automation is a low-code platform on which the user can build different types of business-controlled applications and customize the platform in accordance with the company’s specific needs. We are there as support along the way, but the idea is that our low-code applications avoid customers from having to deal with prolonged IT projects or services engagements. Instead, they can easily build applications in InRule Process Automation themselves, which is both time and cost-effective.
Tobias Andersson, InRule
The first application launched was an automated process for connecting water and sewage for new customers. Next in line was a deviation process and, thereafter, a decision-making process for investments. There are now ambitions and plans to implement additional operational support.
With InRule’s help and InRule Process Automation, we get IT support we can use widely across the organization, and, in addition, with which we can get started on right away.
Frank Weidinger, Digital Business Developer, Uppsala Vatten
OPERATIONS IN FOCUS
Uppsala Vatten decided at an early stage that InRule was to serve as support for all employees, enabling them to both create and work using the processes. After just a few hours of start-up, many became self-sufficient and began modeling and creating processes. It created a prerequisite for being able to allocate responsibility close to the operations and for the processes to accurately reflect the working method requested – across the organization.
RESULTS
Although collaboration with InRule, at the time of this writing, is still in its infancy, it is clear that the work in process mapping, process control, and modeling has produced good initial results.
InRule has helped Uppsala Vatten build bridges between a number of systems that previously were not in communication. This makes it easier for the business to optimize processes and streamline their work.
InRule has become a kind of internal corporate ambassadorship, with those working at InRule for some time happy to share their enthusiasm with others. As such, we get the momentum we need for future implementation.
Frank Weidinger, Digital Business Developer, Uppsala Vatten
