Acquires Marshall Consulting

Stoner Associates Expands Integration Services Division

Headquartered in the quiet little town of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Stoner Associates has been making some big noise in the GIS integration services industry. Since becoming an Esri Business partner in May 1998, Stoner has positioned itself as an integration services force by signing large integration services contracts with national (e.g., Wisconsin's Alliant Energy) and international utilities and by acquiring Charlotte, North Carolina-based Marshall Consulting.

On the International Front

In April 1999, Stoner announced that it would serve as the prime contractor on Severn Trent Water's (STW's) three-year, $30 million Underground Asset Data Management System (UADMS) Project. The UADMS Project is the final step in a transformation that began in 1974, when the British government formed Severn Trent Water by combining 242 separate water and wastewater undertakings, each with its own record system. In the years since, STW has made consistent strides in reducing the number of different record systems. The UADMS Project will transform the many remaining and largely manual record systems into one strategic technology platform that can serve STW's current and future needs.

According to Larry Barnes, STW UADMS Project manager, "The UADMS Project will provide Severn Trent Water with an opportunity to standardize and rationalize the way the company manages its underground asset records. When this has been achieved, the Business will have the necessary enabling technology and capability for even more effective asset management in the 21st century."

The UADMS Project scope includes GIS implementation, water and wastewater system data conversion, applications development, network modeling integration, supporting software procurement, land base creation, hardware procurement, technical assistance, training, and maintenance support. After an intensive effort to match the capabilities of leading market commercial GIS offerings with the specific priority needs of the UADMS Project, STW selected Esri's ArcFM platform as its platform of choice.

On the Home Front

In a project for Wisconsin's Alliant Energy, Stoner is providing its MiddleLink (integration component approach) implementation services to their electric and gas divisions. (Stoner's MiddleLink integration component approach represents the tightest linkage yet between Stoner's SynerGEE product family and GIS.) Alliant Energy has been modeling their systems using manually developed computer models. In order to take advantage of facilities data and customer service locations contained in their GIS, Alliant has chosen to implement MiddleLink. Alliant's MiddleLink solution uses Esri shapefile formats and Oracle data to automate the creation of electric and gas models.

More Power

During October 1999, Stoner increased its potential as a GIS integration service provider with the acquisition of Marshall Consulting, a top-tier provider of integration, application development, information technology infrastructure and education services to America's utilities. Prior to joining Stoner, Marshall's list of integration services contracts was long and distinguished, pushing the limits of integration services to utilities.

Chief among these success stories is the work Marshall did for South Carolina Electric and Gas (SCE&G). As a recipient of two-thirds of the power supplied by the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station in Jenkinsville, South Carolina, SCE&G was looking to proactively ready its Emergency Preparedness Group (EPG).

In the event of a nuclear incident, the EPG reacts based on a mapping system consisting of Mylar overlays on paper maps showing seven different isopleth models to choose from. These isopleths are mathematical models that predict the dispersion of radiation and exposure intensity over a period of time. In the event of a nuclear incident, members of the EPG choose an isopleth model that indicates the population zone that will be most affected based on the mean direction of the wind. Once the isopleth is chosen, evacuation procedures begin.

Since timeliness is essential, SCE&G called upon Marshall to convert its paper and Mylar maps into digital maps in Esri's ArcView GIS environment. Marshall also built an application that selects and orients an isopleth in emergency situations, allowing the nuclear plant to more quickly determine the expected dosage of radiation and the speed at which it will disperse.

Specialty Services

Stoner is committed to providing the full range of products and services necessary for its clients, including database schema design for facilities and customer information, modeling process consulting, data population, data enhancement, customer geocoding, customer analysis and customer assignment, model calibration, and model updating.

For more information, contact Tom Coolidge, senior vice president, Stoner Associates, Inc. (tel.: 717-243-1900, fax: 717-243-5564).

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