Mackenzie District Council’s digital transformation delivered streamlined workflows for their team, and better outcomes for their residents. This took them from a paper-based system for tracking assets and an unfit single software platform, to being able to accurately track and manage all assets as well as empower their teams with tools fit for purpose both in the office and in the field.

The Situation / Background

The Council’s responsibilities cover a broad spectrum: infrastructure such as roads, water, and sewage; tourism and community development; and day-to-day functions, from dog registration to park maintenance. The Council also works closely with external agencies, such as the Department of Conservation and emergency management services.

“From an information management point of view, our systems have to work across all of those different functions, which have entirely different needs,” says Chris Clarke, the Council’s GM of Information, Engagement and Community Development. “Trying to be all things to all people on a tight budget is not easy.”

As a small Council, they had encountered limitations with maintaining in-house GIS expertise – an essential function for many of their teams. They initially worked with Seamless in this space as an interim solution. In parallel, the Council was reevaluating all systems, specifically their Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.

“It’s supposed to cover all the bases, from rates, to dog registration and so on, but it isn’t the best offering for each service. In some cases it didn’t have an offering at all. At the same time, there’s been an explosion of other software coming onto the market,” says Clarke.

It was challenging to fully utilise these other tools because all their data was still in one ERP system. Clarke’s strategy was to take a modular approach, selecting the best fit software for each service – payroll, dog registrations, building consents – and transitioning over time.

Having already worked with Seamless in the GIS space, they were familiar with FME as a data integration solution.

Outcomes for Mackenzie District Council

Flexing around the needs of the Council
As a Council with a smaller population and limited resources, Seamless has taken the pressure off Mackenzie’s in-house team with a flexible offering that can scale up or down as needed.

“We had a gap in a System Analyst role a few weeks ago, and they were able to pick up that work. At the same time, if we hire someone new, Seamless can step back in that space – there’s always work to do elsewhere.”

Ability to visualise data from different sources in one place
The ability to visualise information is essential across the Council – from providing the property team accurate data on planning zones and boundary lines, to rateable values for the rating team, and information on flooding zones for emergency management.

Improved asset management
Seamless has also built an app for field teams (like those who look after water services or public parks) to track geolocation data and asset conditions.

Instead of disparate teams making notes on paper, which would then be manually loaded into separate tools (Univerus Assets and ArcGIS), everything is connected and works like it has been centralised in one place.

With the Seamless integrations, the 3 Waters team is now able to see all pipes and water network assets on a digital map, overlaid with the asset data like asset age and capacity from Univerus Assets, their Asset Management platform.

The 3 Waters team would previously have to look for water pipes without accurate location data, and would likely need to excavate the area to assess the condition. Now, they can use a smart phone or device to locate the assets, and check previous assessments or other information in the database on the fly.

“The time saved is significant,” says Clarke

Faster resolution of issues
Automations have streamlined work for Council teams and reduced wait times for public amenities to be fixed.

Before, an issue like a broken swing at the park would have to go through a long, manual process. A resident would submit an enquiry form. This would go to the customer service team, who would then have to send another email getting it to the right department, which would then engage the contractor to fix the issue. The resident wouldn’t have visibility of how the job was tracking, or a clear way to find that information.

The new system automates everything.

“This issue would be logged and sent directly to our Parks team, rather than tying up our customer services team,” Clarke explains. “At the same time, your issue would also have automatically been turned into a job ticket in the customer service software, with a job reference number, and a tracker on how much time has passed since the ticket opened. This also sends something to Mailchimp, which will automatically send you an acknowledgement email with this reference number and an expected time frame to resolution. When contractors have been dispatched, and when it’s been fixed, you get an update.

“Before that, you would submit a form or send an email and just have trust that the Council had done something. Meanwhile, the contractor might be walking around the park unable to find the swing.”

Improved strategic and regulatory outcomes
Reducing the amount of manual work done by Council staff has also reduced the risks of errors. “That also means we can spend our time more strategically rather than being tied up in unproductive work,” says Clarke.

Process

Seamless worked alongside Mackenzie District Council to scope and manage the changes internally. Onboarding included on-site training and assessing the existing processes, mapping all of the tools that the Council uses.

“Seamless took the time to understand our organisation and where we’re heading, what our vision, strengths and weaknesses are,” says Clarke. “They listened to what we were actually trying to do, before weighing up the pros and cons of each way we could achieve those things.

“Now that they’ve built this map of the whole ecosystem, they can give us better solutions for other things too. It’s about finding the most cost effective route, and it’s that experience they have that really unlocks the value.”

The solution is powered by the FME integration platform. Seamless hosts and administers FME as-a-Service and brings their ready-to-deploy Local Government system connectors and automations to optimise workflows across Mackenzie District Council’s systems.

What’s next for the team at Mackenzie District Council?

The team is currently working to make their internal asset management app fit for external use, empowering residents with more options to report and track issues or faults in public spaces.

This currently happens through a simple form with open text fields and no options to add media. All enquiries therefore go through the customer service team first, rather than directly to the team involved.

Clarke describes the vision of the imminent future: “As a resident, I’ll be able to use this app, define the issue, geolocate the asset, take a picture and send it with a description of the issue. The relevant Council team will then be notified and be able to find the issue faster, and the resident will receive timely updates about the issue they logged.”

“When it’s fixed, the contractor can upload a photo and update the job, and the resident gets a final notification saying their issue has been resolved.”

They will soon launch a Mailchimp integration which will allow their Comms team to tailor communications to residents, depending on their interests.

“We’re connecting all these tools to provide better outcomes to our residents and streamline workflows for our team – and Seamless are right in the middle of that.”

About Mackenzie District Council

Of New Zealand’s 67 territorial authorities, Mackenzie District Council is ranked 10th for geographic size, but has the 3rd smallest population.

The district is home to Mount Cook, New Zealand’s highest peak, as well as the popular Tekapo and Pukaki Lakes. This, combined with the road running between major centres Christchurch and Queenstown, brings in a sizable number of tourists.

The Council, though small, has to balance many competing priorities. They maintain the infrastructure to support a thriving tourism industry, while also ensuring adequate services for local residents. They also have a responsibility to protect their natural environment, while enabling growth.