Digital Transformation at SDGE: A Case Study in Enhancing Safety and Operational Efficiency

 It is dedicated to delivering reliable energy and powering research and conservation. SDGE strongly believes in enhancing operational efficiency and implementing modern technologies and strategies. To streamline processes and improve compliance, SDGE partnered with Chiron to drive digital transformation.

However, significant hurdles had to be overcome for this digitization project to come to fruition. SDGE partnered with Chiron to address the following:

• Manual and time-consuming safety documentation processes
• Inefficient tracking of apprentice training progress
• Lack of integration with external applications, resulting in data silos
• Limited real-time visibility into safety compliance and training status

• Microsoft Power Platform (Power Apps, Power Automate, and Flow) for low-code or no-code app development, workflow automation, data analysis, and virtual agents.
• REST API and GRAPH API for designing networked applications using a flexible connected architecture.
• Arcos, Click, Smartsheets for team management, planning, scheduling, dispatching, tracking, automation, and emergency response
• Oracle DB, SQL DB, Dataverse for managing structured data and querying with SQL, handling large-scale data transactions, and managing business app data.
• Canvas Power App for designing custom apps without heavy coding by dragging and dropping elements onto a blank canvas for full control over app layout and functionality.

The initial development phase focused on crucial innovation solutions such as the BBS Score Card, Apprentice Card, and PJA Application. The subsequent phase introduced a dispatcher management tool for handling time cards, vacation requests, and pre-arranged jobs, among others.

BBS Score Card

The behavior-based safety scorecard tracks and measures workplace behaviors, encouraging safer practices through data-driven insights.

Apprentice Card

This is a software tool for managing apprenticeship programs. Apprentice Card tracks an apprentice’s progress and qualifications, ensuring that they meet industry standards as they gain hands-on experience.

PJA Application

PJA Application is a digital tool designed to aid risk assessments, task planning, and safety checks before starting a job. It ensures that potential hazards are defined, mitigated, and aligned with safety and operational best practices.

Dispatcher management tool

This software helps schedule, assign, and monitor tasks in real time. It ensures that assets like equipment, vehicles, and workers are deployed efficiently. Employees can tender time-off requests directly through the system.

Project Team

The solutions were implemented by a dedicated project team of 5 developers specializing in low-code development and integrations.

This diagrammatic representation of real-time processes on a handheld screen facilitates quick, zero-error decision-making, simplifying field operations and increasing productivity.

We leveraged low-code development on Microsoft Power Platform to produce the following key components for our client:
Digital forms and checklists for safety documentation.
Custom digital Apprentice Training Cards for progress tracking.
Seamless integrations with Arcos, Smart Sheets, Click, and more for data exchange and workflow automation.
The sophistication of our digital solution necessitated cybersecurity and privacy measures to protect users of the platform. For this, we utilized Microsoft’s built-in authentication and security frameworks, including role-based user validation.

It also enabled supervisors to manage documentation and compliance in real time via iPads and mobile devices,  streamlining integration with existing systems to provide cohesive data visibility.

The digital solution bolstered operational efficiency and ease of use for SDGE staff threefold. Overall, the company achieved significant cost savings by reducing reliance on vendor-supported applications, resulting in savings of millions of dollars. It also enhanced real-time visibility into safety compliance and apprentice training progress.