A PC-based scheduling system for a transmission and distribution construction department

To effectively meet the rapidly increasing public demand for its services, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) developed a personal computer-based scheduling system for coordinating and forecasting the construction operations performed by its two separate construction offices. This article examines SMUD's process for creating this system, identifying the project's goals and detailing the activities performed in each of three development stages. It then explains how the system works by describing its two processes: data conversion and scheduling. It subsequently discusses how SMUD implemented the new system and the impact it has had on SMUD's organizational structure and operating procedures. It concludes by describing the factors that most significantly affect SMUD's success in using this system.