Customer Stories

From its headquarters in Paris, France, Enedis manages 1.4 million kilometers of electric distribution lines throughout the country, including more than 10,000 km of underground electric lines in Paris alone. The company works constantly to improve its efficiency and customer service. A key concern is minimizing response time needed to address issues that affect the reliability and quality of electric power delivered to its customers. overview Location PARIS, FRANCE TRANSFORMING THE WAY THE WORLD WORKS TRANSFORMING THE WAY THE WORLD WORKS With an eye on cutting-edge technology, Enedis sought ways to leverage GIS information to support its field technician's efforts to provide high quality service. Working in collaboration with a team of French innovators, Enedis is using Trimble Catalyst together with helmet-mounted Microsoft® HoloLens® goggles to provide accurate real- time visualization of underground utilities. THE NEED TO FIND UNSEEN CABLES When it receives a report of a problem with electric service, Enedis conducts an "intervention." After refining the problem in the office, they dispatch field technicians to locate the affected lines and make needed maintenance or repairs. The technicians rely on GIS- generated maps (either on paper or tablets) to provide approximate locations of underground lines. They then inject signals into the affected lines to pinpoint the issue. The work can take hours and must be completed before excavation and repairs can begin. Nadir el Abadi, who is responsible for Enedis mapping activities in its Paris region, was already familiar with GIS and GNSS as tools for managing underground utility assets. He began to investigate using augmented reality (AR) to improve efficiency. "It seemed logical to find a way to visualize in real time the global environment while looking for our underground networks," he said. "Augmented reality is a great solution to combine the external environment, cartographic information and technical data."

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