Can you speak fluent ECID?
The Insight
A major component of Defence projects’ Handover Takeover (HOTO) requirements is capturing new assets in the Garrison Estate Management System (GEMS).
This is done by preparing and submitting GEMS Data Load (GDL) tools. The process involves creating new records and then populating and updating the tools as required.
This process is often viewed as an administrative task. This drastically underestimates the technicality of the process.
The Impact
To successfully capture new assets using GDL tools, there must be a thorough understanding of the job scope. This involves reviewing drawings and other scope documents for all disciplines to identify all new assets.
The Estate Data Requirement (EDR) lists all the assets that are required to be captured. This list includes each assets’ Estate Class ID (ECID). The current list of ECIDs comprises over 1100 items.
The new assets initially identified in the job scope must then be translated into assets that align with the EDR. This is seldom a matter of direct translation.
The EDR also dictates the granularity of the data that must be provided. While some items require a new record for every instance of the asset (‘per instance’), others are to be captured in groups (‘per type, per physical parent’).
Correct identification and/or creation of physical and functional parents of assets is also key to capturing new assets.
The above process requires technical aptitude across all disciplines to accurately understand, translate and capture the new works. The administrative, data entry part represents only the small, final portion of the process. Without the technical efforts that come before, it would be impossible to correctly complete GDL tools for the successful capture of new assets in GEMS.