About New Hampshire Department of Transportation
The New Hampshire Department of Transportation (DOT) is headquartered in the state’s capital, Concord. The agency’s responsibilities include ensuring the safe, efficient, and reliable movement of people and goods through various modes of transportation, including roads, transit, railways, and air, as well as active transportation like bicycle and pedestrian modes.
According to the New Hampshire DOT themselves, their purpose is to enhance the quality of life in New Hampshire:
“Transportation excellence in New Hampshire is fundamental to the state’s sustainable economic development and land use, enhancing the environment and preserving the unique character and quality of life. The Department will provide safe and secure mobility and travel options for all of the state’s residents, visitors, and goods movement through a transportation system and services that are well maintained, efficient, reliable, and provide seamless interstate and intrastate connectivity.”
New Hampshire DOT also works to manage and coordinate transportation-related programs and initiatives to improve the overall transportation system. This can include initiatives to reduce traffic congestion, enhance public transportation options, promote sustainable transportation practices, and support the development of innovative technologies- including AssetWorks Enterprise Asset Management (EAM).
Before AssetWorks Enterprise Asset Management (EAM)
New Hampshire DOT had AssetWorks FleetFocus M5, a fleet management software, and several other separate legacy systems, but was ready to implement integrated software designed to manage infrastructure. In late December 2021, the department began migration away from FleetFocus M5 and those other systems and towards AssetWorks’ asset management software. The department officially went live with AssetWorks EAM in July 2022 and has found the data insightful. “We’ve heard from our Signals group that using EAM has simplified tracking preventative maintenance and repair work orders across our technicians and the State,” said New Hampshire DOT Asset Management Administrator Nicholas Alexander.
"We’ve heard from our Signals group that using EAM has simplified tracking preventative maintenance and repair work orders across our technicians and the State.”
Choosing a Vendor
Even though the New Hampshire DOT was already utilizing AssetWorks software to manage their vehicles, they still did research into other asset management software vendors. “There was scoring that went into selecting the best value solution for us as part of a formal process. Several other companies met the technical requirements and AssetWorks EAM was identified as the best value based on cost and functionality,” said Alexander.
Before deciding on AssetWorks EAM, there were many considerations the New Hampshire DOT evaluated before ensuring they made the optimal choice, including in the areas of:
- Agency Needs
New Hampshire DOT was looking for software that offered more insight into assets besides vehicles and equipment- such as buildings and infrastructure. - Industry Experience
AssetWorks has a proven track record of over 40 years of industry experience and more than 1,000 customers across public and private industries. - Integration Capabilities
AssetWorks EAM seamlessly integrates with fleet management software, mobile software, and GPS/tracking, just to name a few. - Mobile Accessibility
New Hampshire DOT was looking for software with mobile capabilities so their team could continuously communicate even when in a disconnected environment- something AssetWorks offers for its fleet and asset management software. - Vendor Support & Training
AssetWorks offers 24/7 support and countless training opportunities, including webinars, remote upgrades, regional training, customized training options, and local and national tradeshows.
Asset Management vs. Fleet Management
Even though asset management and fleet management software are used to manage and optimize an organization’s resources, they focus on different types of assets and operations. Asset management software is designed to track, monitor, and optimize assets to ensure assets are utilized efficiently and maintained. Fleet management software, on the other hand, manages a fleet of vehicles to help fleets with operations, vehicle tracking, maintenance, fuel management, and driver management.
With New Hampshire DOT having various assets besides vehicles, implementing AssetWorks EAM helped the agency gain insight into what went on behind the scenes. “One of the other asset classes that we moved into the system early was what we call our durable inventory, which is essentially all of our non-fleet equipment. We have chainsaws, lawnmowers, compressors, generators all across the state with our field personnel that we need to track. The interface is much better for searching, finding, and interacting with them, and they can update the records themselves as opposed to sending information to other people. That is a success,” said Alexander.
As the New Hampshire DOT continues to configure and implement EAM into its operations, they anticipate many benefits from utilizing the software’s timesheet. This feature will allow the agency to gain insight into productivity, workflows, and allocated time, all in real-time. “That is time-saving. The vision is to be able to record a work order, including everyone’s labor, and have that information available in timesheets for biweekly approvals,” mentioned Alexander.
"We have chainsaws, lawnmowers, compressors, generators all across the state with our field personnel that we need to track. The interface is much better for searching, finding, and interacting with them, and they can update the records themselves as opposed to sending information to other people. That is a success.”
Reasoning & Challenges
For nearly 15 years, the department utilized AssetWorks FleetFocus M5. The fleet management software tracks unlimited assets, including vehicles, equipment, parts, and fixed assets through their lifecycles. AssetWorks’ fleet management software was designed for fleets by fleets, so infrastructure-focused organizations like New Hampshire DOT may lack the data they need for their specific asset organization. “As a State Department of Transportation, we manage everything from our fleet vehicles, to our equipment, to the roads, bridges, culverts, retaining walls, guardrail, and everything else part of the transportation infrastructure,” said Alexander.
Transitioning an entire agency from separate fleet and asset management systems is a long-term project, so New Hampshire DOT decided to gradually switch users over to EAM. The team at AssetWorks has been there to support New Hampshire DOT throughout the process. “Our users are all used to different software solutions for their assets and business units, the team at AssetWorks has helped us best configure and implement EAM; working with them has been a very positive experience,” said Alexander.
New Hampshire DOT found the biggest hurdle was not the switch to new software but getting everyone to understand that EAM is an agency-wide New Hampshire DOT product that will manage not just the fleet but everything from chainsaws to multi-million-dollar roadways. Having the software agency-wide required more work to understand the product. To help with the transition, New Hampshire DOT is starting with only 300 of the 1650 users utilizing the new software. “The fleet technicians were very comfortable, so it was a big shift thinking of how mechanical services and fleet operations were going to share one system with bridge maintenance, highway maintenance, highway design, bridge design, and administration,” said New Hampshire DOT Project Manager Mark Bogacz.
"Technicians are transitioning to iPads in the field, whereas before they were on a disconnected laptop or pen and paper. So the data they are collecting now and will be collecting moving forward is more accessible and less prone to errors.”
Increased Mobility
New Hampshire DOT technicians have normally kept paper notes and enter the data once they returned to a connected environment, which is the office. Not having information in real-time can make managing operations difficult and increases the risk of errors. “Technicians are transitioning to iPads in the field, whereas before they were on a disconnected laptop or pen and paper. So the data they are collecting now and will be collecting moving forward is more accessible and less prone to errors. “The connected nature of EAM will provide benefits to both our personnel in the field getting the work done and to personnel at headquarters analyzing the data, developing workplans, and working on budgets,” said Alexander.
