Story
IBM@
Tohoku Electric Power Network
Digital Tree Management Platform Streamlines Field Operations for Power Distribution Utility
Tohoku Electric Power Network, a major power transmission and distribution company in Japan, addressed tree management inefficiencies across 600,000 km of distribution lines by implementing a mobile-compatible system integrating Salesforce and ArcGIS.
Value results
| Category | Value result |
|---|---|
| Insight | Objective data-driven tree prioritization improves budget allocation and reduces unnecessary felling work |
| Capability | Field documentation now completed in real-time from mobile devices, eliminating office-based form creation delays |
| Capability | Seamless map-based task management provides centralized visibility across 600,000 km of distribution lines and 3.1 million poles |
| Capability | Rapid agile development cycles enable fast deployment and continuous feature enhancement with minimal business disruption |
Tohoku Electric Power Network manages electricity distribution across six prefectures in Japan's Tohoku region and Niigata Prefecture, overseeing approximately 600,000 kilometers of distribution lines and 3.1 million utility poles. The company faced significant operational challenges in managing tree felling operations—a critical maintenance function to prevent power outages and ensure grid safety. Historically, each prefectural office managed tree and facility information using paper maps, ledgers, and Excel spreadsheets, making it difficult to identify tree hazards quickly, respond to emergencies, or apply consistent management practices across the organization. When Japan's revenue cap system launched in fiscal year 2023, the company faced an urgent mandate to standardize tree logging methods company-wide and provide objective justification for tree felling expenditures. To address these challenges, Tohoku Electric Power Network partnered with IBM to develop a unified, mobile-compatible tree logging management system built on a platform integrating Salesforce for customer information management and ArcGIS for geographic information systems.
