Applications | Page 28 of 68 | Locus Technologies

EHS Digital Transformation: Managing Drinking Water Quality Data and Compliance: CCR in the Cloud

In most industrialized cities around the world, drinking water is readily available and safe. Safeguarding groundwater (aquifers), streams, rivers, reservoirs, and lakes is crucial to continue delivering clean water on the tap. So is testing and validated water quality data. There are several aspects of drinking water quality that is of concern in the United States, including Cryptosporidium, disinfection by-products, lead, perchlorates, and pharmaceutical substances.

Recent headlines about water quality issues in cities like Flint, Pittsburgh, Asheville, or Rome and Cape Town are motivating consumers to ask more questions about their water quality. Albuquerque’s groundwater is becoming seriously depleted; Fresno’s groundwater is highly susceptible to contamination; In Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Newark, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego and Washington, D.C., source water is threatened by runoff and industrial or sewage contamination; Water supplies in Baltimore, Fresno, Los Angeles, New Orleans, San Diego, and several other cities are vulnerable to agricultural pollution containing nitrogen, pesticides or sediment.

Locus Technologies IoT Monitoring. Connected at all times.

In most cities in the US, drinking water quality is in conformity with the norms of the Safe Drinking Water Act, which requires EPA to set Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCL) for potential pollutants. In addition, the EPA’s Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) Rule of 1998 requires most public water suppliers to provide consumer confidence reports, also known as annual water quality reports, to their customers. Each year by July 1 anyone connected to a public water system should receive in the mail an annual water quality report that tells where water in a specific locality comes from and what’s in it. Locus EIM automates this reporting and allows utilities to be transparent by publishing CCR online in real time so that consumers have access to their CCR at all times. Consumers can also find out about these local reports on a map provided by EPA.

Utilities must maintain good water quality records and manage them in a secure database with built-in alerts for any outliers so that responsible water quality managers can react quickly when there is exceedance of MCL or another regulatory limit.

Learn more about our water solutions.

PSE&G selects Locus’ cloud platform to augment EHS compliance

Locus Platform will provide “out-of-the-box” configurable software to streamline PSE&G’s regulatory compliance and spill management, tracking, and reporting.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 4 April 2019 — Locus Technologies, (Locus), the industry leader in EHS, sustainability, and compliance management software, is pleased to announce that the Public Service Electric & Gas (PSE&G), the largest provider of gas and electric service in New Jersey, servicing 1.8 million gas customers and 2.2 million electric customers in more than 300 urban, suburban, and rural communities, selected the multi-tenant SaaS Locus Platform to streamline its spill compliance and incident tracking and reporting programs.

“With Locus’ configurable solution, we can set up applications, dashboards and reports to align with our current compliance application and tailor the functionality to our specific business needs. We can continue to use our same data collection forms, but with more robust tracking tools to help our team keep on top of our EHS regulations and reporting requirements throughout PSE&G,” said Robert Pollock, Sr. Dir Environ Projects & Services.

“By using Locus Platform Compliance and Spill Management application, PSE&G is combining the advantages of off-the-shelf software with Locus Platform’s powerful configuration tools. This means PSE&G will get exactly the software solution they need to fit their business processes in the shortest time,” said Wes Hawthorne, President of Locus.

A better way to manage all those ops readings

Manage all those ops readings without spreadsheets or paper forms

I am constantly reminded by the number of calls we receive, that no matter how robust a SCADA and HMI system is, there is always a requirement for in-field O&M verification and documentation. It’s almost universal, and spans a myriad of industries, large and small, the need to monitor and record thousands of periodic (daily/per shift/weekly, etc.) routine readings/recordings at a prescribed frequency often recorded on pen to paper field forms. The same processes sometimes use “template” spreadsheets for data collection that are then emailed/placed on shared file servers or otherwise sent to some central location for review and post processing. These processes are antiquated and subject to data quality and record keeping challenges.

It’s time for an upgrade!

Why simple form builders are not a good software solution for ops data

Electronic forms are great for collecting data and almost every business entity has built such forms in spreadsheets, word processing or simple databases to collect the information. In addition, there is a software category of form builders and they can certainly build forms. The question becomes is it a good fit so solve your business process issues?
Most customers have more sophisticated needs than simply collecting information on one or more custom forms – they want to do something with all the information collected far beyond what simple form builder tools can provide. Even customers with sophisticated spreadsheet forms, can’t manage them as they multiply exponentially or their Excel gurus retire.

Here are some examples of where you may require software tools beyond a simple form builder:

Collecting equipment readings on each shift at multiple locations and report the data to centralized management, who review the data, look for trends/ issues.
Verifying and validating data at the point of data entry to eliminate data entry errors.
Automatically visualizing (charts or tables) information in near real time to make operations decisions.
Sharing the information with others.
Scheduling activities related to periodic or infrequent data collection events.
Receiving notifications when actions are due.
Automatically creating regulatory reports in prescribed formats.
Creating complex work flows and audited approval processes.
Creating intelligent forms with calculations based on past data or other criteria

Forms with Benefits

Locus Platform is a configurable platform with standard applications that are easy to configure to customers unique requirements. One of its many strengths is its powerful form builder capable of creating simple or complex forms with simple or sophisticated logic. So for customers looking to move from paper and spreadsheet templates, it’s an excellent option to consider, especially if you require more than a simple “fill in the blank” form for transmittal using mobile devices. Best of all, the data are securely stored in a database structure for reporting and alternative business uses and analyses, compared to the almost impossible management of hundreds of spreadsheets or paper forms.

Here are some examples where sophisticated forms are integrated with a flexible database:

Water Utilities – Tracking chlorination and aerobic digestion processes with daily inputs/outputs with a monthly summary and chart, and tracking well production across well fields.
Water Utilities – Tracking periodic sewer discharges and water samples for permit compliance.
Agriculture – Monitoring food processing equipment for compliance with optimum equipment operating parameters for air permits.
Pharmaceutical/Chemical Manufacturing Facilities- Tracking EHS daily, weekly, monthly, etc. investigations and in-house audits.
Universities – tracking chemical inventories.
Facility Engineering – Documenting O&M activities for groundwater treatment systems.
Electric Utilities – Monitoring water/energy/gas usage from old style meters for sustainability reporting with data entry validation.
Refineries and Terminals – Collecting O&M, usage and wastewater data.

If you still rely on paper forms and template spreadsheets and are ready to streamline your process and enhance the value of your data, give us a call and we can show you a range of options that will retire the paper forms for good!

Locus announces EIM One — a new way to streamline environmental data management for projects of all sizes and needs

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 12 March 2019 — Locus Technologies, (Locus), the industry leader in EHS, sustainability, and environmental compliance management software, is pleased to announce EIM One is available today, enabling a range of affordable solutions to automate laboratory analytical testing, analytical data workflow process, and meet environmental information management and EHS compliance needs.

“EIM has been a market leader since its introduction in 1999, and has a long history meeting the environmental compliance needs at a wide range of complex, technically challenging sites and enterprise deployments. However, some projects need a simpler, focused solution to manage analytical data for small sites or drinking water utilities. It’s for these projects that EIM One was created. EIM One can be deployed on hours’ notice and used for routine data collection needs often handled by spreadsheets or paper forms,” said Wes Hawthorne, President of Locus.

With today’s current push towards digital transformation, many consultants, small firms, water utilities, and others are ready to finally move away from ad hoc data management approaches and adopt a more robust and formal software solution. However, it is important that the solution be configurable, scalable and right-sized for their needs today and be able to expand as their needs and businesses change.

EIM One takes advantage of Locus’ 20-year history of EHS software in the cloud and includes all the essentials for environmental and analytical data management in a modular and scalable package. This means customers can start with the essentials and add functionality when and if they need it. This approach allows Locus to offer a range of attractive pricing options. With the essential EIM One configuration, customers will be loading analytical laboratory data and producing reports in record time and taking advantage of market tested SaaS-based database design, configurability, security, and accessibility.

“EIM One is a great place to start if you’re new to digital transformation. We are excited to release EIM One and finally give customers the options they have been asking for and provide just the essentials they need so they can confidently start to digitally transform their older data management approaches at very affordable pricing” said Neno Duplan, Founder and CEO at Locus. “Today’s customer wants choice above all else, and EIM One gives them the options, including mobile, in a modern configurable SaaS solution.”

Locus Technologies receives the prestigious EBJ Award for innovation and growth for 13 consecutive years

Environmental Business Journal (EBJ) recognized the firm for growth and innovation in the field of Information Technology, customer diversification and IoT integration

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 5 March 2019 — Locus Technologies, a leading provider of multi-tenant, SaaS-based EHS software, was awarded its 13th consecutive award by Environmental Business Journal (EBJ) for growth and innovation in the field of Information Technology. EBJ is a business research publication providing high-value strategic business intelligence to the environmental industry. Locus received the award for its 2018 customer diversification along with pioneering IoT integration for its various platforms and taking a leadership role in water quality management software for water utilities. Locus’ flagship products Locus EIM, Locus Platform and Locus Mobile continue to resonate with the marketplace and attract a wide range of forward thinking customers who rely on Locus software to provide innovative, secure and scalable applications to solve environmental compliance challenges.

“Locus continues to influence the industry with its forward-thinking product set, pure SaaS architecture, and eye for customer needs,” said Grant Ferrier, president of Environmental Business International Inc. (EBI), publisher of Environmental Business Journal.

“We are honored to receive the EBJ Information Technology award once again, and we shall continue to design robust solutions to meet diverse and complex EHS challenges with innovative cloud and mobile-based applications,” said Wes Hawthorne, President of Locus Technologies.

Make your O&M mobile apps work harder for you!

Mobile apps for water and wastewater operation and maintenance (O&M) activities have been around for some time now. Most users are familiar with the benefits such as instant data collection and access to reference information for better, more reliable O&M monitoring. However, as new software tools are consistently becoming more powerful and more accessible, that “ground-breaking” mobile app that you purchased five years ago may now be looking a little dated. When you are ready to upgrade, here are some of the features that are the new “must haves”.

Unique and custom forms

For many O&M programs, you may have your own data collection needs that are specific to your facility or industry. Mobile O&M apps now allow you to tailor your input forms to add new data fields, remove unwanted fields, change some of the logic like making certain fields required, and make certain fields tied into established pick lists. Even better, you can match the mobile form to the original paper form, making the transition to mobile simple and intuitive for staff. And, the more the merrier, as modern mobile apps let you have multiple forms on the same app so you have everything you need in one place.

Real-time entry validation

It is not enough to just enter your O&M information into a mobile device. You also want to make sure you are entering correct data. Current O&M mobile tools can check your entry as you enter it and validate against whatever criteria are established for that data. So you make sure that you’re entering a pH reading of 7.2, rather than 72. You can also use configurable pick lists to limit data entry to your specific desired entries and not have to correct misspellings or 16 different ways to say “out of service”. Make sure that pick lists are configurable and can be shared with each of your company’s devices.

Barcode and QR code scanning

You are probably already using your phone to compare prices at your local store. It is amazingly easy to simply scan a product’s barcode and instantly see the best available price locally or online. Since virtually every phone/tablet now has a built-in camera, you can use that to scan barcodes or QR codes to associate data entry with a tagged sampling port or asset. This can save you from possible mismatch errors that can occur when simply selecting from a list or typing in data.

Use your voice

We are starting to use voice recognition technology in our mobile devices to quickly send out text messages. Why not use it for recording inspection/audit comments or field issues? Voice recognition is improving every year, and can provide your comments onto a data collection form much faster than typing and can be especially useful for conditions where gloves are required and typing or stylus input is not practical. Using the phone’s native abilities, take advantage of voice feature to streamline note taking, knowing that you can always fix up any issues back in the office.

Review, Sync, Repeat

Mobile apps should have a summary screen to review your data before sending it back to your database, such as a summary form for all data collected during a shift. And once you do sync your data back to the main database (you have a main database right???), instantly reset the form for the next day data collection event so you are always ready.

No Internet? No Problem!

Mobile apps that won’t function when there is no connection should be abandoned. You need to be able to collect data no matter the location and the signal strength. Look for mobile apps that function with zero connectivity, and save the data until a signal is found. Not every location at modern water and wastewater facilities has a hot spot, so be prepared with the right app.

Learn more about Locus Mobile.

Locus Technologies partners with RegScan to provide EHS regulatory content and updates

The partnership will enhance Locus Platform’s Compliance and Task Management applications by providing real-time access to current regulations

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 12 January 2019 — Locus Technologies, the leader in enterprise EHS compliance and sustainability software, has partnered with RegScan, a trusted resource for up-to-date regulatory information, to enhance its Compliance and Task Management applications via its configurable SaaS Locus Platform. An integration from RegScan into the Locus Platform will give Locus users seamless real-time access to current EHS regulations. This will allow Locus users to customize a WatchList in RegScan to quickly and readily view relevant EHS regulations.

“We are excited for this opportunity to partner with Locus, it’s important to be able to access all your regulatory information, legal registers and audit protocols in one place,” said Ned Ertel, President and C.E.O. of RegScan, Inc.

“By using Locus Platform’s Compliance and Task application with integrated regulatory content services, our customers can reap the benefits of using the out-of-the-box and configurable Locus Platform to build the exact solution that they need for their business process in a short time,” said Wes Hawthorne, President of Locus.

Simple and reliable tank emissions calculation tool for accurate reports

EPA announced that it will no longer support its TANKS 4.09D emission calculation tool. Have you been researching various software options in the market? Look no further, Locus has a reliable, easy to use, scalable replacement Tanks Emission application for you!

Simplify your EPA fenceline regulatory reporting

Locus handles all the EPA required environmental data collected at your refinery giving you a simple solution for all your data management and reporting needs.

5 time-saving tools for EHS compliance

We all know the struggle of getting things done with shortened staff without compromising the quality of our work, especially in EHS. Locus Technologies’ Locus Platform (LP) offers multiple options to ease your complexity by providing a truly SaaS platform packed with some nifty apps. Here are some tools in LP that can help you utilize your workforce much more efficiently:

1) Dashboards tailored to your needs

Every software has built-in report and dashboards, but they may not meet all your needs when purchased off the shelf. If you need a new report, chart, or other visualization of your data, it usually incurs a custom software development charge, but not with Locus Platform (LP). LP allows you to assemble the information you want in your chosen format (bar or line charts, maps, tables, treemaps, diagrams, etc.) and share your custom dashboards and real-time information/data with your team. In addition, the views and dashboards export to Excel, so you can easily integrate with commonly used tools and further mine the data. At the enterprise level, powerful dashboards will help you understand the status of each facility based on a matrix you design. With the LPs flexibility, facility information can be automatically populated based on the user credentials, saving your team time and frustration.

2) Simplified Sustainability Reporting

Locus Platform’s Sustainability application and calculation engine support simultaneous calculations using multiple methods for various reporting programs including EPA, California ARB, CDP, TCR, DJSI, and others. This allows users to input data only once and utilize it to report to multiple federal, state, and voluntary reporting programs, according to their required format. The application will also support direct electronic reporting formats for many reporting programs, so that additional manual transcription and submittal of data are no longer necessary. This is a very powerful tool and a huge advantage to customers in terms of improving efficiency, while reducing costs.

3) Integration

Integration, if done correctly, can save you a great deal of time and headache during some of the most tedious and cumbersome tasks in EHS data management. Locus Platform (LP) has built in a unique point and click integration application to enable connection with major databases or third-party systems that have open API (Access privileges). Some integration, database, and communication standards and methods that are supported include OLE compliance, SOAP, COM, Java, XML, web services, ODBC/ODMA/SQL/Oracle, VIM, and MAPI. LP also works well with MS Excel and provides a powerful two-way synchronization allowing users to download parts of the database to Excel, then work, edit, and verify or append data on their local copy of Excel where they have no internet connection. Any revisions they perform to the downloaded data in Excel can be automatically synchronized back to the Locus Platform application. During the process, a complete audit trail will be preserved. This can be a great time saver especially when you are sending large volumes of valid values in a database or if you are migrating any historical data.

4) Mobile

Locus’ Mobile application allows you to sync with your server to create data collection profiles on a mobile device, whether it’s your phone or a tablet. It will allow you to click through and enter data on the device even when you are offline. Data validation is performed in real time and is stored locally on the device, once the phone reaches an internet signal, it will sync with your server, and the data will automatically be updated in Locus’ cloud-hosted solution. What’s more, Locus Mobile works seamlessly with both EIM and Locus Platform.

Using Mobile you receive the benefits of data entry directly on the mobile device, with immediate data availability on the cloud when you reach an internet signal. Other advantages of using Mobile include location metadata and mapping integration, bar-code/OR code scanning, voice recognition, and form customization. If you’d like to know more about the Locus Mobile application, check out the Top 10 cool features in Locus Mobile.

5) XML Exports

Locus has prioritized enhancing its GHG application in Locus Platform to make it easy to manage GHG emission inventory tracking and reporting requirements. Locus Technologies is the only software vendor that is a certified GHG verifier under the State of California’s AB32, and has performed the most GHG verifications in California since 2015. The State and Federal eGGRT web portals are notoriously cumbersome and require a significant amount of your time to input all the required data and generate your report. But with XML support, you can bypass almost the entire data entry process, and complete your submittal within a few minutes. XML reports support many greenhouse gas subparts, including EPA GHG Subparts C, D, W, and NN. And because data entry for EPA and CARB is consolidated in the XML GHG application, it eliminates the need to maintain separate agency spreadsheets and software. Additional reporting programs are also adding support for XML submittals, such as EPA’s eManifest. This functionality can be a huge time saver for anyone working with these online regulatory reporting tools.