Integrys Energy group (www.integrysgroup.com) has been using iFactor’s Vector Rubber Sheeting (VRS) to re-align their geographic data to more accurate positions – moving both 
their landbase and facility geometries so they align more closely to reality so they can now be rendered along with many geographic layers generally available.
The disconnect between the locations shown within Integrys’ GIS system and the GPS coordinates being gathered by field crews was causing difficulties when locating and updating existing facilities, designing and estimating projects and responding to customer and emergency situations. Integrys identified and weighed the options:
- Re-digitize the land base and facilities as needed
- Purchase a new land base and just move the facilities
- Outsource the project
- Use an existing adjustment software package
… before choosing iFactor’s VRS module. Why? Integrys noted that VRS was designed specifically for Smallworld, was relatively inexpensive, user friendly, worked seamlessly with iFactor’s Web Maps Connector they were already using and allowed them to use in-house labor to do the time consuming Ground Control Point (GCP) digitization after a single day of on-site training. Integrys’ experience with iFactor gave them the confidence to use this relatively new Vector Rubber Sheeting software.
Integrys’ conflation project has moved over 420,000 geometries across multiple datastores. A detailed look at the project was presented at GITA 2011 in Grapevine, Texas (http://tinyurl.com/4olpfw3) with the title: “Deflating the High Cost of Landbase Conflation – A Low Cost Approach at Minnesota Energy Resources”
Entergy (www.entergy.com) chose VRS for similar reasons: cost, simplicity, ease of training for internal resources and a long standing relationship with iFactor. An on-site training session had technicians digitizing GCPs after a few hours and over the next few months they digitized some 16,500 GCPs to closely define the various shifts across the region. The production move of the gas infrastructure in the Baton Rouge area is scheduled to run before the end of March 2011.