The City of Tacoma
& Tacoma Public Utilities

Washington, USA

The City of Tacoma, Washington (The City) consists of two major divisions (General Government and Tacoma Public Utilities) and two subdivisions (Tacoma Public Library and Tacoma Employee’s Retirement System). It was faced with aging technology, including 300 separate databases across its various divisions, and widespread use of inefficient manual processes.

The City bills 183,000 utility customers for some combination of electricity (including generation, transmission and distribution), water, storm drainage, residential and commercial solid waste, sanitary sewer, cable and Internet service. Tacoma also provides its 194,500 citizens with Economic Development, Fire, Police, Municipal Court, Streets & Grounds, Tacoma Rail and Fleet Services. The City currently has 3,300 active employees, and provides HR/Payroll services to 700 Tacoma/Pierce County employees and 2,500 Police, Fire and other City Retirees.

Axon (formerly TUI Consulting) served as the prime implementation and integration contractor to deliver the SAP R/3 Core Modules and IS-U/CCS system, including integration of the solution with the City’s ESRI GIS system, its MDSI Mobile Dispatch system, and its Accelio (formerly Jetform) bill printing system. The SAP solution replaced billing for the City’s 183,000 utility accounts, calculate payroll for 5,500 employees, and provides one work management system across all divisions.

The first phase of the City of Tacoma’s solution which went live in October 2003 included the SAP Core R/3 system, which provides the City with ERP functionality across its facilities and divisions. The utility-specific CCS system and a comprehensive management reporting system went live in November 2003.