Current Limitation (Oracle NMS 2.3 / 2.6)
The schematic view in NMS provides a clear logical representation of electrical connectivity, which is essential for operational tasks such as source tracing and outage analysis. However, it does not preserve the cardinal orientation (North, East, South, West) of electrical features as they appear in feeder prints or geographic layouts. This can lead to cognitive friction for operators who rely on directional references during switching and restoration activities.
Proposed Enhancement
Introduce an option in the schematic view to maintain cardinal orientation of devices and feeders as accurately as possible, aligning with their real-world directional layout. This feature should be configurable, allowing utilities to enable or disable orientation preservation based on operational preferences.
Benefits
- Improved Situational Awareness: Operators can quickly interpret feeder directional without cross-referencing geographic views.
- Operational Consistency: Aligns schematic diagrams with established feeder prints and switching procedures, reducing confusion.
- When multiple feeders are loaded in the schematic, cardinal orientation could make it easier for operators to mentally map feeders to their geographic regions.
- This might reduce confusion when feeders overlap or share tie points, especially in large service territories.