How PowerNet Limited Replaced 25 Years of Legacy Drawing Systems with Modern Solutions 

Learn how PowerNet replaced decades of manual administrative processes with an automated system that restored control over thousands of designs for the company’s technical drawings and improved project delivery timelines. 

The Organization 

PowerNet is the fourth largest electricity network management company in New Zealand, operating four distinct regional networks across the southern portion of the country. Founded to serve diverse communities from rural areas to urban centers, the organization manages infrastructure that supplies electricity to approximately 75,000 to 80,000 customers, with over 300 staff spread throughout the region. 

The scale of PowerNet's operations is substantial. The company maintains 74 substations, 160,000 poles, 14,500 kilometers of lines and cables and 16,500 transformers across its service territories.  

The Challenge

PowerNet relied on a 25-year-old Microsoft Access database to manage engineering drawings stored across multiple network drives. The system required heavy manual administration and created multiple versions of the same files, leading to confusion, delays and limited confidence in data accuracy.

As the organization grew, teams struggled to keep drawings up to date. Project timelines were impacted, and the legacy system could not support web-based or mobile access for field staff.

“We had multiple copies of the same file sitting all over the place by various consultants doing different jobs. And then of course we had the issue of when they came back, multiple people had edited the same file.” - Reece Mulligan, Draughting Officer at PowerNet

The Solution

After evaluating available options, PowerNet selected Accruent RedEye, a cloud-native engineering document management solution, to centralize drawings, enforce version control and support collaboration with external contractors.

PowerNet worked with Accruent to clean and migrate historical data, standardize metadata and introduce new drawing templates to improve data quality and governance.

The Results

RedEye is now used across PowerNet’s asset management and project workflows. Drawings move through structured review and approval processes, and external consultants collaborate directly within the system.

Today, PowerNet has approximately 240 registered users, with about 75 active daily. Adoption spans engineering, drafting, project management and field teams. The new system has reduced administrative effort, improved data quality and strengthened confidence in drawing accuracy, supporting more efficient project delivery.

“Some of the sites have anything from 20 to 400 drawings, depending on the size of the site. So, if they’re just going to a small location and they’re wanting the 20 drawings, instead of churning through 18,000, scanning the QR code would give them a smaller selection to scroll through.” – Reece Mulligan, Draughting Officer at PowerNet

Download the full case study to learn how PowerNet approached data cleanup, change management and user adoption, and how those efforts delivered measurable improvements across the organization.