Case Study: City of New Ulm, MN achieves streamlined, accurate utility asset management with Trimble Positions

A Minnesota town uses GNSS and GIS to manage public assets

New Ulm Public Utilities, serving a Minnesota city of about 13,000 residents, faced tight budgets and an outdated CAD-based asset mapping approach that stored separate map files for six utilities. With only one person managing growing volumes of field data and technicians struggling to locate assets quickly, the city needed a modern, centralized system to streamline collection and maintenance of utility asset information.

The city implemented Trimble Geo 7X handhelds with TerraSync field software and Trimble Positions Desktop integrated into its Esri ArcGIS geodatabase, using MnCORS/VRS for high-accuracy GNSS positioning. The solution standardized field workflows, enabled centralized QA/QC and connectivity management, and let crews navigate directly to assets; the result was faster, more accurate mapping (real‑time horizontal accuracy to ~10 cm), a reduction from seven steps to one 30‑second step, up to 500% faster workflows, fewer revisits, and improved cost-efficiency and service delivery.

City of New Ulm, MN

John Bendix

Engineering/GIS Technician