City Service Improvements

Improvements to various services continue as city staff tackles issues to eliminate waste and become more efficient through Lean Six Sigma, a process improvement method. One team that has evaluated a process, which has produced significant results, is Water Utilities.

Team members identified that frequent slowdowns were occurring with work crews, and focused on ways to improve crew effectiveness. They discovered that poor organization and space utilization was interfering with the transportation and security of required equipment, materials and tools needed to complete assigned jobs. Also, the restocking process was inconsistent, which caused delays in resupplying the vehicles and getting to work sites.

“As we began the review process, we realized that there were different ideas as to the cause of the work slowdowns for water repair crews,” said Todd Reck, water utilities director. “When out in the field, each crew needs to quickly determine what is needed to resolve the issue without delay.”

Staff considered each truck to be a workstation and determined that trucks should be equipped with everything needed at a job site to prevent costly return trips to the Valley View Municipal Complex. The team made improvements to one truck, and the following results will ultimately impact all 10 work crew trucks.

• Saved time on daily truck inventory – estimated 7.5 hours across 10 crews.
• Prevented the need for return trips – average of $75 per hour.
• Reduced average time spent on daily work orders by 30 hours per day across 10 crews; 7,800 hours per year.
• Reduced wear and tear on trucks and equipment.
• Increased truck organization and consistency.
• Provided better tool access.
• Improved customer service through increased responsiveness.
• Eliminated delays and restocking errors.
• Expanded truck capacity.
• Improved crew member efficiency.
• Increased knowledge and safety management.

• City Attorney’s Office – legal services request
• Customer Service – water service disconnects
• Police – property/evidence room
• Strategic Resources and Budget – workforce processes

Posted Feb. 4