Fleet Dispatch s s Mission

Transcription

1 AUTOMATING FLEET DISPATCH Development of an Automated Scheduling System for Fleet Drivers and Equipment Operators Wayne King-Operations and Dispatch Manager Victoria Robinson-Equipment Operation Supervisor City of Milwaukee Fleet Services Tuesday April 28, 2009, 12:30 1:30 PM 1 Fleet Dispatch s s Mission In addition to providing vehicles and equipment, Dispatch provides equipment operators to City agencies which need them, subject to: Training and Experience Seniority Union Affiliation Union Management agreements related to assignment and replacement 2 Reasons for Scheduling Schedule replacement operators for operator absence Accommodate changes in requests for equipment Make equipment changes in response to changes in availability NASC 1

2 Driver Absence Operators are absent from their regular assignments for many reasons Vacation, Sick Leave, Injury, FMLA, Training, Union Activities, etc Absences are both planned in advance and occur with short notice 4 Changing Needs While most jobs are long-term or seasonal picked job assignments, many jobs last a shorter duration Divisions normally add or delete jobs with a minimum of 24 hours notice, but requests can result from emergencies or situations requiring urgent attention 5 Equipment Changes Primary reason for equipment changes is equipment being taken Out-Of-Service for repairs Replacement units are usually older and when front-line equipment becomes available, they need to be returned to active service NASC 2

3 Historical Perspective 1950 s 1960s The Index Card File Era Used 3 index card files containing Card for each driver Card for each piece of equipment Card for each job assignment One card from each file was selected and place in a 4 th schedule file drawer Later developed the Scheduling Board System 7 Card Files Used For Scheduling Equipment Card File 8 An Equipment Card NASC 3

4 Problems with Card System Incredibly cumbersome to work with Verification of job assignments was hunt and search No permanent record unless hand copied or typed out Process was time consuming. Complete schedule had to be reconstructed every day 10 Historical Perspective 1960s 1997 The Dispatch Board Era 38 x 42 sheets listing all drivers in seniority order Each drivers line had space for equipment #, parking location, starting time, work location 3 x 5 5 card listing handwritten job orders as called in by using division Fleet maintenance package running on a mainframe computer generated list of available equipment Finished schedule was carried forward from the prior day on the mainframe and any changes were entered to produce then next day s s schedule 11 Early Years of the Board Era 1960 Names Unknown Calendar starts on Friday, January 1 st and there are 29 days in February NASC 4

5 04/28/09 Data Entry On The Mainframe Supervisor Ron Moore 13 Filling Jobs on a Plow Sheet 1985 Ron Thombs and Duane Heine Equipment Operations Supervisor IIs 14 Problems with the Board System Slow access to the mainframe system No search capabilities and information could only be retrieved in a page by page format Boards were difficult to work on Sheets had to be printed by a vendor Process was still employee intensive NASC 5

6 Historical Perspective The Spreadsheet Era Eliminated mainframe fleet maintenance system, lost Available Equipment List and schedule filing support. Implemented Fleet Focus Move schedule activity to a Window s s Excel spreadsheet with a tab for each day Retained overall format of schedule, schedule processes and the job card for job order changes and scheduled driver absences 16 Spreadsheet Advantages Spreadsheets were searchable and sort able Provided a readily available archive of previous schedules Hard copies were much easier to store 17 Scheduling Using Spreadsheets Seniority Numbers (4 columns) Drivers Name Vehicle Number Parking Location Using Division Number Start Time Confirmation ok Block Notes Picked Job Listing NASC 6

7 Fleet Dispatch Today 2002 Consolidated Driver Pools 125 Fleet Driver-Workers 275 Sanitation Driver-Loaders Co-mingled seniorities among 3 unions 2004 Formalized Replacement Policy Standardized rules for all replacements 19 Scheduling During the Spreadsheet Era 2003 Supervisor Vincent Koeppen 20 Scheduling During The Spreadsheet Era 2003 Supervisors Victoria Robinson and Michael Pronold at scheduling boards NASC 7

8 Database Advantages Possible advantages were: Searchable Reduced labor intensiveness Easy access to assignment histories Improved reporting functions Linkage to other electronic information Rules-based scheduling 22 The Database Alternative Phase 1 Develop a relational database with a spreadsheet front end Smooth transition period for scheduling personnel Simplistic presentation of assignment information Outside users were familiar with the earlier spreadsheet presentation 23 Screen Print from Computerized Schedule NASC 8

9 The Database Alternative Phase 2 Develop tables/links to supporting data Incorporate Picked Job, Picked Vacation and Driver Training and Experience information Imbedded display of driver contact information Include equipment list from Fleet Focus (Fleet Maintenance software package) 25 The Database Alternative Phase 2 continued Develop tables/links to supporting data Automatically highlight Out-of-Service equipment Improve report generation functions Implement security measures to control access Prepare operating documentation Added time stamp to all schedule changes Remodeled scheduler workstation 26 Screen Print from Computerized Schedule NASC 9

10 The Database Alternative Phase 3 Additional Enhancements Added multiple schedules for salting and snow plowing operations Developed Assignment Scheduling Tickets Additional reporting capabilities Developed archive and maintenance tools and procedures Addition of dual monitor capabilities 28 Primary Scheduling Station 2007 Communications Assistant Kaye Weston-Smith 29 The Database Alternative Phase 4 Automated Scheduling Allows automated completion of the next day s s schedule once setup is complete Takes into account New and completed job assignments Scheduled driver absences Existing replacement guidelines Manual assignments of specific jobs or for specific drivers Fully automated or step-by-step verification NASC 10

11 Supervisor s s Scheduling Station 2008 Supervisor Dan Lewand 31 The Database Alternative Phase 5 Develop export procedure from the scheduler to our pager notification system Communicate information on assignment changes directly to the driver Can be used to notify drivers of general alert in Could be used as a callout engine for General Ice Controls, Rollovers, and Plowings. Movement of entire system from Microsoft Access to Oracle 32 Recognizable Benefits Reduced the hours needed to prepare one day s schedule from 60 hours to about 20 Virtually eliminated lost jobs, which improved relations with our customers Improved assignment tracking made it much easier to answer the union s Why, What, & When questions. This reduced scheduling grievances by 90% Eliminated the physical and mental strain of bending over the boards, writing in small boxes NASC 11

12 Victoria Robinson with a live demonstration 34 Pick Schedule DW column is the seniority ranking for general driving assignments. Numbers can be changed as operators retire, transfer or when other situations occur. Job ID. correlates a specific job with specific operator. The D prefix refers to a pick job and carries the DW number of the driver that picked it. A J prefix is a shorter term added job. 35 Dual Screens Left, live schedule/right, pick assignments While viewing the live schedule, changes can be made to the job picks. Saving, will change the schedule for the following day. Changes made to the live schedule will not affect the job picks NASC 12

13 JF - Job Function Lets us know how long the operator has held the assignment. These columns are hidden while working on scheduling and can be opened at anytime 37 Dual Screens Left, live schedule/right, unassigned job list Assignments are a given in the following order: white, yellow and blue. White are assigned. Yellow may go on if conditions are warranted. Blue are placed on hold depending on the operator availability. Red assignments are completed and will not t appear the following day. 38 Schedule is sorted by Job Picks The entire schedule can be sorted by any column making it easier for supervisory and scheduling personnel to locate a desired piece of information NASC 13

14 Column Sorting To find specific information, click on the appropriate heading column. This example is sorted by area/route-ascending. ascending. Replacement equipment is indicated in red. 40 Driver Notification DW number, when highlighted in yellow indicates operators have to be contacted for a new job assignment. Green indicates that the operator has received the assignment All assignments can be sent to the operator(s) ) via the paging system by highlighting the operator(s) ) and using the function key (F6). 41 Operator Contact Information The Phone1 is the main contact number and is also set up as a speed dial using the DW number. The Phone2 is a secondary contact number. The Beeper can be used 24/ NASC 14

15 Assignment history of operator Can be seen as far back as needed. Here we have 90 days. We can go back 120, 310 days if needed. The operators job pick is always shown at the top. By using the function key (Set Schedule) we can assign the operator the original job or any other job the operator has held NASC 15