Name of project: Maintenance Inventory Management System Category: Best New Innovative Product, Service or Application

Transcription

1 Name of project: Maintenance Inventory Management System Category: Best New Innovative Product, Service or Application Organization: Florida Department of Transportation District Four Intelligent Transportation Systems Unit 2300 W. Commercial Blvd Fort Lauderdale, FL Contact Person: Dong Chen FDOT District Four ITS Program Manager W. Commercial Blvd Fort Lauderdale, FL Best of ITS Awards Florida Department of Transportation District Four Page 1

2 MIMS 1. Project Description: a. What is the purpose of the project? The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) District Four Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Unit manages miles of highway and ITS devices in South Florida. Proprietary software called MIMS (Maintenance and Inventory Management System) was developed to assist the Department manage these devices with maximum efficiency and productivity. The purpose of MIMS is to maximize ITS device uptime by automating and consolidating activities relating to the management of maintenance processes and the dispatching of maintenance technicians. b. What needs and challenges does it address? Whom does it serve? MIMS consolidates a large portion of the management and tracking of ITS maintenance staff activities into a single tool, versus having to utilize different systems for device / hardware trouble tickets, dispatching, reporting, spare parts inventory, and device assignments. This allows the maintenance team to, in real-time, quickly determine ticket priority, technician locations and statuses, spare part availability, device configuration and other information required to optimize the trouble ticket resolution possible. A mobile version of MIMS allows field technicians keep all information up-to-the minute. In addition to directly serving maintenance staff needs, MIMS addresses other ITS program challenges. FDOT devices are frequently relocated due to deployments, repair, and operations related activities. MIMS tracks all of this movement while simultaneously keeping an accurate inventory of FDOT property. Another challenge is keeping track of the preventive maintenance that must be performed on the vast number of devices being maintained. MIMS keeps records of all completed work as well as provides alerts when preventive maintenance is due to be performed. When the annual FDOT inventory audit takes place, MIMS saves a significant amount of time in accounting for all devices. Should any criminal activity take place (such as generator or copper wire theft), MIMS records will reveal that the items are missing well in advance of the annual inventory audit. MIMS serves the FDOT ITS staff by streamlining maintenance activities and keeping accurate, up-to-date records, while reducing the time and effort associated with managing devices, but it is the motoring public that benefits from the resulting increase in system availability. c. Was it designed as a short-term or long-term effort? MIMS was designed to provide the FDOT ITS operations and maintenance staff with a longterm solution. The software was designed to adapt to system expansion, as well as ITS program changes. MIMS was recently deployed in FDOT District Five and could be deployed statewide Best of ITS Awards Florida Department of Transportation District Four Page 2

3 d. How does it further the development and/or deployment of ITS? How does it help the organization achieve its goals? MIMS furthers the development of ITS because it provides staff with additional control and visibility regarding ITS devices and maintenance. By using MIMS, FDOT can maximize ITS device uptime by automating and consolidating activities relating to the management of maintenance processes and the dispatching of maintenance technicians. This is critical to the District Four ITS Unit s vision to be the best ITS program, by maximizing roadway efficiency, using technology, innovation and continuous improvement. The vision of FDOT is serving the people of Florida by delivering a transportation system that is fatality and congestion free. As ITS is critical to managing congestion and MIMS helps FDOT make better use of ITS, MIMS is very supportive of FDOT s vision for the entire organization. MIMS even supports the Intelligent Transportation Society of America s vision in providing a new interoperable ITS technology. 2. Project Results: Using a before and after comparison, please describe the project s results the specific and measurable outcomes and explain how you measure performance. a. Prior to the start of the project, what were the conditions, results, or situations that serve as the baseline against which you compare the project s outcomes? See chart below. b. What are the results of the project? See chart below. Before Maintenance technicians receive trouble tickets through a standalone helpdesk system. They look up details such as device configuration, spare parts, past reports and more in separate systems. Trouble tickets may be passed around between many people to collect supporting details, getting lost or inadvertently put on hold. Preventive maintenance was scheduled manually and was time consuming to track and monitor. Technicians return to the office to file reports and keep paperwork with them in the field. After Maintenance technicians receive trouble tickets through MIMS, which is integrated with the ITS Unit s Advanced Traffic Management System. Tickets include all the required device details needed to start a job as soon as possible. Trouble tickets include device purchase date, installation date, serial number, configuration, status, and history. MIMS tracks the ownership of tickets, which provides accountability. Preventive maintenance scheduling is automated in MIMS and technicians receive alerts when a task is due to be performed. Technicians file updates and reports through the MIMS mobile application in the field, which eliminates 2011 Best of ITS Awards Florida Department of Transportation District Four Page 3

4 Replacement parts reordered based on manually kept lists. A full-time staff person spent five weeks preparing for annual District audit with by traveling across the entire five-county District. unnecessary travel back to the office and about 25% of their work hours each week. Replacement parts reorders are prompted by MIMS once supplies are below minimum inventory requirements. The list is updated automatically after ordering. Less than one week in the office spent reviewing the MIMS database and generating a report for the annual District audit, a time reduction of 80%. The software allows management to pinpoint the location of any device and run status reports at any time. c. What is the new dimension of performance? How are the results in 2b superior to those in 2a? Maintenance technicians are able to use and provide the most up-to-date information about the projects they are working on. This allows FDOT to quickly determine where all devices are located, including those that have been stored. Trouble tickets are being handled more efficiently than in the past, resulting in at 25% time savings for maintenance staff. For inventory tracking, MIMS has reduced the effort by 80%. Over the course of five years, this change alone results in a savings of $22,000 for the District. If it is adopted statewide, it would be a savings of $472,000. d. Did the project produce any unanticipated results? FDOT is able to inventory $60 million in devices over miles of roadway within a matter of hours. 3. Project Impact: How does it make a difference in the lives of people? The lives of several individuals have been changed by MIMS. For maintenance managers, tracking trouble tickets, maintenance activities and parts is now much easier. In addition, MIMS interface keeps all tickets consistently worded and minimizes human errors (i.e. typos) that may cause technicians to look for devices that don t actually exist. To maintenance technicians, it provides realtime access to the status of trouble tickets, so there is no duplication of effort or missed details. It also provides a means to quickly communicate progress, which allows them to handle more tasks during each day. ITS management can obtain status reports upon request, providing them with the ability to make the most of their team s time. Most importantly, MIMS facilitates keeping all devices accounted for and in optimal working condition, which directly contributes to maintaining the best possible traffic conditions for motorists Best of ITS Awards Florida Department of Transportation District Four Page 4

5 4. Potential as a Model: How can the project serve as a model that can be replicated or adapted by other organizations? The Maintenance and Inventory Management System model is ideal for replication by other ITS organizations to adapt. Other FDOT Districts are already making arrangements to start using MIMS. The software will be free to them but they will be responsible for arranging software support. They will be able to experience many of the same cost and effort savings as District Four. 5. Additional Background: Provide information about the origin and implementation of the project, such as: Who was responsible for starting it? Were any particular funding sources, resources, partnerships and alliances particularly helpful in implementing and sustaining it? What is its future? MIMS was developed by an ITS software firm already on contract with FDOT District Four. This ITS software firm also provides FDOT District Four with Advanced Traffic Management System software support services, so they were very familiar with the day-to-day operations of the ITS Unit and were therefore able to design the software to meet the FDOT s needs. MIMS has been such a success for the ITS Unit that it is being further enhanced to incorporate additional features. Other agencies in the state have also recognized the value of MIMS. In 2010, District Four received an outstanding achievement award from the Intelligent Transportation Society of Florida in recognition of development and implementation of the Maintenance Inventory Management System. 6. Statement by the Project s Leadership: Regarding the processes of innovation, leadership, and building partnerships have you gained any knowledge or insights that might be instructive or inspiring to others? District Four is not content to sit back and let ITS develop around it. Instead, the ITS Unit is active in finding new and improved ways to manage its program and share the information with others. When it comes to innovation, I believe District Four has the right approach: initiative. We identify a problem and come up with a solution that works. We don t wait to see what others might develop and share with us it only increases the amount of time we have to deal with the problem. That said, we do innovate for use outside of our own operation. We believe that replicable solutions not only meet our needs but create a greater good. Dong Chen FDOT District Four ITS Program Manager 2011 Best of ITS Awards Florida Department of Transportation District Four Page 5