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Facility Management Software Saves University $150,000 Annually
(This article was originally written for 'American School and University,' September 2004, by Andy Hofmeister of Utah State University and Fred Tracy of the eRPortal Software Group.).

   

 
Focus on Higher Education
   
Customer Utah State University
   
  It's a common complaint on campuses across the nation: maintenance requests are synonymous with the words "red tape" and take forever to resolve. Whether it's perception or reality, there is a real impact on employee morale, student and faculty satisfaction, and the bottom line. What's a university to do? Take notes from Utah State University. The university implemented facilities management software that addressed all these issues and more.
   
  There's no place like home?
Located 80 miles north of Salt Lake City, Logan is home for the students and faculty at Utah State University. The University houses 700 families and 2,300 of the 14,000 students it serves each year. Campus housing facilities consists of:
 
•
 45 Garden style family buildings,
•
 52 Mobile homes,
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 12 Apartment-style residence halls, and
•
 3 Traditional-style residence halls.
  Ten separate teams covering Maintenance, Construction and Renovation, Special Projects, Material Warehousing and Purchasing, Landscaping, Environmental Services, Production, Cable TV and Leasing, tackle maintenance issues for the 112 housing units.
   
  The Housing and Food Services maintenance and management staff at Utah State was struggling to meet the ever-evolving expectations of faculty and students. Perception was that service was slow, productivity was low, there were too many steps to register a work order and communication was inadequate.
   
  "Over time, the Housing work order process had become bureaucratic, requiring far too many administrative steps to resolve a problem," stated Andy Hofmeister, Assistant Director, Housing and Food Services Facilities at Utah State University.
   
  Their process for managing a repair request was inefficient:
 
1
 Repair requests were called in to various personnel based on location of the problem.
2
 The person taking the call would open a work order and call it into the maintenance department.
3
 Work orders were collected and prioritized by the maintenance foreperson.
4
 Work orders were distributed to the staff.
5 A large number of orders were returned and rescheduled because a specialist needed to complete the work or parts weren't available.
  The end result? A maintenance staff that felt they were doing the best possible job, but were unable to meet their customers' needs. The process they were working with was slow, tedious, and cumbersome and lacked a means of quickly prioritizing and redirecting incoming work requests.
   
  "Communication was a big problem within the department," according to Hofmeister. "That, combined with an inadequate repository for work order information, often resulted in the need to reschedule work."
   
  15-minute maintenance.
It was obvious something needed to be done. Customers weren't satisfied and department morale was low. In short, the system in place was not working. Enter a new concept they adopted - 15-minute maintenance.
   
  The maintenance procedure in place today is nearly unrecognizable from the old system:
 
1
 A resident calls central dispatch.
2
 The dispatcher radios a nearby maintenance worker and logs the problem into a PC.
3
 Usually within 15 minutes, the worker visits the site and resolves the problem.
4
 Results are radioed to dispatch and the problem is resolved without the technician ever handling a piece of paper.
   
  If the job cannot be completed during the initial visit:
 
1
 A formal paper work order is opened by central dispatch.
2
 A maintenance worker is assigned and the necessary parts and supplies are ordered.
3
 Status of the job is logged into the work order system.
4
 The assigned maintenance worker closes the work order through the dispatch center when the job is complete.
   
  How they got here from there.
Many areas of the maintenance request process needed to be addressed to improve its efficiency. First, one central Problem Reporting Center was established for all residents, resident life staff, and facilities staff, regardless of geographic location. All calls are logged by this central dispatch, providing a central repository for all maintenance requests - something missing from their previous maintenance management process.
   
  The university also deployed Housing Facilities Management Software, developed by the eRPortal Software Group, a unit of Applied Software Technologies, Inc. The system allows Utah State to manage work orders, track assets, and automate their materials management. It also performs preventive maintenance and labor scheduling and prioritizes jobs, which greatly reduces unscheduled repairs and allocates labor resources more effectively for the university.

eRPortal tracks repair procedures, parts and costs of assets by room, floor, department or building. Barcode and serialization technology simplifies the data entry process and increases data accuracy, helping to streamline their maintenance procedures. Plus, eRPortal's full web architecture, XML commerce-ready core and strong materials management system enable Utah State University to automate its purchasing function.
   
  "eRPortal Housing Facilities Manager is designed specifically for campus facilities," commented Ed Garibian, President at Applied Software Technologies, Inc.. "This customizable, web and mobile enabled system automates maintenance departments while linking with other critical campus functions. It offers flexibility and full functionality built on a need-specific modular approach."

In addition, a reliable radio system was implemented in order to reduce response times. Each maintenance worker was given a radio device to improve communication between repair personnel and the dispatcher.

Support from Housing's Central Warehouse also helped improve the maintenance process. The operation was reorganized to ensure adequate stocking of common items, improve response to special requests, standardize whenever possible and provide authorization to schedule outside resources when necessary. It is also important for warehouse staff to understand and support the key maintenance goal - customer satisfaction.
   
  The last piece of the puzzle involved getting all maintenance staff committed to "the goal." Management now provides support during busy times and backup resources when needed. The staff is encouraged to give regular feedback to improve the process and reduce response times. Everyone from the actual maintenance crew to university administration is committed to improving customer satisfaction and striving to provide 15-minute maintenance.
   
  The payoff.
The new work order process has been in place at the university for more than two years now and it has delivered on its promises. Work orders that in the past took days to complete take between seven to 20 minutes today.

In fact, the process is so efficient the university was able to tighten its staff by three full-time employees. Total annual savings for the university exceed $150,000.

As for customer satisfaction? Utah State Housing Units has ranked in the top three in the country for two consecutive years now according to the ACUHO-I Benchmarking Survey, which takes department morale to a new level.
   
Contact For information on this Case Study, please contact Fred Tracy at ftracy@erportalsoftware.com