Estates are in charge of maintaining the University’s buildings and campus. A key part of this activity is tracking maintenance jobs and making sure no one is kept waiting.
At the time of the project the Estates team was responsible for 168 buildings (the oldest of which dates from 1413 and the most recent from 2012) and dealt with 16,269 maintenance requests across schools, residences, and units.
The scoping exercise identified that:
1. There were a number of issues with the then current process
2. Staff had a number of concerns about the project
It became apparent during scoping that an expected outcome was a paper free process that covered job request, allocation, tracking, completion, approval, and closing. A system, if implemented, was expected to deliver:
The Lean Team facilitated a five-day rapid improvement event, the high level objective of which was to ensure the efficient management of the University Estate. The project team of ten included staff from all of the trades, at all levels including foremen and apprentices, as well as representatives from the main office and Estates IT.
Process Improvements
Quantitative Benefits
Qualitative Benefits
Current State Map
Future Plans
Estates over time, and following the progressive improvement in wifi access across the University, moved from using PCs for tracking and closing jobs to using mobile devices. This outcome was estimated, at the time of the RIE, to save a further 1.5 FTE (£45,000).
“I think all went well as most if not all of us were sceptical about Lean but now all see the benefits.” – Estates Tradesperson
“I think the process as a whole went really well. I feel we have all contributed into it and got along as a team. I feel we have all put into a positive change for Estates.” – Estates Administrator
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