Maintaining Performance: Evidence-Based Educational Facility Management Through A Decision-Support Tool Leveraging Prior Empirical Research

abstract: Public institution facility operations and maintenance is a significant factor enabling an institution to achieve its stated objectives in the delivery of public service. To meet the societal need, Facility Directors must make increasingly complex decisions managing the demands of building infrastructure performance expectations with limited resources. The ability to effectively measure a return-on-investment, specific to facility maintenance indirect expenditures, has, therefore, become progressively more critical given the scale of public institutions, the collective age of existing facilities, and the role these institutions play in society. This research centers on understanding the method of prioritizing routine work in support of indirect institutional facility maintenance expense through the lens of K-12 public education in the state of Arizona. The methodology documented herein utilizes a mixed method approach to understand current facility maintenance practices and assess the influence of human behavior when prioritizing routine work. An evidence-based decision support tool, leveraging prior academic research, was developed to coalesce previously disparate academic studies. The resulting process provides a decision framework for prioritizing decision factors most frequently correlated with academic outcomes. A purposeful sample of K-12 unified districts, representing approximately one-third of the state’s student population and spend, resulted in a moderate to a strong negative correlation between facility operations and student outcomes. Correlation results highlight an opportunity to improve decision making, specific to the academic needs of the student. This research documents a methodology for constructing, validation, and testing of a decision support tool for prioritizing routine work orders. Findings from a repeated measures crossover study suggest the decision support tool significantly influenced decision making specific to certain work orders as well as the Plumbing and Mechanical functional areas. However, the decision support tool was less effective when prioritizing Electrical and General Maintenance work orders. Moreover, as decision making transitioned away from subjective experience-based judgment, the prioritization of work orders became increasingly more consistent. The resulting prioritization, therefore, effectively leveraged prior empirical, evidence-based decision factors when utilizing the tool. The results provide a system for balancing the practical experience of the Facility Director with the objective guidance of the decision support tool.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Construction Management 201

Managing old-growth forests for multiple ecosystem services

Old-growth forest reserves offer the potential to facilitate the maintenance of multiple ecosystem services (ES), such as carbon storage, water and recreation, in managed landscapes. However, substantial challenges exist with regard to defining and identifying old-growth forests, and suitably locating priority areas for old-growth conservation. To address these issues, I developed a structure-based old-growth index using field and LiDAR metrics that allowed old-growth values to be estimated at a fine grain across a landscape. I then used a spatial prioritization tool to simulate old-growth reserves for multiple ESs. Using this framework I evaluated trade-offs between forest ESs including timber. This thesis contributes to the management of old-growth forests by providing a quantitative and repeatable framework to identify, assess and monitor old-growth values while indicating the scope for the establishment of old-growth reserves for multiple ESs

KYTC Maintenance Field Operations Guide Supplement

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) is tasked with managing an asset portfolio that includes over 27,500 miles of roadway and 9,000 bridges. Keeping these assets in sound condition demands significant effort from KYTC’s Division of Maintenance, which includes activities ranging from mowing and litter pickup to cleaning out culverts and performing emergency roadway work. Despite the immense responsibilities shouldered by Maintenance personnel, until this project the Cabinet’s 12 districts lacked a systematic method for capturing and recording maintenance activities. Through a series of workshops held in each KYTC’s district with Section Engineer and Maintenance Supervisors, researchers at the Kentucky Transportation Center (KTC) facilitated efforts to inventory routine maintenance activities, document how frequently each activity is done, and capture the ways in which maintenance functions are adjusted in response to special projects (which generally receive priority over general maintenance functions). Key products of this research include a Statewide Maintenance Calendar, which defines — based on a combination of stakeholder feedback and statistical analysis — optimal time intervals for undertaking key maintenance activities, as well as district-specific maintenance calendars. Having recourse to these calendars will help district staff more efficiently plan, schedule, and coordinate maintenance functions

The Role of Skill Upgrading in Manufacturing Performance

This section examines the industry-wide trend of upgrading the skills of production workers in the semiconductor industry. This analysis discusses the industry characteristics driving this trend, the human resource policies that support skill upgrades, and the payoffs associated with such upgrades. To provide a deeper understanding of the process of skill upgrading, two fabs from our sample are analyzed in detail. One fab is located in Japan (pseudonym Jfab) and the other fab is located in the U.S. (pseudonym USfab). As a central part of their manufacturing strategy, these fabs have emphasized the upskilling of operators particularly for equipment maintenance activities. Through human resource policies, both fabs have extended the breadth and depth of their employees\u27 skills (our definition of skill upgrading), particularly the skills of their operators and technicians. At the time of our visit, a manager at Jfab estimated that they were 95% self-sufficient in maintaining their own equipment rather than using the vendor. He explained, We don\u27t use vendor maintenance because it is very expensive and because our people are better at it than the vendors\u27 personnel. We end up teaching the employees of the vendors about their own equipment! A manager at USfab echoed these sentiments regarding vendors: Contracts are expensive and we can do better. USfab also has concentrated on upgrading the skills of its operators while it merged the operator and technician occupations into a production specialist position (a pseudonym). USfab\u27s production specialists now perform 90% of the basic preventative maintenance (e.g., daily checks, chamber cleans, PMs). For equipment maintenance tasks, these two fabs have substituted participation by line workers for engineering time. Their operators rank at the top of our fifteen fab sample in terms of their intensity of participation in equipment maintenance activities, while their equipment engineers rank in the middle. In addition to equipment maintenance, another set of activities that affects manufacturing performance focuses on process-related problems and the manufacturing precision of the equipment. These activities can be grouped under the umbrella of statistical process control (SPC), which requires personnel to compare measures of processing outcomes (e.g., the height of a layer, the accuracy of alignment, processing time, particle generation,) against detailed specifications set by the process development group. For statistical process control (SPC) duties, Jfab and USfab do not emphasize the role of their line workers. Instead, Jfab has emphasized the role of the process engineer in conducting SPC, and its process engineers rank at the top of our fifteen fab sample in terms of the intensity with which they use SPC. Process engineers at USfab fall towards the bottom of our SPC rankings, and the fab\u27s SPC capabilities are rudimentary with no automated SPC capabilities and no real time process adjustment. Engineers at USfab were plagued with fire-fighting responsibilities, since they committed approximately 80% of their time to fire-fighting. The engineers were anxious for the program of skill upgrading of operators to bear fruit so that operators could assume more trouble-shooting responsibilities. As one engineer put it, We spend all of our time [taking care of] lots that went on hold. We want to train other people to do this, so we can have time for [more training and projects]. These findings suggest that both companies rely on their line workers for equipment performance, but not for process control. Jfab relies much more heavily on its process engineers, while USfab lags behind in establishing a focus for its process control efforts. As described below, the two companies in this case study have established human resource policies consistent with deepening and broadening the skills of their manufacturing personnel in order to pursue their strategies for equipment maintenance and SPC. They have, however, experienced very different levels of success measured by our five manufacturing metrics (stepper throughput, cycle time, direct labor productivity, line yield, and defect density). Jfab scores consistently at the top of the fifteen fabs in our sample while USfab scores in the bottom half. Their divergent performance can be at least partially attributed to the different level of stability of their production environments. Jfab was operating in a relatively stable environment with few process flows and moderated process problems with an advanced SPC capability. In contrast, USfab was undergoing a reorganization of its operations, new process introductions, and adopting a new shop-floor work organization to better integrate its upskilled production specialists into problemsolving activities. We anticipate that with time, USfab will at least partially catch up to the level of manufacturing performance enjoyed by Jfab, as their aggressive skill upgrade program matures, and as they adjust to the changes to their organizational structure and manufacturing process technologies. This section concludes by considering the influences of automation and differences in employment systems on the pervasiveness of skill upgrade efforts across job categories

Business process modelling tool selection : a review

Abstract: The interest in business process modelling has increased in the last decade. Numerous business process modelling tools for developing business processes exist. These tools serve a wide range of business functions and applications. There exist limitations in effectively selecting the appropriate business process modelling tool relative to corporate functions and applications. This research explores this specific limitation and serves as a guide to mitigate this specific limitation relative to prioritizing and selecting a business process modelling tool. This investigation explores the limitations in the currently designed business process modelling tool based on local, regional and global modelling of corporate processes. Results prove essential prioritization constituents relative to selecting a more enhanced business process modelling tool for enterprise professionals. The applicability of the proposed prioritization approach is demonstrated

A Proposed Approach for Prioritizing Maintenance at NASA Centers

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) manages a vast array of infrastructure assets across ten National Centers with a worth of at least 30 billion dollars. Eighty percent of this infrastructure is greater than 40 years old and is in degraded condition. Maintenance budgets are typically less than one percent of current replacement value (CRV), much less than the 2-4% recommended by the National Research Council. The maintenance backlog was 2.55 billion dollars in FY10 and growing. NASA s annual budgets have flattened and are at risk of being reduced, so the problem is becoming even more difficult. NASA Centers utilize various means to prioritize and accomplish maintenance within available budgets, though data is suspect and processes are variable. This paper offers a structured means to prioritize maintenance based on mission criticality and facility performance (ability of the facility to deliver on its purpose). Mission alignment is assessed using the current timeframe Mission Dependence Index and a measure of facility alignment with the 2011 NASA Strategic Plan for the long-term perspective. Facility performance is assessed by combining specific findings from a structured facility condition assessment and an assessment of actual functional output. These are then combined in a matrix to identify the facilities most critical to mission and able to deliver services. The purpose of this approach is to provide the best benefits for the available funding. Additionally, this rationale can also be applied to the prioritization of investment (recapitalization) projects so that the ultimate customers of this paper, the senior infrastructure managers at each NASA Center, are better able to strategically manage their capabilities

Transportation for a New Era -- Growing More Sustainable Communities

Outlines policy recommendations to create a national vision recognizing the links between land use, infrastructure, and sustainable communities; support metropolitan areas; foster more compact development; and invest effectively in transportation

GIS-based risk management database integration and implementation framework for transportation agencies

Risk management analysis is one of the new requirements under MAP-21 and subsequently the FAST Act that separates transportation asset management programs (TAMP) from business as usual for the State departments of transportation (DOTs). Based on this requirement, each agency will discuss the concept of risk and how it should be incorporated into its transportation asset management program as well as how it informs maintenance practices, asset replacement or rehabilitation, and emergency management and response planning. This will require an agency to provide a list of risk exposures and document its system-wide risk management strategy. As a result, this research investigates the state of the practice of how agencies are developing their risk-based asset management plan and discusses recommendations for future research. The survey results show that state highway agencies are increasingly adapting the way they do business to include explicit considerations of risks. At the moment, this consideration of risk is not linked to data, and as a result most agencies do not have a data driven way of tracking risks and updating their risk exposures. Accordingly, this research proposed a data integration framework utilizing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Application Programming Interface (API) to implement a risk management database of all the relevant variables an agency needs for risk modeling to drive risk mitigation, risk monitoring, risk updates, and decision making. In addition, this study proposed modifications to the risk register workshop that leverages the collaborative aspects of risk management to quantify risk in monetary terms. This study leverages available data and analysis tools to help agencies visualize and articulate, in both qualitative and quantitative terms, how the combination of various risks and strategies would influence performance targets. The significance of the results highlights the need for further research on data driven risk management and to synthesize methodologies for integrating risk assessment into the agency’s decision-making process