Card index schedule for council efficiency
Page 37
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West Sussex CC adopt a simple but effective method
THE TRANSPORT departments yr many local authorities are Jndoubtedly regarded as the L'inderella of the authority. After 311, that's where the refuse colection vehicles, the street ;weepers and the loading ;hovels are serviced — or should Pe.
Regrettably departmental 'leads with no responsibility for be protection of the council's D-licence cannot appreciate the mportance of regular fleet riaintenance where the scheJule is sacrosanct. But more and more things are changing.
The Government's insistence Dn no increase in expenditure 3ver last year's budget is putting 3ressure on authorities to retain Dquipment beyond that orginally planned. That means maintenance and servicing and
means planning.
This has already been accepted by West Sussex, L'ounty Council. Planning is be key word. It is not new nor -eactionary. They employ a iimple planning aid which has 3een around in concept for a Nhile but is worth talking about f it helps others to employ a technique to save ratepayers' money.
Rising transport overheads have caused municipal fleet managements to tighten their Drganisation and make it more :..ost conscious. This is what lappened at West Sussex county Council's Drayton Depot Nhich handles the county transport operation.
As local government spenling cuts and wage awards filter .hrough, it is increasingly iecessary for expensive plant Ind manpower to be fully Pccupied.
David Nicholls, the Drayton yorkshop superintendent, has espdhsibility for the planned naintenance scheme for 300 fehicles and 400 items of plant. vest Sussex CC have logged ill these items of equipment on Cardplan Visual Planning Sysem marketed by Cumbermay .td of Biggleswade. Each item has its own specified servicing frequency.
Most items are covered by a four-point plan. These cover service and inspection combined; inspection only; heavy goods vehicles MoT test preparation and submission for test at Government testing stations, and normal MoT test, preparation of light vehicles for testing locally.
David Nicholls plots the year's maintenance schedule for each item into the modular slotted section which retains the selected Cardplan signals. The visible cross-piece of the larger T-shaped cards show the vehicle or plant code and registration number clearly.
This information is graphically reinforced by the code chosen from the range of 14 colours. For example red for heavy goods vehicles and green for standard items.
Vehicles are grouped together under seven category headings such as health authority, education department, county cars and the largest surveyor's department. En vironmental equipment like mowers are also included. Under each heading the section is divided into monthly columns, and as each month arrives the column is circulated and the past month's column re-positioned as with a perpetual calendar.
The layout gives all the information needed to allocate the weekly load to the workshop which employs 13 operatives. It also simplifies planning of seasonal tasks and helps in accommodating emergencies and breakdowns.
School buses, key vehicles in rural areas, are serviced during the holidays ensuring that they are ready for each new term. Similarly the mowers are all primed ready for the spring onslaught.and the gritters are all attended to during the late summer and autumn in readiness for the cold weather and icy roads. They are checked weekly in the peak season.
Intelligent use of contrasting symbols create emphasis as follows: Diagonal pink cards for standard MoT test can be placed in front of the service card. This tells David that an MoT test is due without masking the fact that a service is also due.
This is a time saver ensuring that both service and test are carried out together wherever possible. When the service is completed, details of mileage and other comments are entered as a record. The card is then reversed in its slot indicating . that the item is completed.
"Sometimes we get overloaded," said David. "The plan helps to keep this down. It's essential to tot up the monthly work load in hours and to compare it to the man hours avail'able. Naturally we fully utilise our own capacity before placing work outside."
He finds the system is very receptiveto irregularities, allowing items to be fitted in on an ad hoc basis using an extra colour. These stand out and can be quickly discarded when finished with. David wasn't very happy with the way he used to have to record the workshop plan on large paper schedules.