Facilities Management and Asset Tracking System
Facilities Management and Asset Tracking System
Item #: 20260050
Embedded Files
CONTACTS
Implementing Organization: Region Four Buildings and Grounds, Region Four GIS
Implementation Lead: Erick Cox
Development Team:
Erick Cox, Team Lead
Bracken Davis – GIS Team Lead, Programmer
Ken Richards – GIS Programmer
Kalvin Baker – Team Member
Ozzie Trujillo – Team Member
RJ Davis – Tester
Denny Mangum – Tester
Justin Johnson – Tester
Article Written By: Quinten Klingonsmith
Innovation Team Coordinator: Quinten Klingonsmith
STATUS
Implementation Date: April 1, 2020
Adoption Status: Fully Implemented
Adoptability Note: How could these technologies, workflows, and tools to be applied to your work tracking processes?
APPLIES TO
Topic: Maintenance Practices
Organization(s): Amusement Ride Safety, Central Admin / Senior Leaders, Central Maintenance / Facilities Management, Central Materials, Data Technology & Analytics, Equipment Operations, Finance / Comptroller, Internal Audit, Motor Carrier Division, Performance and Asset Management, Railroad, Region 1, Region 2, Region 3, Region 4, Structures, Traffic Management Division, Transit and Trails
Job Role(s): Administrative Staff / Commissions, Business Analyst, Executive Leadership, Finance / Accounting, Mechanics / Equipment, Program Director, Program Manager, Program Specialist, Roadway Operations / IMT, ROW / Permits, Transportation Technician
Tags: capital productivity, infrastructure preservation, labor productivity, materials, parts, employee empowerment, job satisfaction, occupational safety, expenses, expenditures, education and training, ( motivation ), ( process improvement ), reorganization, ( simplification ), redesign, standardization, tracking systems, accounting > billing, budgeting, payment, ( comptroller ), governance > auditing, policy making, procedures, compliance, law, ( legal ), human resources > personnel management > compensation, relations, personnel performance, retention, recruiting, hiring, supervision, turnover, retirement, information technology >> software, networks, leadership, logistics > inventory, distribution, purchasing, procurement, warehousing, supply chain management, ( data visualization ), ( digital delivery ), geographic information systems ( GIS ), asset management, equipment, facilities, maintenance
PROBLEM
PROBLEM
Region Four leadership recognized the need to reduce HVAC and facility maintenance costs. They had been relying on expensive outside contractors, inaccurate asset records, and an inadequate maintenance tracking, approval, and work order system. Shed supervisors often bypassed request and approval procedures, which negatively impacted budgets.
The region needed a system to create accountability and provide all levels of leadership with the tools required to make good facilities management decisions.
CHANGE
CHANGE
To address the problems with ineffective asset tracking, budget management, and communication, the region implemented the following changes:
Workforce: In-house HVAC specialists were hired to replace outside contractors.
New Software Platform: Google Sheets, which are hard to maintain and thus often outdated, were abandoned in favor of building a new system using ArcGIS Enterprise, including Workforce and Survey123 modules within UPlan. This provides both web and mobile applications, allowing technicians to update records on the go.
Streamlined Work Order Workflow: The new system uses Survey123 to route service requests through area supervisors to evaluate whether they are within budget before they reach the facilities manager who uses the Workforce application to set task priorities, establish due dates, and assign the work to specific facilities coordinators or HVAC specialists.
Mobile Tracking and Barcode Scanning: When on-site, technicians use the Workforce mobile app to view task locations and update statuses. An asset’s barcode is scanned by the Survey123 Work Order Form to pull up its information. Technicians can then complete task checklists, input costs and time spent on the repair, and attach photographs. Even without a WiFi or cellular connection, data is stored offline and updated once service is restored.
Asset Database Cleanup: The facilities team performed a massive cleanup of their asset documentation. They corrected miscategorized equipment and meticulously documented newly installed, replaced, and decommissioned assets.
Dashboards for Oversight: Operational and executive dashboards were created to track the real-time progress of service requests, work orders completed by each individual, and overall statistics across different sheds.
New Accountability and Budget Guidelines: Formal instructions were sent to employees emphasizing the need for fiscal responsibility and requiring that all unit and facility maintenance expenses be rigorously tracked. Personnel are now expected to proactively record monthly preventative maintenance for specific items like fire extinguishers, HVAC filters, and safety lighting to stretch funds and extend the lifespan of the equipment.
RESULT
RESULT
Taken together, these changes created more than a new computer application–they resulted in a new way of managing facilities in Region Four, yielding significant improvements in efficiency, asset management, and cost avoidance. The key results achieved include:
Massive Increase in Tracked Tasks and Efficiency: The new system drastically increased the volume of documented and completed maintenance work. After implementing the system, the team was on track to hit over 1,150 work orders by the end of fiscal year 2021, representing a 412% increase in tracked tasks completed. Management uses these metrics to fine-tune the program, manage the team, and report to region leadership.
Additionally, automated email notifications are sent at every step, which has significantly improved team communication and helped reduce response times for high-priority tasks.
The team's on-time performance continuously improved; by 2025 and 2026, they were completing nearly 100% of their critical, high-priority, and preventative maintenance (PM) work orders on time.
Improved Morale and Accountability: The system's visible due dates created better accountability among team members. The facilities manager leveraged these tracked results to reward and challenge employees through a pay-for-performance program, which created motivation and successfully improved team morale.
Better Asset Documentation: A concerted effort to document assets and the new user-friendly mobile tools enabled technicians to properly document decommissioned, replaced, and new equipment in less than half the time it used to take to complete data entry, tracking, documentation work. In less than a year they had an 11.8% increase in documented assets (from 1,667 to 1,864).
Substantial Labor Cost Avoidance: By providing technicians with direct access to precise and detailed asset information, the system eliminates unnecessary travel to sites just to gather details or identify required repair materials. This allows parts to be ordered in advance, significantly reducing wasted time and fuel consumption. Furthermore, less time spent on the road reduces travel related risks.
Statewide Adoption: Because of its success and ability to meet strict compliance requirements, counterparts at the Division of Facilities Construction and Management (DFCM) expressed their desire to see all state agencies adopt this or a similar system. As a result of this recommendation, Region Four’s system will be integrated into UDOT’s statewide ATOM system. Incorporating this existing, highly refined tool rather than building a new one from scratch is expected to save the Department a substantial amount of money.
LINKS
LINKS
Region Four Facilities Management Work Order System (UDOT arcGIS login required)
Original story write-up (document)
Travel costs in Region Four can be significant. For example, the Kanab Maintenance Station (above), is almost two and a half hours from the Region Four Headquarters in Richfield.
HVAC Technician at Work
Example of a Facilities Project
Asset Management Tag
Original Executive Facilities Maintenance Dashboard
Original Facilities Service Request and Work Order Status Screen
New Performance Metrics Dashboard,
which includes the original information and much more
Task Completion Statistics by Year
IMPACT
IMPACT
BETTER MOBILITY
BETTER MOBILITY
N/A
GOOD HEALTH
GOOD HEALTH
Well maintained HVAC and facilities promote employee’s health and comfort
Efficient operations reduce technician’s travel, maximizing their productivity
CONNECTED COMMUNITIES
CONNECTED COMMUNITIES
N/A
STRONG ECONOMY
STRONG ECONOMY
Extends the longevity of facilities, sparing limited budgets
Improved asset, maintenance, and work tracking facilitate better decision making and efficiencies
Statewide adoption of system leverages lessons learned to reduce development and implementation costs, while providing a current and refined platform for the future
Better asset information saves technicians time in both materials acquisition and returns
EFFICIENCIES
EFFICIENCIES
Anticipated break-even by July, 2022 (2 years, 3 months)]
Cost Avoidance: $849,769 over 20 years (Apr 1, 2020 - Apr 1, 2040)*
Labor Avoidance: 732 hours annually*
Benefit/Cost Ratio: 9:1
*Cost and labor avoidance are the average benefits, net of initial and ongoing expenses, projected over the expected life of the innovation. See details.
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