Cost Improvement Program Fire Hydrant O

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Cost Improvement Program Fire Hydrant OM

• Presented by
• Charles Haight

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Purpose of COA OM is . . .

• To insure readiness of hydrants for emergency
  service.
• Maintain high quality and aesthetic water in the
  distribution system.

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COA Hydrant Program

• The COA Hydrant Program Qualities are enforced by
• Operating all 8457 COA hydrants twice a year.
• These two yearly operations are referred to as
• Maintenance Operation
• Flushing Operation

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Maintenance Operation

• The Maintenance Operation consists of . .
• 1) Hydrant Cap Operation
• 2) Effort to operate hydrant

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Maintenance Operation

• 3) Flush is permitted until water is
  aesthetically clean. Shut off and observe
  draining.
• 4) Hydrant caps replaced
• 5) Check hydrant lubrication levels and grease
  if necessary

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Flushing Operation

• The Flushing Operation consists of . . .
• 1) Check for ease of hydrant operation
• 2) Flush until the water is aesthetically clean

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Privatization

• By council direction the Utilities Department
  selected to out source (privatize) 1/2 of all
  hydrant operation and maintenance.

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Assembled Scope of Service

• Assembled scope of service to include
• Maintenance and flushing of 4613 hydrants
• Paint 1450 hydrants
• Receive bid on all hydrant repair costs

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Assembled Scope Of Service

• Detail of procedures COA desires to have
  contractors follow
• Daily notification of operation and maintenance
  along with location.
• Emergency phone numbers to call
• Supply 2 map books with list of hydrants to be
  maintained.

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BID PRICE

• Bid price per hydrant was 19.00
• COA cost (to include maintenance, 1996 cost) was
  23.12

OUCH! WOW!
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COST CUTTING

• Cut Costs BY
• Employee selection
• Temporary employees
• Mini Pickups VS hydrant trucks
• Stay task oriented

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COST CUTTING

• Eliminate Area Jumping
• Recycle hydrant parts
• Develop personnel initiative
• Develop a simple task oriented complimentary
  database

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City of Auroraeffective efficient

• COA and the contractors continually shared
  information.
• The contractors came back to COA several times
  trying to bid within a range that was comparable.
  They failed to do so. They could not match our
  costs.
• There was also an increase in efficiency.

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Hydrant Service Repair Cost2001 Database Report

• Average cost per hydrant
• Contractor
• Service 11.83
• Flush 7.75
• Paint 18.59
• Total 11.05
• COA
• Service 4.57
• Flush 32.39
• Paint 22.25
• Total 5.10
• Repair 14.79
• Total 9.26
• City of Aurora is still below contractor bid
  including repair costs

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RESULTS

• Results were
• Contractor cannot compete - profit index of bid
• Developed pride in the employee efforts