You can save money by watching Captain Waste-Not and following his principles. Captain Waste-Not secretly visits water and wastewater utilities and shows them how to reduce waste. The government has been seeking the Captains true identity for the last decade. If they can bring the Captain under their wing, they could help plants on a nation-wide scale, whereas current efforts are on a plant-by-plant basis. Special Agent Bonnie Wells has been given authority do whatever it takes to bring the Captain in.In the first episode, Captain Waste-Not eluded Bonnie and vanished into the hinterlands of Southeastern Pennsylvania. A new lead has surfaced in Polymer, Pennsylvania. Here, tremendous strides have been made at the public works utility in reducing the waste associated with transportation. Lets listen in as Bonnie interviews their public works director Annie Onic.So, Annie, we noticed a recent decrease in the costs of your operation. What do you attribute this to?I cant take much of the credit. The savings started materializing a few months after we hired a college intern Mike Mannich.Bonnie thinks to herself, This all fits. A recent hire that creates remarkable savings--this must be Captain Waste-Not! Later that afternoon, in the company of the public works director, Bonnie interviews the young Mr. Mannich. Bonnie does not see any of the tell-tale signs of the captain (a cape or a CWN tee shirt) but still feels the lead must be pursued.So, Mike, Annie tells me that you have quite a knack for saving money. Can you explain your approach?I am pursuing a degree in industrial engineering, so for my internship I focused on how to streamline transportation in public works.Can you be more specific?Transportation involves the movement of people, trucks, materials, supplies, paperwork?anything that physically moves. So I spent some time understanding how all these facets of transportation worked in this utility. Then, I used the today/tomorrow list to eliminate transportation waste.Can you show us this list? TodayPlant staff walk everywhere and stay in shapeTomorrowStaff time is precious. Scooter, Carts, and Segways are used extensively. Gym memberships are supplied to staff to keep them lean and mean.TodayMultiple trips to storeroom for parts pick upTomorrowAll work is planned. All repair parts are loaded ahead of time into the maintenance cart. Minimum wage parts runners are used for the unexpected. Wrench time is increased. TodayPlant residuals (grit, screenings, cake, grease) are handled on a demand basisTomorrowUnified residuals handling strategy eliminates interim steps and drives down rehandling.TodayRemote pump station status determined by daily crew visitsTomorrowSCADA system provides monitoring and control. Station visits limited to pm work and emergencies.TodayReceive all materials, supplies, chemicals centrally for inventory control purposes. Move to point of use.TomorrowUsing technology (scanners, bar codes) receive at point of use. For large remote projects, deliver materials and supplies to site.TodayDriver uses job tickets to determine daily routeTomorrowEvery mile counts. Routing programs create the route. GPS tracks progress. On-line traffic information modifies routes on the fly. Routes are built for production. Route deviation is avoided at all cost. Percent of route deviations monitored and continually evaluated.TodayTrucks are jockeyed to yard for fuelingTomorrowYard crew or third party fuels on site and off site vehicles in the off-hours. Today Trucks shuttle to yard to dump (fill, debris, street and sewer cleanings)TomorrowStrategic transfer points minimize truck movementTodayInvoices, payroll, purchase orders, etc. churn between multiple offices for multiple approvalsTomorrowAll transactions are paperless with electronic signatures.This is a nifty chart. You developed this by yourself?Actually, the chart came from an on-line correspondence course I recently finished. Would you like me to bring the website up on the computer?Bonnie nods and within a few keystrokes the website appears on the screen.******************************************* Welcome to CWN Our motto is Waste-Not, want-not.******************************************* Bonnies eyes widen. She realizes that the webmaster is Captain Waste-Not. Bonnie inserts a top-secret disk into the computer, which will enable her to track the webmaster. The disk was developed by brilliant cyber techies and has a 100% success ratio. Just then, the home page fades, and an animated eraser speaks: We have picked up a sophisticated hackers attempt to determine the origin of this website. They watch as this animated character methodically erases all traces of the origin and location of the webmaster.Bonnies face and the screen go blank.Next time Captain Waste-Not addresses the waste associated with reworking. |
