INTRODUCTION

"Managing with less" is a fundamental reality faced by local government officials responsible for the delivery of essential services in the era of diminishing resources. Articles and seminars on how to deal with this inevitability have been a popular theme since "Proposition 13" fever struck the nation. Increased productivity is one of the standard recommendations made by experts in the "doing more with less" field as one way out of the dilemma.

HOW DO YOU SPELL PRODUCTIVITY?

Governmental productivity is defined as the efficiency with which resources are consumed in the effective delivery of services. It relates to the value of all resources consumed: human, capital and technological to the output of public services and the results achieved. Critical to this definition is the fact that the value of economics are negated if the products lack value in the eyes of the consumers of the services. In this regard, the marketability of these matters is no different than the position faced by private industry when it introduces a product which has resulted from a "new and more efficient" production process.

The efficiency relationship of inputs and outputs, which partially defines productivity, can be viewed from several perspectives. Inputs can diminish while organizational outputs remain constant, e.g., as a result of improved procedures, a library is able to re-assign half of its check-out staff to other library functions. Outputs can increase but resource inputs remain constant. Clerical staff being able to process twice as many forms because of better training is an example of this type of improvement. Productivity can also result when outputs increase while inputs decline, e.g., crews are able to pickup more loads of refuse in fewer manhours. Finally, improvements can result when both inputs and outputs increase, but outputs grow at a faster rate. Due to the usual increased commitment of resources required under these circumstances, this type of improvement may initially appear to be the most difficult to justify and adopt. However, after considerable investigation, application and follow-up, these improvements often deliver the greatest return.

Governmental productivity most frequently results from:

— the maximum use of manpower, equipment and capital.

— better trained, equipped and motivated employees.

— the application of current technology.

— the substitution of capital for manpower.

— better designed services which meet the needs of the constituents.

In Downers Grove, Illinois (Population 42,600, James R. Griesemer, Village Manager) these concepts have been applied, resulting in better services at lower costs for the citizens of the Village.

THE PUBLIC WORKS GROUP EXPERIENCE

The Public Works Group, which operates with 104 employees and a budget of approximately 5 million dollars, is responsible for the delivery of public services which range from the cleaning of public buildings to the provision of potable water. The departments within the Group are involved in over 85 separate programs, and thus there are many opportunities for the active examination and implementation of productivity improvements.

The Village recently undertook major productivity projects in its pavement striping and crack/joint filling programs. While both projects involved an increased commitment of resources, the projects have yielded

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excellent results both in terms of efficiency and improved quality of the products.

In 1982, the Village purchased a self propelled, pressurized distribution pavement striping machine. The machine came with a jitney which permits the operator to sit or stand behind the unit while striping. The Village also added an agitating paint tank, which enables the Village to mix glass beads with the paint for improved visibility, and a hand held spray gun for smaller jobs such as crosswalks. The current operation involves three personnel: an advance person to line up the markings and provide traffic control, the operator, and a follow-up person to remove the traffic control divices once the paint has been applied.

Prior to the purchase of the pavement marking machine, striping was accomplished through the use of gravity fed, hand operated paint distributing machines. While the total number of personnel used to perform the striping did not vary greatly from the current practice, the process took much more time and physical effort.

There are approximately 90,000 lineal feet of pavement markings in the Village. Under the old procedure, the Street Signs and Markings division was unable to solely attend to all the striping needs. Large projects were either contracted out or skipped during a fiscal year because of the limitations of the previous programs.

The new striping practice has yielded a 500% increase in the striping output of the Street Signs and Markings division (1981 14,957 lineal feet vs. 1982 89,725 lineal feet.) While manhours dedicated to striping activities increased 72%, from 430 to 750, the man-hour per 1000 lineal feet measure of efficiency decreased from 28 to 8. This reflects a 71% increase in efficiency, with no decrease in the quality of the end product. In addition, the ability to dispense glass beads with the paint means that the stripes are now reflectorized — a desirable aspect.

From the perspective of all resources utilized, as expressed in monetary terms, the cost per lineal foot of strip decreased from 27.84 cents to 16.84 cents. The 1982 unit cost calculation includes the $7,330 purchase price for the striping machine. Analysis of the cost figures indicates that the Village realized a return on its investment after the first 60,000 lineal feet of striping was accomplished.

There are several purposes to the Village's crack-filling program, the first being the reduction of water intrusion into the pavement base. Moisture in the pavement base causes the surface to crack and develop potholes as the base expands and contracts during freeze/thaw periods. In the case of concrete streets, moisture in the base can cause washout and eventual collapse. Secondly, by cleaning debris from cracks and joints, we remove inflexible material which can cause the joint or crack to errupt during times of expansion. After cleaning, the cracks are filled with a pliable material which can expand and contract with the pavement surface and further prevent the intrusion of inflexible debris.

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The Street Maintenance Division's crackfilling program is an integral part of the Village's Five Year Roadway Maintenance Program. Efforts are directed toward crackfilling streets which are scheduled for slurry sealing and resurfacing in the near future. By performing this preventive maintenance, we can inhibit deterioration and reduce the potential for more expensive repair work in the future.

Prior to 1982, the Village's crackfilling program involved the treatment of approximately 100 street blocks during a 3-5 week period in June and July. The process involved an eight man crew, an air compressor pulled by a one-tone truck, a one-ton truck which carried 55 gallon drums of the crackfilling material, and a 3-ton dump truck filled with sand. Three crew members preceded the crackfillers with the air compressor, blowing debris from the cracks and joints. The crackfillers then distributed the material through the use of gravity fed pots, which released the material when a gate was opened at the bottom of the pot. Due to the liquid, tacky nature of the crackfilling material, a 3-ton dump truck followed the operation, distributing a fine cover of sand. A street sweeper followed the crews the next day to remove excess sand.

Our current program entails the treatment of the equivalent of 200 blocks during a 10 week period, divided between the Spring and Fall. The crew size will vary from 4-7 members, depending on the severity of cracking and cleaning needs. The equipment utilized includes the pressure distributor, an air compressor pulled by a one-ton truck, and a one-ton truck pulling the pressure distributor. As before, crew members precede the crackfiller crew with the air compressor, cleaning the cracks and joints. The crackfiller distribution process involves the heating of the rubberized asphaltic material within the distributor and the pressurized application of this material through a wand attached to the distributor by a hose. Four men operate the machine: one drives the truck pulling the distributor, another feeds the material into the melting chamber, another keeps a constant watch of the gauges on the machine, and one distributes the material. There is no need to follow the operation with sand because the material sets-up almost immediately.

The use of pressure distributor has enabled the Village to double its crackfilling output, reduced the number of manhours required to fill each block by 33%. (Old method — 9.6 manhours per block, new method — 6.5 manhours per block) and reduce the unit cost by 28%. From the effectiveness standpoint, the Village is now applying a material which will last, 5 years versus an estimated life of 1 year for the previous material. This fact has enabled the Village to achieve greater coverage on the streets and permits the stabilization of the roadway maintenance program by preventing large cost allocations for major repair jobs in the future. Further, the decrease in crew size has enabled the Street Department to re-direct manpower to meet other division's needs, thus negating requests for additional manpower in the short term.

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CONCLUSION

The productivity improvement techniques employed by the Village in these two cases were not revolutionary. In both cases, the equipment technology has been on the market for several years. Their application and success are directly related to the approach adopted by management in the Village of Downers Grove when examining potential areas for productivity improvement. This approach can be summarized in the following steps.

— Focus your efforts on identifiable and manageable tasks or programs. Be careful not to overextend the purview of the project. Areas which are prime for consideration include: operations that involve large numbers of employees who perform repetative assignments; functions that use large numbers of manhours; functions that normally result in backlogs of work; and assignments where unit costs are high.

— Research the various components of the improvement, being sure that you are not re-inventing the wheel. The potential for the application of improved technology is great and should be thoroughly examined.

— Organize and plan your program, clearly defining expectations for results: efficiency and effectiveness.

— Measure the productivity, concentrating on the output and the effectiveness of your product or service.

— Evaluate the results objectively.

— Communicate the results.

The prospects for change in the fiscally demanding environment faced by local government officials are slight. We will be asked by our citizens and elected officials to cut costs while maintaining or increasing service levels. Productivity improvements offer a real opportunity to save our taxpayers money, while delivering better services.

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