Full Description

Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA) is a regional water and sewer authority that provides water and sewerservices to some 65,000 customers in the southern portion of Orange County, North Carolina. InNovember 2005, the meters were getting read, the bills were going out, payments were being posted, butOWASA's leadership felt there was room for improvement. McKim employees were working hard and putting in long hours.Stress was high, it was flu season and employees were calling in sick. Overtimeexceeded what was budgeted and there appeared to be no quick fix. The project manager brought a fresh approach to the project, and worked with staff on reviewing each person's responsibilitiesand interactions with other departments. Within that first month, things were looking up - customerservice staff made the connection that the outside help meant that OWASA's leadership felt their pain andwas interested in and committed to helping them do better. In short order meter readers were solidlyback on schedule, bills were going out on time with little overtime, paper processes were beginning to bedocumented, and cross-training was in the planning stages. This paper explores thebenefits that utilities might see from just such an exercise. Includes table.

Product Details

Edition: Vol. - No. Published: 03/01/2007 Number of Pages: 4File Size: 1 file , 78 KB