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Boosting productivity and managing inventory on a university health care campus.
The University of Connecticut Health Center Telecommunications' story is typical of many organizations moving to a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) for the first time. What's not typical is the way in which they've been able to improve productivity and utilize Bigfoot CMMS in different aspects of their operation.
Before Bigfoot, UCHC Telecomm was drowning in paper. It depended on work orders that were generated on a Microsoft Word template. These were printed and e-mailed to technicians, then e-mailed back with comments when the work was done. The process was not only slow, it offered many opportunities for errors.
UCHC TeleComm maintains 7000+ voice stations (the equivalent of a small town phone system), network connectivity and telecommunications project maintenance for a 206-acre campus with two million square feet of facilities dedicated to medical and dental schools, a 200-bed hospital, out-patient clinics and medical offices, plus 170,000 square feet of research laboratories. This translates to 400+ work orders monthly, plus regular PMs.
Things have changed since installing Bigfoot in 2005. There has been a significant reduction in duplicate work orders, which had been a serious problem in the past, and productivity has gone up nearly 15 percent. Better tracking and standardization have improved the department's reporting ability, which is important, as the department must submit monthly reports to the Health Center's Chief Information Officer detailing what they are working on and how well they are doing.
UCHC Telecomm is using Bigfoot in inventory management as well. The team has built a parts inventory of several hundred parts and uses it for reordering, with plans to establish reorder points and further automate the process. The department is also using the inventory function to list all of its assets, from trunk lines to handsets.
Yet another Bigfoot feature UCHC TeleComm uses concerns equipment. The detailed equipment histories the department has been able to build now drive the capital planning process, providing clear documentation of equipment in need of replacement. Last, but not least, Bigfoot's flexibility makes it possible to charge time against a specific project, which enables the department to keep accurate project management records.
"I knew we had to get rid of that paper," says Steve Mann, Director of UCHC Telecommunications. "I didn't know how much of a difference it would make. I did extensive research online and tested several demonstration packages that made it clear Bigfoot was the CMMS for us. It has features that are not included in software that costs much more, With Bigfoot, we've improved all aspects of our tracking, and we have the numbers to prove it."
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