PERMITS PROCESSING/ FEES

COLLECTION & PARK READINESS

Erie County Parks Department

LEAN SIX SIGMA PROJECT
April – October 2008
 Team Members
Champion: Jim Hornung
Process Owner: Stan Jemiolo
Project Team:
Andrea Shear – Project Support (CSSBB),
Co-Team Leader
Mike DeJames (City Parks Supv.)
Bill Filsinger (County Mechanic)
Ron Dubois
Richard Gritzke – Parks (County)
Arlene Mustafa – Parks (City)
Rick Stevenson – DISS
Bridget Corcoran – Budget
Kathy Debolt – Parks
Green Belt: Jim Hart
Master Black Belt: John Lupienski
DEFINE PHASE

PERMITS PROCESSING/ FEES

COLLECTION
& PARK READINESS
 Project Charter - Define
Strategic Goal/Business Case: Streamline the process in
order to spend less time processing permits and collecting
fees, while increasing revenue.
Parks alignment of hours of readiness vs. headcount
(FT/RPT/PT/Seasonal)

Problem Statement: The current permit/ fee collection

process for Parks is manual, inconvenient and frustrating for
customers.
Facility preparedness & readiness and lack of seasonal.
Operations balancing to level staffing needs, per park etc.
When needed on a pull basis.
 Project Charter cont.- Define

Benefits/Savings Potential: Improved readiness process and

notification of shelter rentals resulting in increased customer
satisfaction. Significantly reduced paper workload, minimize
errors, will save additional dollars and generate increased
revenue of $95,000. reduce parks operating cost by $75,000

Scope/Boundaries: Staffing & scheduling (seasonal), facility

maintenance and usage for the targeted county Parks of
Como, Ellicott Creek, Akron and Chestnut Ridge

The scope excludes: Olmstead

 PARKS
2007 Expenses/ Revenues

Costs to Operate Parks Shelter Revenue

(Not including Labor) (City & County)
$387,303 $195,149

 $282,417  $188,549
(Maintenance Supplies, etc.) (Erie County Shelters)

 $105,000  $6,600
(Fuel) (Buffalo City Shelters)
MEASURE PHASE

PERMITS PROCESSING/ FEES

COLLECTION
& PARK READINESS
Measure Phase

 Mapping of Processes
 Value Stream Mapping
 Permits Processing/ Fee Collections
 Determined the perceived problem or
potential
 Team Brainstorming
SIPOC Buffalo and Erie County Recreational Reservation Process

Suppliers Input Process Outputs Requirements

Customers Suitable venue
Citizens Reservation Requests
Rentals Availability
City of Buffalo Permit request’s See Below Reservations Payment
Clubs
Permits Venue preparation
Organizations
Revenue Venue cleanup
Customer Satisfaction Venue oversight
Activity (use) reporting

Determine need Issue Permit

(confirm/cancel)

Receive Requirements Book Manage

Reservation /Availability Reservation/ (enforce use)
Request Collect Fees Facilities

Mail What? Collect /refund fee Venue/Facility staff

Walk in Where? Issue /modify Venue/Facility mgmt.
Phone When? (cancel?) Permit
How Many? Update inventory

Golf Permits * Sports Fields * Courts * Pools * Shelters * Camp Sites * Stages *
Current State Value Stream
Mapping Summary

 Lead Time = 2 ½ weeks (13 business days)

 Processing Time = 25 minutes (Value Added
Time is 9 minutes, 4 steps)
 72 Total Steps to produce a permit
reservation and collect fees.
 Process is very manual & heavy in
documentation.
 43 Steps related to “Delays” & “Moves”
(Pure Waste)
Future State Focus - Analyze

 Address the Pure Waste steps in “Delays”

and “Moves”
 Team Brainstorming generated 32
Opportunities for Improvement
 2 Sub-Teams Established for
Implementation:
 Electronic/Automate Focus (go paperless)
 Workload Reallocation/Balancing Tasks &
Creation of Standardized Work
 PARKS

SHELTER READINESS
ANALYZE PHASE

PERMITS PROCESSING/ FEES

COLLECTION
& PARK READINESS
Analyze Phase

 Collected Data: Headcount, Shelter Data,

Times, etc.
 Team Brainstorming - Seasonal
 C&E
 Utilization
 Shelter rental notification process
 Pareto Chart
Shelters by Park

Pareto Chart of Shelters by Park

180
160 100

140
80
120

Percent
100
Count

60
80
60 40

40
20
20

0 0
park como chestnut emery ellicott akron sprague Other
Count 49 46 21 20 14 8 5
Percent 30.1 28.2 12.9 12.3 8.6 4.9 3.1
Cum % 30.1 58.3 71.2 83.4 92.0 96.9 100.0
Worksheet: Worksheet 2
 Shelter Utilization

Usage Based on Rentals from May 26, 2007 - Sept. 2, 2007

100 Available Rental Days (30 weekend days & 70 week days)

Park Shelters Rented 2007 Rentals Avg. Shelter Usage Total

Emery 21 113 5 5.38%
Como 49 469 10 9.57%
Elma 5 141 28 28.20%
Akron 14 214 15 15.29%
Ellicott 20 307 15 15.35%
Sprague 8 140 18 17.50%
Chestnut 46 640 14 13.91%
 Shelter Prep Time by Park
Descriptive Statistics

Variable park N N* Mean StDev Minimum Q1 Median Q3

readiness akron 14 0 24.29 4.32 20.00 20.00 25.00 25.00
chestnut 46 0 31.52 13.82 15.00 20.00 30.00 40.00
como 49 0 128.57 21.21 120.00 120.00 120.00 120.00
ellicott 20 0 23.75 13.94 15.00 15.00 20.00 25.00
elma 5 0 21.00 8.22 15.00 15.00 15.00 30.00
emery 21 0 35.24 38.94 20.00 20.00 20.00 20.00
sprague 8 0 45.0 42.4 30.0 30.0 30.0 30.0

Variable park Maximum

readiness akron 35.00
chestnut 75.00
como 180.00
ellicott 60.00
elma 30.00
emery 180.00
sprague 150.0
Employee Hours per Week
by Park
 Employee Utilization
by Park
Should take Actual work hrs.

Clock Time Head Count

Hours per Hours per Employee
Park Week Week Utilization

Akron 216 199 109%

Chestnut 282 317 89%
Como 406 318 128%
Ellicott 348 357 97%

* This analysis is based on a Fully Staffed Park

C & E Summary

 Prioritized Park Readiness

 Clean Shelter
 Restrooms
 Liter pick-up
 Mowing/ Weed-whacking
IMPROVE PHASE

PERMITS PROCESSING/ FEES

COLLECTION
& PARK READINESS
PHASE 1 - PILOT

 “Expedited Parks Permit/ Fees

Collection” Process
 Chestnut Ridge and Akron Park
 Ellicott Creek Park

 Como Park

 48 Hr Process Turnaround Time.

 On-Line Park Reservations
6/17/08 – 10/27/08

 Total On-Line Requests – 218

 On-Line Reservations – 130
 Akron – 11
 Chestnut – 79
 Ellicott – 40
 Credit Card Revenue
7/2/08 – 10/27/08

 On-Line Credit Card Attempts – 118

 Accepted Credit Card Payments - 74
 As of 10/27/08 On-line Credit Card
revenue tracking recorded at $4,675.
 Seasonal Per Diem Pool

 Double the number of available

Seasonals
 40 to 80 people
 No change in working hours

 Budget Neutral

 Increased flexibility with scheduling

and workload
CONTROL PHASE

PERMITS PROCESSING/ FEES

COLLECTION
& PARK READINESS
Benefits/Savings Summary

 Increase revenue by 50% this year 2008

over last year 2007, (approx. $95,000).
 As of 6/9/08 revenue tracking recorded at
$138,627 - 50% of Goal.
 As of 7/28/08 revenue tracking recorded at
$181,958.
 As of 9/16/08 revenue tracking recorded at
$213,263.
 Threshold savings will offset 75% of
operating costs, not including headcount.
 Control Chart
Park Permit Lead-Time
6/17/08 – 9/16/08

On-Line Shelter Reservation Process

4
UCL=4.0

_
Days

2 X=2

LCL=0.186
0
1 22 43 64 85 106 127 148 169 190 207
Observation
 Control Chart
Revenue
Park Shelter Revenue
2007 vs. 2008
250000

200000
Dollars

150000

2007
100000 2008
ELLIC OT T &
C OM O
50000
C HEST N U T &
A KR ON
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Next Steps/Barriers

 Implementation of a Web Based Reservation

System for 2009 Rental Season.
 RFP process complete by 11/24/08
 Submit for Legislative approval by 12/4/08

 Seasonal Per Diem Pool

 Submit for Legislative approval by January 2009
 Six Sigma Tools Used
Define
Define Measure
Measure Analyze
Analyze Improve
Improve Control
Control
Problem Statement  SIPOC Diagram  Potential X’s  Regression Analysis  Control Methods
 Macro Map  Process Flow Diagram  Graphical Analysis  DOE Planning  Control Plans
 Identify Customers  Value Analysis/ Muda  Hypothesis Testing  Screening DOEs  Poka-Yoke
 Project Scope  Detailed Flow (I/O)  Means  Quantifying DOEs  SPM – Monitor Y
 Primary Metric  Measurement System  Variance  Optimizing DOEs  SPC – Control X’s
Analysis
 Secondary Metric  Proportions  Verify Critical X’s  OCAP
 Capability Analysis
 Consequential Metric  ANOVA  Y = F(x)  Update FMEA
 Short Term Capability
 Baseline Data  Regression Analysis  Optimization  Project Transition
 Long Term Capability Action Plans
 Entitlement  FMEA  Generate Solutions
 Data Collection  Update Financial
 Objective Statement  ID Critical X’s  Select Solutions
Benefits
 Process Monitoring
 Financial Estimates  Quick Improvements  Pilot Trials
 Final report
 Lean Opportunities
 Non-financial Benefits  Lean Improvements  Capability Analysis
 Close Project
 C & E Fishbone
 Team Members  Process Tracking
 C & E Matrix
 Define Review  Measure Review  Analyze Review  Improve Review  Control Review