Personal Trianer
Background
Eden Bay is a medium-sized municipality.The town has grown rapidly, and so has the demand for town services. Eden Bay currently owns 90 vehicles, which the town's equipment department maintains. The fleet includes police cars, sanitation trucks, fire trucks, and other vehicles assigned to town employees. The maintenance budget has risen sharply in recent years, and people are ask- ing whether the town should continue to perform its own maintenance or outsource it to private firms.
This morning, Dawn called you into her office to discuss the situation. A summary of her com· ments follows:
Dawn ( IT manager): When I came here two years ago, I was told that Eden Bay had a computerized information system for vehicle maintenance.W hat I found was a spreadsheet designed by a part- time employee as a quick answer to a complex problem. It's probably better than no system at all, but what we really need is a new information system to meet our current and future needs.
I want to develop a proposal for a new system. For now, let's call it RAVE, which stands for Repair Analysis forVehicular Equipment. I met with the town manager, the equipment department. and several maintenance employees to understand their needs and concerns. I want you to start by reading the interview summaries I prepared.
BeforeYou Begin
Review the following interview summaries from Marie (town manager), Martin (equipment depart· ment manager), Phil (maintenance supervisor), Alice (maintenance clerk), and joe (mechanic):
Marie (town manager): Maintenance costs have risen 14 to 16% annually. I'm not sure that we have any real control over these costs.Some members of the town council think we should get out of the maintenance business and contract it out to a private firm.That might mean laying off current employees,and I'm not sure w hether outsourcing is the right way to go.
Both the equipment department manager and the IT manager tell me that our current
Eden Bay is a medium-sized municipality.The town has grown rapidly, and so has the demand for town services. Eden Bay currently owns 90 vehicles, which the town's equipment department maintains. The fleet includes police cars, sanitation trucks, fire trucks, and other vehicles assigned to town employees. The maintenance budget has risen sharply in recent years, and people are ask- ing whether the town should continue to perform its own maintenance or outsource it to private firms.
This morning, Dawn called you into her office to discuss the situation. A summary of her com· ments follows:
Dawn ( IT manager): When I came here two years ago, I was told that Eden Bay had a computerized information system for vehicle maintenance.W hat I found was a spreadsheet designed by a part- time employee as a quick answer to a complex problem. It's probably better than no system at all, but what we really need is a new information system to meet our current and future needs.
I want to develop a proposal for a new system. For now, let's call it RAVE, which stands for Repair Analysis forVehicular Equipment. I met with the town manager, the equipment department. and several maintenance employees to understand their needs and concerns. I want you to start by reading the interview summaries I prepared.
BeforeYou Begin
Review the following interview summaries from Marie (town manager), Martin (equipment depart· ment manager), Phil (maintenance supervisor), Alice (maintenance clerk), and joe (mechanic):
Marie (town manager): Maintenance costs have risen 14 to 16% annually. I'm not sure that we have any real control over these costs.Some members of the town council think we should get out of the maintenance business and contract it out to a private firm.That might mean laying off current employees,and I'm not sure w hether outsourcing is the right way to go.
Both the equipment department manager and the IT manager tell me that our current