1. David Cook, P.E. State Maintenance Engineer, SCDOT

2.  Three sign production facilities  3 sign shop supervisors  2 sign delivery drivers  25 total employees  Long wait time for signs (over 100 days)  Large inventories in county sign shops

3.  One facility – The State Sign Shop  1 Shop Supervisor  8 production workers  Up to 500 signs per day  Free Shipping!  Signs made in 30 days or less  Reduced production costs by over $500,000 per year

4. BeforeAfter  3 Manufacturing facilities  3 Sign Shop Supervisors  2 Delivery Trucks  25 Total Employees  Long wait time (up to 100 days)  1 Manufacturing facility  1 Sign Shop Supervisor  Free Shipping!  9 Total Employees  Orders filled in 30 days or less  Reduced production cost by over $500,000 per year

5.  Production Analysis  Production Goals  Staffing Estimates  SMART Goals  Monitor Performance

6.  Time Studies - Employees were observed performing tasks.  Prep time and volume was considered  A reliable maximum production value was identified

7.  Screen Printing  Rolling and Trimming  Large investment in set-up time is for setting up screen printer, making screens, & clean-up

8. 100 screened signs 65 minutes

9. 100 signs should take a little more than an hour.

11.  Hand laid sign production was more difficult to quantify  Assumptions and estimates were used  We used a 24”x 72” sign for an average size  Made allowances for the unique nature of these types of signs

12.  From our production study we determined maximum production values  Observed maximum production was modified to expected daily production ◦ Safety meetings, training, ancillary duties, facility maintenance, etc.  This value was further adjusted with yearly realistic reductions ◦ Annual leave, sick leave, holidays, special projects, equipment down time

13.  Holidays  Sick days  Special projects  Equipment down time  Four day weeks inspections  Equipment Down Time  13 days  5 days  26 days  3 days  10 days  62 days

14.  750,000 signs in South Carolina  10 year replacement schedule  12.5% additional for new and damaged signs.  About 84,000 signs per year

15.  52 weeks X 4 days = 208 days/year  Holidays = 13 days/year  Sick days = 8 days/year  Annual leave = 12 days/year  Special projects = 3 days/year  Inventory = 5 days/year  Annual average work days = 167  Required production 84,000/167  = ~ 500/day

16. 1-Supervisor 1-Screen Printer 2-Roll and Trim 2-Hand laid signs 1-Admin 1-Shipping/receiving

17.  SMART production goals are part of the position description  Production is monitored daily  Coaching and counseling is used for underperforming employees  All current employees are meeting or surpassing required production goals

18.  Costs were compared to measure efficiency of new sign production process  Private vendors were queried but would only give verbal estimates  SCDC Prison Industries produces signs and has a current contract for various types of signs  SCDOT production costs encourage in- house sign production

22.  In 2003, SCDOT implemented HMMS  Need to inventory assets to know what needed to be managed  Sign Inventory ◦ Barcode signs and assemblies

23.  Sign ◦ Manufacturing Process  Manufacture Date  Sign Type  Sheeting Type  Sign Legend ◦ Installation Process  Install date  Directional Information  Linked assembly

24.  Assembly ◦ Installation Process ◦ Location  County, Route, Milepoint  GPS ◦ Associated signs

25.  All barcode information was manually recorded and entered into HMMS ◦ Paperwork Lost ◦ Entry Delay ◦ Entry Errors ◦ Inefficient ◦ ….Inaccurate database  IT Presentation – Barcode Readers and Tablet PCs

26.  Retroreflectivity – Minimum standards ◦ 23 CFR Part 655 ◦ 2009 MUTCD ◦ Regulatory, Warning, and Ground Mounted Guide by January 22, 2015 ◦ Overhead Guide by January 22, 2018  Management Method ◦ “Blanket Replacement Method” ◦ “Expected Life Method”

27.  Scanners for Sign Manufacturing Shop  iPads and Bluetooth Scanners for Sign Crews

29. 200056

36.  90 sign trucks statewide  15 signs per day per truck – (avg. daily prod)  Reduction of data collection and entry by 2 minutes per sign  Results in a savings of 45 hours per day  Average loaded rate of $21.75 /hour and 217 actual days worked per year.  Total Annual Savings: $213,000  Additional benefits: ◦ Real time data ◦ Accurate data

37.  Need to have sense of ownership from IT  Need to cache data so it isn’t dependent on cellular service

38.  Research Project – Life Expectancy ◦ Develop more specific replacement schedules  Sheeting color  Direction  Sheeting type  …?  Remove unnecessary signs