Sign Manufacturing and Maintenance

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

Sign Shop Consolidation

Before After

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

Production Analysis Production Goals Staffing Estimates SMART Goals Monitor

Performance

How We Got There

Time Studies - Employees were observed performing tasks.

Prep time and volume was considered

A reliable maximum production value was identified

Production Analysis

Screen Printing Rolling and

Trimming Large investment

in set-up time is for setting up screen printer, making screens, & clean-up

Standard Signs

1 8 15 22 29 36 43 50 57 64 71 78 85 92 99 106 113 120 127 134 141 148 155 162 169 176 183 190 1970

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Time per sign

One screened sign about 40 minutes

50 screened signs about 52 minutes

Screen Printing Production

100 screened signs 65 minutes

1 15 29 43 57 71 85 99 113 127 141 155 169183 197 211 225 239 253 267 281 295 309 323 337 351 365 379 393 407 421 435 4490.00

2.00

4.00

6.00

8.00

10.00

12.00

14.00

16.00

18.00

Time Per Sign

Roll & Trim

1 sign about 15 minutes

50 signs about 2 hours

Roll & Trim Production Times

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

Hand Laid Signs

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

Production Goals

750,000 signs in South Carolina

10 year replacement schedule 12.5% additional for new and damaged signs.

About 84,000 signs per year

Estimating Sign Demand

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

Required Production

1-Supervisor1-Screen Printer 2-Roll and Trim2-Hand laid signs1-Admin1-Shipping/receiving

Staffing by Production Estimates

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

Performance Monitoring

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

Cost Comparison

SCDOT Cost Prison Industries Price Private Vendor Price$6.00

$6.20

$6.40

$6.60

$6.80

$7.00

$7.20

$7.40

$7.60

$7.80

$6.67

$7.68

$6.83

Hand Laid Sign Production Costs per SF

10 20 30 40 50 100 200$2.00

$3.00

$4.00

$5.00

$6.00

$4.20

$3.90 $3.81 $3.76 $3.74 $3.68 $3.64

Standard Sign Manufacturing Cost per SF

Cost per Manufactured Sign Prison Industry's Price

$4.52 - PI cost

Private industry price is 3.70 per Sq.Ft. for 100 or more.

Sign Maintenance

In 2003, SCDOT implemented HMMS

Need to inventory assets to know what needed to be managed

Sign Inventory◦ Barcode signs and

assemblies

History

Sign◦ Manufacturing Process

Manufacture Date Sign Type Sheeting Type Sign Legend

◦ Installation Process Install date Directional Information Linked assembly

Barcode Information

Assembly◦ Installation Process◦ Location

County, Route, Milepoint

GPS◦ Associated signs

Barcode Information

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

Data Collection Method

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”

Sign Management

Scanners for Sign Manufacturing Shop

iPads and Bluetooth Scanners for Sign Crews

Technology Enhancements

200056

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

Cost Savings

Need to have sense of ownership from IT Need to cache data so it isn’t dependent on

cellular service

Lessons Learned

Research Project – Life Expectancy◦ Develop more specific replacement schedules

Sheeting color Direction Sheeting type …?

Remove unnecessary signs

Future Improvements

Questions?