How School Systems Use Six Sigma to Solve Common Problems

Reduce Energy Consumption
The high school has experience >1,100 kWh in peak energy intervals and consuming as much as 500 kWh during “off hours.” Both factors are leading to high energy costs and low energy star scores. The Energy Star rating in 2016 was 55.

The focus of the project was off hours energy consumption, although it was hoped school hour energy consumption could be impacted by what was learned.

Changes were made to HVAC Automated Logic System set points. Behavior modifications were also made. Exhaust fans were calibrated and set to the Automated Logic System as well. Building start up was revamped to happen in a shorter time frame. The impact was 190,000 kWh reduction, equating to a $23,000 savings in the first year. The Energy Star Score also increased to 71. The knowledge was shared across the district, resulting in $60,000 savings.

Student Lock Reconfiguration Process
Custodians spend a minimum of 1-2 minutes per locker when changing the locks during the summer. They also spend up to 15 minutes on locks that are deemed broken. In total, (with 10,000 lockers in the district), this process takes 200-350 man hours every summer. This is equivalent to 25-43.75 work days during the work intensive summer that could be devoted to more important projects/tasks.

A universal lock is being issued that the student will utilize for 3 or 4 years. The solution was trialed in 2017 and will be instituted across all schools in 2018. The time expended will reduce to 25-30 hours, which is a 90% reduction in labor.

Supply Delivery Re-Design
For the past several years, the school district has managed a warehouse filled with about 2 months inventory in supplies. The warehouse employees must deliver the supplies to each building using a 5 school/week cadence. This process is interrupted every day by several other tasks. In fact, the “other tasks” take up roughly 90% of their day, while the day-to-day scheduled deliveries only take up 10% of the day.

Since most of the day is spent doing “other tasks” this project is focused around finding out if direct delivery would better optimize the warehouse workers’ utilization, custodians, the school’s on-hand inventory level, as well as decrease transportation (waste) overall.

A KanBan system was created for ordering supplies and an organization was contracted to deliver the supplies directly to the schools removing the need to hold extra inventory. This freed up floor space from the product that was removed and 262 hours in delivery time, creating a $50,000 savings.
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HR Status Change Form
The current process for payroll status change and new hire forms utilizes a four (4) part form that was adopted over a decade ago, with the latest revision in 2003. It is a very paper intensive process, (over 4,875 papers/year), which utilizes expensive specialized paper. This process takes 200-235 hours/year!

A paperless status form was created. Info for Board Agenda is easier to get and more accurate. As a result, no paper is utilized and the time to process was reduced by 50%.

The next step is to apply the process to the hiring process.

Identification of Outlets to Electrical Panels and Water Turnoffs
Some of the schools are older and have had multiple additions and modification over the years. As a result, not all schools have drawings indicating locations of water turnoffs. Electrical panels are not labeled well, and it is difficult to identify the correct turn off for electrical repairs. The time spent searching for especially a water turn off can have a costly result.

The custodian began making notes whenever a repair was needed. A system to label outlets was created. A team of custodians met a day buildings were closed with equipment to communicate. They went room by room to identify the correct placement on the electrical panel and the outlets were labeled. This will reduce time to respond to an emergency or a maintenance request.

Standardization of Housekeeping for Efficiency
There was an effort to standardize the cleaning processes for each of the schools. Custodial responsibilities were compared. Common tasks between facilities were selected. They determined factors that affect the time required, such as square footage and quantity of restrooms and the number of toilets and sinks. Expected times were calculated using reference data. A time study was conducted while observing staff and compared to reference data.

In some cases, tasks were faster than the reference times and other tasks were slower. Inconsistencies were noted in methods of cleaning, supplies available and the location of the supplies. An effort was made to have more consistent processes between the schools. This makes it easier for substitutes as they fill in at various schools. It also gives a common standard of cleanliness to the public as they enter the different buildings.