The City of El Paso is set to save $570,000 from an employee-led Lean Six Sigma project related to processes for initiating and terminating phone and Internet services for city staff.
“The Lean Six Sigma process gave our team access to tools and resources which allowed us to bring about meaningful change,” said Roman Sanchez, Business Systems Analyst for the Department of Information Technology Services. “This was a unique opportunity to be placed in a leadership position and, ultimately, to streamline our operations and save money for the taxpayers.”
Sanchez led the team of employees whose original goal was to reduce costs by approximately $98,000 annually. In Fiscal Year 2015, the group’s findings and recommendations are set to save the city $114,000; In FY 2016, the first full-year under their process improvements, the city is expected to save $456,000.
“Lean Six Sigma is a strong management and leadership tool that empowers our employees to do amazing things for our city and our citizens,” said City Manager Tommy Gonzalez.
This represents a reversal of a trend dating back several years. The cost of telephone and internet services for the city has grown by a yearly average of $205,000 since 2012.
Sanchez presented his team’s findings to El Paso City Council today. The presentation included the following process improvements to standardize and streamline the process for initiating and terminating services for city employees:
- Develop a single 11-step process to replace an ad-hoc process which included nearly 40 steps;
- Establish an electronic reconciliation process to review, analyze, and validate vendor costs and credits;
- Develop reporting mechanisms to assist departments in managing costs and utilization; and
- Completing an inventory of existing services an immediately disconnect vacant lines.
This Lean Six Sigma Project is part of the City of El Paso’s commitment to leveraging and expanding the use of current and new technology to reduce inefficiencies and improve communications.
Author: City of El Paso
