García-Díaz, Martha L.

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A methodology to facilitate continuous improvement in the services provided by the facilities department at UPRM
(2004) García-Díaz, Martha L.; Resto-Batalla, Pedro; College of Engineering; Cesaní Vázquez, Viviana; Irizarry Serrano, María; Department of Industrial Engineering; Cedeño Maldonado, José R.
Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is a methodology used to radically improve processes. Resistance to change is a problem found in the literature which is higher in labor union environments. This research developed a methodology of continuous improvement in the presence of a union, based on BPR concepts and focused on the work measurement systems. The Information Technology (IT) was addressed by implementing a web-based database in the Facilities Department of the University of Puerto Rico, solving data management problems. The methodology included: knowing the original process and data collection activities; defining an improved process with user and customer participation; preparing people with trainings and setting up the database structure; and developing a method to predict the maintenance job duration. Results included the implementation of the web-based work order system. Three examples showed the validity of the method to predict job duration using hypothesis tests and regression models. Benefits were: improved service response, active participation of system users, and an understanding of response times.