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NAFA President Douglas Weichman, CAFM Instrumental In Brokering Agreement Between Palm Beach County And NAPA/Genuine Parts
The fleet management, under the direction of Palm Beach County Director of Fleet (and NAFA President) Douglas Weichman, CAFM, was responsible for developing ways to increase effectiveness and efficiency, while at the same time reducing the operating budget. Having had experience with outsourcing various elements of the fleet's maintenance for several years, it was determined that this was the way to achieve the needed goals and cost savings. Weichman said of the plan, "Palm Beach County, like many fleet operations, looks for ways to increase efficiencies and utilize processes to increase productivity, streamline processes, and control costs. After researching and much due diligence it was determined the process of outsourcing the parts operation could deliver many efficiencies and cost savings. Most people think, in outsourcing the parts room, which the majority of savings comes from reduced parts cost and buying lower grade parts, and actually before completing the research this was what I thought." However, Weichman pointed out, the significant savings would not adversely affect quality. "Our analysis focused on the overall cost of the operation and we are projecting a $300,000 to $500,000 savings annually in overall operational costs and efficiency increases." With the savings, faster repair times are expected with turnaround on broken-down vehicles to be substantially decreased. The county's ongoing cost-cutting measures, necessitated by tax revenue shortfalls amid a difficult economy, also called for the elimination of four county jobs. The employment status for these individuals was particularly important to Weichman who has championed fleet employment and retention during his tenure as Association President. "Our cost reductions and efficiencies called for employee reduction. This was the hard one, as the employees were doing a great job within the arena they had to operate in; having to purchase parts and supplies in a government environment are very tedious, labor intensive, and creates many stipulations that may not always be the most efficient method of completing this task." However, Weichman said that all four of the former parts specialists have found other employment and, "One is actually going to work for NAPA IBS as part of the contract." The fleet will retain the managerial responsibilities of tracking technician productivity, vehicle downtime, and percent of scheduled vs. non-scheduled repairs before and after the NAPA contract has taken effect. NAPA and County staff will inventory the current stock of parts and liquidate any unnecessary items, with the auto parts company purchasing all usable surplus. "As part of the outsourcing NAPA IBS now owns the inventory, and the point-of-sale to fleet management is when the part is issued to the work order for a repair, so fleet management no longer has to absorb obsolete parts, investment in inventory, shrinkage, or have to track and perform inventory counts and reconciliation, etc." Commissioner Paulette Burdick made clear the purpose of the plan was strictly due to the financial constraints Palm Beach County currently faces, like most municipalities across the country. "This is not about privatization. It becomes very costly to manage all those (parts) contracts." Multiple contracts were a necessary complication, Weichman explained. "In being a governmental fleet, we required 56 contracts with multi-brands and manufactures, and even with this amount we would still have parts and supply needs not available from those 56 contracts, as we have a very diverse fleet made up of hundreds of different types of vehicles, equipment, and manufactures (for our roughly 3900+ vehicles and equipment fleet). At times we would not have a parts contract in place either through not having enough usage to establish a contract, or not being able to award a contract (due to the many processes related to all the requirements needed to establish these individual contracts)." The streamlining the process affords the Palm Beach County fleet, in and of itself, to offer cost savings benefits through efficiencies both in time and finances. "Indirect costs related to inventory management, which included expenses associated with automotive cores, exposure with defective credits on parts, inventory not posted to work orders, etc. (are eliminated)," Weichman said. "Productivity improvements for technicians include better parts fill-rates, and technicians who are not chasing, looking up, and helping ordering parts, or having to switch jobs or moving a vehicle out of the workbay because they're waiting on parts." Weichman praised the Association, its informative networks, and its educational aspects for helping guide him to the best possible solution to Palm Beach County's issue. "Through NAFA, I was exposed to a practice which is becoming a solution and opportunity for more and more fleet operations to meet these sorts of objectives. I was able to attend courses on the process at the last I & E and reach out to members who have gone through this process, and to do onsite visits with fellow NAFA members who went through the process." This connection via the Association was extremely valuable to Weichman who added, "(The Association) allows me to have an honest peer review of the process from someone I have known through NAFA for years, who is a fellow Fleet Manager. This was very helpful with my due diligence and getting the real facts in real-world situation, not just from the company performing the outsourcing." NAPA IBS has over 250 instances of these types of operations currently up and running. Weichman appreciated how the plan came together saying, "It has been a smooth startup so far and we're looking forward to going fully operational on October 1, 2012."
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