Calgary

City of Calgary’s newly elected mayor could adopt continuous improvement

What kind of results would this yield? see below

 

Here are some results from a city the practiced excellence in governance for about five years: Cape Coral, Florida

 

Cape Coral Florida.jpg

A previous write up explained by 2007 the return on the invested consulting dollars was 14 times – counting only hard dollar savings.

 

In July 2009 the city report included this sample of results:

 

  • Team reduced the time to obtain a permit for construction 61% from 21 days to 8 days.

  • 54% reduction in time required to hire a firefighter went from 66 days to 30 days.

  • Lot mowing time was reduced 63% from 52 days to 19 days to mow the grass once and send a notice of violation to the property owner.

  • The cycle time for first reviews in Site Plan Development initially decreased to 5 days from 28 days. The time currently is 8 days.

 

18 events in seven City departments resulting in about $2 million in cost savings and/or cost avoidance.  The goal in every event is to increase productivity and reduce cost without sacrificing quality and the service to our citizens.”

- Lean Government Coordinator for the City of Cape Coral: Ms. Roop

 

I save the results in files when I find them, however they change their websites and occasionally the previous links do not work.  I cannot find whether Cape Coral continued generating results beyond 2012.

Cities & governments that continue employing lean thinking achieve ongoing consistent results for constituents, improve services while reduce lead times and costs; Calgary is capable of this.

 

minnesota map.gif

Here’s an example of a results report at the state level – it can be applied at any organization or government level – this is just a better example of results in a wide variety of government services. Unfortunately the link is not working, just going to copy & paste; formatting is off but read through you’ll get the picture


Continuous Improvement Minnesota

2010/2011 Results

Agency

Division/
Unit

Fiscal
Year

Tools
Used

Results Achieved


Department of Administration

Real Estate and Construction Services

2010

Kaizen
event

Improved real estate leasing process time by 67 percent. 

 

Fleet and Surplus Services (FSS)

2010

Kaizen
event

Reduced time to enrol fleet vehicles in M5 be 69 percent.


Department of Agriculture

Dairy and Food
Licensing Division

2011

Kaizen
event

Improved customer service through an 80 percent reduction in the amount of time necessary for reviewing and issuing license documentation to customers.

 

Lab Services Division

2010

Kaizen
event

Improved operations through a 33 percent reduction in elapsed time and a 25 percent reduction in task time for the “short path” lab results reporting, and a 68 percent reduction in elapsed time and task time for “long path” lab results reporting, with potential staff time-savings of 2.2 FTE per year.

 

Dairy and Food
Licensing Division

2010

Kaizen
event

Reduced the time for an establishment to get a license by 99.8 percent.


Department of Commerce

Consumer and Industry Services

2010

Kaizen
event

Reduced average time to process an insurance product file by 65 percent.


Department of Corrections

Shakopee Facility

2011

Kaizen
event

Used evidence based practices to prioritize and balance offender work assignments and self-development opportunities while maintaining offender programming schedule.

 

Information Technology

2011

Kaizen
event

Improved customer service processes with FootPrints service ticket system for internal and external staff.

 

Willow River/Moose Lake facilities

2011

Kaizen
event

Reduced and leveled out inmake movement to reduce congestion, reduce staffing costs, and improve safety.

 

Faribault Facility

2011

Kaizen
event

Increased staff productivity, reduced traffic through truck gate, and reduced offender pull-outs and down time.

 

Stillwater Facility

2011

Kaizen
event

Improved the efficiency of the facility movement schedule resulting in increased facility security, increased offender production hours, and maintained facility programming.

 

Shakopee Women's Facility

2011

Kaizen
event

Reduced the amount of staff overtime, refined current overtime monitoring process, and identified potential cost reductions in the future.

 

Red Wing facility

2011

Kaizen
event

Improved business operations by developing a staff schedule that maximizes staff resources, increases programming time and maintains staff safety.

 

Togo Facility

2011

Kaizen
event

Improved operations by developing a staff schedule that maximizes programming time, coordinates schedule among units and defines core schedule requirements.

 

Shakopee Facility

2011

Kaizen
event

Improved operations by streamlining intake and transportation processes, resulting in more effective use of staff and other resources.

 

Shakopee Facility –
Work Release Program

2011

Kaizen
event

Improved operations by streamlining work release processes to maximize the length of eligible offenders’ stay in the program.

 

Willow River and
Moose Lake Facilities

2011

Kaizen
event

Improved internal operations by completing 100 percent of mandatory staff trainings with the fewest scheduling tasks and by reducing instances requiring excessive communication.

 

Lino Lakes facility

2011

Kaizen
event

Improved service by ensuring that 100 percent of offender releases occur on the correct date through the creation of a one-cycle work flow that eliminates duplication of effort and ensures the appropriate use of staff resources on priority tasks.

 

Offender Classification

2011

Kaizen
event

Improved service by refining the process that ensures consistent application of the offender classification system.

 

Faribault Facility

2011

Kaizen
event

Improved service by increasing the number of mandated offenders enrolled in the literacy program; reduce the number of offenders called out from literacy classes and align literacy program schedule with that of other DOC facilities.

 

Togo Facility

2010

Kaizen
event

Improved operations by developing a staff schedule that maximizes programming time, coordinates schedule among units and defines core schedule requirements.

 

St. Cloud Correctional Facility

2010

Kaizen
event

Simplified staffing schedule by reducing the number of officer start times from 17 to eight in order to balance the needs of both the institution and the staff.

 

Willow River/Moose Lake Correctional Facility

2010

Kaizen
event

Created new staffing and training schedules that more adequately balance training requirements and coverage of officer posts.

 

Lino Lakes

2010

Kaizen
event

Improved workplace safety. 


Department of Employment and Economic Development

Trade Adjustment Assistance

2011

Kaizen
event

Redesigned financial process in preparation for new statewide financial software. Reduced tasks by 41 percent, waits by 55 percent, handoffs by 71 percent, and total process time by 47 percent.

 

Minneapolis WorkForce Center/Dislocated Worker

2011

Kaizen
event

Reduced time for determining eligibility, standardized forms, client folders and process steps for a 77 percent reduction in process time and 29 percent reduction in task time.

 

Unemployment
Insurance Division

2011

Kaizen
event

Improved customer service by creating a standard process for applicants to follow; reduced the amount of time applicants need to access specialized employ-ment services.

 

Unemployment
Insurance Division

2011

Kaizen
event

Improved customer service through a 50 percent reduction in phone inquiry response time.

 

Unemployment
Insurance Division

2011

Kaizen
event

Improved customer service by reducing the amount of time needed to resolve an extended unemployment coverage request to an average of one day from the previous 14-25 days.

 

Workforce Centers

2011

Kaizen
event

Improved workflow and customer service by redesigning customer service areas, improving signage and improving the allocation of technical resources.

 

State Services for the Blind

2011

Kaizen
event

Reduced the elapsed time by 71%, and the  task time by  42% to provide an assessment  audio technology requirements for clients seeking employment services

 

Financial Management

2011

2P – Process Preparation

Developed a new process that will allow for the efficient interface between the DEED Workforce 1 work tracking software, and the State’s new financial tracking system, SWIFT

 

Workforce Development/Trade Adjustment Assistance

2010

Kaizen
event

Developed a standard process for Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) requests and will create TAA program policies for consistent and accurate responses. The new process reduces total process time by 53 percent and task time by 70 percent.

 

Unemployment
Insurance & Workforce Development

2010

Kaizen
event

Established standard process for referrals from Re-employment & Eligibility Assessment (REA) to Re-employment & Eligibility Services (RES).

 

Minnesota Investment Fund

2010

Kaizen
event

Reduced process time for disbursing community development grants by 93 percent.


 

 

 

 

 

Department of Health

Vital Record Unit

2011

Kaizen
event

Standardized birth and death certificate application process, reduce tasks by 40 percent, waits by 79 percent, handoffs by 50 percent, and total process time by 96 percent.

 

User Support Services

2011

Kaizen
event

Standardized video conference scheduling tools and processes to meet increasing demand, save time and maintain high quality of work for a 22 percent reduction in tasks and 25 percent reduction in handoffs.

 

 

Commissioner's Office

2011

Kaizen
event

Created a standardized emergency communication response process to be utilized within the agency and with partner agencies/stakeholders.

 

Licensing and Certification Division

2011

Kaizen
event

Reduced the elapsed time to schedule and capture nursing home surveys by 34% and save approximately 3 FTEs of staff time.

 

 

 

Commissioner's Office

2010

Kaizen
event

Utilize a standard electronic system to process and track inquiries and empower key staff to make response decisions. The new process will lead to savings in paper, supplies and staff time and be 67 percent faster than the old process.

 

Licensed Home Care

2010

Kaizen
event

Reduced time for home care license pre and post survey process by 62 percent.


Department of Human Services

Contracts Division

2011

Kaizen
event

Improved business operations by reducing the elapsed time for processing a professional/technical contract by 40 percent and reducing the amount of staff time necessary for processing a contract by 30 percent.

 

TSS Testing

2011

Kaizen
event

Documented the testing process, eliminated unnecessary duplication and testing, and detected quality issues earlier in the process while mainting high quality standards. Reduced process time by 46 percent and wait time by 50 percent.

 

Central Imaging Unit

2011

Kaizen
event

Improved business operations and availability of information through a 58 percent reduction in the time required for preparing and imaging health care enrollment documents.

 

Medical Assistance Program

2011

Kaizen
event

Improved customer service through a 37 percent reduction in the time needed for determining eligibility on requests for medical assistance (MA) payment of long-term care (LTC), from an average of 87 days to 55 days.

 

Adoptions Record Unit

2011

Kaizen
event

Reduced the elapsed time to process a scanned adoption record file by 30%. Reduced the amount of task time required by 3 FTE per year. Will save thousands of dollars in paper and printing costs.

 

Human Resources

2010

Kaizen
event

Developed a consistent hiring process for central office, SOS, and MSOP. The new process will reduce the elapsed time of the bidder fill process by 57 percent and no bidder fill process by 40 percent.

 

Health Care Administration

2010

Kaizen
event

Improved process time for gathering MMIS estimates by 78.5 percent. 

 

Health Care Administration

2010

Kaizen
event

Streamlined the bill analysis and fiscal note processes, created a bill prioritization system, updated forms to match the new process, created standard work and a central repository for all bill analyses and fiscal notes.


Department of Military Affairs

MN Army National Guard

2010

Kaizen
event

Reduced the time it takes to capture vehicle usage and distribute vehicles by 80 percent.

 

MN Army National Guard

2010

Kaizen
event

Reduced Enlisted Personnel System (EPS) packet process time by 64 percent.


Department of Natural
Resources

Office of Management and Budget

2011

Kaizen
event

Improved internal operations through a 75 percent reduction in the amount of time needed to request and receive legislative authorization, from an average of 12 weeks to an average of three weeks.

 

Forest Planning Unit

2010

Kaizen
event

Improved business operations and resource management through an 80 percent reduction in the amount of time needed to develop and adopt forest management plans, from an average of three years to eight months.


Department of Public Safety

Driver and Vehicle Services

2011

Kaizen
event

Improved customer service through a 70 percent reduction in processing time for expedited title transfers.

 

Human Resources

2010

Kaizen
event

Reduced hiring process time by over 50 percent.

 

Bureau of Criminal Apprehension

2010

Process
redesign

Redesigned process for providing customers with permission and connectivity to BCA services.


Department of Revenue

Return Mail Processing Unit

2011

Kaizen
event

Reduced the amount of re-sent mail by 60 percent, reduce the elapsed time to re-send mail by 75 percent, and reduce costs of re-sending mail estimated at $80,000 per year.


Department of Transportation

 

2011

Kaizen
event

Standardized training announcement process, created announcement template, developed training calendar for a 57 percent reduction in task time, a 33 percent reduction in wait time, and a 38 percent reduction in total time for the training announcement process.

 

Office of Civil Rights

2011

Kaizen
event

Improved service through an 80 percent reduction in the amount of time needed to review and clear Disadvantaged Business Enterprise contract applications, from an average of 63 days to an average of 12 days.

 

Materials Management

2011

Kaizen
event

Improved business operations by standardizing the materials acquisition process and reducing the cycle time from an average of 18 days to 15 days for each contract.

 

Financial Management

2011

Kaizen
event

Improved business information by ensuring that accurate, clear and consistent financial data is avail-able to agency managers and leaders as quickly as possible.

 

IT Development

2011

Kaizen
event

Improved service by streamlining the IT development process, reducing lead time by 45 percent and leading to quicker project assessment, improved customer satisfaction and reduced staff time commitment.

 

Operations Division

2010

Kaizen
event

A 68% reduction in elapsed time for vacancies filled by bid and 69% reduction in elapsed time for vacancies filled competitively. The new process also includes a one-stop shop for vacancy related information and enhancements to the Strategic Staffing Plan.

 

Platting Process

2010

Kaizen
event

Reduced time spent developing plats by 36 percent. Eliminated handoffs and reduced total wait time by four weeks.

 

Geometric Design
Support Unit

2010

Kaizen
event

Reduced the time it takes to process design exceptions by 85 percent by establishing response timelines and enhancing training.

 

EDMS unit

2010

Kaizen
event

Reduced the Electronic Document Management System process time by 56 percent.


Department of Veterans Affairs

Hastings Veterans Home

2011

Kaizen event/
root cause analysis

Developed a more efficient morning routine for meeting patient needs at the Hastings facility.

 

State Soldiers
Assistance program

2010

Kaizen
event

Improved customer service through a 70 percent reduction in task time and a 58 percent reduction in wait time in the process for reviewing and approving financial benefits for qualified veterans seeking assistance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Minneapolis Veterans Homes

2010

Kaizen
event

Created standard of work for resident mealtimes and staff break times to make process more resident centered with an emphasis on teamwork and enhanced communication.

 

Minneapolis Veterans Homes

2010

Kaizen
event

Created a streamlined admissions process that is easier, faster and more understandable for families, residents and staff.

 

Hastings Veterans
Homes

2010

Kaizen
event

Created a more efficient referral and lab process.


Minnesota State Colleges and Universities

Office of the Chancellor

2011

Kaizen
event

Reduced the process time for filling vacancies needing classification by 54% and vacancies not needing classification by 62%.

Metropolitan State University

Student Admissions

2011

Kaizen
event


Reduced the elapsed time to evaluate transfer credits and determine eligibility for admissions by 75 percent.

 

Registrar's office

2010

Kaizen
event


Improved class scheduling process time by 61 percent.


Pollution Control Agency

Communications Unit

2011

Kaizen
event

Developed a streamlined, standard process for making updates to the PCA website.

 

Surface Waters

2010

Kaizen
event


Redesigned the water quality assessment process.

 

http://www.lean.state.mn.us/LEAN_pages/results.html

 

 

 

Calgary Zone Covid-19 cases update & variants Feb 28, 2021

Calgary Zone Total Variant Cases Feb 28 2021.jpg

The first UK B.1.1.7 variant was detected in Alberta in Dec. 24 from a Dec. 15 test and made public Dec 28.

 

The first South African N501Y.V2 variant case in Canada was detected January 8 in Alberta. 

 

All cases were from travelers returning from out of country.  In other words, we imported them.  Canada has not had a proper lock down since covid19 started, and only recently took responsibility for incoming flights.

 

Feb 1

- Calgary zone student UK variant (child of a returning traveler)

 

Feb 3

- Combined COVID mutations are discovered in the UK variant carrying an additional gene mutation seen in a South African variant.

 

Feb 4

- two more UK variant cases in Calgary zone schools (travel related), total of 5 students

 

Feb 17

B.1.429 variant that originated in California and the UK variant have reportedly merged and are being monitored.  This occurs when someone is infected with two strains at the same time.   

- The recombinant carries a mutation from the Kent variant - known as B.1.1.7 - which makes the UK virus more transmissible.

- It also carries another mutation from the California variant - known as B.1.429 - which can produce resistance to antibodies.

I think I’m missing the day by day numbers and lack the time to dig for them, however there is enough to start a trend chart.  Pleases forward links to any data I’m missing and I will update – specify date, variant # in Calgary zone, and link.  

I will use Alberta Health’s published variant data going forward as I have been for regular cases here https://www.alberta.ca/covid-19-alberta-data.aspx

I find it strange Alberta Health Services reports Calgary case #'s for the day prior "(ex. Table updated March 1. Numbers accurate as of end of day Feb. 28.) yet for Variant cases it appears as same day (ex. Table updated March 1.)

If they do not know same day cases, how could they know the same day variants cases?

I'd ask but they rarely answer my questions and failed to answer everything I asked last year, so I'll just adjust numbers by a day if needed.  It's still a good representation even if off by 24 hours, and like the ebola trend charts I created, these will be the only ones for Calgary zone variants also unless AB health creates some.  They took several months before providing zones info in 2020.

My Thoughts & Question:

Also, it's getting close to a year, will Canada have it's first real lock down at some point?  Flight traffic - which imported the UK variant - is only being addressed as of recently.

There is no shortage of countries that have taken responsibility and successfully controlled and eliminated the virus, allowing their people to be fairly free again. I can think of 6-8 countries off the top of my head (this article says 30 https://coronavirus.nautil.us/which-countries-have-beaten-covid-19).

Is a short lock down actually less expensive than maintaining virus spread as we’ve been doing in Canada?

I requested the cost of these short lock downs to compare with maintaining the spread as we've done for a year.  

I believe an actual lock down would be a cheaper option and healthier for the both the economy and people’s mental health than what Canada has been doing.  We have enough data from countries that have done this to calculate it, or provide reasonable estimates.

I sent a tweet Nov 3 here https://twitter.com/RyanCartiers/status/1323646488895844352 feel free to retweet if you’ve also curious.


Total Confirmed:

20210228 Calgary zone covid19 Confirmed cases.jpg

New cases only:

20210228 Calgary zone covid19 NEW cases only.jpg

Active cases only:

*Today is first day active cases have not decreased since mid January.

20210228 Calgary zone covid19 ACTIVE cases only.jpg

Calgary zone covid19 cases only to date August 30, 2020

As reported daily by Alberta Health. They finally responded to one of my questions on twitter about why there is so much of a difference between their daily published numbers and their trend chart. AHS replied “covid19AB cases may fluctuate between daily increases and net increases due to amendments and updates during investigations; this can include transferring out of province cases and resolving the status of probable cases.”

I asked if this means the daily reported #’s are what was identified in Alberta that day, and if Alberta Health is updating for residents testing positive out of province, and subtracting people visiting AB that test positive here, and have heard nothing for 10 days.

Still waiting on responses to my other questions from months ago as well, not expecting a response to them either.

Trend charts based on AHS daily #’s:

20200830 Calgary zone covid19 cases.jpg

Calgary zone TOTAL Confirmed cases to date

20200830 Calgary zone covid19 NEW cases only.jpg

Calgary zone covid19 NEW cases to date

20200830 Calgary zone covid19 ACTIVE cases only.jpg

Calgary zone ACTIVE cases to date

Calgary zone covid19 case update to July 31, 2020

Calgary zone covid19 cases July 31.jpg

Confirmed cases still increasing however recent spike 2 weeks ago seems to have tapered.

Calgary zone covid19 NEW cases only July 31.jpg

Active cases increased for 2 weeks then decreased last week. Mandatory masks start Aug. 1st we’ll see if it has any impact.

Calgary zone covid19 ACTIVE cases only July 31.jpg

Still no proper response from Alberta Health on any questions I’ve asked, they just give me the same link over & over which lacks the information I requested; I also pointed out June 25 the trend chart does not match daily active & confirmed case numbers they published. Here’s the 1st example I sent them:

Alberta Health Reported numbers 2020-07-17.jpg

AHS published 5785 confirmed cases on July 17, the date of this screenshot.

Yet the July 22 trend chart reports

July 17 having 5883 cases.

What accounts for 98 case the difference?

Alberta Health Reported numbers 2020-07-22 1246.jpg
Alberta Health Reported numbers 2020-07-22 1250.jpg

They did not respond to this example. Here’s another: July 30 reports 6470 confirmed cases

20200730 1724 AHS Calgary zone covid19 reported #s.jpg

However the trend chart on August 2 shows a different number of cases on July 30, it says 6499.

20200731 Alberta Health Reported #s Calgary zone.jpg

What accounts for the 39 case difference?

I noticed the numbers are often different so I’ve done a few screen shot examples to have them account for the difference.

Covid19 Cases Jump in Calgary - July 20 update

Calgary zone covid19 cases Jul 20.jpg

Last weekend confirmed cases increased 104, +35/day average

This weekend confirmed cases increased 311, +103/day average, 199% higher than last weekend.

(For some reason AHS has stopped reporting weekend #’s also, so they’re averaged over the weekend)

Calgary zone covid19 ACTIVE cases only Jul 20.jpg

Active cases started climbing again July 10 when they had been steady around 228;

on Friday they were 385 and today (Monday) 553.

Calgary zone covid19 NEW cases only Jul 20.jpg

AHS reported #’s show new cases have jumped in Calgary zone from 75 during the week July 7-10 to 166 new cases during last week, a 121% increase.


Calgary zone covid19 cases

Calgary zone covid19 cases Apr 30.JPG

Data based on Alberta daily reports containing Calgary new & total for that day. 

Where new is not reported, the previous days total is subtracted. 

Results averaged for Apr 15-17 due to fire.

Please send additional links to confirmed numbers for previous dates, particularly missing dates for new cases March 19, April 4 & 11 in comments or tweet @ryancartiers.

Lean Construction in Calgary

Encouraging to see the evolution of construction in Calgary adopting current business practices to such a degree the self awareness exists Lean Construction practices will be vetting criteria for buyers concerned with on-time on-budget performance.

Unlike most firms that are ‘all hat, no cattle’ regarding continuous improvement, many Calgary construction firms exhibit progressive management learning to execute in their industry.

https://westcor.net/how-lean-construction-benefits-our-clients

Initiating Service Excellence practices in the Canadian Federal Goverment

233da-canadafederalgovernment.jpg

After some initial emails starting June 2017, received an invitation to speak with Kent Hehr MP Calgary Center to suggest introducing service excellence practices to the Canadian Federal Government. 

Used examples Washington has achieved, published in their 2014 & 2018 Results Washington reports you can see here:

2014 December Lean/Performance Management: Quantifying Results and Exploring the Viability of Self-Funding (PDF) 

January 2018: Results Washington Annual Report (PDF)