Case Studies Route Optimization Is the Cornerstone of the City of Durham Solid Waste Department’s Efficiencies

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	Route Optimization Is the Cornerstone of the City of Durham Solid Waste Department’s Efficiencies

Route Optimization Is the Cornerstone of the City of Durham Solid Waste Department’s Efficiencies

Technology Category	Functional Applications - Fleet Management Systems (FMS) Functional Applications - Remote Monitoring & Control Systems
Applicable Industries	Cities & Municipalities
Applicable Functions	Business Operation Logistics & Transportation
Use Cases	Fleet Management Remote Asset Management
Services	Software Design & Engineering Services System Integration
Challenge	Faced with budgetary pressures and aggressive performance goals, the City of Durham, North Carolina’s Solid Waste Department (SWD) was experiencing several operational and departmental issues. The residential waste collection program was losing money and being threatened with the elimination of positions. The previously outsourced recycling program was being brought in-house to better manage resources, budget, and customer service. The overall operating budget for SWD wasn’t increasing, due to fiscal pressures in other areas of the municipal budget. While 'do more with less' is a common story for many municipalities, Durham SWD wasn’t about to sit still and resign itself to ongoing inefficiency and ineffectiveness. The SWD team realized that it needed to do something quickly as pressure mounted to get organized—and do so in a manner that created smart, sustainable efficiencies throughout the department. Read More
About Customer	The City of Durham Solid Waste Department (SWD) is responsible for managing the collection and disposal of residential waste, recycling, and yard waste for the residents of Durham, North Carolina. The department faces significant challenges due to budgetary constraints and the need to meet aggressive performance goals. With a focus on improving efficiency and customer service, the SWD has been proactive in seeking innovative solutions to optimize its operations. The department's responsibilities include managing a fleet of collection vehicles, coordinating waste collection routes, and ensuring that all waste management activities are conducted in an environmentally responsible manner. The SWD is committed to providing high-quality services to the community while maintaining fiscal responsibility and operational efficiency. Read More
Solution	Recognizing its situation and the importance of moving swiftly, SWD immediately undertook a critical examination of its processes. One particular area of business stuck out like a sore thumb: operations planning. Specifically, route management and planning were still done the old-fashioned way, without the benefit of any contemporary software tools. So SWD turned to RouteSmart Technologies for an answer. With the software in hand, Durham SWD then organized a strategy for improvement. Its objectives were simple, and, armed with the RouteSmart for ArcGIS® solution, Durham SWD realized they were also attainable: rebalance the workload across all operating divisions, decrease the number of collection vehicles required to serve the house-count, and integrate with mobile data collection devices to pinpoint bulky items, yard waste, and other customer-related items. In 2008, Durham SWD began a multiphase implementation of RouteSmart to address each of its challenges. Starting with a pilot project program that focused on smaller routes, Durham quickly organized processes for data collection and route performance and established a feedback loop to enable supervisors and crews to give input into the route reengineering process. 'While it all looks good on paper and the screen, there is always the human factor that has to be accounted for when implementing technology of this nature,' Ward continued. 'You’ve got to have buy-in from all stakeholders—you can’t just force a solution upon the crews or supervisors and expect them to perform.' Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Functional Applications - Fleet Management Systems (FMS)

Functional Applications - Remote Monitoring & Control Systems

Applicable Industries

Cities & Municipalities

Applicable Functions

Business Operation

Logistics & Transportation

Use Cases

Fleet Management

Remote Asset Management

Services

Software Design & Engineering Services

System Integration

Challenge

Faced with budgetary pressures and aggressive performance goals, the City of Durham, North Carolina’s Solid Waste Department (SWD) was experiencing several operational and departmental issues. The residential waste collection program was losing money and being threatened with the elimination of positions. The previously outsourced recycling program was being brought in-house to better manage resources, budget, and customer service. The overall operating budget for SWD wasn’t increasing, due to fiscal pressures in other areas of the municipal budget. While 'do more with less' is a common story for many municipalities, Durham SWD wasn’t about to sit still and resign itself to ongoing inefficiency and ineffectiveness. The SWD team realized that it needed to do something quickly as pressure mounted to get organized—and do so in a manner that created smart, sustainable efficiencies throughout the department.

About Customer

The City of Durham Solid Waste Department (SWD) is responsible for managing the collection and disposal of residential waste, recycling, and yard waste for the residents of Durham, North Carolina. The department faces significant challenges due to budgetary constraints and the need to meet aggressive performance goals. With a focus on improving efficiency and customer service, the SWD has been proactive in seeking innovative solutions to optimize its operations. The department's responsibilities include managing a fleet of collection vehicles, coordinating waste collection routes, and ensuring that all waste management activities are conducted in an environmentally responsible manner. The SWD is committed to providing high-quality services to the community while maintaining fiscal responsibility and operational efficiency.

Solution

Recognizing its situation and the importance of moving swiftly, SWD immediately undertook a critical examination of its processes. One particular area of business stuck out like a sore thumb: operations planning. Specifically, route management and planning were still done the old-fashioned way, without the benefit of any contemporary software tools. So SWD turned to RouteSmart Technologies for an answer. With the software in hand, Durham SWD then organized a strategy for improvement. Its objectives were simple, and, armed with the RouteSmart for ArcGIS® solution, Durham SWD realized they were also attainable: rebalance the workload across all operating divisions, decrease the number of collection vehicles required to serve the house-count, and integrate with mobile data collection devices to pinpoint bulky items, yard waste, and other customer-related items. In 2008, Durham SWD began a multiphase implementation of RouteSmart to address each of its challenges. Starting with a pilot project program that focused on smaller routes, Durham quickly organized processes for data collection and route performance and established a feedback loop to enable supervisors and crews to give input into the route reengineering process. 'While it all looks good on paper and the screen, there is always the human factor that has to be accounted for when implementing technology of this nature,' Ward continued. 'You’ve got to have buy-in from all stakeholders—you can’t just force a solution upon the crews or supervisors and expect them to perform.'

Impact #1	Taking advantage of RouteSmart Technologies’ four decades of experience and expertise in municipal and private waste collection operations, it didn’t take long for Durham SWD to see benefits of the implementation.
Impact #2	Once the pilot projects were complete, Durham SWD began to intensely apply the software to all operating divisions within its realm of responsibility.
Impact #3	In one area alone, daily collection routes were reduced from 26 to 18—a 30% improvement over its manually planned and administered routes.

Impact #1

Taking advantage of RouteSmart Technologies’ four decades of experience and expertise in municipal and private waste collection operations, it didn’t take long for Durham SWD to see benefits of the implementation.

Impact #2

Once the pilot projects were complete, Durham SWD began to intensely apply the software to all operating divisions within its realm of responsibility.

Impact #3

In one area alone, daily collection routes were reduced from 26 to 18—a 30% improvement over its manually planned and administered routes.

Benefit #1	Daily collection routes were reduced from 26 to 18, a 30% improvement.

Benefit #1

Daily collection routes were reduced from 26 to 18, a 30% improvement.

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Overview

Route Optimization Is the Cornerstone of the City of Durham Solid Waste Department’s Efficiencies

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit