PHOENIX – With graffiti an ongoing threat to interstate freeway signs mounted on overpasses, an Arizona Department of Transportation employee invented an inexpensive metal shield that helps keep vandals and their spray paint at bay.

In ADOT’s culture of continuous improvement, this innovation by Interstate Signing Supervisor Dudley Heller is referred to as kaizen, something enhancing productivity, safety, efficiency and more.

Heller’s aluminum shield extends diagonally away from the sides of signs like a hood, making it difficult for would-be graffiti artists to reach around

“It’s worked quite well,” Heller said.

For an investment of $17.50 per square foot, the shields protect taxpayers’ investment in signs that cost as much as $10,000 to replace.

The shields protect drivers, as spray paint damages the reflective coating on signs and makes them harder to read at night. They also make things safer for ADOT workers, who’d have to replace damaged signs on overpasses.

So far, ADOT’s Transportation Systems Management and Operations Division (TSMO) has installed the shields on signs along freeways including Interstate 10, State Route 51 and US 60 in the Phoenix area and Interstate 19 in Tucson.

“We’ve saved a lot of money by doing this, not to mention the unsightliness of the graffiti being out there,” Heller said. 

At the Tucson shop where the Arizona Department of Transportation repairs and maintains vehicles, technicians once rolled tires across the facility to reach a machine used for repairs.

Today, that machine is located next to the operation’s tire storage, along with the tools and supplies needed for the work. As a result, far fewer steps are required to repair tires.

Technicians once lost time searching various drawers for the right nuts, bolts, fittings and electronic connectors. Today, drawers are color-coded according to items, sizes and uses, better connecting technicians with what they need for a particular repair.

Rather than lugging containers of wiper fluid, technicians now create it by adding tablets with water to a vehicle’s wiper fluid holder. In addition to being a little less expensive, this approach frees space once required to store all of that wiper fluid.

“The littlest details make a big difference,” said Harry Edwards, the foreman.

As ADOT answers Governor Doug Ducey’s call for state agencies to continuously improve all aspects of their operations, employees at the Tucson Equipment Services shop are identifying ways to do their jobs more efficiently, down to how they organize their workstations.

“One of the things we’re challenged to do as employees is look for opportunities to improve upon what we did yesterday,” said Sonya Herrera, director of ADOT’s Administrative Services Division, which includes Equipment Services. “And I think the Tucson shop is a great example of how small changes, when added together, lead to a huge improvement.”

The payoff goes beyond more efficient repairs and maintenance for ADOT vehicles ranging from trucks to snowplows. Dozens of agencies contract with Equipment Services, including the Arizona Game and Fish Department, Arizona Department of Public Safety, police departments and school districts.

Improvements to date include a tracking system for specialized diagnostic tools that technicians share.

“Rather than spending time looking for it or searching for it, they know exactly who has that tool and can touch base with them to find out when it will be available,” Herrera said.

Devin Darlek, ADOT Equipment Services administrator, notes that applying continuous improvement techniques costs nothing in most cases while producing savings in time and taxpayer money. It’s also spurring a healthy competition among all 23 ADOT Equipment Services shops to identify improvements.

“Process improvements are contagious,” Darlek said. “All employees are excited about this and are working to plug in their own ideas.”

All through the Tucson shop, employees are evaluating processes and procedures to cut down on the steps – and time – needed to perform work. Reducing steps increases the shop’s capacity for other work.

They noticed, for example, that a machine used to remove, repair and mount light tires was in great demand. But it was located in the north end of the shop, while new tires were stored at the south end. Fetching the right supplies and tools for tire repairs involved more trips.

The employees’ review found that mounting and balancing a tire required 277 steps.

Moving the machine in question to where tires are stored, and next to the right supplies and tools, reduced the number of steps required to mount and balance a tire to 28.

Employees saved more steps by taking a close look at each technician’s workspace, and then reorganizing – rebuilding workbenches in some cases – to focus on the tasks each person performs most often as well as ergonomics.

After employees assessed which items in the parts area were in highest demand, Kevin Potts, the facility’s equipment parts supervisor, moved those items closer to the entrance. Where it once took 10 steps to dispense one of the faster-moving parts, it now takes just three.

That improvement also has reduced inventory, which in turn reduces overhead costs, and made accounting for inventory much more efficient.

“Instead of having three months of inventory sitting on my shelf, I’ve got just two or three weeks of inventory sitting on my shelf because I have really good vendors 20 minutes away,” Potts said.

Technician Shane Blasdel said the many improvements to date at the Tucson shop offer benefits beyond saving steps.

“Shop’s a lot cleaner, a lot more efficient, a lot safer,” Blasdel said.

Because continuous improvement is, by definition, continuous, accomplishments to date are just a start.

“No idea’s too small,” said Edwards, the Tucson shop foreman.

PHOENIX ‒ Leave it to the new person to mess up the first time he tries applying reflective vinyl to make a road sign.

It seems so simple as he approaches the sign-making machine: Just slide a piece of polished aluminum under a roll of vinyl, press a pedal to start applying and …

Jam.

“What did I do?” he says as his understanding supervisor swoops in to free the metal, cut through the bunched-up vinyl and clear the machine for another try.

Rookie mistake. The new person tapped the pedal too early, and this particular sign is history.

It turns out that mistakes are common as new hires learn the ropes in the Arizona Department of Transportation’s sign shop. That’s just one of the lessons ADOT Director John Halikowski will take away from his time today making and then installing road signs.

The sign operation may not have been as efficient as usual with the agency’s director temporarily on the team, but the visit will pay dividends for ADOT as a whole. This is a Gemba Walk, a continuous-improvement technique whose name comes from a Japanese term meaning going where work is done.

Gemba Walks allow leaders to not only better understand how work is performed but make employees part of examining roles and processes. Answering Governor Doug Ducey’s call for agencies to continuously improve their value to the state, this is something all ADOT leaders do, starting with the person atop the organizational chart.

After mastering the art of applying reflective vinyl, Halikowski learned how to apply red vinyl to turn his creation into a wrong-way sign. Then it was off to Interstate 10 and Avondale Boulevard with a crew to install larger wrong-way signs at that interchange.

Halikowski’s work in this phase of the Gemba Walk included placing traffic cones for safety and helping remove and hang signs. Describing the day as hot would be an understatement, and the director, clad in reflective garb and a hard hat, left with a greater appreciation of both sides of the sign operation and those who do the work.

“It was very different from what I normally do,” Halikowski said. “Everybody’s job is important and has meaning. I don’t care where you sit at ADOT, you contribute.”

His experience is now a video allowing all of ADOT to share in this Gemba Walk, with Halikowski interviewing employees and sharing what he learned, mistakes and all.

Looking at the camera as he ends his time with the sign crew along I-10, Halikowski offers some quick takeaways, starting with the importance of teamwork.

“You have to work together, you have to respect each other,” Halikowski says. “And you’ve really got to look out for your surroundings and safety.”

As part of its commitment to continuous improvement, ADOT is working to lower wait times at Motor Vehicle Division offices, reduce congestion on Phoenix-area freeways and increase the percentage of construction projects delivered on time, among other agency-wide goals. But every process in every department is part of this effort, and better understanding and analyzing the nature of work performed is essential for improvement to happen.

His day with ADOT’s sign operation was first of what will be many Gemba Walks for Halikowski, who says he hopes to instill the idea that no improvement is too small to make.

“People think of continuous improvement as this big thing, but most of these important improvements are easy to do in the workplace,” Halikowski said.

SHOW LOW – An initiative that has reduced wait times at Motor Vehicle Division offices is one of the big results of the Arizona Department of Transportation’s commitment to continuous improvement. But even finding a better way to fill a water tank used for treating roadside weeds is helping ADOT provide better service for Arizonans.

Examining their processes and how to improve them, Show Low-based maintenance workers noted that it took 45 minutes to refill the 300-gallon water tank on their truck when they were spraying for weeds. It also involved driving back to the maintenance yard for refills because the three-quarter-inch connector was designed for a garden hose.

Creating a new 2-inch connector out of PVC pipe now allows them to fill the tank in about 10 minutes. Because of the new connector, they also can also refill the tank from a water truck or fire hydrant without having to drive back the maintenance yard.

The result: less time needed to treat weeds along highways and more time available to tend to other maintenance needs in the Show Low area.

All four herbicide trucks used by maintenance crews in ADOT’s Northeastern District now have the refilling system.

It’s one more way continuous improvement is helping ADOT increase its value to Arizona by making more efficient use of time, resources and taxpayer dollars.

For more information, visit azdot.gov.

PHOENIX – Taking the road test for a driver license has long involved showing up at an Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division office early in hopes of getting a time slot to take the test that day. And often plenty of waiting.

That’s changing as of this week. Customers are now able to schedule road tests up to 30 days in advance through ServiceArizona.com for 11 office locations in the Phoenix metro area and northern Arizona. MVD will be bringing remaining offices online over the next two weeks.

The change, part of MVD’s efforts to continuously improve its customer focus, adds to online appointments launched in April for those converting a driver license or ID card to a Voluntary Travel ID.

“This new feature will provide a lot of value to our customers by allowing them to fit the test into their schedule instead of spending half a day at an office waiting to take it,” ADOT Motor Vehicle Division Director Eric Jorgensen said. “This is another step forward in achieving MVD’s vision of getting customers out of line and safely on the road.”

To schedule an appointment, visit azdot.gov/roadtestinfo, which has step-by-step instructions for arranging road tests. Customers can fill out and submit a driver license application online, get a list of documents needed to obtain a standard driver license or Voluntary Travel ID and schedule their road tests on ServiceArizona.com.

Once at the MVD office, those with appointments can check in at a kiosk rather than waiting in line at the information desk.

Applicants must meet all requirements before taking the road test, including passing the written test. Appointments are only for road tests, not the written portion of the exam.

As part of ADOT’s agency-wide commitment to continuous improvement, MVD is experimenting with other ways to reduce wait times, an effort that has led to process improvements that include printing temporary credentials at customer service windows instead of sending customers to a separate line. Customers who need to retake the driving test now go directly to the testing area instead of first waiting in line to re-verify their applications with a representative.

An experiment at MVD’s West Phoenix location has found that having customers line up rather than relying on the number-calling system dramatically reduces wait times, and that innovation is rolling out to other large MVD offices. MVD has also seen positive results in experimenting this summer with expanded office hours in the Tucson area.

“All of the process improvements, like road test appointments, help make MVD more efficient and customer-oriented,” Jorgensen said. “All aspects of MVD are on the table as we continue to experiment and innovate to improve the overall customer experience.”

For more information, please visit azdot.gov/mvd.