A methodology to facilitate continuous improvement in the services provided by the Facilities Department at UPRM

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 training 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.