From the
Director

 
Moving Forward
With the new fiscal year underway, I thought it might be a good time to update all of the Plant Operations team on where we stand with the budget and some of our accomplishments from the past year. You may recall from the last Plant Exchange I spoke in some detail about the current budget situation and the cuts that we were likely to be called upon to make by the University administration. Although some uncertainty remains at the state level, I remain optimistic that the plans we have in place will be sufficient to meet any contingencies that may be presented in the coming weeks. Although we have made plans for a 5% budget reduction, with some cuts in the services and overhead expenses, an overall reduction of 1.5 percent is more likely.

To date we have already implemented some of the reductions. Service and business vehicles that were not seeing enough service have been turned in; travel expenses have been reduced; we have made an agreement with Stores for a reduction in their costs to us; some open positions may not be refilled; and a new invoicing system for contracts has been implemented. These are just a few of the items already implemented. We are well positioned for the upcoming year. On another front, the Plant Operations Strategic Business Plan, called “Vision 2005” has been presented to the entire division. Meetings have been held with staff, management and some external stakeholders. The Business plan is configured in four parts. The first part is the Mission and Vision of the division. The Mission Statement, developed by many of you over seven years ago, remains true for us today. The only change is the revision of department names. Our Mission is stated below:

The second part of the plan refers to the Guiding Principles. Management will strive to use these principles when dealing with issues arising from the day-to-day operation of the department. Through example, we hope that all members of the division will soon follow suit. The third and fourth parts of the plan are the overarching goals that the division will seek to accomplish. Since these are written at a high level, the specifics of what each department must execute to accomplish the goals are contained in the final part of the plan. Namely, what each department, area, zone, or shop will have to accomplish for their parts of the plan to merge with all other parts of the effort. I’m under no illusion as to the hard work and dedication each of you will have to put forth to make this business plan a reality. The reward for a successful execution will be the furthering of the University of Michigan’s mission and the continued placement of Plant Operations as a world-class maintenance organization. I thank all of you in advance for the support that I’ve come to depend on.

~ Rich Robben