The pressure to manage educational facilities as businesses is driving schools and universities of all sizes to develop innovative programs that can cut costs without impacting the quality of education.

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), with nearly 15,000+ full-time students and an operating budget of $6 million for M&O, recognized that operating its facilities like a business - by implementing an integrated MRO program - would enable the school to save money and improve productivity.

Initially, the University implemented the highly successful ACTWARE Work Order tracking system to streamline its facilities management workflow process. But in order to maximize the system's capability, the University decided to develop a second-phase wireless solution that would eliminate a number of inefficient processes that were still plaguing the school's supply chain and facility maintenance system.

Partnering with SDI, a recognized leader in supply chain solutions for both industrial and academic organizations, UNCG set out to:

• Eliminate inefficient time-consuming paper work
• Automate the data-gathering process
• Synchronize the ordering process and tracking with back-end systems and databases
• Lower operating expenses
• Control inventory flow and improve accuracy of supply orders
• Issue real-time work reports

To achieve these objectives, the University implemented a technically advanced mobile work order management and tracking system. The system featured hand-held devices for use by the maintenance staff and supervisors.

The wireless system was designed to improve communications between the UNCG customer, the maintenance supervisor, and the individual maintenance workers.

UNCG's new wireless system allowed the school to:

• Streamline processes by categorizing and tracking work orders electronically
• Reduce manual and redundant paper processes
• Reduce telephone calls and time lost to scheduling
• Increase quality and improve timeliness of maintenance support

The Technology Behind the Solution

The mobile tracking system deployed by UNCG and customized and maintained by SDI utilizes a dedicated middleware server to eliminate any potential network delays or security issues.

Using an existing ACTWARE SQL Server, all data sent to the mobile devices originates and resides on the server database.

The system includes a Microsoft.NET application deployed on a portable data terminal using the MS Pocket PC operating system. User interaction includes the following screens: 

• Manage (Assign) Work Orders
• Problem Overview/Preventive Maintenance Activity
• Capture Corrective Actions
• List Maintenance History
• Detail Historical Actions
• Capture Outside Purchase Orders
• Capture Outside Resources
• Summarize Work Order Activity and Finalize Hours

 The automated process enabled UNCG personnel to make prompt decisions and eliminate the need for manual data entry by automatically synchronizing the data with the back-end system.

 As a result of deploying the hand-held solution, UNCG recognized a three-fold increase in maintenance productivity.

 This description of MRO implementation at UNCG was prepared by SDI alone and should not be interpreted as an endorsement of SDI by UNCG. As a State school, UNCG is not permitted to provide endorsements for private companies or their products and services.