Archive
Agency: Department of Energy
Title: $59M of Cost Reductions and Productivity Improvement
Background Information
The Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project Office at DOE's Albuquerque Operations Office has saved or avoided costs of $59 million since instituting its Cost Reduction/Productivity Improvement Program (CR/PIP) in 1988. This program formally implements and recognized suggestions from project employees. The originators of the ideas and the CR/PIP coordinators are empowered to implement ideas which improve quality or productivity, save or avoid costs. Teams of contractor and DOE employees also have worked with regulators t o make their ideas a reality. Everyone contributing to the beneficial suggestion or their implementation receives recognition from the Project Manager. In fiscal year 1993, 634 participants (60 percent of project employees) saved $11 million through 579 suggestions. This is the net benefit of each suggestion, the savings avoidance less the cost of implementation.
Examples of the 3500 ideas which contributed to the $59M of taxpayer savings since 1988 include:
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1) using waster water for construction site dust control to eliminate construction of a
waster water treatment plant
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2) obtaining regulatory approval for machine excavation and truck transportation of
asbestos rather than hand excavation and drum transportation
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3) using municipal sludge instead of purchasing peat moss to re-vegetate a remediated
site to be used as a municipal park
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4) constructing a mobile Thorium 230 analysis laboratory to analyze its radioactivity on
site
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5) reducing total injury rate by 55 percent through construction and electrical safety
training and teamwork improvements
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6) using the graded approach to implement DOE radiological safety orders to the extent
they apply and add value
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7) writing a correspondence manual and providing training in office procedures
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8) obtaining Navajo Nation approval to use excess material from a reservation road
rather than purchase clean backfill material
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9) using opposed crystal system to analyze soil samples in the field and eliminate 95
percent of lab sample analyses
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10) obtaining Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval to use an alternate method of
measuring radioactivity which eliminated needless excavation at several sites
Al Chernoff, UMTRA Project Manager said, "Our employees are really motivated and innovative! The success of the CR/PIP is due to teamwork between DOE, contractors, regulators and stakeholders to continuously improve the way we do business."
Main NPR Category: Employee Empowerment
Related NPR Categories: Cutting Red Tape
Contact Person: Nancy Lindas
Contact Phone: (505) 845-5666
Contact Address: UMTRA Project Office
P.O. Box 5400
Albuquerque, NM 87185-5400
Contact e-mail address: NLINDA@UMTRA.CCMAIL.COMPUSERVE.COM
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