As its first Lean Six Sigma Project, Kern Behavioral Health and Recovery Services identified fleet utilization as a project that needed improvement. Before the project, too many county vehicles were underutilized (69%). To improve even mileage distribution, the team collected real-time mileage data and implemented visual management boards.
Why is it important?
This project is important because even mileage distribution among vehicles helps maintain low maintenance costs.
The Treasurer-Tax Collector identified incorrect payments as its first Lean Six Sigma Project. Often, the department receives incorrect payments from taxpayers and duplicate payments, which increases staff time to research, process, and send checks back to the property owner. The team is addressing this problem by redesigning the current tax bill to make it easier for taxpayers to understand what amount is owed. The team is also conducting outreach and education and meeting with different stakeholders involved in the process.
Why is it important?
By improving this process, taxpayers will have an easier understanding of how much taxes they owe. The process improvement will also decrease costs associated with staff time devoted to this issue.
When new employees arrive at the County, they have the opportunity to participate in the employee benefit package. One of the challenges with this process is that the benefits packets take too long to distribute to new-hires and potential employees. To address this, the Human Resources team improved the process by going paperless and streamlining communication.
Why is it important?
This improvement will save approximately $27,000 from printing, mailing, and staffing costs.