Customer Meeting - Plant Ops - Paul Poetker

I met with Paul Poetker of Plant Ops today @ 1:10pm in front of the DC library.

There is confusion surounding how a job is dispatched to a mobile worker. The offics staff insist that they dispatch it to the worker directly, thile the workers say that their foreman dispatches tasks.

NOTES:

Buildings requests workflow:

• call goes to 24 hour hotline -> foreman -> tradesman
  • emergencies: fast tracked through process
  • non-emergencies: printed to paper jobcard which is picked up in morning of next day by worker

Paperwork:

• Contains local customer contact info
• record time/materials on job card when finished

If additional trades are required to finish a task, then can be contacted:

• directly. They will require their own work request.
• through the remote foreman.
• through the local foreman.

Work Order approvals:

• work requests (new construction): architect/department head (carpentry)/foreman/trdesman
• maintenance: foreman/tradesman

Concern with pager:

• can't call anyone back right away
  • must secure tools

Concern with understandability of voice recordings:

• work can be done in noisy environments
• some workers have accents
• have to write things down eventually

Work duration:

• jabs range from 1/2 hour to all week (work is timed on 1/2 hour increments
• groups of related requests can be batched (moving all offices in a hallway)
  • sometimes need to be co-ordinated with other units
    • you move out the contents
    • someone else installs a wall/shelving/furniture
    • then move someone else in

Requirements elicitation (yeah!):

• device displays complete job card (with contacts)
  • contains attached schematics / blue prints / drawings / diagrams (electrical and plumbing)
  • possible scanned drawings from customers (furniture locations)
  • notes from customers
  • ability to record time and materials and return from field
    • quick materials list would be nice for common tasks (install whiteboard)
• have the ability to order more work
  • track task ownership (who needs to work on task now) (like problem tracking)
• have the ability to communicate with lead hand
  • for materials/tools left behind
  • lead hand enters pricing of materials

Paul had a pad of paper that he keeps notes in:

• had extensions / radio frequencies of co-workers
• work orders and job numbers and who helped on those tasks
• dimensions on drawings for materials with room numbers
• tasks upcoming / checks on orders for customers
• open tasks and priority tasks