Boosting Electrician Productivity to Balance Capital and Maintenance Demands
Client Context
A major commuter rail agency’s Electric Division faced mounting pressure as key electricians were diverted to support major capital projects in downtown Chicago. This reallocation led to overdue preventive maintenance (PM) inspections and a growing State of Good Repair (SGR) backlog. To address this, leadership sought to increase electrician productivity to rebalance labor resources between project and maintenance needs.
Key Challenges
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Electricians were frequently pulled from core maintenance duties for capital projects.
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Preventive maintenance inspections fell behind schedule.
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SGR backlog was increasing due to reduced inspection capacity.
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Lack of structured planning and visibility into labor productivity.
Approach & Key Success Factors
EFESO implemented structured processes and tools to increase planning discipline and execution efficiency:
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Daily Visual Planning: Introduced a 7-day lookahead plan using a Pulse meeting format to schedule and track electrician work.
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Standardization of PM Tasks: Conducted field studies to define realistic preventive maintenance time standards.
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“Fill the 480” Scheduling: Ensured all electricians were assigned a full 480 minutes of standard work per shift.
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Upgraded Scheduling Tools: Implemented a digital planning and scheduling board to monitor PM schedule attainment.
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Daily Performance Management: Established routine Pulse meetings to reinforce execution rigor and drive accountability.
Results
21%
Increase in electricians time
>95%
Preventive maintenance schedule attainment for DC and Bonders crews, up from 44%.