Author Description

At the time this project was launched, INDOT was operating two paint trucks per district (one edge line truck and one center line truck). This project was launched to determine the feasibility of painting all the lane miles in each district with a single paint truck per district.The Greenfield and Crawfordsville districts were chosen to develop and test ideas to enable the transition to painting with just one truck per district. Teams from both districts including paint truck drivers, painters and managers participated in a series of Value Stream Mapping (VSM) sessions facilitated by Purdue Technical Assistance Program (TAP). The Value Stream Maps were then used to identify inefficiencies in the painting operation and opportunities for improvement. These improvement ideas included both process changes and physical alterations to existing paint trucks. An action plan was created for each district to follow to enable them to test the ideas during the 2nd half of the 2013 and first half of the 2014 paint season.The action plans were completed and progress was tracked regarding the performance of the modified trucks and processes. Although the Crawfordsville and Greenfield districts implemented different approaches, both were able to complete painting all of their scheduled lane miles during the season with just 1 truck apiece.The results of this project demonstrated the viability of reducing the statewide fleet of INDOT paint trucks from 12 to 6. At an approximate cost of $400,000 per truck, this translates into an approximate savings of $2,400,000 as the current fleet of 12 aging trucks is replaced with 6 trucks rather than 12.The process changes implemented in this project also demonstrated operational efficiency improvements, which will result in labor savings of approximately 10%.