Leaning out the fleet - Our Journey
The Vehicle Services Unit (VSU) of the Winnipeg Police Service is responsible for the planning, allocation, life cycle and maintenance of the entire WPS fleet of over 400 vehicles, including all marked, unmarked, motorcycles, specialty, surveillance and covert vehicles. VSU started its Lean journey in 2015 and over the past 9 years has engaged in a steady pursuit of continuous improvement.
From their initial Kaizen event, VSU was able to reduce the cycle time of completing an oil change by over 18% resulting in an almost $35,000 / year savings of labour.
Follow up kaizens introduced a successful two-bin Kanban system which has streamlined the purchase of parts and shop supplies, eliminating the overstocking of products from suppliers and resulting in substantial annual financial savings.
VSU has subsequently introduced numerous 5S visual management boards throughout the shop floor and for shared tools, as well as TPM checks for all diagnostic equipment and essential car repair tools such as wheel balancers and alignment machines.
Building on their successes, VSU has introduced their “Kanban cars”, creating a pool of reserve vehicles that police members can draw from when they bring a cruiser car in for repairs: Leave a car – take a car!
Other Lean efficiencies have led to a 60% reduction in the backlog of fleet vehicles that are awaiting scheduled repair and maintenance, and an increase of time and capacity to adopt a 114-point inspection that has significantly extended the life cycle of the vehicles.
Rating: Intermediate
ABOUT THE COMPANY
Originally formed in 1874, and expanded in 1974 with the City of Winnipeg amalgamation the Winnipeg Police Service today has over 1900 members.
Responding to over 234000 dispatched events, the Winnipeg Police Service strives to continuously improve in order to serve and protect the nearly 785,000 citizens of Winnipeg. To that end, the WPS took its first tentative steps in Lean starting in 2014 and has been slowly expanding the Lean Methodology throughout the Service.
Tour Highlights
Visual management: Kanban bin system including reorder quantities, part numbers and dedicated workflow system for the Lead mechanic and acors in the role.
Parts on demand: parts at mechanic benches, high movers within reach, a bay dedicated for simple fixes (lights, wipers, tires).
Shop cleaning and maintenance: with visuals on area and daily tasks.
Restrictions
No Cameras/recording devices
No high-heeled shoes
Requirements
Tour Headsets
Closed-toe shoes
Hearing Protection
