Sarasota County, Fla., was no exception. However, by using a managed competition, they not only kept the work in-house, but also proved to the county supervisors that they were doing a better job than an outside contractor could. Sarasota County has a fleet of 892 vehicles and more than 1,000 pieces of equipment. The county fleet operations report to the county finance department. Government Fleet spoke with Karen Yeo, administrative assistant in finance for Sarasota County, to get the details of the method the county used. Staying Competitive with the World
“Managed competition is like a privatization committee, focused on outsourcing,” she said. “We encourage managed competition, because we feel that what it encourages for us, as well as for the vendor, is to indicate that we are competitive with the outside world. We truly believe that if we encourage this, it keeps us fresh and it also keeps us reviewing our processes and our procedures and keeps us finding the best cost effectiveness and the best performance we can possibly give to the taxpayers, or our customers.” Yeo noted that the panel that performs the study is made of independent citizens who are not part of the county government. In the case of the latest competition, the panel included a lawyer, who was the retired dean of a university, an engineer, and a successful retired manufacturer. An In-Depth Investigation
Yeo said that the panel did an in-depth study. “It wasn’t just us,” she said, “it wasn’t just the fleet management.” She explained that fleet management in Sarasota County is broken out into different “pods” or units. Sarasota County Area Transit has its own maintenance facility, the fire department has its own maintenance facility, and the sheriff’s department and the school board also each have separate facilities. “We all presented to the managed competition panel, and in addition, an outside international vendor presented to the panel.” According to Yeo, this was at the beginning of the competition. “The panel wanted to review our facilities, so we went on a field trip and they did that. Then we presented our facts and figures to the panel, each unit independently of one another.” “After we did our presentations, they invited the outside vendor to come in and present his proposal. It wasn’t a completed proposal, because there wasn’t any competition so far as a comparison of our dollars compared to their dollars at that presentation. It was just them coming in and giving their presentation on what they would provide.” Yeo said that these presentations all took place between October 2004, and January 2005. Encouragement from Above
Yeo noted that while there were no direct orders from county government to start the competition, they were encouraged to do it. “They encouraged us,” she said, “because the county feels that we owe our taxpayers the best value for their tax dollars,” Yeo added. “And, by being competitive to an outside vendor, both in performance and cost-effectiveness, we can be the most efficient product that they have. If they find that the outside vendor is more qualified, with better cost effectiveness, or better performance, or more efficient, then they will outsource the service. They found that we were the better of the two.” The committee also found some areas where internal efficiency could be increased, Yeo noted. “They found that if the fire department, and our small engine, small equipment facility, and ourselves, were joined together, that was where cost effectiveness could really be felt within the county. So currently, we’re in the process of making that happen.” {+PAGEBREAK+} Keeping Apprehension Down
Government Fleet inquired if there was any apprehension on the part of the staff about the competition. “There was some nervousness among our mechanics,” Yeo said, “because they felt that if we failed in our presentation, and if we did not have our processes in place properly prior to going into the managed competition, there was the possibility that they would no longer be working for the county and they would have to find employment elsewhere, either with the outsource company or somewhere else.” She added that all Sarasota County technicians are ASE-certified. She also noted that there was some uncertainty in management as well. “We, who put the presentation together, were a little unsure how this was going to happen either, because you always think you have the best processes in place, but possibly that’s not the case. “We found that we already had our performance indicators in place, that they were managing our fleet effectively and efficiently, and those were in place prior to the competition. We monitor those policies, procedures, and performance indicators continuously. Those indicators aren’t something that we put into place two years ago and said, ‘Okay, that’s it, we’ll keep checking on the numbers, but we won’t bother looking at them.’ We constantly monitor our indicators.” In addition, Yeo noted that Sarasota County benchmarks against other fleets as much as possible. That’s not too easy to do, she said, because all fleets do their performance measures a little differently. In addition, benchmarking has a lot to do with the type of fleet you have and the complexity of it. “So it’s not easy to find a benchmark indicator in our industry,” she said. “There are a couple of programs out there that are starting to benchmark, so that the other fleets can benchmark against each other. I’m very much looking into that, so that we can continuously improve our performance.” What the outside vendor was proposing to supply included taking over all the facilities and equipment, and supplying the labor force and the parts. Basically, from the presentation they provided to the committee, their quotation was for preventive maintenance. “We are a preventive maintenance house, very much so, and that’s where they felt they could shine. They did not give specifics on other than the preventive maintenance,” Yeo added. The report from the managed competition team to the county included a number of suggestions. The report states that it was decided that the various fleet operations in the county would be the first to be analyzed, due to the large expenditures involved and the favorable chance of finding improved opportunities. The last study had been done in 1998. Yeo noted that the panel provided some suggestions as to how her department could make some changes, but she added that those probably would not have been involved with the outside services anyway, but from the project manager’s side. Basically they wanted to set up motorpools to get efficient use of the vehicles. That was one of the recommendations. “They felt that eventually the sheriff’s department and its vehicles, would very much be an efficiency enhancement to the county taxpayers if they were all under one roof. They felt that there would be economies of scale, should we be in one facility rather than several. Those were basically the recommendations. We did feel that because of our efficiencies and cost effectiveness; they really believed we were as cost-effective and efficient as an outside vendor; in fact more so, because we are a non-profit, internally funded, and not-for-profit.” Yeo added that Sarasota County also handles its own fuel, and does all its parts in-house, with competitive pricing. The committee felt that those operations should stay in-house because of the cost savings provided to the in-house customers. The county also has a vehicle replacement coordinator who has saved a lot of money in the purchase of vehicles. By entering into - and winning - the managed competition, Sarasota County keeps its fleet maintenance services productive, organized, competitive