Washington DC Department of Public Works

Problem

The Washington DC Public Works Department was facing several challenges. The department was under scrutiny for customer service and timely pickup and removal of the city’s garbage. In addition to the problems with every day garbage collection, the city’s snow removal policies and procedures were in question. The department had budget overruns and public complaints. The Public Works department needed an application that would allow the city to better manage the daily garbage routes to ensure that all customers received proper garbage service. In addition, the city needed the ability to schedule other department related activities such as street sweeping and snow removal. The department also needed an application that would assist in managing personnel, vehicle and overtime costs.

Solution

When deciding how to update their existing manual processes, FMS and the client chose to use Microsoft-oriented technologies for database and development tools in order to maximize access to industry-standard expertise and support. To store the huge volume of data, Microsoft SQL Server was chosen. SQL Server provides the secure, reliable, and highly performant environment to host the client server application and provide future scalability. The initial version of the client server user application was developed using Microsoft Access allowing an expeditious development cycle and rapid roll out process. Using an iterative release approach, we were able to provide the client with high-priority features quickly, while continuing to grow the application as client needs develop over time.

Key Features

• User friendly UI to make system use and training easy
• Daily route, employee and vehicle management
• Overtime approval and review process
• Integrated scheduling process
• Time and attendance management
• Robust reports to display employee, route, vehicle and costing information