When I worked in telecommunications, the operator services
division was always trying to shave seconds off the call processing time, i.e.,
the elapsed time between the caller’s last dialed digit and the called party
answering the phone. The operator services division calculated that for
every second they could shave off the processing time, they could produce
another $300K in revenue. Shave off 10 seconds and revenue increased by
$3M. They were always pushing the development staff to change the
software and/or the hardware to reduce the processing time.
Each day, I walk into the split foyer entrance of the Linn
County Administrative Office Building (AOB).
Only the elevator is located on the ground level of the building. In November, December, and January, I used
the elevator on many days – I could not climb the stairs. Now, I take the stairs everyday – it’s good
exercise for me.
I’ve counted the steps from the ground level to the 1st
Floor – 9 steps – and to the 2nd Floor – 24 more steps for a total
of 33 steps. I found my stopwatch. Over the last 2 weeks as I’ve climbed the
stairs, I timed how long it took to go from the ground level to the 1st
Floor – 4 seconds – and to the 2nd Floor – 24 seconds. If my office was on the 1st Floor
instead of the 2nd Floor, I would save about 40 seconds per day
per roundtrip to my office.
In December 2007, Vernon Research Group completed a study for
the County.
Among the findings: 47% of the
respondents visited the AOB in the last 12 months and 96% of those visitors
went to the 2nd Floor of the AOB for license plates (66%), property
taxes (19%), voter registration services (9%), and automobile titles (2%).
Earlier today, I asked Sharon Gonzalez,
Deputy Treasurer, if she had any idea how many customers visited the Motor
Vehicle Department in the last month.
She advised 7,380 customers visited her department in February 2008.
Asuming the average customer values his/her time at $20.00
per hour, we can calculate the opportunity cost (or opportunity lost) of 2nd
Floor customers having to climb up and down an extra 24 steps per visit. Do the math:
7,380 times 40 seconds divided by 60 seconds divided by 60 minutes
equals 82 person hours of lost time at a cost $1,640.00 …for the month of
February 2008.
If the Vernon study is correct and 47% of the County’s
152,058 adults (2006 estimate)
visit the AOB per year and 96% of those visitors go to the 2nd Floor,
the opportunity lost equals (68,609*40/60/60) or 762 person hours of lost time
at a cost of $15,246.35 per year. Keep in mind, these calculations only apply to the time lost climbing those extra 24 steps.
I need the physical exercise. Do you suppose those 68,609 visitors think
they need the exercise? Maybe the
offices on the 2nd Floor should be on the 1st Floor? Maybe the offices on the 2nd Floor
should be on the Ground Floor in another building? What do you think? --Joel @ 10:20pm