Laura Williamson, the head of facilities management at the Department of Transport, re-read the policy directive from the DOT executive requiring all sections to identify opportunities to cut their expenses, fund only essential programs and provide services at acceptable quality levels with minimal customer effect. Laura recognised that the government was facing tight budget constraints and was looking for ways to boost revenue and reduce costs. For the fleet and equipment maintenance areas this meant reducing major capital programs, ensuring stock was operating at required levels for emergency situations, and carrying out just enough maintenance to keep the fleet operating until a future time when conditions had improved and investment in assets could be revitalised. One of the problems with this approach, Laura knew, was that future-year budgets were developed on the cutback base, resulting in ongoing years of underinvestment and a decline in the state of the assets. The resulting increase in repair requirements imposed an additional burden on fleet and equipment maintenance areas.
Laura now needed to decide the overall direction for making outsourcing decisions for DOT so that sections could determine whether to outsource the maintenance of fleet and equipment over the long term or retain the operation in-house. She catalogued the alternatives she had developed regarding the role of fleet and equipment maintenance relative to the DOT mission, the impact on delivery of services and ability to retain skilled personnel, and the issue of fleet ownership and DOT’s experience with outsourcing.
Question
If Laura asked you to review her analysis of the issues, how would you advise her? Make note of your recommendations.