CDOT Improvement Team Honored - Among World’s Finest

April 25, 2013 - Statewide Transportation Plan - DENVER, COLORADO – A Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) process improvement team that worked in the area of improving oversize and overweight vehicle permitting procedures and business practices has been honored among the top such teams in the world by the 2013 World Conference on Quality and Improvement.

Representatives of the CDOT team will be presenting the methodology, findings, recommendations, and results of the team’s efforts during the World Conference in Indianapolis May 6-8.  The CDOT team is one of just 32 from among hundreds of nominated teams around the world that will be making presentations.  CDOT will join teams from China, Argentina, Mexico, and Singapore, as well as groups representing General Motors, Ford Motor Company, Coca-Cola, Boeing, Nokia, and Vanguard as a part of the 2013 Team Excellence Awards.

Scott McDaniel, CDOT Staff Services Director and sponsor of the Oversize/Overweight (OS/OW) Permits Lean Team, termed the recognition “phenomenal and well-deserved.”  He added, “To be judged one of the top teams in the world against that kind of international competition is an amazing achievement.  The team worked hard to streamline and make our OS/OW permitting process more efficient, effective, and elegant, in accordance with expectations from Governor Hickenlooper and CDOT expectations.  To say that they have done a great job would be an understatement.”

The CDOT project began with a week-long Rapid Improvement Event in May, 2012.  Ultimately, the team’s recommendations for improvement covered the following topic areas:

  • Standardization of highway restriction data from across Colorado;
  • Purchase, implementation, and maintenance of a new OS/OW permitting system;
  • Completion of the initial permits group bridge analysis relating to OW/OW permits;
  • Improved communication with the Colorado State Patrol; AND
  • Incorporation of all OS/OW databases into one central access point.

In addition to those listed above, a variety of other improvements were also made, including taking the entire permitting process online, initiating around-the-clock access, and putting quick links into the system on the CDOT external website for ease of customer access.

Team members included in this effort were:

Project Sponsor:  Scott McDaniel, CDOT Staff Services
Sponsor Coalition:  Laurie Freedle (CDOT Financial Management & Budget); Gregg Miller (Colorado Office of Information Technology); and David Wieder (CDOT Maintenance & Operations Branch Manager)
Project Team:  Dan Wells (CDOT OS/OW Unit Supervisor); Craig Smith (CDOT Permit Writer); David Johnson (CDOT Permit Writer); Jack Stieber (CDOT Grand Junction Maintenance Section 2, Region 3); Phillip Anderle (CDOT Greeley Maintenance Section 1 Deputy Superintendent, Region 4); Mac Hasan (CDOT Bridge Design & Management Branch); and Tanya Davis (Team Leader)
Consultant:  Kevin Mindenhall, North Highland, Inc.
Mentor:  Gary Vansuch, CDOT Process Improvement Director