than 2,000 AWP workers receive automated texts with job details for the next morning. The workers confirm their schedule through a proprietary app. Previously, each of AWP’s 60 facilities handled job dispatch through a time-consuming manual process, says Sypek, who notes the new system enables quicker job confirmation, better accuracy and more flexibility.
Previously, the hiring process involved screening hundreds of candidates via phone interviews from AWP’s 60 facilities. Earlier this year, AWP implemented technology to help recruit the best candidates. After reviewing job requirements, would-be flaggers fill out an online questionnaire that predicts their safety and reliability. “In a matter of “OUR NO. 1 PRIORITY, minutes, we understand if THE THING WE THINK the candidate is well suited for the role and we can ABOUT ALL THE reach out to them for an TIME, IS PROVIDING interview,” says Richards, SAFE AND RELIABLE adding that the hiring process used to take two weeks TRAFFIC CONTROL or more. With the new SPECIALISTS IN FIELD. applicant tracking system, THAT’S EASY TO SAY it’s three to five days. Hiring isn’t the only proBUT HARD TO DO.” cess improved by technology. In 2016, the company TOM ANDERSON started using a centralized Riverside Operating Partner scheduling process, based on proprietary cloud-based software that takes customer requirements for more than 1,000 jobs each day, and matches them with capabilities and locations of AWP’s traffic control specialists. Each evening, more
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NAVIGATING COMPLEX WORK PLANS That’s something Nick Austin appreciates. He’s director of operations services at the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co., which supplies power to about 750,000 northeast Ohio residents. The utility uses in-house traffic control for less-complicated jobs, but enlists AWP for about half of all roadside projects— many with last-minute changes. “The work plan that was laid out the week or month before is probably only 20 percent good, given weather conditions or other things,” Austin says. “AWP has shown it can roll with the dynamic nature of our scheduling.” Most of his crews consist of two or three people—at least one worker is suspended in a bucket 40 feet above ground, and another stands below, overseeing the project. Traffic rarely receives their undivided attention. “[AWP’s] job is to pay attention to those things, as opposed to having a lineman keeping an eye on his buddy in the air and also holding a stop sign,” Austin says. Previously when AWP created project work tickets, it relied on paper documents and a cumbersome process. The documents were collected at local facilities and sent to corporate headquarters, reviewed for accuracy and entered into the system. In 2016 AWP went paperless. Workers use tablets to fill out work-ticket information and submit it electronically to the corporate office, which reduces errors. Employees also use the tablets to confirm job completion with clients’ electronic signatures. What’s more, the tablet’s camera allows them to document proper setup of the work site.