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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2004. Guide for Customer-Driven Benchmarking of Maintenance Activities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13720.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2004. Guide for Customer-Driven Benchmarking of Maintenance Activities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13720.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2004. Guide for Customer-Driven Benchmarking of Maintenance Activities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13720.
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T R A N S P O R T A T I O N R E S E A R C H B O A R D WASHINGTON, D.C. 2004 www.TRB.org NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM NCHRP REPORT 511 Research Sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in Cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration SUBJECT AREAS Planning and Administration • Maintenance Guide for Customer- Driven Benchmarking of Maintenance Activities WILLIAM HYMAN Booz Allen Hamilton McLean, VA

NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM Systematic, well-designed research provides the most effective approach to the solution of many problems facing highway administrators and engineers. Often, highway problems are of local interest and can best be studied by highway departments individually or in cooperation with their state universities and others. However, the accelerating growth of highway transportation develops increasingly complex problems of wide interest to highway authorities. These problems are best studied through a coordinated program of cooperative research. In recognition of these needs, the highway administrators of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials initiated in 1962 an objective national highway research program employing modern scientific techniques. This program is supported on a continuing basis by funds from participating member states of the Association and it receives the full cooperation and support of the Federal Highway Administration, United States Department of Transportation. The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies was requested by the Association to administer the research program because of the Board’s recognized objectivity and understanding of modern research practices. The Board is uniquely suited for this purpose as it maintains an extensive committee structure from which authorities on any highway transportation subject may be drawn; it possesses avenues of communications and cooperation with federal, state and local governmental agencies, universities, and industry; its relationship to the National Research Council is an insurance of objectivity; it maintains a full-time research correlation staff of specialists in highway transportation matters to bring the findings of research directly to those who are in a position to use them. The program is developed on the basis of research needs identified by chief administrators of the highway and transportation departments and by committees of AASHTO. Each year, specific areas of research needs to be included in the program are proposed to the National Research Council and the Board by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Research projects to fulfill these needs are defined by the Board, and qualified research agencies are selected from those that have submitted proposals. Administration and surveillance of research contracts are the responsibilities of the National Research Council and the Transportation Research Board. The needs for highway research are many, and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program can make significant contributions to the solution of highway transportation problems of mutual concern to many responsible groups. The program, however, is intended to complement rather than to substitute for or duplicate other highway research programs. Note: The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, the National Research Council, the Federal Highway Administration, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and the individual states participating in the National Cooperative Highway Research Program do not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers’ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the object of this report. Published reports of the NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM are available from: Transportation Research Board Business Office 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 and can be ordered through the Internet at: http://www.national-academies.org/trb/bookstore Printed in the United States of America NCHRP REPORT 511 Project 14-13 FY’99 ISSN 0077-5614 ISBN 0-309-08786-4 Library of Congress Control Number 2004100243 © 2004 Transportation Research Board Price $30.00 NOTICE The project that is the subject of this report was a part of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program conducted by the Transportation Research Board with the approval of the Governing Board of the National Research Council. Such approval reflects the Governing Board’s judgment that the program concerned is of national importance and appropriate with respect to both the purposes and resources of the National Research Council. The members of the technical committee selected to monitor this project and to review this report were chosen for recognized scholarly competence and with due consideration for the balance of disciplines appropriate to the project. The opinions and conclusions expressed or implied are those of the research agency that performed the research, and, while they have been accepted as appropriate by the technical committee, they are not necessarily those of the Transportation Research Board, the National Research Council, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, or the Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation. Each report is reviewed and accepted for publication by the technical committee according to procedures established and monitored by the Transportation Research Board Executive Committee and the Governing Board of the National Research Council.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished schol- ars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. On the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and techni- cal matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Acad- emy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achieve- ments of engineers. Dr. William A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering. The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, on its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Acad- emy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both the Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. William A. Wulf are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council. The Transportation Research Board is a division of the National Research Council, which serves the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. The Board’s mission is to promote innovation and progress in transportation through research. In an objective and interdisciplinary setting, the Board facilitates the sharing of information on transportation practice and policy by researchers and practitioners; stimulates research and offers research management services that promote technical excellence; provides expert advice on transportation policy and programs; and disseminates research results broadly and encourages their implementation. The Board’s varied activities annually engage more than 4,000 engineers, scientists, and other transportation researchers and practitioners from the public and private sectors and academia, all of whom contribute their expertise in the public interest. The program is supported by state transportation departments, federal agencies including the component administrations of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and other organizations and individuals interested in the development of transportation. www.TRB.org www.national-academies.org

COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAMS STAFF FOR NCHRP REPORT 511 ROBERT J. REILLY, Director, Cooperative Research Programs CRAWFORD F. JENCKS, Manager, NCHRP CHRISTOPHER J. HEDGES, Senior Program Officer EILEEN P. DELANEY, Managing Editor ANDREA BRIERE, Associate Editor KAMI CABRAL, Associate Editor NCHRP PROJECT 14-13 PANEL Field of Maintenance—Area of Maintenance of Way and Structures LEONARD L. SCHULTZ, Maryland State Highway Administration (Chair) JOHN P. BURKHARDT, Indianapolis Department of Public Works KENNETH CHRISTMAN, Wappingers Falls, NY LEONARD R. EVANS, Ohio DOT JOSE-LUIS GUERRERO-CUSUMANO, Georgetown University JOHN L. HOPKINS, II, Pleasant Gap, PA LINEA K. LAIRD, Washington State DOT BARBARA MARTIN, Montana DOT JOHN SELMER, Iowa DOT JAMES B. SORENSON, FHWA Liaison Representative FRANK N. LISLE, TRB Liaison Representative AUTHOR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This guide was prepared under NCHRP Project 14-13. The prime contractor was Booz Allen Hamilton. The subcontractor was Com- pass USA. The Principal Investigator was William A. Hyman, Senior Associate, Booz Allen Hamilton, and the Co-Principal Investigator was Thomas Heffner, President, Compass USA. Three state transportation departments—California, Minnesota, and Ohio—participated in a field test of the guide. Gary Niemi, Keith Swearingen, and Al Bailey were particularly helpful. John Ruggerio provided methodological expertise on data envelopment analysis and contributed a technical memorandum. A large number of indi- viduals in state and local agencies provided input by completing survey questions, reviewing a draft of the guide, or both. Tricia Rosenthal and Luisa Medrano played a key role in the editing and production, respectively, of the guide. Other valuable production assistance was provided by Lorna Martin. Finally, the input and guidance of Chris Hedges, the Senior Program Officer, and the NCHRP Project 14-13 Panel are gratefully acknowledged.

This report provides state and local roadway maintenance managers with guidance on how to evaluate and improve their agency’s performance through a process called “customer-driven benchmarking.” The objective of benchmarking is to identify, eval- uate, and implement best practices by comparing your agency’s performance with those of other agencies. Customer-driven benchmarking defines best practices as those prac- tices that provide the highest levels of customer satisfaction, measured by customer sur- veys and other performance indicators. This guide leads the user through the bench- marking process, providing details on how to select partners, establish performance measures, use those measures to assess performance, and implement best practices. The guide is accompanied by a primer that promotes and encourages the use of customer- driven benchmarking. The primer, which is geared toward senior executives, summa- rizes the main concepts, success factors, and potential benefits that can be accrued by an agency willing to implement customer-driven benchmarking. The use of performance measures for transportation agencies is currently receiv- ing a great deal of attention from senior executives in the public sector. Of the perfor- mance measures currently in use or under consideration, customer satisfaction has become a major driver for strategic performance measurement in state departments of transportation (DOTs). The users of the transportation system are becoming more dis- cerning and vocal in their expectations, and they increasingly demand better value and performance from the DOT. Traditional maintenance management systems focus on efficiency and cost and measure performance in terms of resources used. This guide provides the means to evaluate roadway maintenance activities by the extent to which they meet customer needs. The nature and extent of roadway maintenance can have a significant impact on customer satisfaction through activities such as snow and ice control, pavement resur- facing, replacement of worn signs and pavement markings, and management of road- side vegetation and litter removal. One effective means of measuring performance is benchmarking. Benchmarking can be used to improve any activity performed by an organization, including highway maintenance activities. A key component of any benchmarking effort is obtaining agreement among the participants regarding the performance measures that will be used to compare the effectiveness of the agency’s current practice with those of other organizations. In this case, the performance measures are related to the requirements and expectations of the agency’s customers. Under NCHRP Project 14-13, a research team from Booz Allen Hamilton devel- oped a step-by-step guide for the implementation of customer-driven benchmarking of maintenance activities. The guide begins by outlining the key concepts, success fac- tors, use of performance measures, and selection of benchmarking partners. The rest of the guide provides the “how to” steps needed to implement customer-driven bench- FOREWORD By Christopher J. Hedges Staff Officer Transportation Research Board

marking in a state or local highway agency. An appendix provides a very useful com- pendium of customer-oriented performance measures. The guide is accompanied by a primer, which is intended to educate senior man- agement on the principles and benefits of customer-driven benchmarking. Also avail- able is the research team’s final report, which contains detailed information about the research approach and findings and recommendations for the promotion and education necessary to optimize the benefits of customer-driven benchmarking and to make it an accepted and commonplace practice. The final report is available on the NCHRP web- site as NCHRP Web Document 58.

1 INTRODUCTION TO THE GUIDE 7 CHAPTER 1 Introduction to Benchmarking What Is Benchmarking?, 7 What Is Customer-Driven Benchmarking?, 8 How Do You Recognize Best Performances and Practices?, 10 Why Benchmark? What Are the Benefits?, 12 Prerequisites for Customer-Driven Benchmarking, 13 Scope of Customer-Driven Benchmarking, 15 Who Is Involved?, 17 Getting Started, 19 Rewards and Recognition, 24 Benchmarking Myths, 25 Critical Success Factors, 26 29 CHAPTER 2 Selecting Benchmarking Partners Criteria for Selecting Partners, 31 Determining the Organizational Level at Which to Benchmark, 35 Number of Benchmarking Partners, 36 Negotiating a Customer-Driven Benchmarking Partners Agreement, 37 Enrolling Benchmarking Units in Each Organization, 44 45 CHAPTER 3 Measurement Types of Measures, 45 Outcomes, 48 Commonly Recognized Measures, 56 A Catalog of Measures, 66 Resource Measures, 70 Hardship Factors, 73 Output Measures, 76 79 CHAPTER 4 Steps of Customer-Driven Benchmarking An Overview of the Steps, 79 Step 1: Select Partners, 82 Step 2: Establish Measures, 85 Step 3: Measure Performance, 124 Step 4: Identify Best Performances and Practices, 134 Step 5: Implement and Continuously Improve, 175 179 REFERENCES 187 APPENDIX A Draft Benchmarking Agreement 191 APPENDIX B Catalog of Benchmarking Measures 217 APPENDIX C Guidance on Designing and Administering Surveys 221 APPENDIX D Assessing Value Added to Customers 239 APPENDIX E Surveys Administered by the States to Their Customers WS-1 APPENDIX F Blank Worksheets CONTENTS

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TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 511: Guide for Customer-Driven Benchmarking of Maintenance Activities provides guidance on how to evaluate and improve an agency's performance through a process called "customer-driven benchmarking." The objective of benchmarking is to identify, evaluate, and implement best practices by comparing the performance of agencies.

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