University of Minnesota to save $3.1 million yearly with revamped custodial program

(08/17/2011) —The University of Minnesota will save $3.1 million annually after a comprehensive overhaul of its Facilities Management custodial program.

A new team cleaning model, updated equipment and best-practice hygienic cleaning methods are all part of the plan to help keep university buildings clean in a time of historic budget cuts at the U of M. The university has suffered a budget cut of more than $90 million over the next two years. State support for the U of M has now dipped back to 1998 levels and the state is now providing just 18 percent of funding for the university.

“The university’s budget realities forced us to review all aspects of how we take care of our buildings,” said Mike Berthelsen, associate vice president for Facilities Management. “These innovative changes allow us to maintain our level of outstanding service to the university with 52 fewer positions on staff. And, we did it without involuntary layoffs.”

The custodial program overhaul is consistent with University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler’s commitment to increased efficiency and reduction in costs at the university.

To undertake the overhaul, Facilities Management spent $1.5 million on new equipment and training, which will pay for itself in four to six months.

The switch to team cleaning is a key piece of the overhaul plan. Under the old structure, a single custodian was responsible for all cleaning tasks within a given space. This “area” model of cleaning is often more expensive and not the cleaning method of choice for many universities and large office buildings. Beginning this week, university custodians will work in teams where tasks are divided among specialists who concentrate on fewer responsibilities. Specialization frees janitors to spend more time cleaning rather than making multiple trips to a custodial closet for different pieces of equipment.

All custodians and supervisors were trained in the new model during a two month period. A standardized cleaning approach not only improves productivity but also service consistency while making quality assurance easier.

“Under the old model, custodians worked alone in an isolated area and there were 477 different ways to clean a building. In the new system there is only one,” Berthelsen said.

The university is pairing the team cleaning model with new cleaning methods and equipment. Teams received training in hygienic cleaning techniques and they use microfiber cloths, dual chambered buckets and more riding equipment in their cleaning. Under the new plan, microfiber cloth is used in one room and then laundered daily to prevent cross contamination. Gone are the days when a single chamber of cleaning solution was used on multiple floors and one mop head was used for months at a time. These new techniques and products will lead to improved indoor air quality which will be further enhanced because the custodial teams have reduced the number of cleaning chemicals to six, four of which are green seal approved.

“Team cleaning coupled with improved equipment and fewer chemicals will ensure our students, faculty and staff have cleaner, more healthy environments to work in,” Berthelsen said.

In a final effort to boost productivity, Facilities Management consolidated 14 different shift start times to three primary shifts which meant fewer supervisors were needed to start and end shifts. Taken as a whole, these steps enabled Facilities Management to clean the same amount of space with 52 fewer positions. Through actively managing vacancies and offering a retirement incentive, the university reached the reduced workforce without involuntary layoffs.

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• Last modified on August 17, 2011