That’s the path taken by three more TECO team members … and when they reached the end and pulled back the curtain, what they found was a mirror – for it turned out they were the wizards of process improvement all along!
But let’s back up for a moment. Firmly in the land of reality, this is about TECO’s Distribution System Planning team. It’s their job to plan for changes to our electric distribution system to accommodate new customers coming online with safe, reliable, affordable power from Tampa Electric. The challenge, as one might expect for a company with more than 750,000 customers, is ensuring efficient communication and coordination between departments – in this case, between Distribution System Planning and New Construction.
Enter a solution that makes up for its lack of marquee fireworks with good, solid results.
“With a new system we created in WorkPro, Distribution System Planning now receives reports with all the new loads being added,” Sr. Engineer José Abréu said. “The process will now be handled completely electronically, with New Construction Project Management no longer having to print out documents and mail them. We’ll have the ability to check for new load alerts at any time.”
What does this translate into? Time savings for TECO team members to focus on other important things; paper savings with an all-electronic system, which is good for the environment. And the communities we serve benefit from a new way to make processes go smoother in support of what they count on: reliable power as a customer from Day One. It almost makes you want to break into song!
Another thing this upgrade translated into: Abréu, along with Engineer I Leandro Carvajal and Engineer II Joe Nations, are now certified Six Sigma Yellow Belts as a result of implementing the new system. This places them among an elite group of professionals worldwide who are using their process improvement-related knowledge to achieve positive things for the community and their company.
And on the trail of Six Sigma excellence, there are other ways to grow – just look at Six Sigma Master Black Belt Dr. Gloria Hill, who has helped oversee a growing legacy of process excellence at TECO.
“Gloria was the one who appraised what we were doing in our work with New Construction and let us know we qualified for Yellow Belt status,” Abréu said. “What’s really remarkable is that such a prestigious designation came about because of work we were already doing – and needed to do to serve our customers better.”
He added, “It adds up to a company that’s getting better all the time, with a roadmap we can follow every step of the way.”
Thus, while this story features no fantasy characters, evil flying monkeys or mysterious floating heads, it has something better: three team members among many others at TECO who are achieving in ways large and slightly less-large for the benefit of our valued customers and other stakeholders.
So no, our newest Yellow Belts aren’t in Kansas anymore (and in fact they never were). They’re in Tampa, serving you at Tampa Electric, where process improvement always has a home.
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