Why is this goal important?
Admin must control and reduce the cost of services and products it offers to government agencies. The department has instituted a quarterly operational management review program that measures achievement within each of its 14 business units. This program aligns operational goals with the department’s mission and strategies, leading to higher performance and improved productivity.

The majority of the department's work focuses on services that support other state government agencies. These services include purchasing, real estate management, infrastructure and insurance. Specialized activities include services available from the State Demographic Center, Land Management Information Center and the Office of the State Archaeologist.

What is Admin doing to achieve this goal?
Each of the department's business units has implemented written operational plans that align their responsibilities with the department's mission of helping its customers succeed in their specific missions. Each plan outlines the division's work, establishes goals and defines measures for tracking achievement toward these goals. The department overall has identified more than 30 specific areas in which it will measure efforts toward generating savings through improved business processes.

The department has selected the following two measures as examples of its overall efforts toward reducing the cost of government:

         Percent of federal mail that is automated

         Lease rates for non-state-owned property
            will not exceed an average annual increase
            of 2 percent

How is Admin’s progress?
The department’s Central Mail business processes mail for state agencies located in the State Capitol Complex. Automated federal mail dramatically reduces handling needs and cuts costs through lower postage rates. The department has established a target of automating at least 90 percent of all state agency mail, with a commensurate target goal of achieving incremental postage savings of $150,000 for state government agencies. In FY 2007, 93.6 percent of federal mail was automated, saving state agencies $832,279.

The state leases more than 3.67 million square feet of office, storage and other space from private owners throughout Minnesota at a cost to the state of nearly $57.3 million in FY 2006. The Department of Administration is focusing on holding rental rate increases, through negotiations, to an average increase of no more than 2 percent per year. Negotiations during FY 2007 held lease rate increases to 1.1 percent overall, nearly 50 percent better than the target.
 

Why is this goal important?
Timely responses by the department to requests for its services and products are critical for improving productivity throughout the state government enterprise. Of equal importance is assisting customers, through consultation and collaboration, in anticipation of their product and service needs. Reducing cycle times can result in real savings for Admin, its customers and the state.
 

What is Admin doing to achieve this goal?
Many of the department's business units have developed specific goals and measures for reducing cycle times and increasing interaction with customers. These measures are continuously monitored and refined to determine where process improvements can accelerate service delivery.

The department has selected the following two examples of these measures:

         Increase in customer satisfaction level of State Architect’s Office management of
            agency construction projects

        Increase in Materials Management (state purchasing office) staff time dedicated to
            strategic sourcing activities, such as market research, data analysis and customer
            collaboration, rather than traditional transaction processing

How is Admin’s progress?
The State Architect’s Office (SAO) conducts in-person surveys and discussions with agencies to strengthen its Agency Team Leader concept, identify opportunities for improvement, provide knowledge about project management, encourage agencies to utilize its services and to demonstrate that SAO is interested in its customers. The target for this new measure for FY 2007 is to meet with two agencies per quarter. In FY 2007, the State Architect’s Office met with four agencies (the target was six) and is incorporating feedback from these sessions into its processes.

The State of Minnesota’s Drive to Excellence strategic sourcing initiative mandates a shift of procurement staff resources from transaction processing to a strategic model of procurement. Beginning with the second quarter of FY 2006, department personnel began tracking the time they are dedicating to inter-agency teams, market research, training/mentoring customer agencies and other strategic initiatives. Staff time spent on the new strategic activities increased from 15.9 percent in FY 2006 to 33.9 percent in FY 2007, surpassing the the target by more than 16 percent.
 

Why is this goal important?
The department offers a wide variety of services and products that help state agencies and other governmental units achieve more efficient operations. Admin ensures that state buildings and grounds are clean, safe, comfortable and aesthetically pleasing and that agencies receive the highest quality for the lowest possible cost for their insurance, space, office products and vehicle needs. The department's efforts toward enhancing service quality focus on meeting and exceeding the requirements of its customers and, in doing so, better serving Minnesota and its citizens.
 

What is Admin doing to achieve this goal?
The department’s business units offer a wide variety of services and products to state government and, through cooperative programs, local governments, school districts and the higher education community.

The department is highlighting the following quality measures that reflect the agency's emphasis on efficiency:

  State vehicle program lease costs in comparison to established cost-per-mile target rates

   Office Supply Connection orders placed via web-based system, rather than fax or
e-mail
 

How is Admin’s progress?
The department’s vehicle leasing program provides passenger cars and light trucks for the long-term needs of state agencies, local units of government, school districts and higher education institutions. Lease program personnel work with customers to ensure that they select vehicles that will closely match their business and program needs. Newer leases include cost-per-mile targets that, when measured against actual cost-per-mile, determine whether a vehicle is cost-effectively meeting the customer’s needs. It is the goal of the department to assure that leased vehicles are operated within 10 percent of the established target for fleet management effectiveness. The fleet-management effectiveness rate for leased vehicles was 11.4 percent in FY 2007, 1.3 percentage points above the 10 percent target.

Office Supply Connection is working to convert more of its customers' fax and e-mail orders to a web-based ordering system, which reduces labor-intensive handling and processing. This is achieved through training sessions, one-on-one communication with customers and other promotional and educational efforts. The target is to achieve placement of 65 percent of all orders, on average, through the web-based ordering system. An average of 65.7 percent of orders were placed through the web-based system in FY 2007.
 

Why is this goal important?
Human activity has a huge effect on the environment. Government can reduce its impact by enacting and following planet-friendly policies, by using products and services that are less harmful to the environment, and by promoting environmentally responsible purchasing, including the use of alternative fuels such as E85 and bio-diesel. The department’s efforts toward achieving this goal include:

   Recycling, including operation of the State Recycling Center

   Increasing the use of clean fuels, such as E85 and bio-diesel, as alternatives to petroleum products

   The use of sustainable design in building construction

   Policies and contracting processes emphasizing the purchase of environmentally  friendly products and services

   The utilization of “green” products and services in its operations, such as building and grounds maintenance

The department has selected the following two measures as examples of its overall efforts toward providing services and products that demonstrate state government’s commitment to effective environmental stewardship:

   The use of E85 fuel by the state fleet

   Tonnage of waste products managed at
 the State Recycling Center

What is Admin doing to achieve this goal?
Admin has taken several steps that are helping expand the use of alternative fuels, particularly E85, in state vehicles. The department in 2005 implemented a fuel reporting and tracking tool for collecting agency fuel purchasing information. The SmartFleet Committee, debuting in 2006 and chaired by Admin, is implementing a fleet management information system that helps managers enhance decision-making regarding their agency’s vehicle needs. The committee is also working with Admin’s procurement office to ensure that flex-fuel vehicles are included on state contracts whenever possible, replacing less fuel-efficient models with models that are more fuel-efficient.

The department, through its Resource Recovery Program, assists metropolitan state agency and regional government operations toward achieving the statutory mandate of recycling 60 percent of their discarded materials, the bulk of which are paper products. The metropolitan-area recycling rate was 75 percent for the 2006 fiscal year. In addition to assisting agencies and other governmental units with reducing, recycling and reusing waste, the department operates the State Recycling Center, located in St. Paul, which processes materials for state agencies and other government offices located in the metropolitan area.

How is Admin's progress?
The use of E85 in the state fleet has increased by more than 65 percent in each of the two years since the Governor issued Executive Order 04-10.  E85 use by state agencies is increasing, while gasoline use is decreasing. E85 use increased 69 percent, from 98,000 gallons in 2005 to over 165,000 gallons in 2006. Through the first six months of 2007, E85 purchases have more than doubled from 2006 to an average of more than 30,000 gallons per month. In addition, E85 use since March 2007 is growing by more than 5,000 gallons per month. Gasoline purchases in 2006 declined 6 percent, or 322,367 gallons, compared to 2005.
 

The Recycling Center has set a target of managing 2,000 tons of recyclables per fiscal year, which includes collecting, sorting and processing materials for the recyclable materials resale market. The amount of materials handled by the center has declined over the past three years, to 1,800 tons in FY 2007. In an effort to increase recycling, the Recycling Center in February 2007 launched an aggressive recycling campaign – “7% in ’07” – seeking a 7 percent increase in recycling volume over the preceding calendar year.