Loop Plant Modeling: The Facility Analysis Plan: New Methodology for Improving Loop Plant Operations

The Facility Analysis Plan is a new methods system designed to improve loop plant operations. The objectives of loop plant operations are to provide telephone service to the customer on demand at the lowest possible cost and to maintain that service without interruption until the customer requests its termination. Meeting this objective requires the combined efforts of many work forces, each of which performs a distinct set of functions. 999 Prior to the development of the Facility Analysis Plan, each work force had separate plans to monitor and improve its effectiveness in providing service. While these plans involved collecting and processing large quantities of data concerning loop network operations, they were in many cases only partially effective because of three basic weaknesses. First, the data were not organized for easy use in identifying and correcting specific problems. Second, the plans usually focused on the operation of a single work force even though there are substantial interdependencies among the various forces. Third, the plans generally lacked the detailed and comprehensive procedures needed to make them an integral part of the normal work process. The Facility Analysis Plan was developed in response to these identified weaknesses. It is designed to reduce facility provisioning and maintenance costs by addressing comprehensively the set of operational problems encountered by all work forces associated with the loop plant. The Plan has three components: (i) an information processing system, (ii) an engineering applications system, and (Hi) a control system.