Missing Marks Delay the Dig: JMP Visualizations in a Root Cause Analysis
The Virginia Underground Utilities Damage Prevention Act requires excavators, both contractors and home owners, to request the marking of underground utilities before a project begins. Examples of excavation projects include landscaping, digging for a foundation, and fiber optic cable install. Failure to obtain utility location markings can result in serious consequences including fines, personal injury, and, in extreme cases, death. Virginia811 (VA811) administers the utility location process by taking requests, routing them to utility members, and recording responses. Complete responses must be obtained within the response window from all members (gas, power, water, sewer, telecom, etc.) serving a site for excavation to begin. In recent years, the VA811 system has experienced a 150% increase, from 4% to 10%, in the number of delayed tickets due to “no-shows” or non-responses from members. Stakeholders are understandably upset with the no show impact on project schedule and cost. Simple statistical analyses and data visualizations were used to perform a root cause investigation presented to the VA811 Advisory Board. These visualizations from the JMP Graph Builder include paneled bar graphs, scatterplots with regression lines, forest plots, and maps in the form of small multiples which show relationships over the years as well as seasonal trends within the years. The displays helped dispel myths and prompt conversations among stakeholders who possessed very little data acumen, ultimately leading to pilot solutions, discovery of process “blind spots”, and further root cause investigations.