Assessment of the effectiveness of the Mbarara regional feeder roads mechanical workshop operations for the period 2000 to 2006.

Abstract

Mbarara Regional Feeder Roads Mechanical Workshop, also referred to as the “Workshops” in this report because it comprises of individual specialized shops-car, auto electrical, engine, heavy plant, service and tyre repair shops, is located in South West Uganda, was established to facilitate the repair of specialized District roads construction equipment in the year 2000. Its operations were intended to improve on the equipment availability that would in turn boost roads construction and maintenance activities in the region. Data available shows that, road construction equipment availability deteriorated from 60% to 40% during the period 2000 to 2006. This study was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the operations of the Workshops for the period 2000 to 2006 as a case study. Measurement of the effectiveness rating of key components of the Workshops operations such as Organization, Workload Identification, Work Planning, Work Accomplishment and Appraisal was used to identify gaps between the prevailing and desired performance. Findings showed that the workshops were operating at an overall effectiveness of 71% which corresponded to a productivity of 52%. The study concluded that the lack of established formats for reporting and gaps in facility and equipment records meant that management of the Ministry lacked adequate information to evaluate both the differences between budgeted and actual cost, and performance. The study recommended that reports documenting completed work would provide management with a basis for control and direction for corrective actions. This would strengthen the management feature to monitor and comparison of actual to planned results.