new formula, (long)

[Brassard, Denis]

I've loosely paraphrased your comments Fred; " I worked the numbers and
found they predicted 3 to 4 full time techs for our 80 pianos,.. for my own
situation,.... in cooperation and consultation I find I need one full time
tech,.... This reflects reality."

The actual numbers at B.U. (and I'm going by memory, as I'm away from home)
were around 1.8 full time technicians w/o climate control. The installation
of dampp-chasers dropped the workload dramatically to around 1.4! 

I sub the practice rooms and some studios to a very conscientous associate
member who uses RCT. Two weeks before he was due for March tunings, I went
from room to room with my own RCT. I was amazed to see the spinner stop in
many cases, and no more than a gentle roll (3-4 cts) throughout most of the
scale. The most deviation in pitch I recorded was 6 or 7 cts in the bottom
few tenor notes. Typically every one of these pianos would've been 15 -
20cts flat. 

Regarding the formula, you're correct, our inventory does require a bit more
than 1 full-time, I merely rounded it down to 1 to reflect reality. Sorry
for the confusion Fred.

Regarding the 2nd alias, Denis Brassard is cheif technician here at the
Banff Centre for the Arts, in the Canadian Rockies. They bring me out here
several times a year to provide technical assistance and consultation. Denis
allows me to use his e-mail. 

This area is spectacular in natural beauty, and the Banff Centre itself,
internationally renowned for excellence in artistic development (ballet,
opera, art, music, literature, film-making, etc.). I count myself very
fortunate to be a part of things here. 

best regards,
Mark Cramer,
All over the map

-----Original Message-----
From: Fred Sturm [mailto:fssturm@unm.edu]
Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2002 4:07 PM
To: caut@ptg.org
Subject: Re: new formula, (long)


Mark,
	How could the old formula have yielded you a workload of 65/fte? It
is
premised on the notion that the absolute maximum workload is 60/fte, and
if there is anything below optimum in the realms of use (more than
"light use"), climate (greater than 10% swing), condition, etc, the
formula will lower the number of pianos in the generated workload. The
only exception is "acceptable standards." 
	For example, if condition, quality, climate control, and age are
"good"
(instead of "excellent"),  usage is "medium," and acceptable standards
are "good" (on average for all pianos), the formula will give you a
workload of 44/fte (multipliers 0.75 x 0.9 x 0.9 x 0.9 x 0.9 x 1.5 = .73
x 60 = 44). If all factors are "fair" (and heavy usage), the formula
produces a workload of 24/fte (and that includes fair "acceptable
standards": "Piano need not be kept at an acceptable musical level - not
adequately tuned, voiced, or regulated.") (multipliers 0.5 x 0.8 x 0.8 x
0.8 x 0.8 x 2.0 = 0.4 x 60 = 24).
	My situation fell mostly under "fair" (with a good bit a variability
in
several factors), and recommended a workload of very close to 20/fte (a
little lower as I recall). I find it hard to imagine a situation where
one tech full time took care of only 20 pianos. Well, if they were all
performance pianos in heavy use, then probably 20 is an overload, but in
real world University/College situations, I think we have a fairly good
consensus on the base figures of 40 - 80 as more or less ideal, with a
probable majority of us laboring at heavier loads. My impression is that
the "average" state institution with one or more full time tech has an
average load of 100 plus. And most techs in that type of situation seem
to think they can't take care of their inventory adequately.
	The existing formula consistently produces recommendations of
workloads
below 60, and, as I pointed out, often as low as 20. Presenting such a
recommendation does not help our credibility. We would be better off
with just the bare 40 - 60, 60 - 80 recommendation, IMO.
	Your experience with climate control systems is right in line with
mine. I'm very gradually installing systems (with a $600/yr parts budget
line, slow is the word for everything. I do augment the budget with work
I do for other departments and divisions in the university, proceeds
from which raise the amount to around $2000/yr). Money very well spent
indeed! When all you do is chase pitch around the block, it's hard to
even think of anything else.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico

PS Why do you have two aliases, Mark Cramer and Denis Brassard?
	
	
Brassard, Denis wrote:
> 
> Fred,
> 
> from my experience, the old formula did work quite well; B.U. has 65
pianos
> = 1 full-time tech. However, I'm still interested to see the revisions
that
> will be adopted in Chicago.

<snip>
> 
> best regards to all,
> Mark Cramer,
> Brandon University