Move It Yourself

By Earl Roberts, Federal Bureau of Investigation

The FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) division holds one of the largest databases in the world. It was decided to move this massive facility from its crowded quarters in Washington, D.C., to a new home in Clarksburg, W.Va. This was to be the largest relocation in FBI history and would directly affect the quality of services that the agency provides to the nation's 600,000 law enforcement officers. I was the chief engineer for the construction of the Clarksburg facility, so the role of project manager for the relocation of the division's furniture, equipment and files was viewed as a natural extension of my duties.

One of the major tasks of the CJIS is the processing of nearly 60,000 fingerprint cards every day by means of five Automated Fingerprint Reader System (AFRS) machines. These AFRS machines optically scan fingerprint cards so that the number of cards selected for manual comparison in order to positively identify an individual is significantly reduced. During the relocation, these machines would be idle, and the processing time for each fingerprint card would increase severalfold. In addition, these AFRS machines were one-of-a-kind, 15-year-old, hand-built prototypes that were extremely sensitive and required frequent adjustment.

We consulted the laboratory that had designed and built the machines about moving them to the new facility. The lab agreed with the CJIS operating staff that moving the readers would be no easy matter and that there would be no guarantee that the machines would work properly when moved. The laboratory quoted a steep price of $125,000 to move each machine and ensure that it would work properly at the new facility. The CJIS technical personnel were strongly inclined to accept the quote, since it would place the major responsibility on the laboratory. When faced with a difficult or risk-laden situation, it was quite acceptable in the government to engage an outside contractor.

I was convinced there must be another, more cost-effective way to resolve this issue. FBI personnel had been doing most of the repair and maintenance of these machines for the past 10 years and also had the original engineering drawings. Why not do it ourselves? Since we would move the machines ourselves, we would be in control of the relocation schedule and thereby significantly reduce the relocation costs. After carefully studying the machines in the Washington installation; reviewing the engineering drawings; and discussing disassembly, reassembly and calibration procedures with the machines' CJIS technical personnel, I decided to move one machine as a test. It was a calculated risk that would cost us additional money if the test failed. But, if it succeeded, we would save a considerable amount of money and control the number of machines that would operate during the move.

We chose the machine with the best service history, reasoning that it would be the most likely to survive the move and resume operation. The machine was carefully disassembled, crated and loaded onto a truck. It was then unloaded, reassembled and calibrated at its new location. After a number of tests to ensure that the machine would function as well as before, it was back in full production. Over the next 12 months the remaining AFRS machines were successfully moved to the new facility. With the move of the last machine, Clarksburg became the new home of the FBI's CJIS division and its 2,500 employees.

By using FBI personnel and resources, we were able to accomplish this complex relocation at our own pace and under our total control. We also saved approximately $600,000. But above all, the nation's 600,000 law enforcement officers enjoyed uninterrupted service. They probably never knew we had moved until they received official notification from the FBI.

Earl Roberts is a section chief at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va., where he oversees construction management, facilities management and security.

Lessons

• Innovative and risky tasks must often be divided into small, concrete subtasks that will be implemented successively. Implementation will bring about small wins that build momentum, furnish evidence that the cost is justified, and provide feedback regarding the objectives and the plan. Therefore, start an innovative project with the task most likely to succeed.
• Using this method, the risk to the organization is minimal, while the potential payoff is tremendous. However, the personal risk of failing is not insignificant. To take this risk, leaders must care about the organization and have the courage to deviate from tradition.