SBC was faced with the problem of trying to manage too many different subcontracted janitorial companies within the Chicagoland area. SBC needed to determine which contractors to eliminate, and in the process, determine which subcontractors would take over additional sites based on geographic location. SBC decided they needed a way to visualize the current state of the subcontracted employees in order to determine where consolidation would best occur.

SBC provided Great Arc with an excel spreadsheet containing the addresses of the Chicagoland SBC facilities and their associated janitorial subcontractors. Using Excel, Great Arc converted the data to a GIS database (dbase IV) and then imported the data into ArcGIS. Using ESRI’s StreetMap extension, the data was geocoded based on the address, city, and zip code of each SBC facility. 94 percent of the addresses were matched to a precise geographic location, while the remaining 6 percent could not be matched but were flagged for SBC’s attention. Great Arc then generated various Excel reports, 11x17 paper maps, and .jpg map files to aid SBC in their analysis. After the first set of maps and reports were sent to SBC, visual analysis of the maps was performed.

From the maps, it was determined that by consolidating the various subcontracted janitorial companies down to four companies, the SBC facilities could be managed more efficiently. Thus, a new set of maps and datasets were created to reflect the changes. Excel reports, 11x17 paper maps and .jpg files were delivered to SBC.