PORT OF SEATTLE 
MEMORANDUM 
COMMISSION AGENDA               Item No.      7b 
STAFF BRIEFING 
Date of Meeting     January 26, 2016 
DATE:    January 19, 2016 
TO:     Ted Fick, Chief Executive Officer 
FROM:    Dave Caplan, Senior Director, Strategic Initiatives 
SUBJECT:  Office of Strategic Initiatives Update 
SYNOPSIS 
The purpose of this memorandum is to present an overview of the Office of Strategic
Initiatives including: (1) Central Procurement Office (CPO): Procurement Excellence 
Initiative; (2) the Long Range Planning (LRP) process; and (3) Continuous Process
Improvement (CPI):  Lean. 
BACKGROUND 
Strategic Initiatives was created to help the Port of Seattle staff: 
Operationalize the Century Agenda and achieve our goals in the next 10 years 
Enhance small business growth, economic development and create jobs 
Work more productively and more effectively 
Break down silos 

CPO: Procurement Excellence Initiative 
Why: Significantly improve procurement processes  to achieve small business and
environmental Century Agenda goals while reducing procurement time and saving
money. 
How: We are approaching this initiative in 2 phases: 
Phase 1:  Diagnostic Phase. Perform an assessment/opportunity analysis.  This
assessment will include analysis of current spend and benchmark current processes and
systems. Procurement Excellence will incorporate the Century Agenda, Port values and
Triple Bottom Line into the overall assessment and procurement strategy. Emphasis w ill
be placed on improving small business participation, environmental purchasing,
developing internal capabilities, and being a strong steward of public funding. 
The result of the diagnostic assessment will be a report recommending specific
opportunities that will deliver tangible improvements and savings, including but not

Template revised May 30, 2013.

COMMISSION AGENDA 
Ted Fick, Chief Executive Officer 
January 19, 2016 
Page 2 of 5 
limited to: detailed process changes, methodology for implementation, opportunities for
staff development and capability building, and expected savings/cost avoidance.
Strategic Initiatives will come back to Commission with a detailed request for consulting
assistance for the diagnostic phase (approximately 4-6 weeks). We will then report to the
Commission on the assessment findings with specific recommendations. We will request
authorization to move forward into Phase 2, implementation, given we see a significant
return on the investment. 
Phase 2: Implementation. CPO with supporting departments will implement the plan in
phases or waves, likely starting with the area of most significant return. These "waves"
may include training workshops followed up with actual hands-on procurement activities.
Workshops may focus on developing strong sourcing strategy, development and use of
analytics, refining procurement processes, improving negotiation skills, and developing
contractor performance management system.
Expected Results: Procurement Excellence will increase contracting opportunities with
small businesses, improve environmental purchasing, improve contractor performance,
reduce time to procure, decrease costs (cost savings/avoidance). Capital expense and
operational expense spending for 2014 and 2015 was approximately $280 million ($160
million capital and $120 million operating expenses). With the growing capacity at the
Airport, we anticipate significantly increased capital spending. We anticipate $20 million
reduction in capital expense and operational expense spending. 
Long Range Plan (LRP) 
In 2012, the Port of Seattle Commission approved the Century Agenda, which introduced
a new Port of Seattle Mission, Vision, and Commitment. The approving resolution also
identified Century Agenda Strategies and Objectives, as well as Century Agenda
Regional Initiatives. The Long Range Plan (LRP) provides tools, baseline data, and
metrics for implemental, monitoring and reporting on progress on the Century agenda
over a rolling five-year planning period. This effort is Port-wide, but facilitated by the
Office of Strategic Initiatives. In addition, the LRP supports an integrated One Port 
management approach and links the Century Agenda to each of the Port's individual
Business Plans.

COMMISSION AGENDA 
Ted Fick, Chief Executive Officer 
January 19, 2016 
Page 3 of 5 
To ensure Port-wide participation and ownership of the Century Agenda seven crossfunctional
internal LRP development teams were created between June and September
2015. The seven teams include: 
Aviation 
Maritime 
Small Business Growth 
Workforce Development 
Environment 
Operational Excellence 
Organizational Alignment 
In addition, a Long Range Planning Steering Committee (Ted Fick, Julie Collins, Paula
Edelstein, Ralph Graves, Dan Thomas and Dave Caplan) was created to oversee the
process, provide executive level guidance and remove any roadblocks if necessary. 
The seven development teams are facilitated by three Strategic Planning Program
Managers  Bea Querido, Sebastian Mathew, and Dan Pike  brought on board in
December 2015. These managers are coordinating the Long Range Plan development
teams, focusing on vertically and horizontally integrating the teams' outcomes with the
Century Agenda Strategies and Objectives. 
The scope and goals for the Long Range Planning Process are as follows: 
Scope: 
o  Develop a Long Range Plan for the period of 2016  2020 which provides
the implementation tools needed to achieve the Century Agenda Strategies
and Objectives. 
Goals: 
o  Integrate Port efforts to optimize efforts and outcomes across business
lines and Port functions. 
o  Develop or enhance internal and external partnerships in support of the
Century Agenda and implementation of the Century Agenda Strategies
and Objectives. 
o  Provide baselines which allow for clear tracking of progress toward
Century Agenda Strategies and Objectives. 
o  Develop metrics to effectively track and report on progress. 
o  Ensure that the Long Range Plan supports best practices, and enhances the
High Performance Organization emphasizing Organizational Alignment
and Operational Excellence. 
o  Achieve the Century Agenda in 10 years, by 2025. 
The Long Range Plan development is a significant effort to align the application of Port
financial and human resources with the Century Agenda's aspirations. Its implementation
will allow the Port to more effectively and transparently improve the Port's ability to

COMMISSION AGENDA 
Ted Fick, Chief Executive Officer 
January 19, 2016 
Page 4 of 5 
create a stronger local economy while addressing key environmental, social and fiscal
concerns of its stakeholders, partners and citizens. 
The Strategic Planning Program Managers are engaging with key staff throughout the
Port in developing the Long Range Plan, with initial draft to be delivered by the end of
February 2016. Development of the Long Range Plan is on schedule for delivery of a
final draft to the Port of Seattle Commission at the Commission's March 29, 2016
meeting. 
PROPOSED SCHEDULE 
January 26, 2016         Long Range Plan update to Commission 
February 1, 2016         Long Range Plan first draft document released for review 
February 1  29, 2016      Stakeholder review 
- Town Hall (employees and public) 
- Steering Committee 
- Commissioners and Commission Staff 
March 29, 2016         Commission meeting seeking Long Range Plan approval 
Continuous Process Improvement (CPI): Lean 
Port of Seattle leadership has challenged the organization to respond to the unprecedented
rate of growth with new levels of efficiency. Lean principles will help the Port meet the
challenges of rapid growth. By engaging employees in reducing inefficiencies in our
processes, we can: 
1.  Streamline work and gain capacity to support growth. This is important to double
the size of our business without doubling our Port employee base. 
2.  Use these efficiency gains to free up resources, which can be reinvested. 
3.  Demonstrate improved stewardship of public assets, both financial and human
capital. 
CPI with outside assistance completed an assessment and identified opportunities for
improvements at a larger scope than have been completed to date. The proposed
improvements are mainly in Aviation Maintenance, the largest department in the Port,
with many repeated processes that involve significant travel time as well as other
traditional elements of waste. 
In addition we identified opportunities and have begun implementation in Landside
Operations at SeaTac International Airport (STIA), centered on the Rental Car Facility
buses and STIA Employee Parking buses, leading to reduced wait times for customers
and employees, as well as positive environmental impact from reduced emissions from
the buses.
We are confident with continued outside Lean assistance we can accelerate the pace of
improvement, strengthen the skills of staff, and multiply the impact of improvement

COMMISSION AGENDA 
Ted Fick, Chief Executive Officer 
January 19, 2016 
Page 5 of 5 
across the organization. To achieve this level of commitment and expertise, teams would
be engaged in a schedule of training that would include designing, testing, and sustaining
improvement tied in with application to specific Lean projects. 
Benefits 
Economic Development 
Through improving processes across the organization, the Port will demonstrate financial
stewardship, increasing capacity without the linear increase in staffing. 
Environmental Responsibility 
Processes will be more efficient in part due to a reduction in travel. Aviation
Maintenance workers currently drive repeated trips around the Airport runways; Marine
Maintenance workers cover 17 miles of waterfront. 


ATTACHMENTS TO THIS BRIEFING 
PowerPoint: Strategic Initiatives 

PREVIOUS COMMISSION ACTIONS OR BRIEFINGS 
December 4, 2012: Port of Seattle Commission adoption of the Century Agenda