|
| |
NEW PROJECTS
US AIR FORCE |
The U.S. Air Force, TSD and Continuous Process Improvement
TSD presents the first in a series of articles exploring the development and practical use of lean-continuous process improvement principles, tools and techniques in the U.S. Air Force. In this first installment, we examine TSD's central role |
in developing the USAF current lean-continuous process improvement system.
The U.S. Air Force's tradition of service is a proud one; it flies and fights in the defense of the United States and its global interests. This mission is accomplished by (i) developing airmen, (ii) bringing technology to the warfighting machine, and (iii) integrating operations.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Yet as the Air Force enters the 21st Century, its responsibilities expand to include space and cyberspace while its arena of operations – the global community – shrinks through political and technological pressures. Now the Air Force is charged to:
- Gather more information more accurately
- Integrate it more effectively within joint-force expeditions
- Mobilize to the conflict with greater speed
- Attack with greater precision, and
- Deploy and sustain support with greater efficiency.
And all this accomplished with fewer people and less money.
Such demands require a more efficient and effective Air Force, so it should come as no surprise that the Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne adapted the methods so long successful in addressing the complex challenges of the largest commercial organizations. He chose the lean system as the primary mechanism for driving change and instituting a new culture of continuous improvement. As he said in an address to |
|
| |
vice commanders in 2005, "Applying tools like Lean and Six Sigma to the Air Force is about eliminating waste and finding optimal tolerances for processes so that the Air Force can seek excellence in what it does…We are a service. Learning to do that service better, more effectively, is what we are all about."
As early as 1999, the Air Logistics Center at Warner Robins AFB began using lean methods on the F15-PDM line. The use of lean in the Air Force soon spread to bases like Langley, Dover, Mt. Home and the Air Force Special Operations Command, and TSD was there since 2001, training and guiding those organizations in their early lean transformation efforts. However, this gave rise to multiple change efforts, guided by a number of change agents operating from different, albeit doctrinally-related "playbooks." This fragmented approach was contrary to the principles of lean; it created isolated efficiencies at the expense of sustained, system-wide lean-based improvements.
By 2005, the Department of Defense (DOD) sought a more unified path, and began by assessing the application of Continuous Process Improvement (CPI) concepts and tools within the DOD logistics community. DOD recruited John Allen of TSD and several other nationally-recognized lean and Six Sigma experts to conduct on-site CPI assessments of selected weapon systems and identify noteworthy strengths, opportunities, and impediments regarding the implementation of CPI concepts and tools throughout DOD sustainment value chains. This led to the creation of the first comprehensive guide to CPI transformation efforts, authored primarily by TSD: The Department of Defense CPI Transformation Guidebook.
|
|
 |
Incorporating the expertise developed here, the Air Force established AFSO21 – Air Force Smart Operations 21 st Century, the system…"designed to fully embed continuous process improvement into the Air Force way of doing business…using civilian industry methods such as Lean, Six Sigma and theory of constraints methods..." (Air Force WEB Site) Again, John Allen of TSD was recruited to assist in the development of a document that embodies lean-CPI methodology as it will be and is used Air Force-wide: The AFSO21 Playbook.
TSD then took this evolving lean-CPI methodology to single bases like Pope AFB, for focused 1-year transformation efforts, and larger arenas like Air Combat Command, where it is establishing uniform lean-CPI methods, training and guiding personnel in the implementation of these methods, and developing the processes for generating organic (in-house) expertise. And TSD, in conjunction with the University of Tennessee, developed and is implementing a service-wide mechanism for developing such in-house expertise with its Master Process Officer training program.
|
|
| |
From the beginning, TSD has shepherded Air Force personnel, from flightline to MAJCOM, on their journey toward a lean-CPI based culture. TSD looks to the future and continues that commitment through AFSO21, which Secretary Wynne describes as "…a dedicated effort to maximize value and minimize waste…looking at each process from beginning to end. It doesn't just look at how we can do each task better, but asks the tougher and more important questions: why are we doing it this way? Is each of the tasks relevant, productive and value added…no process is immune from this critical review."
In future installments, we will examine the specifics of an implementation effort, as it affects various departments and cultures within the larger organization.
|
|
|
|
