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Lean Manufacturing
General Coolidge Visits with Ogden Air Logistics Center Lean Leadership Team
Lt. Gen. Charles H. Coolidge Jr. (Vice Commander, Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio) met with Maj. Gen. Bergren (Center Commander, OO-ALC), Colonel Moseley (Director, Aircraft Directorate OO-ALC/LA), Southwest Research Institute personnel and the Aircraft Directorate (OO-ALC/LA) Lean Core Team on February 1, 2002. The purpose of his visit was to observe first-hand, the Lean conversion underway at the Depot, and what he saw and heard was impressive.
After successfully completing a Rapid Improvement Event (RIE) with the guidance of Southwest Research Institute's team of lean consultants, the A-10 Modification Program reported a 10-day reduction in flow days and a projected annual cost savings of over $650,000. Another anticipated benefit of Event No. 8 is the improved morale of shop technicians due to having the needed supplies and materials readily accessible at the work site.
The Event Team identified and established kits of parts and setup a Kanban Board that will reduce search time and improve the flow of material. Lean is about providing the shop technicians with the required tools, supplies, materials and support services to have them adding value to the aircraft, instead of wasting time and energy on non-value added activities such as walking and searching for tools.
"The significance of Value Stream Mapping and Analysis is incredible," says Kevin (Event Team Member). "The VSM helped me—and the Lean team—visualize the waste in our processes. The Lean Depot Repair methodology helps us focus on developing innovative solutions and process improvements to overcome these bottlenecks." Lean forces us to look at every aspect of our business not just the shop floor. Southwest Research Institute helped us set the lean infrastructure in place to affect change in our business.
"I am a strong believer of Lean!" says Dave Hite (newly appointed LA Lean Division Chief). "I want to expand the Lean program ALC-wide." The Senior Leadership Team at Ogden Air Logistic Center understands that Lean is the business philosophy/practice that will propel the Center—AFMC for that matter—to the next level of global competitiveness.
General Coolidge mentioned that without "Lean" leading the way, the Air Logistic Centers jeopardize losing existing workloads. He also commented that what he saw was an excellent example of partnering between the Government and private industry. Southwest Research Institute is under contract with Ogden Air Logistic Center to implement Lean Depot Repair in the Aircraft (OO-ALC/LA) and Electronics (OO-ALC/LE) Directorates. "The goal is to take Lean to the next level—to include other organizations at the ALC that impact the value stream," says Rod Cantu, PMP, [Manager, Industrial Engineering at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)].
SwRI is an independent, nonprofit, applied engineering and physical sciences research and development organization with 11 technical divisions using multidisciplinary approaches to problem solving.
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