Aiming High For A More Efficient Navy
Sailors aboard the USS
George Washington (CVN 73) are putting the latest concepts of
Aviation Maintenance and logistics into practice on a daily basis,
through a Chief of Naval Operations-mandated concept known as
AIRSpeed. The GW was selected in November 2004 to become the lead
platform for testing AIRSpeed on a sea-based platform -- including
research, testing and implementation of the program.
AIRSpeed is a set of management tools used to analyze current
processes in order to reduce cost and increase efficiency. To do
this, sailors are trained to apply the AIRSpeed management tools to
look for inefficiencies and reduce waste.
The ultimate goal is to understand business practices, and the
business of running the Navy and to decrease costs where
possible.
"AIRSpeed actually started on the naval air side of the house in
shore facilities," said Chief Aviation Electronics Technician
(AW/SW) James Prince, AIRSpeed leading chief petty officer. "We
look at the day-to-day process of how we actually accomplish our
goals. This is the first time we are actually bringing it
afloat."
According to GW’s maintenance officer, Commander Charlie
Chan, the GW was selected because of initiatives made by the ship.
"We were thinking way ahead of everybody else," Chan said. "We were
sending our people through schools. Having an AIRSpeed team on
board means your people have to be trained, and they have to
understand it."
The implementation of AIRSpeed took almost four years throughout
the shore-based Aviation Intermediate Maintenance Depot (AIMD)
community. The time frame for sea-based implementation throughout
the fleet is a little longer.
The areas being studied are ones that could reduce readiness,
including avionics repair, power plants, engine overhaul and GSE
inventory.
"George Washington is tasked with a portion of the design,"
Prince explained. "We are going to start the design. After we
complete our portion of it, we will do a handoff with another
carrier."
And that carrier is USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74). After GW
develops the initial blueprint for the program at sea, Stennis will
implement the program and improve upon it before other carriers
begin implementation.
Currently, GW is doing a series of Value Stream Analysis to
develop the design.
"GW is in the beginning stages of value stream analysis," said
Lt. Jim Gault, Sea Control Squadron (VS)22 assistant maintenance
officer, "where they are breaking down their processes, looking for
waste areas and identifying which processes add value and which
don’t."
Two major concepts within AIRSpeed are Lean and Six Sigma. Lean
eliminates or reduces unnecessary processes, and Six Sigma aids in
focused process analysis.
An example of how these concepts have worked ashore is an AIMD
Mayport success story. According to Gault, this AIMD was able to
reduce the usual 35 days it took to repair an engine to 14.
"The idea is to repair the right thing at the right time at the
right cost," Gault added.
GW’s success story so far is the Calibration Lab and the
15,000 pieces of equipment shipwide that must routinely be
calibrated.
"By 'leaning' it out, leaning the fat, identifying the
constraints out there, we have improved our services - our
turnaround time," Chan explained. "We will make a lot of positive
impact and reduce the number of petty officers from each department
that has to tackle the calibration equipment."
Aviation Electronics Technician 2nd Class (AW/SW) Christian
Hansen, who has helped implement the AIRSpeed program ashore, is
aboard GW as a technical assistant. He explained that one of the
purposes of the program was getting everyone to work better as one
team.
"The depot levels, the intermediate levels, the organizational
levels, the supply side of the house," Hansen said. "Get everybody
to work as one team, just like a regular business would be.
Incorporating AIRSpeed into the Navy, making it more like a
business, saving money, time and man-hours."
The bottom line, according to Hansen, is to utilize resources
better, to get better organized and to be more efficient.
"We must prioritize what work needs to be done," Chan said.
"Cost-wise readiness is the key here, not readiness at any
cost."
The impact of the program on the average Sailor is to help them
better understand what their job is and to help them do that job
more efficiently.
"Most businesses do not understand all the steps in their
processes, and this leads to waste that you are unaware of," Prince
added. "If you can identify all of the steps in your process, you
can remove waste, which ultimately will give the Sailor more time
to do what he wants to do."
(Aero-News salutes Journalist 1st Class Rebecca Perron, USS
George Washington Public Affairs)