Lean tools, teamwork garner Army-level award for excellence

By Ms. Jacqueline Boucher (U.S. Army CommunicationsElectronics Command (CECOM))June 22, 2017

Lean tools, teamwork garner Army-level award for excellence
James Dillon, an electronics worker at Tobyhanna Army Depot, completes a Joint Precision Air Drop System overhaul by adding a harness to the asset. The Defense Logistics Agency here will store the system until the customer needs it. Dillon works in t... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

TOBYHANNA ARMY DEPOT, Pa. -- Tobyhanna employees earned a Department of the Army award for using Lean Six Sigma tools to save more than $1 million over three years by simplifying the overhaul and repair processes for an air drop system.

The 2016 Army Lean Six Sigma Excellence Award Program (LEAP) winners were recently announced. The depot's Joint Precision Air Drop System (JPADS) value stream analysis, or VSA, was selected as a winner in one of the Project Team Award categories. This is U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command's eighth and Tobyhanna's fifth LEAP Award since the program began in 2008. A VSA is a Lean-management tool used to analyze the current state and design a future state for the series of events that take a product or service from its beginning through to the customer.

Under Secretary of the Army Karl Schneider honored all LEAP award winners in a recent ceremony at the Pentagon Hall of Heroes.

JPADS is used worldwide and dropped by Army and Air Force cargo aircraft to precisely deliver munitions and humanitarian supplies to areas across U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility.

Nearly two years ago, members of the C4ISR Directorate's Flight Control and Navigation System Section completed a JPADS conversion kit in 40 hours at a cost of $11,900. At risk of losing the workload, employees set out to reduce costs for the customer. The team conducted a VSA to determine what improvements could be made to the program and began implementing process changes.

Production Controller Stacey Taylor came into the program with fresh eyes and a vision of what JPADS could be. She was in charge of getting the bill of material and route as accurate and cost effective as possible.

"I worked closely with the program manager, shop personnel, engineer, employees who issued requisitions, and contracting specialists to make sure we were successful," she said. "It has been a rewarding process and I am very proud and honored to be a part of a great team."

Using a variety of techniques, the project team was able to reduce the repair cycle time from 55 days to 41 and direct labor hours per system dropped from 28.9 hours to 17.6.

Continued efforts to identify improvements associated with reducing the cost of the materials used during the repair process have resulted in an additional $4 million in financial benefits for fiscal 2017.

"We used Lean tools in a simple, methodical order to achieve each milestone and simplify the path to success," said Scott Hansen, process improvement specialist in the Continuous Process Improvement Directorate's Process Improvement Division. "I truly feel that getting back to basics and making things simple was key to achieving our goals."

The team introduced cellular flow versus a cradle-to-grave operation, which improved process efficiency and increased the testing capability. Cellular flow ensures that each person is proficient in one specific portion of the overhaul, and that all parts and tools are located at the point of use.

Other changes include moving the JPADS workload to a new location where technicians required less travel time to retrieve parts, conduct visual inspections, process paperwork or to obtain supervisory approval. The shop layout was also redesigned, kitting was implemented, labels were preprinted and employees worked with the customer to minimize labor hours associated with troubleshooting.

Efficiency continued to improve after standard work was implemented, which provided a well-defined process to train employees. Tracking boards were installed to save time by providing valuable information at a glance.

The effort to reduce the unit funded cost on the JPADS program was not a simple task, according to Thomas Sweeney, logistics management specialist in the Production Management Directorate's Fabrication Project Management Branch. Shortly after joining the project team, Sweeney realized cost savings were possible and the project was a prime candidate for continuous process improvement initiatives.

"Working with the CPI experts and inviting the program manager representatives here set the path to identifying immediate savings," he said. "It's great to know we've saved the government and taxpayers some of the cost burden to provide this piece of equipment to the warfighter."

Depot leaders commend employees for their hard work and commitment to improving the JPADS program.

"This will be an ongoing effort, from the shop set up to the problem solving and streamlining processes," said Chester Schultz, Avionics Branch chief, C4ISR Directorate. "Personnel have taken on every task asked of them and given back so much more. The LEAP award is recognition of what can be achieved through teamwork."

Tobyhanna Army Depot is a recognized leader in providing world-class logistics support for command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems across the Department of Defense. Tobyhanna's Corporate Philosophy, dedicated work force and electronics expertise ensure the depot is the Joint C4ISR provider of choice for all branches of the Armed Forces and industry partners.

Tobyhanna's unparalleled capabilities include full-spectrum logistics support for sustainment, overhaul and repair, fabrication and manufacturing, engineering design and development, systems integration, post production software support, technology insertion, modification, foreign military sales and global field support to our Joint Warfighters.

About 3,200 personnel are employed at Tobyhanna, which is located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania. Tobyhanna Army Depot is part of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command. Headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, the command's mission is to research, develop, acquire, field and sustain communications, command, control computer, intelligence, electronic warfare and sensors capabilities for the Armed Forces.