FORT CARSON, Colo.- A Lean Six Sigma process improvement program was conducted has resulted in a 75-percent decrease in the processing time for personnel actions for Soldiers assigned to the 43rd Sustainment Brigade.
The program, which falls in line with the overall LSS methodology, was conducted Oct. 13 through July 16 in order to help improve processing of the Department of the Army form 4187, assignment deferment/deletion throughout the brigade.
“Our working group of the S1's (Admin) and myself as the black belt lead, sought to decrease the processing time of 4187's for assignment deletion/deferment to below 30 days to meet DA guidance,” said Maj. Amy Jackson, Executive Officer, 43rd SB. “We had not been meeting that goal and there was a lot of variation in the process.”
During the 10 months of running the program, the brigade saw a reduction in processing time and cost savings associated with man hours and other resources.
“Our baseline was 39.2 processing days with 8 days of variation on either side of that,” said Jackson. “During our pilot we were able to get the time down to 10 days with 1.33 days of variation. Ultimately over the next five years, we could realize a cost savings of $112,000.”
In addition, the admin personnel identified issues and addressed some areas of concern, explained Jackson.
“We discovered many issues along the way, such as lack of information, lack of systems, lack of leader engagement,” said Jackson. “We assessed the issues and developed "quick wins" to address some of those points of potential failure and saw immediate results.”
“This project helped find where the problems were within the processing of actions,” said Franklin. “The process will streamline the routing of actions through the channels to Human Resource Command.”
While the Soldiers and family members are the primary beneficiaries of this program, it will ultimately benefit several areas.
“The benefits are pretty profound. First and foremost, it's all about the Soldier and his/her Family. If they do not know when or if they are moving, it affects their ability to plan and prepare for a Permanent Change of Station,” said Jackson. “Second, the gaining unit thinks they have a Soldier coming to their unit who potentially will not arrive on time or at all. Third, HRC believes they have covered all their personnel issues and have no knowledge that there is a problem until the 4187 is submitted.”
She said she believes that the biggest benefit in the future will be the digitalization of all administrative submissions, which will improve timeliness and save money.
“We have to change the culture and that takes time and dedication,” said Jackson. “…so we will start with the 4187's and hopefully begin to process our awards applying the same procedures.”
| Date Taken: | 07.21.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 07.29.2014 16:01 |
| Story ID: | 137649 |
| Location: | FORT CARSON, CO, US |
| Web Views: | 102 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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