Photo By Jacqueline Boucher | From left, Sandblaster Leader Kevin Werner and Electroplater Leader Jeffrey Falcheck...... read more read more
Subscribe
TOBYHANNA ARMY DEPOT, Pa. — It’s about time. Leaders on the shop floor are spending less time documenting the number of hours their employees work thanks to the ingenuity of a handful of West Point cadets.
Four of the Army’s future leaders and depot personnel used Lean Six Sigma (LSS) problem solving methodology to reduce time spent on labor reporting in the Systems Integration and Support Directorate’s Support Operations Division by more than 30 percent, which translates to a $219,000 cost avoidance over a three-year period. The team developed and implemented automated solutions as well as some process changes that improved quality and time.
“Working with Tobyhanna Army Depot to solve a real-world problem that’s happening with their processes is a great opportunity and learning experience for the cadets,” said Lt. Col. Jose A. Ramirez, the cadets’ professor and project mentor at West Point.
“Having a deeper understanding of what depot-level means is important to junior-level officers as it gives them the knowledge of what capabilities exist in the facilities that maintain their equipment, which can help to make them more efficient and effective leaders,” he said.
The success of this venture earned the cadets an award for producing the best Process Optimization Project at the General Donald R. Keith Memorial Conference at West Point, New York. The project, executed over an eight-month span, served as the United States Military Academy students Capstone Project. The conference features research projects which apply a comprehensive set of skills and concepts to a real-world problem or contemporary research area.
Subject matter experts at Tobyhanna Army Depot served as mentors, helping the cadets address the issue of excessive administrative time being spent on direct labor reporting — a process that limited the amount of time left for more value added activities around the shop. It wasn’t unusual for some leaders to spend more than three hours a day on the managerial chore.
Leaders struggled to find time to focus on ensuring work was planned and available for employees, and address issues affecting production.
The cadets visited Tobyhanna multiple times to conduct this project.
They joined forces with depot employees to define, measure, analyze, improve and control this issue. During the process, the cadets helped facilitate activities that used Lean tools such as process maps, fishbone diagrams and root cause analysis, while applying Six Sigma techniques and tools like control charts and correlation analysis.
Work on this project continued outside of the cadets’ visits as well, where certain analysis, taskers and other project deliverables were completed on team members’ own time.
“It is a humbling experience to work with a few of the Army’s future leaders who will soon become the very men and women that Tobyhanna’s workforce serves every day,” said Eli Londo, management analyst and LSS Black Belt candidate.
“The importance of delivering quality products, on time and at cost becomes more than just words from a mission statement, but something for us to feel and live as part of the Army family,” he said. Londo works in the Continuous Process Improvement Directorate’s Process Improvement Division.
Aside from the bottom-line benefits to Tobyhanna, there were a number of accomplishments that resulted from this collaboration. As “Best in Track” award winners for the Process Optimization category, the cadets beat out stiff competitors in their graduating class.
Other West Point cadets worked with personnel at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey, the Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications-Tactical, Aberdeen Proving Ground, and a private industry medical facility.
“This is the fourth time we have had the privilege of working alongside West Point cadets and it continues to get better,” said Mike McKeefery, Process Improvement Division chief.
“LSS certifications and awards aside, this collaboration provides some of the Army’s emerging leaders and industrial base civilian employees with an experience that will be carried for a lifetime,” he said.
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.
| Date Taken: | 08.24.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 08.24.2016 10:02 |
| Story ID: | 208023 |
| Location: | TOBYHANNA ARMY DEPOT, PA, US |
| Web Views: | 628 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Time saving idea profitable for depot, West Point cadets, by Jacqueline Boucher, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT