Always forward: change agents, innovators, share success stories at transformation event

Photo By Esthela Mckenzie | Littoral Combat Ship Project Officer, Lt. Tyler Ostermeier presents the takeaways of his team’s Test and Evaluation Plan of Action and Milestones Standardization Program project, during Naval Surface Warfare Center Port Hueneme Division's monthly Transformation Brief Out, Oct. 20.  

PORT HUENEME, CA, UNITED STATES

10.26.2017

Story by Brian Melanephy 

Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division

Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division (NSWC PHD) personnel and leadership took time out of their daily schedules and gathered in the Audiovisual (AV) Center for the monthly transformation brief out, Oct. 20.
Transformation Lead, Sandra Lopez, from the Continuous Performance Improvement (CPI) Office began the event welcoming those in attendance and briefly going over the agenda before ceding the podium to the first briefer.
The monthly event showcases the efforts of teams of NSWC PHD employees, with each presentation briefed by a team lead.
This month’s brief out had four briefers, who each had 10-15 minutes to share the results of their projects. The first topic briefed by Environmental Lead, Margaret McDonald, dealt with her team’s Off-site Hazardous Materials and Hazardous Waste Management Rapid Improvement Project (RIE). Amphibious Ship Total Ship Test Program Analyst, Daniel Doud, from the Ship Defense and Expeditionary Warfare department was next and shared the outcome of a Post-delivery Test and Trial Project. Littoral Combat Ship Project Officer, Lt. Tyler Ostermeier, from the Littoral and Strike Warfare Department followed next, presenting the takeaways of his team’s Test and Evaluation Plan of Action and Milestones Standardization Program project. The final briefer of the morning was Research Manager and Materials Lab Manager, Tim Tenopir, from the Office of Technology. Tenopir briefed the progress of establishing a NAVSEA Materials Center of Excellence for Surface Combat Systems at NSWC PHD.
All projects and events are different and unique, but they do share some commonality. A member of the workforce often recognizes a process or procedure that can be improved. After socializing the issue to their leadership, the issue can become a CPI project. When this occurs a cross-functional team is assembled, guided by a value stream champion, a value stream sub-champion, a Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Black Belt, several LSS Green Belts and subject matter experts.
There are many facets to transformation, but there are four specific components that drive it. The first is Lean, which involves eliminating non-value added activities, the second Six Sigma looks for ways to eliminate variation in a process. The third piece of the transformation puzzle is constraint mitigation, which involves identifying a constraint in a process and looking for ways to minimize or eliminate it. In a sense, these are the three legs of the CPI stool. A fourth component is now in transformation and CPI, high-velocity learning, which is a key component of Naval Sea Systems Command’s Expand the Advantage Campaign.
At the conclusion of the brief out Deputy Technical Director, Vance Brahosky took a moment to remind the audience about the importance of the work going on in the division that is showcased at the monthly event.

“We have the opportunity to use this forum to improve our technical rigor,” Brahosky said.

The next brief out is scheduled for Nov. 3.

• Date Taken: 10.26.2017
• Date Posted: 10.26.2017 19:13
• Story ID: 253195
• Location: PORT HUENEME, CA, US