ANNISTON ARMY DEPOT, Ala. -- Overhaul and repair operations for M119 light towed Howitzers at Anniston Army Depot are easier thanks to the ingenuity of employees.
When Tim Stewart became the chief of the Tracked Systems Division, he began to look for ways to increase safety and efficiency in the work areas.
He found the key to both in the creation of new equipment to assist with work processes.
Rollover stand
One of the areas for improvement Stewart saw was in the M119 assembly process.
Employees had to place the trail assembly for the weapon system on supports, mount the hardware for the undercarriage then flip it over using a crane and mount components on the other side.
Stewart believed a rollover device could make the process better.
He enlisted the assistance of Phillip Abernathy, an artillery repairer and Welder Brian Capps to build the machine.
"The new rollover device saves 30 minutes of time for each employee every time the assembly has to be flipped," said Mike Collier, artillery systems supervisor for the depot. "That is a big savings."
The rollover machine also makes the assembly process more ergonomic for employees, since they no longer have to bend over to attach components. Instead, they turn the machine to the optimal position.
"It can rotate 360 degrees and stop at any desired angle," said Abernathy.
So far, only one rollover device has been created for the M119 assembly lines, but another is planned and will be built and on the production lines soon, good news for employees who use the equipment.
"Basically, we can set the entire gun up from this one station," said Anthony Cochran, a depot heavy mobile equipment mechanic.
Spring compression
In another area of the M119 assembly process, employees take two springs, joining them with metal plates and screws to create an equilibrator, which keeps the weapon from tipping when fired.
The process used to require employees to place their hands near the moving springs while they were being compressed. With the addition of new equipment constructed by Abernathy and Capps, the process is now much safer.
"The new machine compresses the springs with hydraulic pressure, allowing it to be screwed together and there is a guard on it for safety," said Abernathy.
"This machine probably saves two hours of production time for every equilibrator," said Collier.
Laser housing
During repair and overhaul processes for the M119 light towed howitzer, employees use a coordinate measurement machine to determine if certain aspects of weapons systems are within specifications.
This laser device and its supporting computer must be kept in a dust-free environment. Therefore, employees were setting up the laser equipment, calibrating it and then putting it away each time it was needed.
A housing which keeps the dust away while allowing the coordinate measurement machine to remain set up and calibrated easily solved the problem and, according to Collier has saved an hour for each time the machine needed to be set up and taken down.
For each of these additions, the total time savings varies based upon workload and is still being calculated, but Stewart is pleased with the continuing focus on Leaning processes.
"These two items will be safer, speed up the assembly process, save the depot money, put our assembly process ahead of our competitors and help to improve our Voluntary Protection Program compliance," said Stewart. "This shows Tracked Systems Division is still very much involved in Lean improvement of our processes."
Have an idea for process improvement?
Employees with ideas to improve their work processes should call the Directorate of Engineering and Quality's Enterprise Excellence Division at Ext. 6869 to start a Lean event.
If the support, tools and capabilities to incorporate the idea are in place, the EED can assist with collecting data during the implementation process to track the changes.
"I encourage all employees to look for ways to improve their job and way of life. If you have an idea to improve your process and need help to make it happen, Enterprise Excellence Division is here to help," said Barry Smith, chief of the EED.
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