Tooele Army Depot completes Mobilization Plan

By Ms. Kathy Anderson (AMC)May 14, 2012

TEAD uses value stream mapping process for their Mobilization Plan
Keith Siniscalchi (far left), Director of Ammunition Operations; Bill Smith, Directorate of Ammunition Operations; Col. Chris Mohan, depot commander; Jeff Principe, Garrison Operations; Jeff Gillette, Resource Management; all of Tooele Army Depot, di... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

When Tooele Army Depot (TEAD), Tooele, Utah, first started down the path of continuous improvement, it was called JIT (just-in-time). As the term "lean" became popular, the depot expanded their focus in eliminating waste throughout all processes. Through training the workforce, the process jumped right to massive kaizen mode with many events all across the installation.

Value stream mapping (VSM) is part of the lean manufacturing technique that is used to analyze and design the flow of materials and information required to bring a product or service to a consumer. At TEAD, it is known as "material and information flow mapping." It can be applied to nearly any value chain.

In early April, TEAD received the tasker to value stream map the outloading process, and to have it completed by April 26. A secondary portion of the VSM was to update the Mobilization Plan.

The objectives for preparing the Mobilization Plan VSM were in support of the Enterprise Integrated Logistics Strategy (E-ILS). The VSM activity helped establish common understanding of E-ILS while focusing on warm base level requirements (i.e., number of Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs.)) The VSM was also forwarded to Headquarters, Joint Munitions Command (JMC) to move from book theory to pragmatic action that (electronic modeling tool) show interactive simulations of the warm base model.

TEAD recently completed their entire Mobilization Plan VSM task. This VSM activity required the input of sixteen personnel from three directorates and approximately 160 man-hours. This requirement was in response to the Warm Base Calculation Methodology demonstrated at the E-ILS Workshop.

"The main objective of this exercise was to review workforce and workload requirements," said Jeff Gillette, Chief, Resource Management. "This is a cornerstone in determining rate affordability."

During this VSM process, TEAD outlined all activities, direct and indirect support, and their interaction to demonstrate the capacity for a major mobilization. This information will be used as part of the Enterprise Integrated Logistics System modeling tool to show the manpower FTEs for out loading capability at TEAD.

"The VSM proved to be a valuable tool for Ammunition Operations. It helped us identify steps and personnel requirements in the outload process and remove non-value added steps" said Bill Smith, Directorate of Ammunition Operations.

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