STAND-TO! Edition: Monday, April 11, 2011
Today's Focus:
The Army's Lean Six Sigma Program
SENIOR LEADERS ARE SAYING
"It has been the greatest honor and privilege of my career -- and frankly of my life -- to have led the men and women of the United States Army over the last decade of war. I'm going to miss it. I'm going to miss you all, but thank you very much."
- Gen. George W. Casey Jr., 36th chief of staff of the Army, says farewell
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING
"In everything we do these days, we must be cognizant of how much it costs - in dollars, time and manpower. Lean Six Sigma is one tool that that the Army uses to improve processes and get the most bang for our buck! It takes us out of our comfort zone and makes us look at things from a different perspective."
- Master Sgt. Shane Wentz, a senior non-commissioned officer at the U.S. Army Human Resources Command and the Army's first enlisted Lean Six Sigma "Master Black Belt" ranks among the Army's top "efficiency experts
HRC senior NCO becomes Army's first enlisted Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt
CALENDAR
2010-2013: 60th Anniversary of the Korean War
April:
Sexual Assault Prevention Awareness Month:
- Army's SHARP Program
Month of the Military Child: Operation Military Kids website
Celebrate Diversity Month:
- Asian Pacific Americans in the US Army
- African Americans in the US Army
- Hispanic Americans in the US Army
- Women in the US Army
Spotlight
Websites of interest:
150th Anniversary of the Civil War
Retroactive Stop Loss Special Pay
TODAY'S FOCUS
The Army's Lean Six Sigma Program
What is it?
Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is a vital part of today's business environment. It attacks inefficiencies - waste caused by defects and eliminates non value-added flow of information or materials, data storage, stacks of inventory, overproduction and extra processing. With Lean Six Sigma proven techniques, Army managers have the skills to find, fix and finalize efficiencies to save time and money and improve our nation's ready forces at best value.
What has the Army done?
Since the start of the Army's LSS deployment in 2006, a cumulative of $19.1B dollars has been saved through a number of Army process improvements including improved materiel flow in Iraq and Afghanistan. These financial benefits cover savings to current programs, cost avoidance in future programs and revenue generation from reimbursable activities. Today, the program continues to expand as leaders are pressed for resource reductions and elimination of waste and inefficiency. So far in fiscal year 2011, 2,111 process improvement projects are underway representing $3.6B in potential financial savings. None of these financial benefits can be accomplished without the strong partnership of leaders/champions and the 48 LSS deployment directors throughout the Army.
The Army has trained 5,700 "Green Belts," 2,400 "Black Belts" and 175 "Master Black Belts" to date.
The goal is for Army organizations to become self-sustaining in the LSS techniques and to leverage the gains that we've earned. The LSS Program Management Office (PMO) has integrated the improvement efforts of individual commands Army-wide and championed the training necessary to make this a routine way of doing business.
What continued efforts does the Army have planned for the future?
The future of Lean Six Sigma is bright. Since the announcement of the efficiencies effort by the Secretary of Defense in May 2010, the LSS value stream analysis is now a fundamental step within the cost-benefit analysis for any new requirement.
Why is this important to the Army?
The LSS methodology has a proven track record. It has produced a return on investment of 700 to 1 since its deployment. LSS is important to the Army because it is an analytically-based methodology that has and will continue to help us be responsible stewards of our nation's resources.
Resources:
Lean Six Sigma
IMCOM Lean Six Sigma
AMEDD Lean Six Sigma
Army Logistician (Lean Six Sigma at Anniston Army Depot)
Related articles: PEO C3T employee earns Lean Six Sigma honor
Lean Six Sigma at Joint Munitions Command: Past, Present and Future
STAND-TO! NEWS
ABOUT THE ARMY
- Army teens visit Capitol Hill to meet senators, SMA (The US Army)
- Female Soldiers testing new Army uniform (Fayetteville Observer)
- Weight of war: Soldiers' heavy gear packs on pain (NPR)
- Female veteran fights an invisible injury (Los Angeles Times)
- Private investment key to 'Net Zero' initiative (The US Army)
- Bulk of FY12 budget request to sustain personnel (The US Army)
OVERSEAS OPERATIONS
- U.S. troops get no winter break before Taliban's fighting season (Detroit Free Press)
- Pentagon rethinking U.S. exit from Iraq (Arizona Republic)
- Petraeus says al-Qaida not on rise in Afghanistan (Yahoo)
- U.S. rebuilding Afghan village destroyed during battle (Star Telegram)
- War pulls apart Afghan families (Washington Post)
- War-weary Iraq sees economic rebound (Washington Times)
- TF Warrior transitions Combat Outpost Tangi to Afghan security forces (The US Army)
- U.S. forces help Iraqi Army complete training program (The US Army)
OF INTEREST
- McChrystal to lead program for military families (New York Times)
- Researchers use smells, combat scenes to treat PTSD (Fayetteville Observer)
- Fisher House helps servicemembers' children with scholarships (The US Army)
- First Lady Michelle Obama requests Jessica Simpson to serenade military families (International Business Times)
- Giving female veterans a chance to share their pain (Los Angeles Times)
- Japanese PM thanks U.S. troops during visit to devastated region (Stars and Stripes)
- Talks focus on programs' cuts (Wall Street Journal)
- Global military spending hits high but growth slows (Huffington Post)
WORLD VIEW
- War in Afghanistan is destabilising Pakistan, says president (Guardian)
- Opinion:The truth about Canada's Afghan training mission (The Globe and Mail)
- Taliban seen stirring mob violence in Quran burning case (Star Advertiser)
- Protective glasses for British forces in Afghanistan (BBC)
- Iran expels Kuwaiti diplomats (Financial Times)
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SOCIAL MEDIA