<i>Again Depot recipient of three Shingo awards</i>
TEXARKANA, TX, July 24, 2008--Red River Army Depot Commander Col. Daniel Mitchell received good news July 23 when he opened a letter from the Shingo Organization.
Once again, RRAD has accomplished outstanding marks in the Shingo prize competition by receiving a Silver and two Bronze Shingo Medallions. This establishes RRAD as the first defense complex to obtain three Shingo medallions in two consecutive years.
The depot has accumulated an impressive coffer of Shingo Awards receiving its first in 2006 for the High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle production line. In 2007, RRAD garnered three awards---Gold, HMMWV; Silver, Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck and Bradley Fighting Vehicle Systems transmission and power pack.
The Shingo audit teams visited RRAD in June to validate the depotAca,!a,,cs nomination packages that were submitted earlier in the year. The audit teams talked with RRAD personnel and toured the production areas for each package submitted. The visits resulted in a Silver Medallion for the HEMTT production line, Bronze Medallion for the PATRIOT production line and Bronze for the Trailer production line.
In addressing the workforce Mitchell said, Aca,!A"I am very proud to be a part of such a great organization with dedicated professionals. These Shingo Medallions, (which we will receive in Oct.) are a real testament to the commitment and enthusiasm of the RRAD workforce. Be proud of the excellent products you provide for the Soldier.Aca,!A?
The Shingo organization restructured the prize criteria for this yearAca,!a,,cs competition. The reasoning was that the organization wanted to ensure that Shingo awards are given to organizations that have fully immersed Lean thinking into their culture. A competing organization should be able to demonstrate that it has implemented Lean tools and realizes that the improvements are not sustainable unless the tools are part of a system implanted with Lean culture.
The Bronze is awarded to organizations that understand the tools, use tools and have systems. The Silver is awarded to organizations that have tools in place with good, strong systems that are used by everyone. There should also be evidence that a system is in place for sustainment. The Prize is awarded to organizations that understand why tools are used and the understanding is built into the way they think.
In past competitions there have been four levels of achievement within the public sector:
* Platinum being the highest attainable level, showing excellent improvement trends and a tenacious strategic focus on value-added processes and issues.
* GOLD showing strong improvement trends with systematic processes for identifying and eliminating waste in business functions.
* Silver representing generally good improvement trends in most business areas with many examples of improvement projects focusing beyond the daily issues.
* Bronze being the first level or recognition for good level of performance in most areas with attention to goal setting and frequent use of human and technical resources to identify and eliminate waste.
During the past four years, the HEMTT production areas were transformed into a one-piece flow operation which carries the vehicle to like new status. The HEMTT production realized a major decrease in rework defects from 2006 to 2007 with a 51 percent reduction.
The program has continued to meet or exceed delivery requirements of assets since 2004. In the future, RRADAca,!a,,cs HEMTT production area will evolve into a mixed model line that produces six different vehicles which includes 26 different variants.
The HEMTT has been the workhorse of the ArmyAca,!a,,cs heavy tactical wheeled fleet since the mid-1980Aca,!a,,cs. With five basic configurations, the HEMTT series truck provides transport capabilities for replenishment of combat vehicles and weapons systems. Nicknamed the Aca,!A"Dragon Wagon,Aca,!A? the HEMTT is manufactured by the Oshkosh Truck Corporation
The customer demand for the trailer program has more than tripled over the last three years. With Lean principles and applications, the trailer program has been able to increase production while lowering man hours. Since 2004, the program has also continued to meet or exceed delivery requirements of assets.
The bay style process was changed to a one-piece flow process, which resulted in the elimination of waste and the reduction of man-hours per trailer. These process design changes have given the repair and rebuild of the trailer programs the capability of meeting the customer demand with flexibility for any required changes to meet the surge of multiple trailer programs.
The PATRIOT missile is the U. S. ArmyAca,!a,,cs premier Air Defense missile system. Hailing as the only anti-ballistic missile system to have successfully engaged and destroyed a tactical ballistic missile in combat, the PATRIOT is designed and built by Raytheon and is deployed worldwide.
Theater Readiness Monitoring DirectorateAca,!a,,cs primary focus is stockpile reliability assessment of the PATRIOT missile. TRMDAca,!a,,cs LEAN journey has already saved more than $63,403 by conducting rapid improvement events in the logistics division in 2007.
The facility is the only U.S. facility with the capability of recertifying the Patriot missiles. Recertification is accomplished by replacement of limited life items which extends the life of the missile.
Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing is administered by the College of Business at Utah State University and awarded in partnership with the National Association of Manufacturers. Established in 1988, its intent is to promote world-class manufacturing and recognize companies that excel in productivity and process improvement, quality enhancement and customer satisfaction. The prize is based in the United States, but it is also open to manufacturers in Canada and Mexico.
The Prize is named for Japanese industrial engineer Shigeo Shingo who distinguished himself as one of the worldAca,!a,,cs leading experts in improving manufacturing processes. The prize has often been referred to as the Aca,!A"Nobel prize of manufacturing,Aca,!A? because it establishes a standard for world-class excellence.
The Prize recognizes organization and research that is consistent with its mission and model with three types of prizes: Business, research and public. RRAD is considered for the public prize which recognizes entities that have demonstrated outstanding achievements in manufacturing processes leading to outstanding quality, cost, delivery and business/financial results.
More information regarding the Shingo organization can be obtained by visiting http://www.shingoprize.org
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