ANNISTON ARMY DEPOT, Ala. -- Productive yield - both direct and indirect hours combined - accounts for 20 percent, or $300, of the prospective total Group Award Program for fiscal year 2015.
But, what does it mean and how can employees affect the end result?
For indirect employees, the answer is simple - be present and working for at least 1,702 hours this fiscal year. That equates to about 42 and a half weeks of the year. It's a number which accounts for sick leave, annual leave and time in training used for each indirect employee.
The direct labor side of the equation, however, tends to get more attention and there are more factors which may affect the productive yield time for employees.
Like their indirect counterparts, direct employees' productive yield is influenced by the time they take off - both sick leave and annual leave.
"Leave is somewhat of a factor," said Donna Cobb, a supervisory management analyst for the depot's Directorate of Resource Management. "But, the biggest factor which can negatively affect productive yield is using an employee for indirect functions."
Sometimes, according to Cobb, those indirect functions are necessary - such as the mandatory training each year. For those reasons, an amount of indirect time is calculated into the productive yield goals for the year. The unexpected times off or time away from the job, however, hurt the end result.
"Last year, we had three snow days. Those were unplanned administrative leave days. Fortunately, we were able to make up that time," said Cobb.
According to Warren Turner and Lavon Stephens, quality is also a large factor in productive yield.
"One of the most important things to do is one of the easiest things to do - do it right the first time," said Turner, the value stream manager for the Component Repair and Weapons Value Stream.
Turner said the time and cost of repairing or overhauling each piece of equipment is built into the depot's budget, but rework on a component which didn't meet standard is an extra expense for the installation.
Stephens, chief of the Tracked Systems Division, said one way employees can improve both quality and productive yield in their shop is to look for ways to make each process better, safer or more efficient.
"We try to empower employees with Lean events," he said. "It all comes back to doing the job better, faster and safer."
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