AMC's DAELP takes part in ANAD Lean events

By Joanna Brummett, ANAD DEQJanuary 21, 2010

AMC's DAELP takes part in ANAD Lean events
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

ANNISTON ARMY DEPOT, Ala. - When it comes to Lean manufacturing, it is not uncommon here to have multiple events during a week's time. However, the depot held a Lean marathon the week of Dec. 7 with work teams composed of not just employees of Anniston Army Depot-the weeklong "Leanathon" included the leadership from sister depots and arsenals throughout AMC.

In excellent Lean fashion, four value stream analyses, or VSAs, were conducted in one day, resulting in numerous continuous improvements to each of the four processes analyzed.

Twenty-three participants of the Depot and Arsenal Executive Leadership Program-DAELP-along with facilitators and observers from the University of North Carolina were on a visit here to be a part of the week's work.

DAELP is an executive development program serving the commanders and senior civilian leaders of the Army's depot and arsenal facilities. The program was established in 2003 by the U.S. Army Materiel Command. It is organized and administered by the Institute for Defense and Business and delivered in partnership with the UNC at Chapel Hill. This year, DAELP includes two members of the depot's workforce: ANAD Chief of Staff Phillip Trued and Director of Production Jeff Simmons.

The program provides a strategic overview of the key functional, analytical and managerial elements required for effective leadership of large complex organizations.

Mark Greenwood, chief, Enterprise Excellence Division, said that it was an accomplishment for ANAD to be instructing Lean training classes in methodologies recognized by colleges.

"One of the benefits of hosting this event was the benchmarking of ANAD's Lean methods against those of University of North Carolina facilitators," said Greenwood. "For the most part, ANAD facilitators and UNC facilitators follow the same mapping and Lean procedures."

Sierra Army Depot Commander Lt. Col. Joseph Dalessio, a 2009-2010 DAELP participant, praised Anniston for hosting the event: "Being a member of the M1 Final Drive Team was truly an enlightening experience for me. Team Anniston hit a home run with their 'hands-on' approach to educating DAELP students on the value stream process. Well done and thanks for the hospitality!"

What the teams accomplished

Prior to the DAELP visit, depot management identified four areas for the teams to examine: M1 Final Drive, Gunner's Primary Sight-GPS-Servo, Paladin Joint Inspection and AGT 1500 Fuel Control.

After an orientation and tour, participants divided into four teams and spent the remainder of the afternoon in a question-and-answer session with the goal of understanding the process to be mapped, the scope, the business impact of the problem and the objective(s) to be achieved.

On day two, each team began the day by visiting its respective focus area and observing the current process. Once this was done, each team mapped the current process of their assigned VSA using Lean mapping methodology. After mapping the current state, they held a brainstorming session to develop an improved future state process. After much discussion, the teams mapped the future processes and established action plans to implement improvements.

M1 Final Drive

The team focusing on the M1 Final Drive process identified the need for visuals including work-in-process levels, customer identification, and condition code tags. The action plan included a rapid improvement event, or RIE, to establish standard work, address material management, and evaluate set-up time for the test stand.

The team also employed Problem Solving Corrective Actions, or PSCAs, for the thread damage protector for final drive output shaft and the leaking output seal. A Production Preparation Process, or 3P, determined the best design for a new transport stand for the final drive to eliminate any damage during transportation.

GPS Servo

Members of the GPS Servo team were tasked with evaluating the GPS servo process from disassembly to delivery to the customer, which is General Dynamics at Anniston. The team obtained a copy of the contract between Anniston and General Dynamics to determine the responsibilities of each entity.

Ideas for process improvement were all contingent on buy-in from both the depot and General Dynamics. Improvements involved joint inspection and acceptance at Anniston's location, both parties using the applicable Depot Maintenance Work Requirement as the standard, and fabrication of the inspection box to meet required criteria outlined in the DMWR. Ultimately, this team realized the importance of eliminating subjectivity from the process.

Paladin Joint Inspection

Due to a variation in the cab and chassis joint inspection process between Defense Logistics Agency and Anniston Army Depot, the Paladin Joint Inspection team looked at the process from receipt of vehicle to shipment with the goal of standardizing the process. This team recommended that both DLA and ANAD be actively involved in the process to include planning, scheduling and joint inspection. A project to assemble the turret and hull together was identified as part of the Action Plan of this value stream analysis. Various insights from team members were: (1) Quality is not expensive, it is priceless; (2) No one can work to a schedule until everyone has the schedule; and (3) VSA is the beginning of the communication line in the value stream.

AGT 1500 Fuel Control

The AGT 1500 Fuel Control team looked at the fuel control, or hydro mechanical unit, as an area of opportunity. Although this process has been "leaned" before, this team discovered the old truth that there is always room for improvement. This team discovered that the mechanic was spending an average of 30 minutes "unwrapping" individually packaged parts and recommended some type of shadowboxing of parts. The action plan included a project to upgrade software for fuel control test cell and the development of an Electronics Manufacturing Operations and Tooling system for the test process.

"It was quite a challenge, but I was impressed with the DAELP participants' willingness to jump into a process that they were not familiar with and try to improve on it," said Barry Smith, Turbine Value Stream process improvement specialist. "Having a few fresh sets of eyes on a process that we see every day, we were able to identify some improvements that may have otherwise gone unnoticed."