A group of depot employees applied a dash of technology to a trash-to-treasure concept which could mean big savings for the Department of Defense.
A new initiative at the depot that empowers the workforce for positive change, Leading Change Teams, found a home with one of several teams, LCT Four. The team created an easy and effective method to reduce equipment procurement costs, saving potentially $1.2 million. Their new free issue site will not only save money, but will reduce waste.
Earlier this year, Col. Christopher Carlile, Corpus Christi Army Depot Commander, surveyed the CCAD workforce to determine if they were ready for change. A majority responded that change was needed. Employees wanting change were encouraged to volunteer their time and knowledge to address issues that would save time, effort and money for the depot.
LCT Four found a variety of equipment items that were reusable, including down-draft tables.
Engineers from the T700 Engine Assembly Line were in need of a down draft table. Andreas Burt, Aviation Systems Production Equipment Specialist, was going to purchase a new one for $14,000 until he discovered eight unused tables that were turned in by other shops through the Electronic Facilities and Equipment Maintenance System (eFEMS).
eFEMS is an on-line program where unused equipment is collected throughout the depot.
Equipment specialists and industrial engineers are required to turn in used equipment via an 854 process--a method that includes an evaluation from Industrial Engineering, Facilities Engineering, Industrial Hygiene, Safety and Environmental to determine what's necessary to clean, dissemble, and remove the equipment and forward it to the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office (DRMO) system.
"From July 2010 to July 2011, CCAD forwarded $1,256,400 worth of serviceable equipment to DRMO that could have been reused," said Burt.
Andreas Burt and his team; Travis Sanders, Philip Derise, Mary Ann Hinojosa, Edward Mireles, Donna Trevino-Rios and Team Charter, Gary Hogg, gave visibility and purpose to the returned but serviceable equipment.
"I always felt if you have a problem you should always have a solution. So I had the solution," said Burt.
The team instituted technology to answer the problem automating the eFEMS process for the workforce, allowing cleaned and returned equipment to be placed in a usable status on the depot's Free Issue web site.
This site provides a description, pictures, statistics, manufacturing date, life cycle analysis and the cost to repair the equipment versus buying a new one.
One example, the depot saved $14,000 for the new down draft table by requesting one from eFEMS incurring only $32 to cover the cost of a new filter and shop towels to clean it.
"They used a very creative solution on an existing system that saves money in terms of development for this problem and solves the larger issue of equipment purposing," said Gary Hogg, Director of Production Engineering.
"Travis Sanders and Cruz Escamilla conduct an eFEMS open forum every Tuesday from 0800 to 0930 in the S-4 conference room, MEZZ 33. They can answer and conduct training for any personnel needing assistance with eFEMS," said Burt.
The next goal for LCT 4 is to take eFEMS Army Materiel Command wide on the AKO web page, where each depot has a Free Issue Site. Personnel won't be limited to their depot, if it's available in any free issue site, any depot can request the equipment. The financial impact has enormous potential.
"I am grateful to have the opportunity to make a difference. As a former Non-commissioned officer, I'm proud to still have that ability as a civilian employee in the Army," said Burt, who still is in the Army Reserve. "This couldn't have happened without the empowerment of the leading change teams. I can't emphasize that enough."
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