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Streamlined processes keep technicians focused on airfield communication

By Staff Sgt. Shawn J. Jones, 4th Fighter Wing public affairs / Published June 07, 2007

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SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- Using principles from the process-improvement initiative known as Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century, a team gathered from May 21 - 24 to streamline maintenance processes in the 4th Communication Squadron's mission systems.

AFSO 21 is a management program that maximizes value and minimizes waste at all levels of Air Force operations. It promotes the elimination of all tasks that are not relevant or productive, said Michael W. Wynne, the Secretary of the Air Force, in a March '06 letter to Airmen.

The mission systems flight, which performs maintenance on radars, radios and airfield systems, had capably contributed to the 4th Fighter Wing's mission of putting air power on target, on time for America, but it became apparent to the flight's personnel that fine-tuning would make them even more effective.

"AFSO 21 is not just for big ideas or really-broken processes, it can foster greater efficiency in any process," said Dennis Heath, an AFSO 21 facilitator from the 4th Mission Support Squadron.

The team identified several areas for improvement, including maintenance recording and reporting, supply-chain logistics and operational systems testing, said 2nd Lt. Mike McClurg, 4th Communications Squadron plans officer and team leader for the process improvement.

In regard to maintenance recording and reporting, the team sought to improve data integrity, eliminate duplication of effort in data-entry documentation and reduce the time that mission systems technicians spent inputting work orders into their maintenance database.

The flight's maintenance recording and reporting functions are run through the maintenance operations center. MOC is the job-control hub that receives maintenance requests from customers, dispatches technicians from three different work centers, administers a maintenance database and provides maintenance summary reports to the squadron's leadership.

While analyzing the MOC's procedures, the team learned many of its data-entry functions overlapped with those of the maintenance work centers. By removing redundancy of effort in the job-control process, the flight will be able to expedite the processing of work orders. This process improvement should lead to greater airfield system reliability as the work centers refocus their time on their primary mission, maintaining radars, radios and other airfield systems, said the Lieutenant.

The elimination of redundant data entry will also help the flight to maximize data integrity without the cumbersome cross-referencing required in the previous process.

The flight was able to create even more efficiency by incorporating a cross-discipline approach, a key feature of the AFSO 21 analysis process. Through recommendations from Maj. Chris Melcher, an aircraft maintenance officer from the 4th Maintenance Operations Squadron, the team was able to improve their supply-chain logistics.

"As a process owner, when you have lived and breathed your process for years, you can become emotionally attached to it and unable to see how inefficient it really is," said Major Melcher. "Sometimes, a healthy look from another perspective outside that process can provide fresh ideas and jump-start discussions to make measurable improvements to that processes' combat capability."

These improvements, when coupled with better communication between the flight and the equipment parts suppliers, will reduce the total time spent fixing mission-critical airfield systems, said Lieutenant McClurg.

Mission systems flight personnel also identified the operational testing procedures of repaired equipment as a function that required attention. Many of the radars, radios and airfield systems that are maintained by the flight require very specific conditions to properly assess their operational capability. Though technicians may repair inoperable equipment in a prompt manner, the maintenance could not be reported as complete until those specific conditions allowed for the testing. Under the previous system, the delays of incomplete maintenance due to lack of proper testing conditions were often attributed to the technician.

The AFSO 21 team decided to move the responsibility for ensuring operational testing is done from the work center technicians to the MOC. As the primary recording and reporting hub, the MOC would ensure delays were properly attributed under the new initiatives.

The aggregate impact of the new procedures is expected to allow technicians to refocus on maintenance, while allowing the MOC to concentrate on their role as a maintenance focal point.

"Keeping the airfield and air-traffic control systems running at their highest levels of effectiveness is our goal, and we think the new changes will help us get there," said Lieutenant McClurg.
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