NewVectors Projects
US Air Force Lean Materiel Command (FMC) Lean Team
NewVectors is currently the prime contractor on a project for the US Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) to introduce a standard approach to Lean to its 3 repair depots, known as Air Logistics Centers (ALC). NewVectors is assisting shops in each of the ALCs to implement the standard approach to Lean. These shops form a supply chain for overhaul of the F-15. As an example of the work being done in this project we will describe improvements made to the Program Depot Maintenance shop at Warner Robins ALC, where each aircraft is taken apart in the beginning of an overhaul and then put back together at the end, ready to fly.
A year ago, each F-15 coming out of Program Depot Maintenance at Warner Robins Air Logistics Center took an average of 5 check flights before it was passed and could be returned to the unit it came from. The NewVectors-led Lean Team led a project to begin to track and analyze causes of check flight failures. This effort started in the fall of 2004. As a result of this project, the average number of check flights required is now 3.5 and it is still dropping. There are planes that now pass in as few a 2 test flights. The process was a typical problem solving process. They started by gathering data on what failed. Then they grouped failures and picked the most likely cause to work on first. That cause was analyzed to discover the root cause and to design ways to modify the process to reduce or eliminate the cause of the failures. As a result, the F-15 Team won this year’s Team Quality Award at Warner Robins.