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AFSO 21 101: Instructors here teach Airmen tools to work smarter under increased operations with fewer workers

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Melissa Phillips
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
2nd in a 2-part series

Regardless of his fast-paced job, one chief here digs out from his pile of paperwork to teach Dover personnel about the basics of Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century by building miniature jets.

"One of the reasons I became an (AFSO 21) instructor is because I believe the best way to show support for the program is to get involved," said Chief Master Sgt. John J. Scinto Jr, 436th Maintenance Group superintendent, who teaches military and civilian personnel from every unit here, as well as visitors from other bases.

During the class, he charts the progress of classmates who split up into teams to form a toy jet assembly line. The "jets" are a learning prop to show students how to increase work production, profit margin and customer satisfaction by utilizing the AFSO 21 tools of Lean, Six Sigma and The Theory of Constraints.

So far he and 18 other AFSO 21 instructors here have taught more than 1,700 personnel since the class' inception in April.

AFSO 21 is an Air Force program that got its start at depots in Air Force Material Command, as a solution to decrease long aircraft lead times, fix planes more quickly and send them back to the warfigher. The program has also been used here to successfully cut costs and eliminate waste.

"We have reduced travel times on work processes where Airmen move back and forth between different work stations to complete a job, revised and streamlined floor space and eliminated repetitive work to such an extent that we were able to re-deploy our technicians throughout the Maintenance Group to help areas hard hit in the recent maintenance manpower draw down here," Chief Scinto said.

Adding to the fever to understand and use the program to its full advantage is the fact that within the next five years the Air Force will eliminate 40,000 manning slots. The resulting projected loss has leadership Air Force-wide concerned and aggressively seeking solutions.

The first order of business is to educate the force about AFSO 21.

"We offer generic awareness training slides that can be tailored to any base," said Maj. Joe Heilhecker, chief of AFSO 21 training branch, Headquarters Air Force, Washington, D.C. "Often times, people think AFSO 21 only applies to manufacturing or aircraft maintenance. The familiarization training is generic and instructors can tie it into performance reporting, the budgeting process or many different office practices."

By early 2007, several hours of AFSO 21 awareness training will be taught at select locations for all levels of professional military education. However, this doesn't mean Air Force leaders expect Airmen to go out and lead an event tomorrow.

Only one percent of Airmen are projected to be trained as AFSO 21 facilitators; however, many others may participate in finding solutions and achieving results. Leaders are also asking for Airmen's patience throughout the learning process and to help identify future improvement opportunities to their leadership and headquarter's staff.

As the lead AFSO 21 trainer, Major Heilhecker doesn't want Airmen to hastily rush into implementing the program. For now, leaders want Airmen to concentrate on cultivating a continual mindset to target waste, embrace core concepts, and familiarize themselves on AFSO 21 tools and methods.

He's not alone.

"Ninety percent of companies who take on Lean fail," said retired Chief Master Sgt. Joe Harrison, 436th Maintenance Operations Squadron and AFSO 21 basic instructor, who has logged 31 years in the maintenance career field. "Not because the tools are hard; it's because the employees never embraced the culture.

"What matters is changing the culture," he said. "The AFSO 21 basic class won't make you a Lean expert in a day. It provides a foundation and understanding of the basic tools. The rest is up to you."

The AFSO 21 basic course is mandatory here. However, Mr. Harrison said he feels most people show up with an open-mind, or at least a strong curiosity from all the hype they hear about the program.

"It was informative to hear about the fact we are losing people soon, but we (still) have to do more," said Airman 1st Class Ronald Davis, 9th Airlift Squadron loadmaster, who attended the class in October. "This class helps us maximize the efficiency we do have."

With less than two years in the military, Airman Davis and others like him are given the power to help shape and continually refine the Air Force of tomorrow by using the arsenal of tools in the AFSO 21 tool box.

"Young Airmen are making a difference in their shops, along with the 'seasoned' NCOs and civilians by getting involved at the grass roots and affecting change," said Chief Scinto. "(With AFSO 21), we see contributions from every facet of our workforce, to include Reservists, DoD civilians, contractors and Airmen."

AFSO 21 at a glance

Lean

WHAT IS IT? Lean is a concept and method of procedures that look at how an organization does business and takes a step-by-step approach to make changes to improve product quality, decrease cost and time personnel take to complete a job.
WHEN WILL LEAN WORK: Lean is useful if an organization is looking for quick gains. Typically, the organization's processes are non-standardized, and it is the leader's desire to keep improvement solutions simple and involve workers.

Main Lean principles

VALUE: what the customer or the warfighter needs to accomplish the mission (in the civilian sector it equates to what the customer is willing to pay for).
VALUE STREAM: the steps that create the "value."
FLOW: putting value-added steps one after the other and establishing continuous flow.
PULL: producing only what's needed based on the warfighters' consumption (no stock piling).
PERFECTION: a culture of never-ending improvement
PPS: Practical problem solving

Lean tools

DOWNTIME: is an acronym used to alert personnel to where processes can be refined to get the most value added by eliminating waste.
DEFECTIVE PRODUCTS: Making a product that has a defect (or isn't up to par), knowingly passing on products to the customer costs units time and money down the line, when they have to rework the product later.
OVER-PRODUCTION: When a unit produces more waste than projected future needs, it causes overproduction, which is a fundamental definition of waste. It causes problems finding storage until the consumer uses it and ties up resources that a customer may never need.
WAITING: The time waiting to move onto the next operation or process.
NON-UTILIZED PEOPLE: Failing to utilize people's full mental, creative, problem-solving and physical abilities.
TRANSPORTATION: The movement of parts, materials, tools, fixtures, containers or documents.
INVENTORIES: More inventory than can be consumed by the current demand or the "wrong" inventory, which means the inventory is not needed currently.
MOTION: Motion involves people. Any motion or action by people that does not add value to a product is waste.
EXTRA PROCESSING: Effort, time or energy applied to the production of the product that adds no "value" from the perspective of the customer.

6S

WHAT IS IT? 6S is a Lean process workers can use to clean up their shop and eliminate waste. The six Ss are:
SAFETY: First and foremost in effort.
SORT: Identify the needed and remove the un-needed.
STRAIGHTEN: Organize by keeping needed items in correct place.
SHINE: Keep workplace clean; sweep and perform other cleaning chores daily.
STANDARDIZE: Establish standards and operating procedures.
SUSTAIN: Maintain improved conditions; worker involvement is a must.

Resources

ยท Sign up for mandatory AFSO 21 training now, by going to the Dover intranet and click on "Dover AFB AFSO 21" in the lower right side under the "Announcements" section. Once inside the site, click on "Register Online" and choose "AFSO 21 Basic."