Manpower and Organization brings CPI to Team Dover

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman William Johnson
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  The Air Force is continuing to lean out its processes in an effort to save on manpower, time and money, and the 436th Force Support Squadron Manpower and Organization section is trimming some of Team Dover's extra fat.

Six members of the 436th FSS MO have rolled out the Continuous Process Improvement program at Dover, AFB. CPI is an Air Force program and proven tool that commanders have at their disposal to increase their units' effectiveness by improving business processes and eliminating waste.

Mike Prystajko, 436th FSS MO chief, said CPI is replacing the Air Force's Smart Operations for the 21st Century program.

"AFSO21 was a great program while it was around and it had a lot of tools that are similar to CPI," said Prystajko, "But the big problem with AFSO21 was there wasn't a way to assess your return on investment. With CPI, there are actual success stories you can grab and that make a big difference within an organization."

CPI was pushed throughout the Air Force in January 2016, and since its initial release, Team Dover has already seen benefits from the program. One of these success stories is the updated Authorization Change Request process.

"In the old days it was all paper, it was staff summary sheets and you would route it through and you hoped that it got to next level of review," said Prystajko. "We have taken all that out and it is electronic now. It's on the EIM site, it's a click and it walks you through the whole process. The notifications are automated and that has reduced processing time and errors by at least 50 percent."

The program works by sending teams of green belt trained workers out into the field to work with commanders. Green belt training allows MO individuals to go to work centers and identify areas that need to be further examined for process improvements.

"We have teams of two that go out and sit down with commanders to look at their processes and identify anything they might need help with," said Prystajko. "So we are taking a more proactive approach and reaching out to them and trying to offer our help and services."

Since the goal of CPI is to eliminate waste, virtually every aspect of the mission is reviewed. Even the check-in process at the Child Development Center saw improvements under CPI. A computer IT solution was offered to help reduce the check-in times of parents, thus allowing Airmen to spend less time waiting in line and more time at their work centers.

"The parents used to sign in their children manually on paper every day and that would back up the line until it was out the door," said Melanie Botto, CDC program assistant, "By having the computer up front and having it work makes the check-in process a whole lot faster."

Prystajko said there is no mission too big or too small for CPI and it is guaranteed to improve effectiveness and make an impact on people, processes and products.

"The goal is making CPI a culture within every level of the Air Force," said Prystajko. "From the top to the bottom, military to civilian, our goal is to have CPI excellence within the Eagle Wing."