SOLUTION: Corpus Christi Army Depot (CCAD) | My Assignment Tutor

QUALITY PROGRESS I SEPTEMBER 2007 I 21ith the success stories that have beencoming out of Corpus Christi ArmyDepot (CCAD) in recent years, it’shard to believe that not very long ago the depotwas in danger of losing the source of one of itsmost significant workloads—the Air Force H-60Pave Hawk.The Pave Hawk, a derivation of the UH-60 BlackHawk, is manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.The helicopter’s primary function is conductingday and night operations in hostile environments torecover downed aircrew or other stranded personnel during wartime. In peacetime, the Pave Hawk isused in civilian search and rescue missions, duringthe aftermath of natural disasters, for internationalaid, for helping in counter-drug operations and inproviding space shuttle support for NASA.CCAD began providing maintenance, repair andoverhaul (MRO) support for the Pave Hawk in 1995but by 1999 was experiencing significant problemswith turnaround time (TAT) and cost overruns onthe line. In 2001, with the increasing demands of thewar on terror, the Air Force began farming outsome of its Pave Hawk workload and was considering stripping CCAD of the entire line.“The Air Force was seriously considering pullingthe Pave Hawk line from CCAD and transferring itto North Carolina [Cherry Point, a Marine Corpsfacility] or Korea,” says Air Force liaison WayneDuffy.According to Duffy, with the nation at war, theAir Force needed the Pave Hawks serviced atWIn 50 WordsOr Less• Due to lengthy turnaround times, Corpus ChristiArmy Depot (CCAD) was in danger of losing one ofits biggest maintenance contracts.• CCAD used lean Six Sigma to achieve registrationto several standards and get back on track.• Thanks to CCAD’s focus on quality, turnaroundtime was significantly reduced.Army AviationDepot Does anAbout-Faceby Jamey GiddensQUALITY IN THE MILITARY 1. Establishneeds andbenefits2. Organizeand setdirection 6. Document perestablishedstructure3. Establishdocumentationstructure4. Modifysystems perbusinessneeds 5. Modifysystems perstandardrequirements 7. Audit forcomplianceand benefits 8. Correctiveaction asneeded9. Managementreview10. Qualitysystemregistered Copyright: Eagle Force Proprietary InformationFIGURE 1 Ten-Step Plan for an Improvement Based Quality SystemCCAD back out to the field in 180 days. However,CCAD’s average TAT for the aircrafts was 240 days.Realizing it had to do something to prevent losingthe valuable workload and to preserve its designation as a premier facility for aircraft MRO in theDepartment of Defense (DoD), CCAD’s leadershipbegan an aggressive campaign aimed at addressingissues of quality, cost, delivery and process improvement. It did so by embracing the tenets of lean SixSigma—implemented at the depot in 2002—and bydusting off ISO 9000 focused quality managementplanning that had been around since 1996.Gathering the Right PeopleTo lead the process improvement effort, CCADhired George Kunkle III, a retired Army chief warrant officer, mechanic and test pilot. Kunkle came tothe depot with 30 years worth of aviation knowledge and hands-on experience, which he beganputting to good use from day one, taking charge ofCCAD’s newly formed lean Six Sigma team.“When I started, we were given one year to turnthings around on the Pave Hawk line,” says Kunkle,who conducted a painstaking review of the 700-pluspage statement of work for the line. Kunkle consulted with CCAD technical experts and Air Force officials to remove waste and over-processing, resultingin a more streamlined and efficient process documentation.The lean Six Sigma team, knowing how difficultit can be for people to accept change of any kind,began working to offset fears by educating all areasand levels of the workforce in the method’s basicprinciples. The team also benchmarked successfullean Six Sigma implementation in similar environments. The team used the knowledge it garneredfrom these research and benchmarking efforts tobegin implementing lean events and training seminars throughout the depot.Currently, about 28% of CCAD’s employeeshave been trained on the 6S principles of lean SixSigma. One hundred percent of CCAD’s leadershiphas received lean overview training. Fifty-eightpercent of CCAD employees have received lean101 training, and 102 CCAD employees have beentrained in Six Sigma.CCAD’s lean Six Sigma process begins withvalue stream mapping. For CCAD, a value streammap traditionally begins with internal and externalsuppliers and follows a flow of processes right tothe customer, uncovering areas of opportunity.After the areas are identified, the team creates afuture state map to provide a measurable goal forwhere the process in question should be in sixmonths to a year.The areas of opportunity discovered during theoriginal mapping exercise are tackled in seven-weekcycles, consisting of preparation, a one-week rapidimprovement event and other improvements usingstandard lean operational tools. During this lastphase, the team emphasizes sustaining improvements to ensure that cost reduction opportunitiesidentified come to fruition.Serious About ISO 9000Lean Six Sigma isn’t the only tool CCAD has usedduring its about-face. CCAD also reignited its commitment to quality management systems (QMSs)based on the ISO 9000 series of standards, firstimplemented at the depot in 1996. Only this time,22 I SEPTEMBER 2007 I www.asq.orgQUALITY IN THE MILITARYQUALITY PROGRESS I SEPTEMBER 2007 I 23it wasn’t just about quality—it was about the wayCCAD conducted business as a whole.“When I first started working with CCAD on getting registered to ISO 9001, the process was relegatedto one small corner of the quality directorate,” saysBill Houser, a consultant CCAD hired in 2004 toassist with ISO registration efforts. “Not many people were behind it, because they saw it simply as aquality initiative, which made it quality’s problem.”The predicament was—according to Houser—that CCAD didn’t have a problem with productquality.“The aircraft and aircraft component parts maintained, repaired and overhauled at CCAD werealready top-notch,” says Houser. “It was cost anddelivery that washurting the depot’sreputation with itscustomers.”Houser approachedCCAD’s issues froman overall businessperspective, asopposed to one merely concerned withquality management.“We developed abusiness managementsystem focused oncustomer service andsatisfaction,” says Houser. “The new system wastasked with continuing to provide CCAD’s customers with the best quality product while reducing cost and TAT.”After gaining the necessary support of CCAD’stop managers, Houser set about implementing hisplan for developing and implementing an improvement based quality system. Figure 1 shows the 10steps he used.The 10 StepsStep one: Establish the needs and benefits. Inthe first step, an organization must ask the question, “How will becoming ISO 9001 registeredaffect our customer base and competitors?” Next,the organization must address the reasons, or pressures for implementation that led to the organization pursuing registration. After the pressures forimplementation are addressed, they are convertedinto desires for implementation.Will these pressures and desires be enough tosustain involvement? Yes, with commitment anddedication to implementation and maintenancefrom the organization’s leadership.Step two: Organize and set direction. In thisstep, an organization selects a steering team composed of respected self-starters with strong skillsfor facilitating, organizing and relating well withothers. Team members, including senior managers,must be persistent, willing and dedicated. The success of the steering team is crucial, since it will becharged with setting the course and direction forthe rest of the process.After the steering team is established, it is chargedwith identifying keyQMS processes. Next, itmaps out the key QMSprocesses beforepreparing a quality policy. The final aspect ofstep two is the development of a draft qualitymanual.Step three: Establisha documentation structure. During this step,an organization mustask, “How do weintend to document ourquality system?” It must then select a documentation scheme consisting of five tiers: quality policy,quality manual, statements of purpose, workinstructions and quality records. The organizationthen selects documentation forms for each tier. Thelast phase of step three is assigning documentationand approval responsibilities. What needs to bedone? Who is doing what? When is it to be completed? Who is approving it?Step four: Modify the system according tobusiness needs. For each section and requirementof the QMS, an organization needs to ask, “Doesthe current system meet business needs? Does itmeet quality needs? Does it meet cost needs?”Step five: Modify the system according to thestandard’s requirements. For each section andrequirement of the QMS, an organization needsto ask, “Do the practices meet the standard’srequirements?” The system should be modified as“… whatever we can do hereat Corpus Christi Army Depotto ensure the soldier in thetheater has the best qualityproduct … is part of ourpatriotic duty …”24 I SEPTEMBER 2007 I www.asq.orgnecessary to meet the standard’s requirements,while making sure business needs are still met.Steps four and five (see Figure 2) are crucial.Experience has shown that a system that meets theorganization’s business needs will also meet therequirements of the standard; however, the reversemight not be true.Step six: Document according to the establishedstructure. For each section and requirement, ask, “Iseach element documented and established?”Step seven: Audit for compliance and benefits.For each section and requirement, ask, “Does aninternal quality audit of the system show compliance to the standard?”Step eight: Implement corrective action asneeded. Following the audit to the standard, it isimperative for an organization to take immediatecorrective or preventive action on any findings.These actions are to be documented and submitted to management for review.Step nine: Management conducts a review. Atthis stage, management asks, “Is the quality systemin place being followed? Is it meeting the organization’s business needs?” Management answersthese questions by reviewing documentation of allcorrective and preventive actions.Step 10: The quality system is registered. Thefinal stage of an organization’s registration journeybegins with a review of all documentation concerning the QMS according to the standard’s requirements. This is followed by a final assessment. Ifdeficiencies are found, the organization must makethe necessary corrections, complete with documentation, and submit them to the auditing body beforefinally achieving registration to the standard.ISO 9000 + Lean Six Sigma = SuccessBy following the 10-step plan, CCAD received arare “no deficiencies” registration to ISO 9001 inlate 2005. One year later, the depot was registeredto the AS9100 standard for aerospace industry original equipment manufacturers. AS9100 improveson ISO 9001 with 100 additional requirements specific to the aerospace industry.In June, CCAD became the first military facilityin the world and the fifth organization overall toattain AS9110 registration, which is specifically foraerospace industry MRO facilities.Houser says the depot’s successful registrationefforts couldn’t have been accomplished withoutlean Six Sigma.“The ISO 9000 series of standards requires anorganization to have a tool for continuous improvement,” explains Houser. “Instead of having to develop one from scratch, we used lean Six Sigma toaccomplish that requirement, and the two ideologiescomplemented each other quite well.”By zeroing in on issues of quality, cost and delivery via an ISO 9000 and lean Six Sigma focusedbusiness model, CCAD began to boast tremendousaccomplishments across theboard.The efforts of Kunkle andthe lean Six Sigma team haveresulted in rapid and quantifiable improvements on thePave Hawk line. TAT on thePave Hawk line has decreased45%. Labor hours per unit isdown 47%, and space use forthe assembly process has beenreduced by 10,500 square feet,or about 60%. Cost overrunson the line are also down 73%,while on-time delivery for thePave Hawk has increased from8% to 90%.Kunkle was promoted to theposition of process optimizaStep 4: Modifysystems perbusiness needs Modify systemto meetbusiness needsNoBusiness needs?Quality needs?Cost needs?Customer needs?Each time, every time? Modify systemsto meet ISO 9001requirementsandardMake certainbusiness needsare still metNo Step 5: Modifysystems per ISO9001 requirementsDoescurrent systemmeet businessneeds?For eachelement andrequirement,ask:YesDopracticesmeet strequirements?YesCopyright: Eagle Force Proprietary InformationFIGURE 2 Using ISO 9000 as a Business TemplateQUALITY IN THE MILITARYQUALITY PROGRESS I SEPTEMBER 2007 I 25tion manager for the entire depot and in 2006 tookhome the first Joint Depot Maintenance ExcellenceAward-Individual from the Joint DepotMaintenance Activities Group.CCAD’s highest ranking civilian,Deputy Commander Roy “Pat”Oler, also was recognized by hisDoD peers for his leadership andoversight of the depot’s transformation, winning the Joseph P.Cribbins Department of the ArmyCivilian of the Year Award from theArmy Aviation Assn. of America.Boeing Co. sponsored the award.In August, CCAD receievd a2007 bronze level Public SectorShingo Prize for its Pave Hawkline.CCAD Commander Col.Timothy Sassenrath says that whilehe is honored to see CCAD receiveso many accolades, the awards andcertifications come second to whatis paramount—satisfying CCAD’smost crucial customer, the warfighter.“We are a nation at war,”Sassenrath says. “We are an army atwar. That means whatever we can dohere at CCAD to ensure the soldierin theater has the best quality product, on time and at or below cost, ispart of our patriotic duty, in additionto making good business sense.“What we are doing here atCCAD, in terms of becoming registered to the ISO 9000 series of standards and seeing so many of ourdepot’s leaders being recognized ona national level, is helping to posturethe depot to not only maintain ourcurrent capacity, but also to attractadditional DoD and private industrywork once the war subsides.”JAMEY GIDDENS is the publicist forCorpus Christi Army Depot in CorpusChristi, TX. He has a bachelor’s degreein mass communications from SouthernArkansas University-Magnolia and is a graduate of theArmy Materiel Command Logistics Leadership Centerquality assurance intern program at Red River ArmyDepot in Texarkana, TX.Point, click, chartCHARTrunner is SPC software that fetches data from Excel, Access,Oracle, SQL Server, and other databases to generate up-to-the-minutecharts. It is the only process charting software that always providesfresh charts with noimporting, exporting,copying, or pasting.You’ve really got tosee it to believe it.SPC chartsFRESHAustralia and Asia03-9770-1960Instantlyfrom any datasourceDownload a 30-day trial at www.pqsystems.comEurope and Africa01704-871465North and South AmericaCall 800-777-3020 800-777-3020PQSystems 1 1/8/07 3:56:29 PM