Government

64 Fold Increase in Productivity at Army Repair Depot

The job at Red River Army Depot is to return battle-damaged tactical vehicles (like Humvees) to full mission-capable condition as quickly as possible. Applying Lean Six Sigma, Humvee output has increased from half a vehicle a day to 32 a day.

A Sense of Urgency in the Inspection Dock

A drive from DoD and Air Force leadership to become more efficient helped employees at Beale Air Force Base improve inspection dock operations.

Aligning Army Call Center Goals to Improve Performance

Product Manager, Transportation Information Services set out to improve the perception of its support to the Army transportation logistics environment. It completed a Lean Six Sigma project that brought performance in line with customer expectations.

Army Improves Equipment Management with Lean Six Sigma

In order to provide the best logistical support to soldiers, Army organizations at Natick, Mass., USA, are using Lean Six Sigma to establish a joint process to improve the accuracy of equipment support budget proposals by 50 percent.

Army TACOM LCMC Strengthens Lean Six Sigma Deployment

Since 2007, the Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) Life Cycle Management Command (LCMC) has institutionalized a culture of innovation and continuous improvement. Promulgation of Lean Six Sigma across the command is a nonstop effort.

Career Change Benefits Frontline Warfighter

Combat veteran Michael Verton is now helping to conduct Lean events at Tobyhanna Army Depot.

Case Study: Optimizing Patient Flow at Fort Drum Clinic

A project to optimize family practice patient flow at the Guthrie Ambulatory Healthcare Clinic, part of the U.S. Army Medical Activity (MEDDAC) at Fort Drum, N.Y. The goal: to reduce process cycle time while maintaining the same quality of care.

Communication and Business Case Key to Revising Process

Through a two-year Six Sigma project, the Department of Defense Acquisition and Technology Programs Task Force (ATP TF) coordinated a revision to a joint weapon system safety review process that provided a 59 percent reduction in cycle time.

Continuous Process Improvement Encounters the Fog and Friction of War

This case study shows it is possible to use Lean Six Sigma tools, including 5S, and sustain improvements in even the most unstable environments

DoD to Focus on Four Improvement Areas During Convention

Leaders from across the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) will gather Oct. 22 to 23 in D.C., to discuss the state of the department’s Lean Six Sigma deployment. They will report progress and share strategies, training and technology developments.

Employees Writing on the Walls? Not a Problem

Process improvement specialists at Tobyhanna Army Depot discovered a less-wasteful way to conduct Lean Six Sigma training and map processes.

Entire Division Going for Shingo Win

Tobyhanna Army Depot’s Communications Security Division (COMSEC), part of the Communications Systems Directorate, will submit an Enterprise Level Shingo package.

Evolutionary Change: The Molecular Model of Organizational Transformation

In order to make improvements, agencies must first go through organizational transformation. Only through evolutionary change of leadership behavior will they begin to see positive results from their efforts.

Going Beyond the 5 Whys

A new tool – the Morris 5 So What anaysis – can aid Lean Six Sigma practitioners in understanding and communicating the value of potential solutions. The tool was orginally developed to help articulate project benefits to U.S. Army leaders.

Green Belt: Creative Ideas Generate Workable Solutions

Three Tobyhanna Army Depot employees earned Green Belt certification for their work on separate projects that improved processes, saving time and money.

Ideas for Using Lean Six Sigma in the Marine Corps

The U.S. Marine Corps’ continuous process improvement effort is aimed at enhancing all aspects of support — every level and every element — to provide operating forces the maximum combat readiness and war fighting capability.

Lean Lesson: Batching Is Bad…Right?

Lean teaches us batching is bad. Right? The answer is: It depends. If you can then answer the question, “it depends on what?” you’ll start to see that Lean is much more subtle and multifaceted than the seemingly simple elements and tools might imply.

Lean Six Sigma and the War Fighter

The USMC and DoD use Lean Six Sigma as part of their continuous process improvement (CPI) effort aimed at enhancing all aspects of support provided to military operating forces to maximize combat readiness and war fighting capability.

Lean Six Sigma Is in the Army Now, Improving Efficiency

A sweeping rollout of Lean Six Sigma is helping the Army transform its business practices and free up resources – all to better support its soldiers. The Army deployment is the largest ever attempted, eventually encompassing 1.3 million people.

Meeting Army Black Belt Project and Certification Goals

To increase Black Belt project completion and certification, the Army is using Belt course portfolios within its project-tracking software program to monitor leading and lagging indicators to ensure that more Belts are reaching their goals on time.

News Roundup: Marines Receive CPI Awards; Green Teams Help Postal Service

Recent news from Lean Six Sigma use in government includes the announcement of Marine Corps Continuous Process Improvement award recipients and Lean savings for the Postal Service.

PandR IM Improves Management of Health Treatment Records

P&R IM, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness), led an analysis of the Health Treatment Record (HTR) life cycle management process to help ensure service members and veterans receive their benefits in a timely manner.

Q&A with Cmdr. Stanley Dobbs

In an interview with iSixSigma, Cmdr. Stanley Dobbs shares his approach toward Lean Six Sigma project selection and execution, as well as insight into the Navy’s positive response to continuous process improvement.

Reserve Unit Improves Requisition Process

Once faced with an 80 percent rejection rate of requests for supplies and equipment from units that fall under the 335th Signal Command, the Reserve Unit’s Lean Six Sigma project transformed the requisition process to a 90 percent approval rate.

Six Sigma 2012: Political Ambitions?

Could this be the year Six Sigma makes its way into the mainstream political arena? In recent months, several candidates for office at the city, county and federal levels have made statements endorsing an application of Six Sigma principles to government operations.

Six Sigma in Government: Focusing on the Customer

Government agencies have a unique opportunity to benefit from implementing Six Sigma. While it is true that improvement efforts can be frustrated by changing political fashion, there are still opportunities for improving customer relations.

Streamlining Coast Guard’s Accounts Payable Process

Coast Guard Finance Center fix for over-stressed accounts payable process: An experienced Lean Six Sigma consultant with a finance background to lead a project team, break through the complexity, and design a Lean, effective and scaleable process.

The 2010 DoD Performance Symposium – Enterprise Excellence

At the annual symposium in June, attendees heard from military and government leaders about ongoing efforts to improve performance supporting the warfighter.

The DoD Roundup

To support its business transformation, the Defense Department is creating a continuous process improvement culture enterprise wide by bringing together the expertise and best practices of the improvement programs already in place within the DoD.

Tracking and Technology Speed Black Belt Certification

The U.S. Army continues marching forward in its Lean Six Sigma efforts. It has formalized the use of Belt course portfolios within its project-tracking software and deployed a web application to streamline the information-generation process.

Up Close with J.D. Sicilia

In an interview with iSixSigma, J.D. Sicilia, director of the Department of Defense Lean Six Sigma Program Office, shares about the purpose of the office, his deployment strategy and how the office will interact with the services.

Up Close with William B. Wark

William B. Wark’s career in government spans nearly 40 years, with time served in the U.S. Navy, the Department of Justice and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Yet his current role, as a member of the U.S Chemical Safety Board (CSB), may be his most valuable yet. Of the CSB’s work, Wark says, “I have never seen better leveraging of tax-payers’ dollars in the government in my life.”