Why walk 10 miles to repair an engine? Published Aug. 26, 2010 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. -- The propulsion flight from the 20th Component Maintenance Squadron participated in a recent AFSO21 event to reorganize the F-16's F-110 engine intermediate maintenance section. Among other resulting improvements, according to participant Senior Airman Bobbie Clark, 20th CMS, total travel time for Airmen working on the engines was reduced by more than 10 miles of personnel travel per engine. Using a "spaghetti" diagram, Airman Clark explained, "We mapped out and calculated the travel time of each (person) involved in the engine receiving, teardown and rebuild process. The team identified an abundance of wasted time and energy due to the layout of the maintenance area and equipment location. "The Airmen were walking a considerable distance (up to 10 miles) during the work day to perform maintenance on an engine," the Airman noted. Master Sgt. Michael Zink, another participant, said, "I was amazed at the wasted time and travel during the process of performing our day-to-day duties." Subject matter experts were handpicked from the flight, according to Airman Clark, to participate in the event to help improve the repair process flow of an F-110 engine being brought into the shop, and analyzed the process from start to finish. Airman Clark added, "The AFSO21 event began with the team analyzing the current shop layout, which is known as the 'current state.'" After the initial evaluation the team brainstormed and came up with 21 ideas to attack the current state issues that could be improved to cut down on personnel travel time and improve workspace use. One of the more significant solutions was to "kit" certain pieces of support equipment for task completion and place them at the point of use, he said. This eliminated multiple trips to the support section and kept the maintainer working. Next, the team came up with a "future state" layout which consisted of re-organizing the work center to create flow and reduce bottlenecks. Airman Clark went on, "Once they knew that all it was going to take was a little teamwork to implement the new changes they got to work." Another participant, Airman 1st Class Dominic Mock, said, "It is great seeing your ideas implemented in the final picture." The team consisted of AFSO21 Facilitators; Senior Master Sgt. Lisa Coleman; Master Sgts. Nicolas Iorga, Donald Cowell and Michael Zink; Technical Sgts. Warren Gable, Phillip Loper, Domingo Muniz and Joshua Varney; Staff Sgt. Patricia Maghanoy; Senior Airman Bobbie Clark; and Airman 1st Class Dominic Mock. Airman Clark concluded, "The propulsion flight has already seen the improvements that the event has brought. (We) will continue to implement the new changes."
Why walk 10 miles to repair an engine? Published Aug. 26, 2010 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. -- The propulsion flight from the 20th Component Maintenance Squadron participated in a recent AFSO21 event to reorganize the F-16's F-110 engine intermediate maintenance section. Among other resulting improvements, according to participant Senior Airman Bobbie Clark, 20th CMS, total travel time for Airmen working on the engines was reduced by more than 10 miles of personnel travel per engine. Using a "spaghetti" diagram, Airman Clark explained, "We mapped out and calculated the travel time of each (person) involved in the engine receiving, teardown and rebuild process. The team identified an abundance of wasted time and energy due to the layout of the maintenance area and equipment location. "The Airmen were walking a considerable distance (up to 10 miles) during the work day to perform maintenance on an engine," the Airman noted. Master Sgt. Michael Zink, another participant, said, "I was amazed at the wasted time and travel during the process of performing our day-to-day duties." Subject matter experts were handpicked from the flight, according to Airman Clark, to participate in the event to help improve the repair process flow of an F-110 engine being brought into the shop, and analyzed the process from start to finish. Airman Clark added, "The AFSO21 event began with the team analyzing the current shop layout, which is known as the 'current state.'" After the initial evaluation the team brainstormed and came up with 21 ideas to attack the current state issues that could be improved to cut down on personnel travel time and improve workspace use. One of the more significant solutions was to "kit" certain pieces of support equipment for task completion and place them at the point of use, he said. This eliminated multiple trips to the support section and kept the maintainer working. Next, the team came up with a "future state" layout which consisted of re-organizing the work center to create flow and reduce bottlenecks. Airman Clark went on, "Once they knew that all it was going to take was a little teamwork to implement the new changes they got to work." Another participant, Airman 1st Class Dominic Mock, said, "It is great seeing your ideas implemented in the final picture." The team consisted of AFSO21 Facilitators; Senior Master Sgt. Lisa Coleman; Master Sgts. Nicolas Iorga, Donald Cowell and Michael Zink; Technical Sgts. Warren Gable, Phillip Loper, Domingo Muniz and Joshua Varney; Staff Sgt. Patricia Maghanoy; Senior Airman Bobbie Clark; and Airman 1st Class Dominic Mock. Airman Clark concluded, "The propulsion flight has already seen the improvements that the event has brought. (We) will continue to implement the new changes."