Smart operations applied to F-16 engine changes Published Oct. 13, 2009 By 2nd Lt. Jason Martin 20th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. -- A hand-selected team of eight maintenance professionals from the 20th Maintenance Group here recently embarked on a weeklong Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century journey. The team gathered to perform a rapid improvement event on the F-16 engine removal and installation process, with the goals of reducing aircraft downtime and increasing the quality of maintenance. The team consisted of representatives from a wide array of work centers throughout the 20th MXG, each bringing their own unique perspective to the event. These perspectives provided unrivaled communication cross flow and process buy in. "We've tried for years to get some of these changes implemented," said Tech. Sgt. Bryan Ward, a team member and 20th MXG quality assurance inspector. "Shortly after the RIE they should take place." While participating in the RIE, team members mapped out the current engine-change process from the time the production superintendent approves an engine change until the aircraft returns to fully-mission-capable status. Next, the team identified constraints and waste in the process and mapped the ideal state. Finally, the future state was mapped and action items were assigned to various members of the group for implementation. Ken Eveland, Air Force Engineering and Technical Services, said, "being a part of a team that has the opportunity to take a process, break it down, rebuild it and improve it is a very eye-opening experience." One of the major items the team focused on was the length of time it took to perform an aircraft bay inspection. Upon doing a root-cause analysis on this issue, it was revealed that maintainers were leery to sign off bay inspections for fear of missing just one of the countless number of items to inspect in that critical area. To combat inefficiency the team developed a bay inspection reference book. This book will be a QA-approved reference used in concert with the job guide and will encompass the knowledge of the most qualified individuals on the base. Large pictures and easy-to-read verbiage will give a newly-assigned Airman the knowledge of a 7-level with years of F-16 experience. By incorporating these reference books into consolidated tool kits the team estimated that not only will the time taken to inspect a bay be cut in half, but the quality of maintenance will actually increase ensuring safety of flight. The most exciting part of this process is that suggested changes resulting from this RIE would positively affect a myriad of other maintenance tasks. For example, a suggestion that came from this RIE was to purchase cordless drills to upgrade the hand tools maintainers currently use to laboriously remove the 128 screws and two bolts that fasten the left ventral to the aircraft. Utilizing these drills will cut over an hour on this job as well as save time on virtually every job a flight line mechanic does. Important to note is that the team did not suggest implementing sweeping and radical changes, but rather focused on small, smart improvements to the process. By following through on the easy to implement changes the team estimates that aircraft downtime for this one job will decrease by at least 200 hours per year while improving QA pass rates for bay inspections to an all time high.