Commercial vehicle inspection area improved Published Sept. 15, 2009 By Luis Brito 20th Fighter Wing Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. -- A rapid improvement event was conducted at the commercial vehicle inspection area July 27 to 30. The RIE examined the entry control process and to develop procedures to streamline procedures for commercial vehicle drivers entering Shaw Air Force Base through the CVIA. The team was comprised of facilitators Alan Bryan and Master Sgt. Nicolas Iorga; team leader, 2nd Lt. Ryan Bradley; team members, Senior Master Sergeants Richard Snider, Nathaniel Junious and Thomas McTeer, Technical Sgt. Kimberly Kime, Staff Sergeants Jason Childs and Joshua Edens, Senior Airman Leslie Jeffers and Earnestine Primus. As a result, new proceedures will reduce waiting time for commercial drivers by 47 percent, from 64 minutes to 34 minutes. Team members are working with the South Carolina Department of Transportation to place signage, directing commercial drivers to the CVIA, on U.S. Highways 378, 521 and S.C. 441. "With the new procedures, we will process more vehicles with less touch-time," Airman Jeffers declared. The team's primary goals were to standardize procedures and to reduce the time it takes for commercial vehicle drivers to process through the commercial gate. The event began with the team clarifying and validating the problems. In the end, the team determined the biggest factors affecting the current process were slow data transmission, slow communication and conflicting priorities. The next phase of the RIE was to develop countermeasures that would help solve the problems and make the process smarter, cheaper and faster. The team also developed an implementation plan with points of contact for every line item, as well as start dates and completion dates, to keep everyone on track. Over the next year, the team leader will provide 30-day updates to the 20th Fighter Wing and 20th Mission Support Group on all action items. The updates will help ensure countermeasures are followed through, confirm the desired results were realized, ensure the countermeasures were successful and the improvements are sustainable. Team members broke down the problems and identified performance gaps, the difference between how the process currently works and how it should work. The team then set improvement targets and conducted a root cause analysis to determine the actual cause of the problems, rather than just addressing the symptoms. The use of SharePoint and electronic signatures via common access cards will reduce time required for sponsors to travel to and from the CVIA to sign drivers onto the installation. Team members are also working with ground safety personnel to ensure the process is a safe one for drivers, sponsors, and CVIA personnel. Additionally, team members are working with civil engineers to place informational and directional signs along the entryway to the CVIA to improve process flow. Finally, an operating instruction is being drafted to standardize the new process and to make the CVIA an easier transition on Shaw.