Dyess' AFSO21 culture in line with ACC, Lean thinking

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Carolyn Viss
  • 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  In keeping with Air Combat Command, commander Gen. John Corley's key focus areas for Air Force Smart Operations - 21st Century, Dyess is implementing more and more "Lean-type" processes to create a culture that constantly combats waste. 

Since its inception in the 7th Maintenance Group in November 2006, the 7th Bomb Wing has now not only created a full-time AFSO-21 office but also held 25 AFSO-21 events, which have brought concepts of improvement to individual shops and squadrons. 

"The 7th Bomb Wing's vision is to establish a continuous process improvement environment and culture whereby all Airmen are actively eliminating waste to ensure we are providing the best possible service," said Col. Robert Gass, 7th BW commander. 

First implemented in 2005, AFSO-21 was established in order to significantly increase the Air Force's combat capabilities. It's not something that comes with an Air Force Instruction or technical order - it's a set of tools and methodologies, said Master Sgt. Shane Meister, 7th Bomb Wing AFSO-21 facilitator. 

"Due to our commitments to the Global War on Terror, manning cuts, and shrinking budget, we as leaders must seek out opportunities to improve our organizations," Colonel Gass said. "By continuously finding ways to work smarter, faster, and cheaper, we can better leverage our Airmen's time toward producing excellence that satisfies our requirements. By instilling empowerment to effect change, our Airmen can actively engage in improving processes at the lowest level, thus creating a culture of creativity and innovation." 

This culture of creativity and innovation affects everyone across base, because it's a "top-down" initiative, Sergeant Meister said. 

"Even good processes can be made better," he said. "Because we're dealing with a higher operations tempo combined with budget and manning constraints, we need to look at ourselves to see what is costing the Air Force time, money and energy and think about how we can improve." 

Most recently, the 7th Component Maintenance Squadron's accessories flight created a central supply point for all parts processing through their system; the Automatic Data Processing Equipment turn-in and Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office storage process were totally re-vamped; the B-1 simulator scheduling system was overhauled and recognized as "best practice" by ACC; the wheel and tire shop established a forward supply point, eliminating the need for warehouse storage, and reduced lead time by two duty days and a travel distance savings of 3.7 miles per asset; and family medicine implemented changes that resulted in 50 percent reduction in patient wait time, 95 percent increase in patient to nurse time, 23 percent reduction in telephone consult workload, and 120 man-hour reductions for providers per month. These are just some of the major changes to established procedures that have significantly improved Dyess processes, Sergeant Meister said. 

"Dyess Air Force Base has been actively involved in AFSO-21 for over two years now," Colonel Gass said. "We have had great successes using AFSO-21 principles in 25 [areas] ... dealing with aircraft maintenance, supply, flight operations support, and medical arenas. In order to sustain the momentum, Team Dyess must continue to educate themselves with the tools of AFSO-21 and Lean methodologies." 

We have some really smart Airmen in today's Air Force, Sergeant Meister said. These initiatives and ideas of Lean thinking often come from people in the work place who have great skills. The best plan for putting AFSO-21 into action is to "get educated, and get involved," he said. 

"Listen to your people when they have ideas," Sergeant Meister encouraged leadership. "Embrace change, and challenge the 'status quo.' If you see flaws in the current system, don't live with them - attack and change them. Ask yourselves, 'Why are we doing this?' and 'Are we evolving with the times?' Twenty years ago, the processes needed were far different from the needs of the Air Force today." 

Teamwork and commander involvement is crucial to enabling process improvement efforts to move forward to fruition, Colonel Gass said. "It is important that we understand our key value streams and to leverage our existing technology and our Airmen's time in the most efficient manner possible."