McGuire members continue to work ‘smarter, not harder’ Published July 22, 2008 By Airman 1st Class Rebekah Phy 305th Air Mobility Wing public affairs MCGUIRE AIR FORCE BASE, N.J. -- The 305th Maintenance Squadron aerospace ground equipment section recently held a rapid improvement event here. "The goal of the RIE was to increase the inspection efficiency of aircraft servicing equipment," said. 1st Lt. David Stone, 305 MXS assistant officer in-charge of maintenance flight and RIE facilitator. "We conducted the RIE with those who work with the equipment everyday; we wanted to improve the productivity of Airmen and the fixing processes." The first step in the RIE was mapping the original process, Lieutenant Stone said. They looked at how long the process took as well as the effort used (man hours and distance traveled). Using a "spaghetti chart", they literally walked the process through and drew it out. One inspection totaled 26 hours and involved 1.5 miles of walking. The RIE team then identified opportunities to remove wasteful steps from the process and brainstormed ideas to make it more efficient. "We proposed action items and that gave us the future (ideal) state," Lieutenant Stone said. A few of the changes made included a more efficient floor plan, moving tools and support equipment closer together, and a quick reference list was made (to speed up the process of ordering parts). The reorganized workflow cut down distance traveled from 1.5 miles to 6/10 of a mile; it also reduced the inspection process by nine hours. Many items needed to make the changes were very cost-efficient, including jacks and chalks, said Ward Abbett, Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century consultant and RIE facilitator, Mainstream Management. "Simple, small changes can make big results." "There are 155 units to be inspected twice a year," Mr. Abbett said. "The RIE helped the inspection process become more efficient and allows the Airmen to work smarter, not harder. That's what it's all about." "Rapid improvement events can be very beneficial to McGuire," Lieutenant Stone said. "Working at the velocity we are, it's important to be as efficient as possible to support the mission - it doesn't appear to be slowing down, so we have to stay ahead. In the end, we're taking care of our people by creating better processes." Currently, the RIE team is doing research and working on getting action items implemented. They plan to meet in the first week of August to check on the process and ensure new processes are being implemented. Ultimately, everything should be implemented and running by Fall 2008.