Photo By Tech. Sgt. Kayleigh Phillips | Airmen from the Washington Air National Guard pose with Green Belt instructor Choon...... read more read more
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Select Airmen of the 141st Air Refueling Wing participated in a process improvement course called the Air Force Continuous Process Improvement, or Green Belt Training, to identify value-added steps and reduce wasted man-hours in the production and execution of the quarterly newcomers' brief at Fairchild Air Force Base, April 4 – 7, 2023.
The Green Belt Training is a course that teaches continual process improvement. One of the tools used was based on a Lean Six Sigma process. LSS, by definition, means to create a process that has fewer than 3.4 errors in one million opportunities. The course teaches LSS by utilizing a 5-step approach to problem solving; define, measure, analyze, improve, and control.
Processes studied with LSS can be simple day to day activities or larger issues that can be improved explained Choon Young, Lean Six Sigma instructor. We usually think that process improvements need to be a large issue or project, but it doesn't necessarily have to be. LSS is often the most beneficial on small ssues that are repeated over time, therefore decreasing waste.
"Lean Sigma Six can benefit anyone who takes the course," said Choon. “New soldiers or Airmen coming into the military would benefit greatly from the course because they’ll know the technical tools to implement throughout their career and as they rise in rank and supervisory status.”
The course started with Airmen selecting a project from a list given to them by the wing commander. The class chose to improve the process of producing and delivering the 141 ARW right start briefing. The quarterly right start briefings are 90 minutes and are attended by 30 inbound airmen, along with 20 wing representatives: accounting for approximately 75 misused man-hours per brief. The class goal is to reduce the waste of man-hours by shortening the length of the brief and streamlining the process of putting together the brief.
"The right start briefing is so important because if airmen are not given proper information on what resources, benefits, and amenities are available to them, they’re more likely to not be able to pass that information along when in a leadership or supervisor role,” said Staff Sgt. Evan Boone, finance management specialist. “That disconnect can waste opportunities for our troops like tuition assistance, outdoor recreation, and medical insurance.”
The class developed a value stream map to outline the brief's process steps; mapping each step of the process from the initial commander’s request to have the brief to the closing comments of the brief, explained Tech. Sgt. Daniels, logistics specialist. Value-added, non-value-added, and required topics were identified, and time spent on each topic was assessed. After developing a current state map, the class built a future state map which removed non-value-added topics and time spent, condensing the brief close to their goal of 60 minutes.
The next right start brief will be conducted during August drill and the airmen in the LSS class will help facilitate the implementation of their improvement plan. Once the classmates have followed up on individualized tasks divvied out during the course, the airmen will graduate with their “green belt” on May 8th.
| Date Taken: | 04.07.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 05.17.2023 16:02 |
| Story ID: | 444964 |
| Location: | SPOKANE, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 109 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Green Belt Training: Reducing waste through Continuous Process Improvement, by TSgt Kayleigh Phillips, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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