Photo By Petty Officer 3rd Class Emmanuel Mathews | Aviation Electronics Technician 1st Class Rebecca Goncalves, one of the lead members...... read more read more
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SAN DIEGO (June 06, 2024) Amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2) launched an Airspeed program on May 8th to streamline the process of completing vital maintenance on the ship’s battle lanterns to help Sailors catch up on maintenance and relieve stress in their lives.
With a high volume of battle lantern repair requests, the Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department (AIMD) and damage control petty officer repair division (ER09) onboard Essex are finding ways to streamline the maintenance process and increase efficiency to become more manageable. To do this, they are adopting the Airspeed program, which utilizes the Lean Six Sigma method used by fortune 500 companies to determine possible points of failure to perform at full efficiency. This method helps find bottlenecks, cut waste where possible, and provide the tools to control and improve the problem, while analyzing and measuring the improvement of the realized solution.
The biggest hurdles they have identified are that more than 30% of the requests are for reoccurring electrical relays with no Electricians Mate (EM) currently assigned to ER09, not having enough batteries in stock, and not enough teams to check all spaces for hazards each week. With maintenance requests constantly filtering in, and supplies and maintenance personnel on short hand, this can create a stressful work environment for Sailors.
Representatives from ER09 have chosen several action plans to work towards clearing the accumulation of repair requests and being back on schedule as soon as possible.
One of the more difficult processes to implement, that would have the largest impact, would be having an EM assigned to ER09 to assist with the electrical maintenance.
“If possible, we would like to try to get an Electricians Mate tasked to ER09,” said Machinist Mate 1st Class Elanthony Camisura, “which would help us deal with the reoccurring battle lanterns with electrical relay related issues.”
One of the easiest processes to implement is constantly tracking how many batteries are available and ordering more before they are needed, rather than waiting for an order to arrive.
“We can start by having a high-low count for batteries…before we order more instead of just eyeballing it to ensure a reserve of batteries,” said Damage Controlman 2nd Class Isiah Roberts.
To cover more spaces throughout the ship, ER09 plans to split the battle lantern repair team in two, which will allow them to inspect more spaces per week and check for hazards.
Starting such a large and in-depth investigation into issues like this requires a lot of time and buy in from all parties involved and therefore can only succeed if everyone does their part.
“We hope to start implementing these changes within the next week,” said Aviation Electronics Technician 1st Class Rebecca Goncalves, “It takes time for changes like these to be able to be seen.”
Through the dedicated commitment of AIMD’s Airspeed program and representatives from ER09, the Lean Six Sigma process will not only find better and more efficient ways to complete tasks and speed up the process while mitigating waste, it will also create a safer working environment and reduce stress on Sailors involved, improving overall quality of life and work-life balance.
Essex is homeported in San Diego, conducting a maintenance period to upgrade and refurbish many key systems aboard.
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| Date Taken: | 06.05.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 06.18.2024 15:55 |
| Story ID: | 474308 |
| Location: | SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 235 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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