Photo By Lance Cpl. Dominic Smarra | An example of a peg board toolbox that helps workers find the tools that they are...... read more read more
Story by Lance Cpl. Dominic Smarra
MCLB BARSTOW, Calif. — If you work on the production line or up in the offices of Marine Depot Maintenance Command, chances are you have seen or interacted with the Base Process Improvement team or a project they have been involved with. The team consists of five people that develop new methods to cut time and save money from current processes.
“We guide and facilitate with projects,” explained Melissa Taft, process improvement specialist. “We incorporate the employee’s ideas into new processes within their shops. [The artisans] have the knowledge and understand what will make their job easier, but they don’t always have the means to do so, and that is where we come in,” she explained.
The full time BPI team has only been in place since August 2010 and, has completed more than 20 process improvement initiatives and several process maps that give a snapshot of the overview of what the specific job tasks are which aide the shops to run more efficiently.
“As the organization evolves we have to adapt to accommodate any challenges that arise,” explained Isaac Luna, process improvement specialist. “We also have to promote change and growth as the organization progresses.”
When developing new processes, the process improvement specialists first look at the original procedure, explained Taft. The team communicates with the shop artisans to figure out what ideas they have that could make the process more efficient. The ideas are then taken and incorporated using Lean Six Sigma and Theory of Constraint tools. The team develops new items that can be used to cut down production times.
“One of the items we have worked on is a visual toolbox,” explained Luna. “It is basically a peg board that has the items shadowed onto the background so that you know where things are supposed to be placed. It is amazing how such a simple object can help a shop run smoothly. This not only assists artisans currently working in the shop, but also aides the new employee joining a shop. With the point of use tool box the employees have a visual of where everything is located making it simpler to find the tool needed for each task. This allows for greater tool accountability, saving time and money.”
The team deals with everyone in various departments and divisions located all throughout MDMC, explained Luna. BPI gets to take ideas from all over and bring them together. The team is also able to promote communications within shops, which not only helps them, but also helps the workers. Implementing the BPI team within MDMC has also encouraged greater lines of communication to open between neighboring shops. It allows different shops, which may not have had much previous interaction, but are now working on relatively the same project, to be able to talk about and work on, different issues that may cause problems or challenges the employees face. The team’s goal, said Taft, is to attempt to make this large organization feel as small as possible. Together, the shops find solutions faster and share their ideas more frequently.
“As we are growing as a team, so are our projects,” explained Taft. “We are able to get bigger and better ideas from the more people we work with. We hope to make a larger impact on the MDMC and possibly expand beyond that.”
| Date Taken: | 04.09.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 04.20.2012 11:06 |
| Story ID: | 87047 |
| Location: | BARSTOW, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 31 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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