Photo By Lance Cpl. Andrea Cleopatra Dickerson | Marine Transport Squadron 1 Marines perform scheduled phase maintenance and...... read more read more
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MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT, N.C. – As every branch of service is forced to make cutbacks, Marines continue to accomplish more with less. Marine Transport Squadron 1 partnered with the Continuous Process Improvement Program at Cherry Point to reduce the turnaround time during their scheduled phased maintenance process, increasing the amount of training and qualifications for the Marines and improving readiness and capability for the fleet.
The Marine Corps aligned with Department of Defense policies to implement guidance into plans that are compatible with the Marine Corps culture and environment.
Together, CPI experts and VMR-1 created a standardized process that will allow the unit to continuously improve performance while maintaining its aircraft.
"We streamlined and organized our processes, allowing us to make the most out of our time and resources," said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Sergio Esquivel, the CPI coordinator for VMR-1.
The maintainers also perform preventative maintenance in addition to scheduled maintenance mechanics are required to perform every 150 flight hours, Esquivel said.
"While maintaining our aircraft, we are able to identify potential problems that could arise," said Sgt. Fernando Hernandez Jr., the HH-46E phase crew coordinator at VMR-1. "We want to catch everything before the aircraft comes out of its current phase so that it will fly like new when we send it back out to the flight line."
By mapping out their maintenance process, the unit was able to identify areas that could be synchronized and completed more effectively. Results of the implemented processes are gauged by improved performance, improved safety and ability to meet emergent requirements, he said.
"We were able to put together a value stream analysis that identifies and removes non-value added items and reduces variation," Esquivel said.
Esquivel says the implementation and success of CPI is vital to the squadron.
"During this maintenance phase the aircraft being maintained are on a reporting status," he said. "That leaves us with one less aircraft available to go out and support missions. By reducing the amount of time it takes an aircraft to go through a phase, we increase the amount of time we have aircraft available."
VMR-1 is expecting a reduction of 17 days, on average, in turnaround time and fleet readiness, and a 40 percent increase in supply effectiveness.
"We are doing major work in a short amount of time," said Hernandez. "We just removed and reinstalled an aircraft's engine in one day. That was a major accomplishment for us."
The CPI process is beneficial to VMR-1 because it is cost effective, said Esquivel.
"When you look at it closely, we are reducing the amount of man hours wasted, therefore we are reducing costs."
| Date Taken: | 09.17.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 09.19.2012 12:05 |
| Story ID: | 94957 |
| Location: | CHERRY POINT, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Hometown: | EAST CHICAGO, INDIANA, US |
| Hometown: | SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, US |
| Web Views: | 150 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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