AFMC Lean Transformation ...

From AFMC News Service ...

... "We're working very hard at looking at all the processes we use to accomplish our tasks, and we're finding out that more often than not we create a lot of extra steps for our people to go through as they try and do their jobs. We've just had the Georgia International Lean Symposium here, and part of the whole Lean process is to see what it really takes to get the job done on time, on cost, and correctly, and see if we can get rid of those extra steps and distractions. In the process of doing that, we have an opportunity to be able to deliver our products to the warfighter cheaper and to deliver them on time. That's really the objective of this whole thing to make sure we're actually what I call the valued team member of the world's most respected air and space force.

Q. Lean is rapidly transforming the way we operate at the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center. How has the rest of the command embraced this concept? General Martin: We recently had the Air Force board visit that's a group of two star officers responsible for putting together the entire Air Force budgeting program. They visited five of our bases, and when they came back, they said the improvements they saw in Lean were extraordinary. The culture was changing, people were enthusiastic and they had gotten the word and seen it almost as a religious passion. That was how they described it, and that was very encouraging because that came from their talking to the work force. If you've got the work force telling you they're happy about doing something different and better and it's producing things faster, quicker and on cost, then you've really got it going right." ...