Lean tools hammer waste, improve processes Published June 22, 2006 By Linda Canter Air Force Materiel Command Strategic Plans and Programs Directorate WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- Many people within Air Force Materiel Command associate toolboxes with maintenance-oriented jobs. However, with the renewed emphasis on continuous improvement, more people are turning to their “Lean” toolbox. This toolbox contains various Lean improvement tools that are part of Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century. AFSO21, as it is more commonly known, is an overarching strategy to improve how AFMC accomplishes daily tasks. Its goal is to make processes more standardized, effective and efficient. Lean, by itself, is a thought process to identify waste from the customer’s perspective and then determine how to eliminate that waste. That’s where the Lean toolbox comes into play. It contains concepts and techniques designed to help the Air Force with its improvement strategy. What are some of the Lean tools being used by AFSO21? Among the common ones are: Value Stream Mapping, or VSM; Rapid Improvement Events, or RIE; Sort, Straighten, Shine, Standardize, Sustain and Safety, or 6S; and Standard Work. VSM is a technique that identifies waste within the process to focus resources on the issues that will make the largest process improvements. The VSM quickly defines the sequential process steps and the data pertinent to each of the steps as well as overall metrics relating to the entire process. The map also shows how information flows, where rework occurs and where there may be quality issues within the process. RIE is a short-term, high-intensity effort tool used to address a specific problem. It focuses on improving the situation in regards to an existing problem; not striving for perfection, which may take several RIEs to reach and requires more time. The event’s focus may span two or three days, a week, or several months. The event typically requires several weeks of preparation before and follow-up time after the event. An RIE may also be called by other names, including Rapid Improvement Workshop, Kaizen Event, Kaizen Blitz, and Accelerated Improvement Workshop. A 6S event involves more than cleaning up the work area. Done correctly, 6S can be a quick and effective method to eliminate wasted motion in a work area and to establish better visual management methods in the work area. By having better visual management, a worker can then identify when something within the process is abnormal. Standard Work is more of a foundation process. Before the Lean workplace can be accomplished, work must be standardized and stabilized. Standard Work reflects the best practice to accomplish a task as we know today. The best practice then becomes the target to improve upon. There are three elements of Standard Work: 1) the pace at which the work must be performed to keep pace with customer demand; 2) the sequence of process steps to accomplish the work; and 3) the material needed by an individual to accomplish the work. Use of Lean tools helps AFMC deliver war winning capability with less non-value added work which reduces cycle times. Lean tools enable Airmen to examine how to improve each task they do, but also ask why things are done that way in the first place.