AFS021 keeps wheels turning

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Phillip Butterfield
  • 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  Air Force Smart Operations 21, a continuous process improvement program, requires Airmen to keep attacking their work processes until the best result is achieved. The idea is that Airmen are tasked to always look at their work processes with an eye for how they can do things better. 

Year in and year out, the wheels of that improvement process keep turning at Luke. A good example is what's in motion in the wheel and tire section of the 56th Equipment Maintenance Squadron, said Master Sgt. Scott McKnight, 56th Maintenance Group AFSO21 superintendent. 

The continuous process improvement in the EMS wheel and tire section jump-started in 2005 when it conducted its first major AFSO21. That event resulted in big improvements in the section's internal shop setup and work environment. 

Moving all equipment into one room from the previous two-room layout, significantly improved the workflow production process, Sergeant McKnight said. Supply parts were moved to better point-of-use locations and necessary tools were placed at each newly created workstation. Then, in August 2006, the section was tasked to improve the wheel and tire sections of the entire 56th Maintenance Group, as well as EMS' own operation. 

These improvements resulted in a 78-percent reduction in personnel, 87-percent reduction in vehicles and a 64-percent reduction in time needed to replenish wheels and tires to Luke's eight aircraft maintenance units. 

The wheel and tire section is poised once again this month to revisit the improvement process. It's a never-ending process of refinement and improvement, Sergeant McKnight said. 

"The AFSO21 office wants to encourage all who perform tasks everywhere at Luke to keep asking questions about how to improve and streamline procedures and processes," he said. "We benefit when everyone at Luke does their part to keep the continuous improvement wheels turning." 

For more information about AFSO21, call Sergeant McKnight at (623) 856-9566.