Air Force leaders look at getting Lean

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Lou Burton
  • 482nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
HOMESTEAD AIR RESERVE BASE, Fla. --  Twenty-eight commanders from the Reserve's 10th Air Force took part in a two day seminar to help identify wasteful spending.  The managerial process commonly known as "Lean" was hosted by Homestead ARB and Miami Children's Hospital Aug.10-11.

The seminar topic was right on point with where the military is headed, considering by 2016 the U.S. military has to find $100 billion in spending cuts and efficiencies; $28 billion of that cut is from the Air Force.

This fact was one of the first messages the group received in a video from General Norton A. Schwartz, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and helped enforce the theme that the Air Force has to make cuts.

"We are going from 200 to 80 folks at 10th Air Force," said Maj. Gen. Frank J. Padilla, 10th AF comander. "We have to look at leaner more efficient ways of doing our business. I need all of our folks to examine our processes and make changes in the way we do business because our wings are going to change."

Lean manufacturing or lean production is a production practice that considers the expenditure of resources for any goal other than the creation of value for the end customer to be wasteful, and thus a target for elimination. Working from the perspective of the customer who consumes a product or service, "value" is defined as any action or process that a customer would be willing to pay for. Basically, lean is centered on preserving value with less work. The process was started in the Japanese auto industry in the 1980's.

"This training is important for examining our processes," the General continued. "You can either be a gloom and doom messenger, or you can embrace the concept! This class can provide the tools to help us do just that."

James Cody, Director of Aerospace and Defense Programs at University of Tennessee and course instructor explained; "Leans overall objective is to examine any process and determine if there is any waste and how it can be minimized."

The class also offered a truly hands on approach for seeing how effective the Lean system can be by taking a tour of the Miami Children's Hospital, who has put the system to use.

"The Lean system has been a valuable asset to our organization. It has contributed to $500,000 in recurring savings, $1 million in avoidable capital expenditures, and a $1 million onetime savings in 2009," said Ms. Aleida Gavallas, Lean process leader at the Miami Children's Hospital.

"The value of the Lean system is that it doesn't rely on just one person or group, it takes input from the entire process and identifies any problems," said Ms. Elizabeth Lopez, Virology Supervisor at Miami Children's Hospital.

In the midst of the training session, Maj. Gen. Padilla and the 482nd Fighter Wing commander, Colonel Donald R. Lindberg, took time to meet some of the child patients, pass out gifts and a personal invitation to the 2010 Wings Over Homestead Air Show, which will take place Nov. 6-7.