An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : News : News
JBSA News
NEWS | June 12, 2008

Multitude of new ideas emerge from Randolph's Lean Week

By Thomas Warner Wingspread Staff writer

A final summation regarding "Lean Week" at Randolph, a period set aside for a brainstorming of ideas on how to create a more efficient base, was delivered last week.

An outbrief following the May 19-23 Lean Week spotlighted a multitude of ideas brought forth by Randolph members concerning not only cost-effective measures, but also procedures that could serve as conveniences for patrons of Randolph facilities.

Col. Jacqueline Van Ovost, 12th Flying Training Wing commander, and other base leaders were hopeful of accomplishing a handful of initiatives when they enacted Lean Week. Those initiatives were to:

-- Simplify and streamline the prescription process to reduce patient wait time by 50 percent, educate patients on procedures and establish a more efficient process in order to alleviate patient confusion in the pharmacy waiting area.

-- Develop an informative, concise INTRO Program to help people quickly integrate into the Randolph community, thus expediting their combat readiness

-- Provide a Centralized Aircraft Support System Installation for the T-38C aircraft under Base Realignment and Closure funding boundaries

-- Eliminate inefficiencies and waste, including extensive fuel savings for the 12th FTW, reduce non-value added workload for instructors, reduce waste in Combat Systems Officer students training day, and increase training effectiveness benefiting gaining commands.

-- Reduce government vehicle use, which included limiting vehicle checkouts to mission-essential use, maximizing use of electric vehicles, limiting non-mission vehicle operations, and establishing mobile cleaning crew and kit for command vehicles. These initiatives ended up saving 34 gallons of gasoline and 20 hours of labor.

In addition, the week included a fitness challenge won by the 12th FTW legal office.

"We had numerous events going on and quality results were attained," said Jim Grobe, deputy director of the 12th Logistics Readiness Division. "No base in AETC has ever undergone an initiative like this."

The 12th Medical Group was one of the most talked about contingents, in terms of new ideas put forward. Software delays involving computer systems already in place and needed clinic overhauls were some of the topics broached for discussion, according to Tech. Sgt. Demetrius Booker, Senior Airman Derrick Ramos and Maj. Joyce Warrington.

The Medical Group Lean Week team presented a final report May 23 at the commander's outbrief held at the Airman and Family Readiness Center.

Another potential measure to help make the medical group more user-friendly and cost efficient was the proposed creation of a satellite pharmacy within a new/planned BX building.

Construction on a new BX here is slated to begin in August.

The current base pharmacy, located inside the base clinic was built in 1986 and Friday's report to the commander suggested that today's demand and utilization by patrons was a clear indicator that it had outgrown its current location.

"As it stands now, there is too much wait time for people who visit our pharmacy," said Mr. Grobe, a certified Air Force Smart Operators for 21st Century facilitator. "It's scenarios like these that we are trying to improve on. It's a matter of improving the overall performance of the base as a whole."

The Randolph pharmacy's enrollment of patients will likely exceed 6,000 by the year 2011 and any new funding should include information technology upgrades and renovation at the clinic itself.

A pharmacy box outside the facility might also better serve customers, who could then come at their own convenience to pick up their prescriptions.

Randolph's maintenance directorate reported positive results from its Centralized Aircraft Support System already in place to streamline and benefit the process by which aircraft engines are started. The CASS involves more computerized procedures and less people.

Another Randolph group was put to task after a review of customer suggestions. The Airman & Family Readiness Center determined that introduction briefings were entirely too long, but a decision was ultimately made that the process needed only a tune-up and not a complete overhaul.

"We will implement some new procedures Monday and will constantly monitor things for three months, then make needed changes," A&FRC Community Readiness Consultant Fred Zeithammel said. "Military personnel anywhere from one-stripers to senior NCOs attend our briefings, and the suggestions we got were something we took serious."

Cutting 90 minutes or more out of time spent in the introduction portions of briefings, required of all Airmen upon arrival, would be a good starting point to achieving overall objectives, the A&FRC reported.

Information gathered by the 12th Operations Group came forth after an evaluation of primary training sorties. Enough information was gathered to present a clear indication of a need to reshuffle procedures.

One particular facet of training involved T-43 sorties, which last three to four hours depending on objectives.

"They found that an hour was being wasted during each mission," Mr. Grobe said. "Cutting an hour of flight time out of each sortie will greatly enhance the overall process.

The 12th OG will make a conscious effort to eliminate all non-value added processes, he added.

The vision of the entire Lean Week was to develop a culture that promotes elimination of waste, a sharing of best practices and a reduction of cycle times.