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Show ks 0 Hilltop Tin 2003 April 10, Branch adopts lean processes from page 4 lem, the assembly line will be jammed up right where the problem exists. This is what happened in the Missile Main- tenance Branch. First, under the old process, technicians ordered material. But since the mechanics used part numbers and the service center used stock numbers, the technician would receive the wrong part as often as 40 percent of the time. Next, because the mechanic received the wrong part, it would have to be reordered. The service center was approximately 60 percent effective, meaning the mechanic left without the needed part about 40 percent of the time. In addition, the mechanic had to make as many as six trips to the service center before getting the needed part. To meet Propulsion Requirement Program's full rate production, the Missile Maintenance Branch implemented a countermeasure. According to Jugler, the branch needed enough material to get them around the constraints the service center operated under. Regulations allowed each mechanic up to a three-dasupply of indirect material for bench stock. In addition, the service center could have a supply of indirect material and a supply of direct materials. y 30-da- 90-da- y y "These provisions in the regulations gave us the buffers we needed. Those provisions had always been there though. Therefore, the problem wasn't necessarily in supply, but the way we managed supply," said Jugler. To fix the problem, the Missile Maintenance Branch benchmarked against companies like Autoliv, Pratt & Whitney, and Thiokol. "The first and most obvious discrepancy was their material supportability rates were 98 to 99 percent and ours was 59 to 65 percent," Jugler said. "Also, the terminology they used was much different than ours. They called their measure 'material fill rates,' and we called ours 'issue effectiveness.' This subtle difference proved to be a huge impactor." According to Jugler their terminology magnified the genius behind what they were doing. "While our mechanics were an integral part of ordering the necessary materials, theses contractors had figured a more effective way of ordering material by removing mechanics from the process all together. While we measured if the supply center had the material when the mechanic wanted it, they measured if the mechanic had the material where he wanted it, when he wanted it." The contractors used a "Kan Ban" bin system for each material item their mechanics may need. The bins identify the part number and nomenclature, and records the stock number, the amount of material required and the bin location. A signal tells the material technician when the mechanic has used all the material from one of the bins. The supply center has a similar two-bisystem that tells the material technician when it's time to order more material. Problems in the Air Force resulted when responsibilities for ordering and process measurement were shifted to computer systems. Levels were set and the system was but when it automatically supposed to order material didn't, officials didn't know about it until supply was out of an item. And too, workers tended to hoard items in anticipation of supply running out. Now according to Jugler, the Missile Maintenance Branch mimics much of what these contractors do. The mechanics have gone through their technical orders and identified all the parts they may need. Working with the material , Kan Ban system technicians, they put together a for each part. To measure fill rate and identify new problems, the mechanics are armed with cards. "If at any time a part isn't sitting where the mechanics expect it, they document the finding on one of these cards. Then at my DREP, we come up with a supportability plan to make sure that in the future the part is always where it needs to be when it needs to be there. The comparison make is that mechanics are like doctors at an operating table, if they need thread, they don't leave the area and go to supply to get some, they pull the thread off the table and start using it." The system appears to be working. Since MAKM has gone to this Kan Ban system for material, MAKM mechanics have been supported with material 99.8 percent of the time, for the last four months. n high-deman- d two-bin- 1 Military personnel and your family take an 1 your entire purchase iv-- - 1;, - -- ft'' V" : ' -- ... a mmim ; r. ' EXTRA ' w;v ':!, 'I W- - " Bring this coupon & your military ID ; to your nearest ShopKo for savings. Y Pi-.- Military personnel and your family; take an extra ' '" 20 WTS" v r "wA inii iWwrtMDnTWrfr : J I". 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