AFSO21 initiative saves Dover $1.8 million

Published May 20, 2009
By Staff Sgt. Chad Padgett
436th AW Public Affairs

DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- A new process will save Dover Air Force Base, Del., $1.8 million in man hours in the course of a year and most residents will not notice the change.

Inprocessing Dover took an average of 20 days, but through an Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century initiative, that time has been cut down to two days.

"A wing-wide Rapid Improvement Event was held with all the stakeholders," said Laura Chupp, 436th Mission Support Group AFSO21 program manager. "The meeting included finance, the medical group, the Military Personnel Flight, Airmen and Family Readiness center, and the communications squadron. Together we streamlined the process from 14 to 20 days down to two, which saves $1.8 million in manpower hours every year."

The Rapid Improvement Events are meetings held over the course of a week where the main stakeholders in a problem are gathered together to try and improve the process in the most-efficient manner.

"The actual Rapid Improvement Event lasted one week; however the team spent two months gathering current-state data so that we knew and understood the challenge we were facing," said Capt. Thomas Abell, 436th Force Support Squadron operations officer and team leader of the inprocessing Rapid Improvement Event.

The current state data would allow them to see what they are doing now and where changes needed to be made.

"We map a current state out and then we map out what we want it to look like," said Mrs. Chupp. "With these events you're not just making 'gee whiz' changes. You're actually going out there and getting data to support the decisions and solutions that you make."

After the changes are made, the process is tracked monthly to make sure that the improvements are beneficial to everyone involved.

"Every 30 days we continue to look at the process and make sure we are meeting the needs of our customers," said Mrs. Chupp. "According to the average we're collecting, the current average is still around four days. While it's not our goal of two days, it still saves the Air Force millions in manpower hours."

Most Airmen arriving at Dover will not notice the difference, having never gone through the 20 days worth of inprocessing; Master Sgt. Melissa Sawyer, 436th Airlift Wing Assistant AFSO21 Process Manager, has gone through both inprocessing lines.

"I was here before and went through the original process, it was a nightmare," said Sergeant Sawyer. "The new process is a lot smoother. You get your briefings, do your medical appointment and then you are at work. Before, you had to run all over base without knowing where anything is. I remember trying to find all the building numbers and just not knowing where anything is. Now it is very streamlined with everyone coming to you."