Depot North Island captures first-ever DoD CPI Award
dcmilitary.com
November 10, 2005
by Bill Bartkus
NAVAIR Depot North Island
NAS North Island, Calif. - DoD has taken note of the excellent work performed by NAVAIR Depot North Island teammates in support of the warfighter and has awarded the depot the first-ever Continuous Process Improvement Achievement Award for aviation activities. The depot was recognized as DoD's best of breed CPI aviation depot activity. Depot Commanding Officer Capt. Tim Trainer accepted the award Oct. 26, for the depot during the DoD Maintenance Symposium in Birmingham, Ala.
The award cited the depot for being at the forefront of AIRSpeed since the program got off the ground in 2001. As a leader in the aircraft and components products lines for both depot AIRSpeed as well as the broader Naval Aviation Enterprise AIRSpeed efforts, North Island aggressively worked to effect fundamental changes for NAE.
The depot's impressive results include reducing the F/A-18 Phase Maintenance Interval (PMI) average cycle time to 140 days from more than 190 days and reduced average PMI-1 Work In Progress to 16 aircraft from 31 aircraft. Depot teammates were also credited for reducing the CH-53E turnaround time to 318 days from 376 days, reducing the E-2 PMI-1 cycle time to 35 days from 100 days, and reducing the C-2 Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) to 300 days from more than 400 days.
The depot also established an E-2 PMI-1 site at Naval Air Station Point Mugu, Calif., and assisted in establishing an E-2 PMI-2 site in Japan to meet the fleet's needs for E-2 depot maintenance at lower overall out-of-service time. Implementation of PMI-2 in Japan was critical for the Hawkeye community to meet its future flight line aircraft requirements for Carrier Air Wing Five, the forward deployed air wing, in Japan. Implementation of the field site in Point Mugu has resulted in a cost efficiency of more than $300,000 per PMI-1 aircraft and increased Ready For Tasking (RFT) for the fleet.
In the Components Program, reductions in turnaround time and the speed at which repairs are made translate directly to less dollars being spent by NAE to buy new spare parts.
"AIRSpeed has been the vehicle to change the Components Program Business Model. The program's focus has shifted to production from induction and has reduced the amount of components in material delay thereby using repairable assets," said Cmdr. Douglas Lucka, depot AIRSpeed officer. "The depot's focus remains to provide the right product at the right time, at lower cost to the Naval Aviation Enterprise."
Lucka extended his kudos to every member of the depot team. "The award reflects the innovation, pride and dedication to the warfighter that NAVAIR Depot North Island is known for. Our plant's AIRSpeed efforts are yielding results that are visible to the Naval Aviation Enterprise, and each and every person should be proud of their contributions," he said.
"We could not have accomplished these results without the efforts of everyone in the plant. I look forward to continuing the AIRSpeed journey with you."
"Winning the award recognizes and encourages the application of best practices including Lean, Six Sigma and Theory of Constraints to improve production velocity, reduce waste, improve quality and reduce our cost of operation," said North Island commanding officer Capt. Tim Trainer.
"Congratulations to everyone involved in our AIRSpeed deployment. I cannot be more proud of what you have accomplished over the past three years," Trainer said.
