Engagement Result
Organization: U.S. Air Force
Major Command: Air Materiel Command
Numbered Force: Ogden Air Logistics Center
Unit: 309th Commodities Maintenance Group
Project: A-10 MRO Lead Time
Size: Over 23,500 civilian, miltary, and contractors
Location: Hill Air Force Base – Ogden, UT
Expertise: Operational Assessment & Continuous Process Improvement
Assignment: Hill Air Force Base is an Air Force Materiel Command (AMC) base located in northern Utah. Hill is home to many operational and support missions, with the Ogden Air Logistics Center (OO-ALC) serving as the host organization. OO-ALC provides worldwide engineering and logistics management for the F-16 Fighting Falcon, A-10 Thunderbolt II, and Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile.
MainStream GS was engaged by the OO-ALC’s 309th Commodities Maintenance Group (CMXG) to provide an operational assessment and continuous process improvement (CPI) services to decrease A-10 maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) aircraft lead time. Increased requirements of fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq resulted in a need for improved lead times in MRO of the A-10’s Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) to increase aircraft availability.
Actions: Working with an internal improvement team MainStream GS conducted an operational assessment to analyze the current state of CMXG’s A-10 MRO processes and workflow. Based off of the findings in the assessment, MainStream GS’ team of continuous process improvement (CPI) experts created a future state improved workflow map along with revised Standard Work. Other CPI tools and methods including Visual Management and Quality, Cost, Delivery, and Safety (QCDS) management were utilized to assess and identify areas of improvement for the MRO operations.
Results: The operational improvements identified and implemented by the MainStream GS team resulted in a reduction in A-10 MRO lead time from 132 days to 61 days (54%). The average number of A-10’s on station for MRO were reduced from 10 to 6 for a 40% improvement. These improvements allowed for the total number of docks required to turn A-10 SLEP Aircraft being reduced from 10 to 6, freeing up 4 repair docks. Overtime man hours were reduced by 92% from an average of 252 hours per overhaul to 20 hours. In addition, lead time was reduced in A-10 Wing MRO by 45% from 213 days to 118 days, with a reduction in overtime from an average of 1,485 hours per A-10 aircraft to 0.