72nd ABW transformation initiatives drive culture change

Published Oct. 24, 2011
By Brandice J. O'Brien
Tinker Public Affairs

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- The 72nd Air Base Wing is on a path of propelling its performance from "good to great."

In fiscal 2011, nearly 1,000 wing military and civilian members have attended lean awareness and green belt training. Additionally, the wing has also participated in numerous transformation efforts, several of which have provided benefits after the initial project drew to a close.

"In fiscal 2011, 72nd ABW Commander Col. Bob LaBrutta announced his vision of advancing the wing from 'good to great.' In order to do that, he knew that lean transformation was going to be the mechanism that we needed to implement to achieve the vision across the wing," said Phyllis Atkins-Johnson, manager and program analyst in the 72nd ABW Transformation Office. "Although we've started down the path of lean transformation in the wing and have made significant progress, we're in our infancy and are looking forward to the breakthroughs we're going to realize in FY12!"

72nd Medical Group

This past spring, the 72nd Medical Support Squadron participated in a VSA to better pharmacy operations and improve customer satisfaction. The group focused on the process beginning when the prescription request came in and ending when the patient picked up their medication.

Their findings resulted in 33 "Just Do It" actions and three RIEs, one of which is scheduled for January 2012.

"The majority of our JDIs were of the customer-service nature in which we saw a need or an issue and created a JDI to address the problem," said Capt. Lakisha Roe, 72nd MDSS officer in charge of Pharmacy Support and team lead for the project.

In one instance, pharmacy personnel had found their display boards were not being used as effectively as they once had. The purposes of the boards had been reinstated and are now used on a daily basis. Patients know that their prescription is ready to be picked up when their name appears on the board.

Additionally, as a result of the VSA, pharmacy orders from the supplier are now delivered a day sooner.

"The focus of the pharmacy is the patient," Captain Roe said. "The pharmacy has long operated in a resource-constrained environment. Through the VSA, we were able to hone in on our processes and look for opportunities to increase efficiency and safety to make the pharmacy experience better with the resources available."

72nd ABW Communications Directorate

The 72nd ABW/SC has recently begun working on phase two -- automating the troubleshooting and resolution process through the implementation of performance monitoring tools -- of a transformation project that started in January of this year.

Last fall, the directorate started to introduce the concept of an operations center to better the Tinker user experience. The first iteration of this concept was the institution of daily 72nd ABW/SC operations updates, a recurring meeting where all of the directorate's priority decision-making and problem-solving occurs. The focus from the beginning was the user-experience, not the technology, but looking at information technology from the customer's perspective.

In January 2011, the directorate established a "physical" location for its Operations Center. Managed by two individuals, Supervisor Information Technology Specialists Shelly Harris and Mark Van Duker, their objective is working high-priority issues and relaying information between directorate work centers, external Air Force Information Technology organizations, non-72nd ABW/SC operations centers and OC-ALC senior leaders.

The communications directorate uses a "tiered approach" to problem-solving. Issues an individual can solve using the SC webpage are categorized as "Tier 0." If someone calls the Help Desk and the issue is resolved with the help of a technician, it was a "Tier 1" issue. If the technician needs to visit the work site, it is a "Tier 2." If the issue is large-scale, e.g., affecting an entire unit, it is categorized as "Tier 3" or "high-impact/high priority" and is a job for the operations center.

The 72nd ABW/SC is working toward providing Tinker end users with improved application response times and a communication and information technology environment that is available when needed.

"Phase one was completed with the creation of the 72nd ABW/SC Operations Center with the ability to monitor the health and welfare of the communication and information technology environment at Tinker," said Mr. Van Duker and Ms. Harris. "The 72nd ABW/SC will continue to implement process improvement with the use of the performance monitoring tools and our collaborative work environment."

72nd Security Forces Squadron

Looking to better service the Tinker community, the 72nd SFS addressed several daily challenges within S3, an operations designator, in December 2010.

During a week-long RIE, S3 officials discussed ways to deconflict guardmount times, training issues and daily operations including patrolling, law enforcement and transportation of forces to logistically separated posts.

During the RIE, security forces squadron troops found if they moved the guardmount times by a couple of hours, it allowed for more time to fix deficiencies, said Master Sgt. Zachary Merkl, 72nd SFS days flight chief.

As a result, the squadron adapted a new schedule, one that worked in a day specifically set for training purposes.

"Overall, the project really helped us think about green and ways to better manage the gate operation and issues," Sergeant Merkl said. "It didn't solve the manpower issue, but it did open our eyes for better ways to serve the installation."