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Improvement ‘clearly seen’

  • Published
  • By Marti D. Ribeiro
  • OC-ALC Mission Control Center
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Process improvement is going strong at Tinker Air Force Base and people are seeing a lot of positive change at the 72nd Medical Group, specifically the optometry clinic.

A process improvement team was assembled a year ago to conduct a rapid improvement event of a previously identified problem within the optometry office. Team members Maj. Judy Rattan, Stacy Cameron, Shauna Taylor, Debra Shepherd-Moore, Elizabeth Dutton and Staff Sgt. Scott Carney were eager to tackle the problem and find a solution.

The optometry office had a large, unorganized bin of glasses and gas mask inserts. The large collection had accumulated over time as military members getting ready to deploy did not pick up their glasses or inserts. While all deployable military members are required to have two pairs of glasses and two pairs of gas mask inserts before they deploy overseas, there wasn't a system in place to hold the process accountable. Usually after one attempt to contact the Airman to pick up them up, the glasses were thrown in the bin. If someone came to pick them up, it took optometry technicians several minutes to sift through the massive pile to find the pairs they were looking for.

At the time the RIE was conducted, it was identified that approximately 30 percent of Tinker AFB active-duty members were deploying without the proper eyewear. This resulted in a waste of approximately $32,000 in materials and man-hours each year.

"It also created problems elsewhere in the Air Force; requiring Airmen to order new glasses and/or inserts once they arrived at their deployment and didn't have proper eyewear," said Major Rattan, process improvement team leader and Tinker optometrist.

"We started by walking the process and examined each step as we went along," said Ms. Dutton, process improvement team member.

After a walk-through of the process and thorough analysis, the team reached a solution.

"The fix was to establish new notification procedures that included logging calls in a log book, a follow-up call to the customer and the mailing of the eyewear to the individual's Unit Deployment Manager if glasses/inserts are not picked up," said Sergeant Carney, subject matter expert and Tinker optometry technician.

According to Major Rattan, the team also used the "6S" approach and dedicated a specific cabinet for storage of eyewear until pick up or mail out.

"The eyewear is placed in alphabetized bins within the storage cabinet, for easy location and distribution," the major said.

But, it wasn't just about organizing the bin and using a log book, the clinic also changed the process for approving checklists for deploying Airmen.

"Previously Airmen deploying would visit the Optometry Clinic and have their checklist signed off when the eyewear was ordered," Sergeant Carney said. "Now, we do not sign the checklist until the Airman has eyewear in hand."

This has resulted in a 100 percent reduction of waste for eyewear and 35 percent reduction in man hours.

According to the project coach, Brian deFontney, the greatest aspect of this project is that it is 100 percent sustainable.

"This is the first process improvement event I have seen that eliminated 100 percent of the performance gap, and sustained that dramatic improvement nearly a year after the countermeasures were inserted," he said. "Not a single pair of glasses fails to make it into the hands of the deploying Airmen prior to their deployment. The team addressed the correct root causes, and the sustainment success is evidence of that. This is outstanding work on their part and a testament to the power of process improvement here at Tinker."

Editor's note: Ms. Ribeiro is a contractor with ICF International working with the Mission Control Center.