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QA: Partners in Production

  • Published
  • By Greg L. Davis
  • 72 Air Base Wing Public Affairs Office
TINKER AFB, Okla. --  Quality Assurance inspectors in the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex are taking strides to help the Air Force save money by becoming partners in production with workers on the shop floors and the flight line. This partnership is maximizing workflow, reducing discrepancies while increasing reliability and safety.

Daniel McCabe, OC-ALC/QA chief, said QA performs inspections on all of the ALC's product lines to ensure technicians are proficient in what they do and warfighters receive quality products.

"We are using the five-rights," he said. "The right training, the right tools and equipment, the right technical data and instructions, the right materials, the right work environment."

Mr. McCabe is a retired Air Force Colonel and career maintenance officer who now leads the 194 QA personnel. Inspectors evaluate the Aircraft, Commodities, Propulsion, Software Maintenance Groups and the Maintenance Support Group.
Quality Assurance inspectors were once seen by a significant portion of the workforce as looking for problems and making work more difficult.

"Now we have a good relationship," says Charles Jackson, Quality Assurance supervisor, Commodities Maintenance Group. "We're not here to hurt, but to give them a hand and assist them in what they need."

While QA inspectors and inspections mean increased pressure or scrutiny of the workers, the inspections are a final validation of processes, workmanship or even qualifications required to turn out products which must perform to ensure combat capability for America.

"Ten years ago the whole attitude was different," said Joseph Harder, KC-135 refueling boom mechanic. "The guys probably didn't follow everything they were supposed to be doing and there was a little head-butting there. After we got some different people who help us work the issues, our relationships are lot better."

The OC-ALC/QA shop is a robust organization with inspectors spread across the complex. The inspectors are experts in their field and are often recruited directly from the shops and specialty areas they now inspect.

"My inspectors come from the workforce. I try to hire a seasoned mechanic for each one of the disciplines I inspect," Mr. McCabe said.

At the OC-ALC, the QA inspectors are very busy. During the second quarter of Fiscal 2016, their Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan target numbers for inspections were 5,395. However, they conducted 6,924 inspections for a 128 percent completion rate. These numbers show a relatively high inspection/evaluation pass rate for the complex.

One area of special and continuing emphasis by QA has been preventing foreign object damage. FOD is anything that could damage or destroy an aircraft or its components and range from metal shavings inadvertently entering aircraft structures during overhaul to misplaced tools or fasteners.

QA personnel are vigilant in backing up the workforce when it comes to FOD. Many of their evaluations assess whether mechanics and technicians are using protective covers correctly to prevent the introduction of FOD during repair and maintenance. They also check to see if FOD sweeps are being conducted in the work centers or on the flight line.

"Another set of eyes" is how Randy Miller, Navy veteran and OC-ALC/QA inspector with 40 years of experience working on aircraft, views his relationship with the employees of bomber post-dock where he mainly inspects B-1s. "The more eyes you have on something the better the chances are we are going to find something that might have been missed," he said.

Mr. Miller's area of responsibility is one that has been getting a lot of attention recently due to escalating trends of FOD damage. To correct these trends, extra emphasis on FOD prevention sweeps prior to B-1B engine runs have dramatically reduced operational incidents.

Kris Clements, OC-ALC/QA supervisor in the bomber/E-3 services element, said they addressed the issue by doing FOD sweeps throughout the docks and B-1 test areas at the beginning and ending of shifts. That led to a drastic improvement in their FOD control.

"Their first month they were looking at about a 20 percent pass rate, 80 percent fail rate. The next month they doubled that. The month after that they're at an 85 percent pass rate," he said.

Finding foreign objects before they cause damage or loss is a giant money saver in man-hours and equipment. Ultimately, preventing FOD can save the lives of aircrew and those on the ground.  
   
OC-ALC/QA is dedicated to continuously improving the final products delivered to the customers. Mr. Clements summed up the importance of what they do as the final checks and balance on the work done here at Tinker.

"These planes fly around and end up over our houses, our kids' schools. They just can't pull over," he said. "This job is critical. These planes affect hundreds of lives. I kind of put that into perspective."