New council offers avenue to share ideas across 448th SCMW

Published March 25, 2015
By 448th Supply Chain Management Wing

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- The 448th Supply Chain Management Wing recently kicked-off their inaugural Enterprise Supply Chain Process Improvement Council. The 448th SCMW is a "virtual organization" that has supply chain professionals located at four of Supply Chain Management Groups, located in three different time zones.
The wing is comprised of 2,800 personnel organized around three Planning and Execution Groups -- the 638th Supply Chain Management Group at Robins AFB, Ga.; 748th SCMG at Hill AFB, Utah; the 848th SCMG at Tinker AFB and the 948th SCMG has a presence at Robins, Hill, Tinker and Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio.
According to Barbara Williamson, the wing lead for implementing the Enterprise Supply Chain Process Improvement Council, the council targets the junior force members and allows the sharing of innovative supply chain improvement ideas across the wing -- regardless of geographic location.
"The concept of an Enterprise Supply Chain Process Improvement Council encourages junior force employees to promote a culture of process improvement, standardizing the steps of any task or process is the necessary foundation for building solid, disciplined repeatable processes that will set the stage for speed and quality in the Air Force supply chain--and in the end, provide better and faster support to the Wings customers," said Ms. Williamson.
Frank Washburn, the director of the 448 SCMW, kicked off the first council meeting saying "the goal is an engaged workforce that is vested in mission success to achieve Art of the Possible results."
Mr. Washburn indicated that his intent is to, "streamline processes, increase process standardization, and use technology and innovative thinking to improve supply chain processes."
One the 448th SCMW's junior force members, Mark Gingrass, an item manager for the 421st Supply Chain Management Squadron, briefed at the inaugural council meeting on how he and his team "gated" the quarterly file maintenance process into a "production machine" -- inspired by the AFSC Way and Art of the Possible principles.
"If the process doesn't affect the output of the machine, we have to consider eliminating, automating, or reducing the process," Mr. Gingrass said. "Gating the file maintenance process allowed us to identify opportunities to automate manual processes and eliminate wasted and redundant steps."
Mr. Gingrass addressed the enterprise, encouraging other personnel to develop a Lean mindset and apply it to their everyday job. By doing so, said Mr. Gingrass, the supply chain can gain time to focus on the root causes of shortfalls in weapon system support.
If you are part of the 448th SCMW and would like to participate in the Enterprise Supply Chain Process Improvement Council contact Ms. Williamson at barbara.williamson@us.af.mil.