Category: Government/Non-Profit

In this case study, the 509th Maintenance Group of the U.S. Air Force used an eight-step continuous improvement approach to balance its resources and meet both flying hour program requirements and aircraft availability. Part 1 focused on steps 1 through 4. Part 2 looks at continuing to make improvements with steps 5 through 8. Step […]

In this case study, the 509th Maintenance Group of the U.S. Air Force used an eight-step continuous process improvement approach to balance its resources and meet both flying hour program requirements and aircraft availability needs. This week looks at steps 1 through 4. Part 2 looks at steps 5 through 8. Introduction The B-2 bomber […]

Construction projects are always a challenge. Inspections are needed (often several), but if you’re trying to schedule one in Brevard County, Florida, you’re competing for the attention of 14 inspectors in a 500 square mile environment. Lean Six Sigma to the rescue!

In the midst of a financial crisis, a California County had to contend with its aging fleet of vehicles. The County’s application of Lean Six Sigma has allowed for an initial $3 million in cost savings with more on the horizon.

The City of Fayetteville, North Carolina, faced a staffing crisis in its Finance department. Thanks to a DMAIC project, in just 14 weeks the City was able to turn the department’s chaos around.

Problem-solving teams are equipped to help leaders break through vexing operational challenges that impair customer satisfaction. Often, there are more challenges than resources, and staying focused on the most critical problems is imperative. This case study describes how a team redirected its efforts toward strategic needs.  Original Team Purpose In Louisville, Kentucky, Greg Fischer, businessman […]

In 2008, Susan Guthrie was the communications manager of the City of Tyler, Texas, (current interim city manager) and a General Electric-trained Green Belt. She approached the assistant city manager at the time, Mark McDaniel, with the idea of implementing Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in the City. Guthrie recalled, “The City’s culture of continuous improvement was […]

The City of Kawartha Lakes, Ontario, Canada, was formed in 2001 by a Provincial Order to amalgamate 16 lower-tier municipalities and one upper-tier county into one corporation. Although called a City, the municipality is mostly rural. The City is approximately 3,059 km2. Due to its large rural area, the City has 21 fire stations, comprised […]

The Corporation of the City of Kawartha Lakes (the City), Ontario, Canada, is a single-tier municipality that covers a land area of 3,067 square kilometers and includes more than 250 lakes. In addition to approximately 73,000 permanent residents there is a large seasonal population of approximately 31,000 residents each summer. More than 77 percent of […]

Soon after announcing that he was forming an exploratory committee for a potential bid for the presidency in 2012, former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty was heard touting the virtues of Six Sigma process improvement for government reform. In March, according to the Politico.com blog, the Republican Pawlenty had a conference call with many of his […]

Wark will be presenting on the role of the CSB and the lessons learned from its investigations during a keynote address at iSixSigma’s Energy Forum for Process Excellence on May 17 in Houston. In an interview with iSixSigma Senior Editor Kirsten Terry, Wark offered a preview of some of the topics he will cover during […]

The 21st century has brought on many changes for the Department of Defense, affecting all the military branches. In particular, the Air Force has encountered a reduction of forces, base closures and funding cuts to many of its programs. Additionally, the message from the Department of Defense and Air Force senior leadership is simple: resources […]

I can still hear the words ringing in my ears: ”Congratulations on the promotion.” I was selected for a position with the Senior Executive Service, a corps tasked with leading the continuing transformation of the United States federal government. The job could wield great influence over performance improvement in the Department of Defense (DoD) – […]

Tobyhanna Army Depot, Pennsylvania – One Tobyhanna organization sees the writing on the wall when it comes to cutting overhead costs and improving efficiency. Members of the Productivity Improvement and Innovation Directorate’s Process Improvement Division estimate an annual cost avoidance savings of more than $2,000 by transitioning select processes from the use of paper products […]

Recent news from Lean Six Sigma use in government includes the announcement of Marine Corps Continuous Process Improvement award recipients and Lean savings for the Postal Service.

Many people in the private sector are aware that the U.S. Air Force is using continuous process improvement (CPI); however, few may know that CPI is utilized throughout the central command area of responsibility in the Middle East and Central Asia – also known as “the war zone.” War is never easy, and the fog […]

Posting public notices for seized property online, rather than in newspapers…Ending express delivery of empty U.S. Departmet of Agriculture food inspection containers…Requiring mine operators to use online forms for quarterly data, rather than mailing paper forms. These cost-saving ideas – and more than 18,000 others – were submitted by government employees as part of the […]

More than 400 attendees gathered at the National Conference Center at Lansdowne, Va., in June for the fourth Department of Defense (DoD) Performance Symposium. The symposium, hosted by the Department of Defense (DoD), Office of the Secretary of Defense, Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Program Office, provided a forum for all services and other government agencies […]

Tobyhanna Army Depot, Pennsylvania. – When you see Michael Verton helping employees conduct Lean events, it’s hard for some to imagine that this cheerful, fun loving and very young-looking “kid” was a full-time warfighter only a short while ago. A combat injury in July 2008 may have ended Verton’s career as a Soldier, but not […]

For those of us involved with Lean it is easy to understand the challenges that come from starting a process improvement program from the ground floor. I would like to personally thank the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for providing such a great model for all government agencies to follow. There website is a great resource, packed […]

Tobyhanna Army Depot’s Communications Security Division (COMSEC), part of the Communications Systems Directorate, will submit an Enterprise Level Shingo package.

Throughout the world, both commercial and government organizations are engaged in efforts to improve their overall operations. Government agencies are faced with a particular challenge when trying to improve operations – they may be dealing with smaller work forces without a reduction in deliverables. This presents the need to become more efficient in order to […]

The U.S. Army’s Lean Six Sigma (LSS) deployment will be two years old in summer 2008. Thousands of Belts are trained, thousands of projects are completed, hundreds of Belts are certified, and practitioners report more than $2 billion dollars in cost savings and cost avoidance. While these results speak of great success, the Army must […]

Lean teaches us batching is bad. Right? The answer is: It depends. If you can then answer the question, “it depends on what?” you’ll start to see that Lean is much more subtle and multifaceted than the seemingly simple elements and tools might imply.