Thursday, July 7, 2011

COMMENTARY>>Four keys to world-class maintenance

By Col. Steven Weld
314th Maintenance Group commander

Next week, Little Rock Air Force Base hosts the Headquarters Air Education and Training Command Logistics Compliance Assessment Program (LCAP) team who will be here to evaluate the key logistic processes of the 314th Airlift Wing.

The team will evaluate the proud professionals who perform or enable quality maintenance in support of training our next generation of combat airlifters. During their inspection, the team will have the opportunity to clearly see four characteristics to our key logistics processes that are fundamental to our continued success – technical compliance, standardization, repeatability and safety.

First, technical compliance is the touchstone of our logistics business. Compliance will be the main focus of the team’s inspection efforts, verifying the quality of the work we perform and the condition of our equipment as compared to guidance in our technical data and directives. Compliance is at the center of the training, our supervision, our quality assurance program, and our management efforts. Also, compliance has earned the 314th AW a reputation for talented, capable technicians and reliable, clean, dependable aircraft and equipment. That commitment to technical compliance also directly supports standardization and repeatability.

Standardization means our processes must conform to the norms established by the Air Force, enabling us to support our global mission efficiently. Standardization allows the use of common equipment, common procedures, common training, and common organizational structures. The mission of the wing is to train our combat airlift aircrew students to standards that enable them to quickly become productive members of an operational unit, and we strive to ensure the same is true for any of our aircraft that or our military members who transfer to other units. As we work toward the transformation of the legacy flying training unit from active duty to the Active Reserve Component, we will rely heavily on Air Force standardization; working closely with Reserve and Guard units both supporting this effort and depending on its success.

The standardization of our processes also enables repeatability in our performance. We are not building up to performing a one-time execution of a capability, but a long term performance that will continue to provide support for the wing’s mission of training combat airlift aircrew, week after week. Repeatable processes reduce variability, improve quality and simplify solving common problems.

Proof that our processes are repeatable and sustainable is that for the last year the wing has consistently met or exceeded all nine logistics indicators, which measure the many logistics processes that provide training capability to the unit for both C-130E/H and C-130J fleets. Furthermore, aircrew student production remains on-time despite extreme weather this spring and aircraft availability issues.

Finally, the success of our mission requires the effective identification and management of risk, which ensures safe execution of the mission. Members must be knowledgeable of and comply with Air Force occupational safety and health standards, technical orders, and Air Force instructions. Safe processes preserve our vital and finite resources and protect our people, enabling successful execution of our mission.

The 314th AW is confident in the unit’s readiness for the LCAP inspection. We will clearly display our professionalism while the team is here while staying focused on our responsibility to perform quality maintenance long after the inspection is over. Members of our wing who daily perform or enable quality maintenance are ready to demonstrate skills and knowledge to the LCAP team, and display the meticulous stewardship of the aircraft and equipment under our care.

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