AMMT inspection revealed continuous improvement is alive and well at the Depot

By Bill Bartkus
NAVAIR Depot North Island

CORONADO, Calif. – “This year’s AMMT inspection was an astounding success, but we still have a lot of work to do!” said Virginia Lovell, referring to a recent command inspection given by the AIR 5.0 Aviation Maintenance Management Team. Lovell is the NAVAIR Depot North Island Teaming for Processing Improvement (TPI) program manager.

Lt. William Lock, AMMT officer in charge, and seven chief petty officer inspectors examined 65 aviation maintenance process programs during their two-week inspection in September, and according to Lovell, TPI Activity Coordinators (AC) and command Subject Matter Experts (SME) greatly contributed to the successful rating of all processes inspected.

She said that outstanding aviation maintenance process programs included Naval Aviation Maintenance Discrepancy Reporting System, Flight Check Department, 2M Program, Technical Directive Compliance, Vibration Analysis, Egress/Explosive Checkout, and Aviation Life Support Systems Depot Level. “We were also rated ‘excellent’ in 22 other areas,” said Lovell.

According to the inspectors, several programs improved dramatically from the last inspection in November 2002. The inspectors noted that Calibration and Laser Hazard Safety went from “needing attention” to “excellent.” In an AMMT daily briefing, of Calibration, one of the inspectors, Senior Chief Petty Officer Russell McGilvray, said, “It’s nice to see a command implement recommendations from last inspection and show evidence of improvements as result of the recommendation.” He attributed the successes of the calibration program to dedicated leadership by Deputy Program Manager Paul DeGennaro and command SME David Bye.

Central Technical Publications Library and Support Equipment Maintenance moved up to “satisfactory” from being “off track” two years ago. And, Maintenance Administration did an about face from “off track” to “excellent.” Carol Gaines, an Activity Coordinator, said she was “extremely pleased” with the results.
In the Tool Control program, five of 14 categories were rated as “excellent” compared to “satisfactory” during the last AMMT. Inspector Chief Petty Officer Bonifacio Te cited significant improvement since last time. “Managers and artisans have done a wonderful job with the Tool Control Program,” Te said.

“The improvement was greatly enhanced by the efforts of the command’s Tool Control Team. Two inspections ago, tool control was a mess,” Lovell said. “The Tool Control Team is comprised of artisans and supervisors on the floor who have personally committed themselves to preventing loss of life through improved tool control procedures. They did a great job, and the proof of their efforts is evident.”
Lovell said that the inspection also revealed opportunities for improvement in a number of programs. “So, we can’t rest on our laurels,” she said. “We must remain vigilant in our continuous improvement efforts. We must sustain our successes and continue to improve all of our aviation maintenance processes.”

The inspectors examined 62 total process programs compared to 49 in November 2002, and the Depot excelled in four of five rating structures from “outstanding” to “off track.” Statistics revealed that “outstanding” results went to seven from four; “excellent” jumped to 22 from 15; “satisfactory” results were 25 during this inspection, up from 20 the last time. A comparison of “off track” programs revealed two programs “off track” this year compared to 16 programs in 1998.

Looking at the big picture, Lovell said that 18 of 46 Core Process programs improved just since 2002. “That’s an amazing 39 percent improvement from last AMMT! We had a 3 percent increase in ‘outstanding’ and ‘excellent’ programs, as well as a 3 percent increase in overall rate of compliance,” Lovell mentioned. “We also achieved a 9 percent decrease in the numbers of ‘off track’ programs, a 66 percent reduction in major discrepancies. Also, major repeats reduced by 42 percent.”

“The results of our AMMT speak volumes for our Teaming for Process Improvement system,” said Depot Commanding Officer James Woolway. “The persistence of our Subject Matter Experts and Activity Coordinators in refining our aircraft maintenance programs has paid big dividends in our mission of providing top quality products to our fleet customers. I commend Virginia Lovell not only for her superb management of the TPI cycles, but also for her leadership and professional development of our SMEs and ACs. Our compliance rates have steadily and solidly improved in every cycle and AMMT inspection,” Woolway said.

According to Lovell, “In the 1998 inspection, only eight of 45 aviation maintenance processes were compliant. The overall compliance rate was an unbelievably low 18 percent. This year, only two programs are ‘off track’ and the compliance rate is 83 percent. That is a whopping 65 percent increase! That’s incredible! Still, two programs ‘off track’ are two too many! Our quest for continuous improvement at the Depot continues, and we will do even better for AMMT 2006!”