As a result of the AIRSpeed project led by NAVAIR 4.1 Wave 8 Black Belt Daniel Motamed, late approvals of Contract Data Requirement Lists (CDRLs) are projected to decrease 27 percent, and disapprovals are projected to decrease from 18 percent to zero.

P-3 Department, PMA-290D, reviews an average of 366 CDRLs per year for approval or disapproval and 73 percent of the time the review takes longer than the contractual time allotted. This results in late return to the contractor, which in turn causes delays in meeting program milestones. In addition, 18 percent of the CDRLs are disapproved with comments. These CDRLs are then reworked and resubmitted for re-review causing unnecessary touch time and Work In Process (WIP) for the already over-tasked NAVAIR reviewers.

Air 4.1 Deployment Champion Denise Breckon first saw a need for improving the CDRL process within NAVAIR. She drafted a project charter and looked across multiple programs to assess the need in the current process. PMA-290D Program Manager, Mr. Ron Oblen, indicated that although their CDRL approval process had been previously leaned through internal PMA initiatives, they would be willing to sponsor an AIRSpeed project. Oblen hoped to further gain improvement in their review cycle time and therefore reduce late approval of CDRLs for the supplying contractor.

The projected savings amounts to $363K of Type II financially validated savings, well above the original charter goal of $50K-200K. Type II savings includes waste elimination where assets or resources are “freed up” and can be reassigned to other value-added work and/or potential future savings. Type II savings on the CDRL project resulted from reducing touch time in the CDRL review process and eliminating disapprovals, which in turn reduces rework.

The disapproval rate is projected to be totally eliminated by co-reviewing the draft CDRLs instead of the final submissions with the supplying contractor.

Areas of the current process that were leaned out included elimination of rework hours and wait time, which in turn results in shorter cycle time, from 49 days down to 18.5 days.

In addition, the P-3 department benefits in the form of Type III savings, cost avoidances or savings that are non-quantifiable, with the following improvements in place: a leaned process using Standard Operating Procedures, reduced WIP, reduced wait time, meeting contract response times, and improved morale by freeing up time otherwise spent on non-value added work.

This effort is a win-win between the government and the supplying contractor. The supplying contractor will benefit due to shorter cycle time, and depending on the contract type, (Firm Fixed Price or Cost Plus), may show higher profits when the contractor cost of resubmitted CDRLs is reduced or eliminated. The resulting streamlined process can easily be adopted and replicated across NAVAIR and other DoD Services.

The P-3 CDRL team was able to standardize and lean out the CDRL review process within the P-3 department by utilizing the various AIRSpeed Lean Six Sigma tools. They used tools such as Measurement Systems Analysis to identify the out-of-control elements, Analysis of Variance Hypothesis testing to recognize the significant variation sources, and Value Stream Mapping to identify and eliminate the non-value added activities in the current process.

To concentrate the effort and maximize return on investment, the team used a Kaizen (an AIRSpeed rapid improvement) event to accelerate part of the AIRSpeed process itself. NAVAIR Commander VADM Massenburg presented the team with project certificates at the end of the Kaizen event.

-USN-

Photo 1: P-3 CDRL Kaizen Team
Left to right: Mike Allen (George Group, Assisting), Bella Younano (NAVAIR 5.2 Black Belt, Assisting), Steve Hoover (George Group, MBB), Bruce Jackson (NAVAIR), Dan Shannon (NAVAIR), Ron, Rechtman (NAVAIR), Stephen Barbee (NAVAIR), Jacinta Somerville (SABRE), Gary Tarantino (ASEC), Tami McNeal (SABRE), Russ Bollinger (Titan), Ken Jones (Foreign National -Canada), Daniel Motamed (NAVAIR 4.1 Black Belt – Lead), Allen Dahle (NAVAIR),Terrance Mentzos (Wyle)

Photo 2: Daniel Motamed, AIR-4.1 Black Belt, Receives End of Project Team Lead appreciation from VADM Massenburg