Cutlines:

Arthur Trimble, Code 6.1.4.8.0.1, works on an LM2500 Marine Gas Turbine Engine in the manufacturing shop. Photo by Bill Bartkus

Key NADEP North Island Teammates discuss LM2500 work during a morning production meeting. Teammates include, from left, Sylvia Prince, production controller; Ron Fitch, a contractor; Ozzie Sanchez, LM2500 coordinator; David Reyes, LM2500 supervisor; Mike Nash, Fleet Industrial and Supply Center equipment specialist; William Hardie, production controller, Jim Hansen, planner; and Kenneth Wilson, production controller. Photo by Bill Bartkus

Artisans keep LM2500 program on track
By Bill Bartkus

Ships’ engines are powerful and complicated pieces of machinery. The artisans and engineers who work with the LM2500 engine program at North Island Naval Air Depot in Manufacturing and Engines Product Management, Code 6.1.4, keep those engines running in A-1 condition.
“Navy Supply in Philadelphia, where the engines are kept, contracts with us (NADEP North Island) to receive and repair a certain number of these engines each fiscal year,” said Ozzie Sanchez, Code 6.1.3, LM2500 coordinator. Sanchez said that Jim Hansen, Code 6.1.3.7.0.5, the LM2500 planner, “negotiates when the Depot will induct an engine so that the artisans are ready to repair it.”
Sanchez said that both Navy Supply and NADEP North Island officials set a schedule and draw up a contract to determine how many engines the Depot will induct for the fiscal year. “We determine, depending on our resources at the time, when we will induct an engine. But this is Jim Hansen’s job,” Sanchez said. “We don’t induct an engine for the sake of inducting an engine. We accept an engine when it fits into our schedule.” He said that artisans may get behind on other work or another project might supercede working on the LM2500 program. “We have priorities,” he said.
Sanchez proudly said that artisans have shaved off at least 86 days in turnaround time on the LM2500 project during the last two fiscal years. In fiscal year 1999, turnaround time was 236 days compared to 150 days this fiscal year. “Several things have happened that we’ve done in particular to cut down on a turnaround time. We’ve taken over custody of the resources that were dependent on other programs,” he said. Sanchez cited that the machine shop, for example, was performing multiple jobs for multiple programs such as the component program. “We were competing, sometimes, with the other workloads and even though we were getting our parts, the turnaround time didn’t fit what we wanted. So we picked out some processes that were unique to the LM2500 program,” he said.
“We went to our upper managers, Mike Fuller, Code 6.1.3, and Fred Jolly, Code 6.1.4, and said that we would like our engine program to inherit a process that would give us more control of our destiny,” he said. And it did! “We were able to shave our turnaround time. This meant that during our process time we didn’t have to wait in line. We took machinists and we took the process, so that helped.”
Sanchez said that his shop was also competing with other programs. “It was manpower at this point,” he said. “We worked out a few arrangements, and we were able to pick up two people, plus the process and the machines and this shaved off some (turnaround) time.”
Sanchez said that his team came together to make the turnaround time less than what it was. Sanchez entered the LM2500 program 16 months ago. “The way we managed things, they way we communicated, the way the work goes through all fell into place making the team come together,” he said. “All the pieces fell together and the program just started clicking.”
He said that as each day goes by, the team is seeking improvements to make the LM2500 program even better. “We’re seeking ways to cut turnaround time even further and to cut costs,” Sanchez said. “It’s nothing magical. We have management support and they have given us the green light to do what we think is best, and so far, it’s worked.”
Normally, NADEP North Island artisans work on 17 engines in a fiscal year, according to Sanchez. “We normally have four or five engines in house at a time,” he said, “all in different phases of the operation. The engines are disassembled and then they go through the E and R process (evaluate and route). Then the parts are sent to the particular process shops for whatever the part needs.”
The finished parts are accumulated in the kitting area, Code 6.1.4.9.0.9, by unit. “When the shop is ready to assemble the engine, everything is called in and the reassembling phase begins,” Sanchez said.
The engine is returned to the Navy Supply system where the Navy draws from its inventory when a ship needs one. “It’s like going to a store to buy a part for a piece of equipment,” Sanchez said.
“The LM2500 program has been on the upswing in the last few years. We take every opportunity that we can as a team to look at the process, to accomplish the job on time, to shave off time and money. And we look at costs very closely.”
All this wouldn’t work without the support from upper management, according to Sanchez. “It’s a program now where people feel good about themselves. It’s successful. We know that we can do it. It’s a total team effort that’s going in the right direction!”