IMPROVING THE FABRICATION PROCESS AT TOBYHANNA ARMY DEPOT

摘要

Tobyhanna Army Depot (TYAD) is a logistics center for the Department of Defense, specializing in electronic systems, and employs 3,388 people as a primary resourcing center for the military. The Tobyhanna Army Depot's Equipage Branch is responsibility for maintenance and fabrication on contracted work orders. TYAD partnered with a team from the US Military Academy to apply the Lean Six Sigma (LSS) DMAIC process on fabrication backlog. LSS draws upon the literature of both six-sigma, focusing on defects and quality, as well as the lean literature, which focuses on eliminating waste to improve organizational processes. This paper describes the unique aspects of this project and the application of LSS tools and methods to improve the performance of the process. The delay in services to different work centers impacts TYAD's ability to complete contracted work within the agreed upon time frames. From June to August 2019, the average existing backlog per week within the Equipage Branch was 922 hours resulting in excess costs of overtime as well as increased lead times causing late deliveries across the depot. The branch is responsible for several jobs at different locations within TYAD from fabrication to equipment management. This creates unique challenges, compared to static assembly-line process, as workers perform operations at different areas of the facility then return to a starting point. This paper summarizes the team's application of LSS to analyze ways to make the process more efficient, improve the process, and ensure the process remains in control and stable over time.